New to EM2WL

joshandjennyk

Hi all,

I am 36 years old, and new to the EM2WL. I cut my calories to 1000-1200 and working out to Jillian MIchael's dvds, plus some extra weight training 3x a week and running once a week about 2 years ago and lost 35 pounds (160 down to 125). I have kept it off, but over the last couple of months my weight was starting to creep up no matter what I did, increasing workouts, trying to decrease cals further. I stumbled upon EM2WL and think a metabolic reset is what I need. About a month ago I started increasing my cals by about 100 a day. Still doing the same amount of exercising. I am up to 1600-1700 now, the EM2WL calculator says I should be at about 1850, my fit bit says that my avg daily burn is closer to 2000. Just wondering which I should aim to be closer to and also how much weight I might expect to gain by the time I reach that, so far in the last month I've gained about 2 pounds (now at 131). I'm ok with that but don't want to get much higher. I keep my macros around 40/30/30 and eat whole, non processed foods (the majority of the time). Also, any other advice on how to get to where I need to be is appreciated.

heybales

You were eating 1000-1200 in total with those workouts - or that was NET but you ate some exercise calories back - meaning you ate how much actually on average?

What Fitbit model?
Same exercises?
None of the models are going to be good at estimating calories from weight training. Now - if that's 3 x weekly of 15 minutes easy dumbbells - no biggy.
If 45 min of hard for you - then it's off. HR model would be inflated, step model would be underestimated.
You are likely between levels of a rough 5 level TDEE choices, Fitbit trying to give you infinite levels - go for the 2000.

How much weight depends on how fast your body responds to more food by moving more. I'll bet you see your step count slowly rise.

And if you stress about potential weight gain, you will cause a self-fulfilling effect and gain more - stress related water gain.

joshandjennyk

I have the charge 2 model. I do 15 mins of hard strength, I use dumbbells and body weight (no time for a gym so have to use what I have at home). The 1000-1200 was total, no eating back exercise calories, but I also wasn't doing the extra weight training then, I know still way to low. I get bored with workouts so I change them up every couple of months and I do something different every day(Jillian Michael's 30 day shred Monday level 1 and ab workout, Wednesday level 2 and a leg workout, Friday level 3 and arm workout, run on Tuesday). I get between 8000-10,000 steps a day, plus any from exercising. I'm trying not to stress about the weight gain, not easy but I'm trying to trust the process!

heybales

The Fitbit is probably decent estimate for those workouts then, and that's not a lot of time weekly (0.6% of your awake time) so it's not a huge factor anyway.

That many steps is high end of lightly-active anyway, your workouts just bump up higher, so Fitbit is probably right that you are more than moderately active, but not yet very active level.

So during this time of eating more and getting body to respond - anything that is closer to hard resistance workouts will be better than anything that focuses on cardio - do enough for heart health of course as you enjoy, but if only so much time, give it to resistance workouts.

The first 250 cal increase is usually the water weight gain from merely eating less carbs then the body would like to store full amount in muscles - so good to just get that out of the way and eat there for a few weeks - then keep increasing by 100 or 200 extra daily for a week at a time.

I will say though that the Fitbit and chart estimates of TDEE are based on average body with your stats as far as muscle mass to fat mass goes.

And I'd bet after that last low eating diet, you've lost muscle mass - so that means the TDEE estimate is higher than reality.
Even if doing some strength training back then - when you feed the body so little - something is going to give.

Eating more to get the metabolism up and daily movement up is one thing - but that doesn't magically increase lost muscle mass. That's a long slow process that won't be accomplished with light weight high reps resistance.

So TDEE is probably tad less than Fitbit is estimating - probably aim for 1900 initially.

So your 1700 is good for a couple weeks - observe if you feel more energetic with workouts and daily movement, then increase to 1800 then 1900 for few weeks.

Then start testing from there for a month, see if 2000 works.

Raynn1

Welcome to the group!
I am glad you have realized how dangerously low your calorie intake was. Slowing increasing it up and being steady with the increases is a step in the right direction. Id say your fitbit is giving you a better tdee reading than the calculators are, So I would based your intake on that.. slowly make your way up, as you have been doing and monitor the changes. Is your energy level the same? Are you able to lift heavier?
If looking at the changes on the scale are bothersome for you, I would suggest you put the scale away and leave it away. resetting is a huge mental game and if you are using the scale as your means of success, it will set you up to fail. There is so much more that happens during a reset that the scale cant show you. And when you are putting on muscle, the muscle isnt separate on the scale from fat.. so seeing a 5lb gain might throw someone into a tizzy, not knowing if thats water, fat, or muscle, or combination.

It sounds like you have read through the Metabolism reset guide? If not, I would give that a read through. Then follow it up with what to expect in a reset. This will help you to understand the things that are happening and how to prepare for them
http://eatmore2weighless.com/upping-cals-what-to-expect/

Kelly
EM2WL Ambassador and Moderator

Firefly0606

The hardest part of your reset is the mental game. You don't want to gain much more - but you might have to. It's like you need to decide what is more important, option a) repairing the damage you have done so that in the long term your health/strength/weight will be the best it can be, or option b) keeping a number on a measuring tool (your scale) at a certain level, regardless of the cost to your health/strength.

I don't know strong enough words to encourage you enough to test the process! The repair you have started in you body and mind is so much more valuable than what your scale says.

I've put on about 12lbs during my reset. I'm currently on holidays by the coast at a weight I have hated for years. The repair I did to my mind in the last half of 2016 is more valuable than gold though - instead of hiding myself away from beaches, pools, swimwear in general, making excuses for not getting active because of how much I hated my weight/myself....I'm instead throwing myself down waterslides with my kids, in the water each day, enjoying eating well.

Remember your scale is just a tool to measure mass. It doesn't tell you anything about the composition of that mass. Imagine it could - if you put on 5lbs in the next 2 months, but your scale told you it was 90%muscle, 10% rebuilt body tissue like stronger ligaments and bone density, would you still say "I don't want to gain much more"?

empressichel

Firefly0606 wrote: »

The hardest part of your reset is the mental game. You don't want to gain much more - but you might have to. It's like you need to decide what is more important, option a) repairing the damage you have done so that in the long term your health/strength/weight will be the best it can be, or option b) keeping a number on a measuring tool (your scale) at a certain level, regardless of the cost to your health/strength.

I don't know strong enough words to encourage you enough to test the process! The repair you have started in you body and mind is so much more valuable than what your scale says.

I've put on about 12lbs during my reset. I'm currently on holidays by the coast at a weight I have hated for years. The repair I did to my mind in the last half of 2016 is more valuable than gold though - instead of hiding myself away from beaches, pools, swimwear in general, making excuses for not getting active because of how much I hated my weight/myself....I'm instead throwing myself down waterslides with my kids, in the water each day, enjoying eating well.

Remember your scale is just a tool to measure mass. It doesn't tell you anything about the composition of that mass. Imagine it could - if you put on 5lbs in the next 2 months, but your scale told you it was 90%muscle, 10% rebuilt body tissue like stronger ligaments and bone density, would you still say "I don't want to gain much more"?

@Firefly0606
Where do I start? There are so many amazing nuggets of advise and encouragement in here it's just incredible!
Please can I share this with the rest of the EM2WL fam?
LOVE the positive difference this has made in your life.
THIS! Is truly, what it's all about.
Ichel
EM2WL ambassador and moderator

amc191129

Hello all. I have been on MFP for awhile now but I never really put effort into it. I tend to lean on others and when they aren't doing good I don't do good. My best friend and I stopped talking for around 6 months and during that time she lost 80 lbs. She looks and feels amazing and I am a very envious. I love her to death and am happy we are back on very good terms, if not better than before, but during that time apart I gained another 60 lbs (i have hypothyroidism wight gain happens if I don't do something about it). I have a boyfriend who is fit and in shape and because he works a very labor intensive job he isn't interested in going to a gym or doing anything physical when he is not at work.

Last night I realized in the midst of getting sick from eating too much greasy pizza that I needed to stop. I threw away all the bad crap in my house. First thing this morning I went to Fresh Market and got healthy snacks and lunch items for work and I ordered the premium version of MFP as well as a linkable weight scale. I weigh 315 lbs. At this age my mother weighed the same and she opted for surgery. I don't want surgery and I don't want to hide myself away like she did. I want to do this myself and I want to be healthy.

I am opting for the snacking more often throughout the day with healthy fruits, veggies and whole grains rather than 3 meals a day because I NEVER eat 3 meals a day. I just can't eat that much and I found that I was always under eating and what I was eating was never good for me. I have a fitbit that I plan on using again and once I get back on track with my school starting this week I will be getting a gym membership again.


Any tips or words of encouragement are greatly appreciated! Thank you.

brileylmt

@amc191129 you will get great advice from everyone here. As well as support. I have been working my way towards finding my maintain weight level of eating for the last several months. I get great words of wisdom as well as gentle nudges away from some of my bad decisions. Hang in there

empressichel

@amc191129
I would advise that you change one thing at a time and make that habit. If you change everything at once, it can be overwhelming and after a few weeks you may find yourself back at square one.
Find the one habit that will make the most difference. From reading what you said, it could be to stop eating greasy pizza that makes you feel sick! That's the one thing to change to start with.
Have you read all the stickies at the top of this group?
If you think you have been under eating, why not check with our calculator?
http://eatmore2weighless.com/weight-loss-calculator/
Take things one step at a time and make the changes doable and consistent so that they become habit.
Ichel
Team EM2WL

Firefly0606

empressichel wrote: »

@Firefly0606
Where do I start? There are so many amazing nuggets of advise and encouragement in here it's just incredible!
Please can I share this with the rest of the EM2WL fam?
LOVE the positive difference this has made in your life.
THIS! Is truly, what it's all about.
Ichel
EM2WL ambassador and moderator

Of course you can share. Shout it from the rooftops if you like

empressichel

@Firefly0606
Thank you!
Ichel
Team EM2WL

Raynn1

@amc191129 Welcome to the group!
As Ichel said, don't focus on changing everything at once. This is a lifelong learning process, not a quick fix, so you need to make sure you arent looking at this as a way to lose weight in a very shirt amount of time. Focus on the small things first, as they add up to the big changes in time. Based on the very little info Im getting about your diet, I would bet you arent getting enough protein in. Thats where I would start. Concentrate on protein and getting that in with every meal. Do nothing else but that. It will help you to look at food a little differently, what will give you the best bang for your buck in protein grams, and it will help you to crowd out all those extra carbs, thus lowering out the junkier stuff easier.
Think in terms of what can you ADD to your diet, rather than what can you LIMIT,

this link may help you to work on the protein.
www.em2wl.com/protein

We are here if you need more help!

Kelly
Team EM2WL

joshandjennyk

Couple questions.
Here is an overview of my numbers from the last 10 days. There has been some increase in weight so I'm just wondering if I should stay at around 2000 or drop back to 1900? Could my fitbit activity calories burned est be off (it averages 2000-2050/day)? I went for my yearly physical and they did regular blood work and said that my thyroid test came back that it's not functioning quite right, the numbers weren't super high, normal is .4-4.5 and mine was 4.62, which means that my thyroid is under active. Hypothyroidism runs in my family (my mom, grandmother and a cousin are/were all on medication I know, possibly more family members that I don't know of), so is this my genes catching up with me or is this just from eating too low calories and might fix itself with my reset. I was planning on starting a cut in April, since I got to the 2000 range in calories the first part of Jan that would be 12 weeks, but given that I am supposed to go back and have my thyroid checked in May should I hold off on a cut until I see what those results say?

weight body fat % cals in workout
1/8/2017 132.2 24.5 2,100
1/9/2017 134 24.4 2,036 Jillian Michaels Ripped in 30 used as heavy weight as possible, didn't finish all reps (got 7-10 each weight exercise)
1/10/2017 134.4 24.9 2,039 Heavy(7-10 reps/3sets) weight ab/total body
1/11/2017 134.8 24.8 1,958
1/12/2017 134.2 24.8 2,006
1/13/2017 134 24.9 2,084 Jillian Michaels Ripped in 30 used as heavy weight as possible, didn't finish all reps(got 7-10 each weight exercise)
1/14/2017 134.2 25.0 1,942 Heavy weights(7-10 reps/ 3 sets) Upper body workout
1/15/2017 134.8 25.0 2,051
1/16/2017 135.2 25.0 2,095 Heavy weights(7-10 reps/ 3 sets) lower body workout
1/17/2017 135.2 25.0 1,929
1/18/2017 135.4 25.1 1,983 Jillian Michaels Ripped in 30 used as heavy weight as possible, didn't finish all reps(got 7-10 each weight exercise)
1/19/2017 136 25.2 1,941
1/20/2017 135.6 25.1 Jillian Michaels Ripped in 30 used as heavy weight as possible, didn't finish all reps(got 7-10 each weight exercise)

empressichel

Don't drop the calories.
That's the opposite of what we are trying to achieve! That's the old diet mentality as soon as our weight goes up for any reason, quick drop calories!
Stay steady at 2000.
Ichel
Team EM2WL

joshandjennyk

Got it. It has stabilized it seems at 135 ish. Thank you.

heybales

And just so you don't get too focused on those numbers, what appears to be the best valid days there for stats is 1/9 and 1/20. (if those are morning times)

And even those weigh-ins - if you were still sore the least (and don't actually have to feel sore), then you were retaining water for repair from that good lifting session.
And if your sodium was higher than average the day before which appears to be rest day, could have increased water weight for that reason too.

Are you feeling workouts getting stronger while eating more, or perhaps the amount lifted is higher, or reps are higher?
Sometimes it's having more energy in daily activity to do more, that's when Fitbit will see your increased steps and calorie burn.

joshandjennyk

Yes, all of them are morning weigh ins. I do feel like I'm getting stronger, I can use heavier weights than I used to be able to. My husband even commented on my arm and leg muscles showing more. I'm sure some of that is water/"newbie" gain, but still encouraging!

empressichel

joshandjennyk wrote: »

Yes, all of them are morning weigh ins. I do feel like I'm getting stronger, I can use heavier weights than I used to be able to. My husband even commented on my arm and leg muscles showing more. I'm sure some of that is water/"newbie" gain, but still encouraging!

Fantastic!
Seriously, don't give the scale any power over these tremendous NSV achievements.
Who cares about the scale when you've got all this going on!
Ichel
Team EM2WL