Love the idea of my new diet being "eat more"
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The eating while and because it's in sight is a tough one. I allow myself sweets and food that I like on a daily basis (that helps with cravings) while working them in my macros and calories. What works for me is to focus on food that is amazingly delicious and that I couldn't live without. If I'm at a party, I'll go straight for the stuff that I now is out of this world and stay away from what is just meh.
No guilt, I make the informed decision of eating delish food that I don't have available everyday, eat, enjoy and move on. Maybe I'll forfeit other foods that I'd usually grab because the should be eaten together, because everyone eats or any other reason. I can definitely eat a burger with a brownie and no fries (I don't care for fries, specially after they are cold), for example. I may only eat the icing if the cake is dry (I only like moist, fresh cake). But I make sure to enjoy it and not just eat for eating (unless I'm really hungry and nothing else is available).
A lot of times I'll share stuff with neighbors or friends because I know that if I keep it in sight, it will be hard to resist or I'll keep thinking about it.
But I'm with you, cutting sucks! I've been switching between maintenance (TDEE) and bulk (above TDEE) since last year and now I want to cut but I don't want to eat less, lol.2 -
Those are some darn good ideas. Back to eating stuff I love but not the extra stuff. I tend to even eat stuff thats not that great if it is sitting there LOL.0
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Exactly! Like the idea of eating something so it doesn't go wasted or because the kids didn't finish. Nope, not good ideas. Keeping that in mind makes it much easier to handle any food dilemma or situation. I can eat fast food if I really want it, but if it's not fresh, is stale or whatever that doesn't make taste as good anymore. Don't settle for less. Make the calories worth it. Dollar store chocolate isn't worth it, Godiva is.
I only like certain baked goods when they are fresh of the oven, so no cookies that have been sitting on the counter for a while.
Tereza
Team EM2WL Certified Personal Trainer and Coach
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I actually do that during the week - time to put it into play on the weekends too!2
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Week 8 check in :
Fitbit TDEE: 2503
EM2WL Moderate TDEE: 2501
MFP Base: 2240 MFP TDEE (With exercise): 2575
Daily goal last week: 2550
Actual Calories eaten avg per day:2650 - Estimated - didn't track well (or at all) for 3 days.. Had a couple of really intense workout days which should have burned off most of the extra calories not cut.
Starting Weight: 197.8
Last week 202.4
Today's weight 203.3 (probably not valid - very sore muscles from a double workout on Tuesday).
This weeks Calorie goal 2550
My other (probably more important) goal is to not go over 2550 on Saturday or Sunday and to stay in my MFP calories allowed (base plus exercise) on Friday. Being able to do these two things would go a long way toward helping me be ready to cut. So no more splurging on the weekend (!). I've done good cutting during the week to make up for the weekends, but that won't work when I do my actual cut - I will have to cut too much off the weekdays.
If I make this goal I will look at 10% cut for week 9. (ewww hehe)
Kelly
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Yes, definitely not a valid weigh in day but I LOVE how you knew that yourself anyway!
Have a great weekend!
Ichel
Team EM2WL0 -
My weight is still going up... Cutting the TDEE goal a little more to about 2400 a day since Trendweight says I am 150 over my daily calories.
On a different note - I may be facing some female surgery coming up soon and it terrifies me
I don't want to be banned from working out for 6-8 weeks, which is what I hear will happen if I need surgery. I will know more on Thursday after they run some more tests. How do you pre-plan for that? 0 -
So sorry to hear.
Planning for a time period of potentially reduced activity level?
Same principle that should be applied for life.
You do more, you eat more.
You do less, you eat less.
If you think getting less than 4K steps daily - you'll want MFP's Sedentary level, with negative adjustments on because probably doing even less as Fitbit will inform MFP.
Keep protein up, as amino acids normally backbone of any cellular repair - sounds like you'll have some.0 -
Makes sense - ugh though, less calories! I am enjoying my food, hehe. I will know for sure tomorrow after some tests.0
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Hope your tests go ok and give you some answers.
Recovering from surgery will mean less calories as you move less, but it might be a good time to really listen to your body. You will reduce your calorie intake, but might not feel hungry. Perhaps you can focus on that?
Every situation in life is an opportunity to learn something. Feeding your body what it needs applies when you are working out x times per week or preparing for a marathon, or recovering from a surgery, or resting.
Reading your updates has been really encouraging, I haven't commented on your thread much but I am stalking you
You seem like you are in a really good place with your TDEE and getting the hang of this, it seems like you are in a really good place to handle whatever you need to do in regards to your health issue at the moment - whatever the outcome might be. 0 -
Thanks Firefly
I do actually have to have the surgery, but its only a 4 week recovery so that isn't too bad. 0 -
Week 9 check in :
Fitbit TDEE: 2505
EM2WL Moderate TDEE: 2501
MFP Base: 2240 MFP TDEE (With exercise): 22477
Daily goal last week: 2550
Actual Calories eaten avg per day:2537
Starting Weight: 197.8
Last week 203.4
Today's weight 205.4 (Should be valid - may show monthly water weight gain). I do have inches around stomach and hips gained as well so it is for sure not muscle LOL
This weeks Calorie goal 2300 (10% cut) May just do TDEE again depending on how hungry I am. Will be having a lower TDEE over the next 4 weeks and I might want o live it up this week LOL.
My other (probably more important) goal is to not go over 2600 on Saturday or Sunday and to stay in my MFP calories allowed (base plus exercise) on Friday. I was able to do the Friday goal last week but still blew it on Sat and Sunday and had to cut the rest of the week to make up for it (not fun!). So I am hoping to be able to eat more every day and less on Sat and Sunday.
I will be having surgery next week, so I will go back up to TDEE then (which will be a lot lower and probably will mean going down, hopefully my body has adjusted enough to what it needs and I will not be starving all of the time until I get used to lower calories.
Kelly0 -
Don't forget that the healing process requires energy, Kelly. If you drop calories, don't drop too many - you may underestimate how useful that extra energy is for healing and the extra effort required for everyday movement because of the surgery...
Cheers
Annette0 -
I would actually use the surgery time to take a TDEE break and just sit there while you recover. Your body will be under enough stress during the healing process and it doesnt need anything more to deal with. In 6-8 weeks of less movement will not cause you to instantly balloon up and gain millions of pounds. Use it as a time to heal and relax and just recover.
Good luck with surgery
Kelly
Team EM2WL2 -
Thank you Annette and Kelly!
My doc says recovery will only be about 4 weeks (its a robotic surgery so much faster recovery time). But I have to agree with both of you. I will keep my protein levels up for healing and just take a rest. I will be able to start taking walks after about a week, so by the time my 4 weeks is up my activity level should be close to what it is currently and then I can start the body weight and Martial Arts training back up. I won't be totally sedentary for weeks 3-4 in the the recovery though so that part is good! my goal will be to be at or above TDEE with 30% protein for those weeks.
I am not looking forward to the surgery, but it will fix a bunch of things that have been wrong for a while and getting worse. Looking forward to the end result, it will give me a boost in quality of life and ability to do some things working out I can't currently do.
Kelly (too hehe)1 -
I vote for TDEE after surgery too!
Good luck with the surgery! Let us know how you're feeling.
Ichel
Team EM2WL0 -
I will. The surgery is scheduled for Wednesday, I will check in after that when I am able 0
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NSV 1 - I did it! I finally had a weekend where I didn't blow away my TDEE! Even though I had some special stuff going on I managed to stay at or under my TDEE on Sat and Sun.
That felt great
Some of it was being very busy and getting ready for surgery this week, but it was also not worrying so much about eating a full breakfast because I knew I would be eating later. The next goal will be to hit my protein macros on the weekend - since I tend to lose about 10% of my protein when I do fun stuff LOL.
I also lowered my calorie goal on MFP a little bit for some reason I always end up going over the number I have there so I found that at a lower number I tend to stuff myself less and make smarter choices.
NSV number 2 - since eating this way 40/30/30 at TDEE my fasting blood sugar dropped down to a completely normal level (was generally just under 100 and now it is generally in the 80's). It has been elevated for years - not to diabetic level but to pre-diabetic levels. I think my body likes being fed.
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That is great that you have scientific proof, your resting blood sugar levels dropping, that this is good for you and you are nourishing your body. 0
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Turns out it's darn near impossible to get enough protein with hospital food. Ugh. Ended up stuck here for a few days. Mostly I didn't eat much but today back to eating and logging. It's rough finding edible protein on the menu. All the meats are nasty and over cooked. With any lunch I will go home today and get that protein levee back out of the basement.1
