Holy Batman - is it a coincidence or not?
melissa_in_georgia
Posts: 1
Hi, I'm new here, but have had MFP for a year and not used it. I guess MFP went into the pile of other diet items I've gathered but not used.
After four years of being 30 - 40 pounds overweight, I started surfing the net and found the 5:2 diet. I started thinking about that one, found the message boards on MFP to read up, and stumbled upon EM2LW. I spent all day yesterday reading as much as I could, downloaded the spreadsheet, took my measurements and came up with this:
Femaie, 50, 5'6"
CW: 160.2 (yesterday)
GW: 130
Sedentary (I really am)
BMR: 1409
TDEE:1824
TDEE - 17.1%: 1512
Now, after reading, I realize two things. One is my TDEG is really, really close to my BMR, so obviously I need to get up off my *ss and get moving, to create a bigger gap between those two numbers. But the biggest epiphany for me was that I have been seriously nutrient-deficient for years!! After thinking about it, I realize I'm barely even hitting BMR on rare days. No breakfast, no lunch, some chip grazing, maybe dinner. Good Lord! How did I think my body could handle that????? No wonder I'm tired, get palpitations, have thinning hair, a pale face....the list goes on. (Really, Melissa! How can you "diet" the pounds away if you're not eating any food in the first place?????)
So yesterday I forced myself to eat. Lunch and dinner, and a snack. That's the most I could get in, since it was already after 1:00. I didn't hit my BMR, much less my TDEG. I was still 400 cal short of TDEG, but probably 500 cal over what I normally eat.
Today I stepped on the scale and the number was........158.8.
Huh? 1.4 pounds lost?????
Did my body say "Thank you!" for giving it food to make the engine run? Or was it just a coincidence? My weight is as steady as a rock. A loss of 1.4 pounds is unheard of for me - and all I did was EAT.
Any thoughts on this? Don't be afraid to say it's a coincidence; even I'm not convinced it could work that fast. As an aside, I realize that I need to reset at TDEE for awhile, since I've been depriving my body of nutrients for so many years, even though I haven't done any dieting, per se.
Sorry for such a long post by a newbie. I'm just so completely mystified I had to share with others who have way more knowledge than I do!
After four years of being 30 - 40 pounds overweight, I started surfing the net and found the 5:2 diet. I started thinking about that one, found the message boards on MFP to read up, and stumbled upon EM2LW. I spent all day yesterday reading as much as I could, downloaded the spreadsheet, took my measurements and came up with this:
Femaie, 50, 5'6"
CW: 160.2 (yesterday)
GW: 130
Sedentary (I really am)
BMR: 1409
TDEE:1824
TDEE - 17.1%: 1512
Now, after reading, I realize two things. One is my TDEG is really, really close to my BMR, so obviously I need to get up off my *ss and get moving, to create a bigger gap between those two numbers. But the biggest epiphany for me was that I have been seriously nutrient-deficient for years!! After thinking about it, I realize I'm barely even hitting BMR on rare days. No breakfast, no lunch, some chip grazing, maybe dinner. Good Lord! How did I think my body could handle that????? No wonder I'm tired, get palpitations, have thinning hair, a pale face....the list goes on. (Really, Melissa! How can you "diet" the pounds away if you're not eating any food in the first place?????)
So yesterday I forced myself to eat. Lunch and dinner, and a snack. That's the most I could get in, since it was already after 1:00. I didn't hit my BMR, much less my TDEG. I was still 400 cal short of TDEG, but probably 500 cal over what I normally eat.
Today I stepped on the scale and the number was........158.8.
Huh? 1.4 pounds lost?????
Did my body say "Thank you!" for giving it food to make the engine run? Or was it just a coincidence? My weight is as steady as a rock. A loss of 1.4 pounds is unheard of for me - and all I did was EAT.
Any thoughts on this? Don't be afraid to say it's a coincidence; even I'm not convinced it could work that fast. As an aside, I realize that I need to reset at TDEE for awhile, since I've been depriving my body of nutrients for so many years, even though I haven't done any dieting, per se.
Sorry for such a long post by a newbie. I'm just so completely mystified I had to share with others who have way more knowledge than I do!
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Replies
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It is too early to say. I would stay off the scale for a little bit and just focus on fueling your body. To help with getting is additional calories eat full fat food. Whole Milk, Greek Yogurt, Eggs, Avocado, Nuts. Just a handful of almonds will give you an extra 200 calories. Good luck!0
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Welcome!
Just watch and track. You won't lose a pound + overnight from eating. Just observe your body as you increase your calories. And yes...get up and move--your body will thank you! At the age you are, you're losing bone density--so weight bearing exercise can only help with that, and other issues.
Have you considered doing a Reset?....your body is giving very definitive signs of deficiencies due to long term low calories. Remember, it's about healthy, not skinny. The scale in an indicator--not the boss of your day!0 -
I'm sure once your body is used to eating those meals you will need them. I always skipped breakfast a d most days got to 2pm and wondered why I was hungry....oh yeah I haven't eaten yet. My body was used to it, but now holy cow I need to eat. It's the first thing I the of in the morning...lol.
You will probably find its trial and error to get the right numbers so don't be scared to go above what the calculators and spreadsheets give you.
Welcome to the em2wl family.0 -
There is a whoosh effect observed by water retaining fat cells, which is not usually where water is retained, after eating enough carbs the body uses some with the glucose to store it, gets rid of the rest.
You don't mention how long since last weigh in, or what you did last night if any exercise.
Use valid weigh-in days as spreadsheet points out next to your weight, to minimize false water weight gains and losses.
Congrats on realize to fuel your body.
True a higher TDEE might give a bigger range, but if TDEG is close to BMR, it's because you aren't doing much.
Make sure you meet the protein macro that is given along with calories.
You can work your way up 100 cal a day extra for a week, then another 100 for another week. Figure out where you'll put those extra calories to eat - shouldn't be hard once your hormones get a reset and you get hungry.0
