will I gain weight during "metabolic reset" ?

menojy

180 lbs 5'2 inch
I had been eating at 1200 for a year, lost 34 lbs, stopped counting calories for 7 months, gained 10 lbs, got back to 1200 for a month and just found out about eat more to weigh less so I am considering metabolic reset or eating at maintenance.

Because I gained weight during those 7 months not eating junk just more food, I am so afraid of gaining again during this reset ..
everyone who have tried this out I'd love to know about your experience .

Jennbecca33

Hi Menojy, so sorry you didn't get a response sooner!

Yes, it is possible to gain some "weight" during a reset. It is really different for everyone, depending on your dieting history. A lot of times when increasing calories, you can have water weight gain and bloating, but that will subside as your body gets used to the increased calories. Sometimes a person can gain actual weight as your body is going through the reset process. Increasing the calories slowly will help to minimize the gains. Here is a great thread posted by Kiki on what to expect when upping your calories:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/521728-upping-cals-what-to-expect-why-you-need-patience

Eating more than your TDEE, whether it's junk food or healthy food, will cause you to gain weight. So during your 7 months away from dieting, you were rebounding from a low calorie diet, your metabolism was probably slowed down from restricting your calories for a year, and so that weight probably came on pretty easily. That's the ugly cycle with low calorie diets and the reason why EM2WL recommends a much smaller deficit (15% deficit) from your TDEE for weight loss. The smaller deficit allows you to eat more and lose weight at a slower, more sustainable pace.

Since you had a 7 month break from dieting recently, rather than doing a full reset at this point, why don't you try slowly increasing your calories up to a 15% cut from your TDEE. You can figure your TDEE using a site like Scooby and entering a 15% deficit. Eat at that amount for 6 weeks and monitor your weight loss. If your weight goes down, then continue. If it does not decrease, post back here and let us help you rework your numbers. That 7 month diet break may have actually helped you "reset" in a way.

I hope this helps! Also, check out the EM2WL website at www.em2wl.com for more support and success stories. Be sure to let us know if you have further questions!