Nervous Newbie

carriea67

Hi Everyone -

So I have read through a variety of posts & have decided that upping my calories makes sense. So according to Fat2Fit's BMR calculator - I should be eating 1800 calories. I have decided up my calories from 1280 to 1700 for this week and then up to 1800 starting next week. I have some Rookie Questions:

1. How often do you weigh yourself? daily, weekly, never because the scale is evil....I am really trying to break my obsession with the scale....

2. How often do you take your measurements?

3. Any other advice?

I know to expect a gain over the first 2-4 weeks and I am really going to try and stick through it....please hold me accountable.

I am coming back from an injury so have stuck mainly with cardio for the past few weeks. My typical schedule is 3 days strength 2-3 days cardio.

Thanks in advance for any advice?

juicemoogan

1. How often do you weigh yourself? daily, weekly, never because the scale is evil....I am really trying to break my obsession with the scale....
I weigh myself every day to track the trend of me weights using this website: http://www.fourmilab.ch/hackdiet/online/hdo.html
If you are obsessed with the scale this may help or hurt... The reason it is good is that it shows you the overall trend and makes the day by day numbers (up or down) less meaningful.
evaluate yourself and see if this will aggravate your obsession or help it decrease.

2. How often do you take your measurements?
Once a month. - this is not a quick fix, don't expect a quick change.. its slow and steady.. but its steady...

3. Any other advice?
Hide your scale if you don't want to follow #1. It always lies, and for new starters of this method, the initial gain can be really disheartening. Its a totally mental effort to not let those little ups at the beginning totally distroy you.

REad all the posts that are thumb tacked to the top of the thread list.. Then go back and reread them every time you get worried.
You don't need to eat back your exercise cals if you have calculated correctly.. that means choosing the appropriate level of activity (almost no one is sedentary). Be consistent and stick it out!!

Good luck,

carriea67

Thanks so much for the advice!

I think I will stick with the weekly weigh-in...and have read most of the pinned posts so I fully expect to gain before starting to lose. And I am sure that I will re-read them a hundred times as I go thorough this initial phase.

I selected lightly active for this initial phase & may go up to moderate. I typically work out 3-5 times a week but am doing such a low-impact (HRM says 200 burn) as I come back from an injury. Look at me I am already talking about increasing my calories .

I am definitely not hungry.....and still have 600 calories left for dinner....

fiveohmike

1. How often do you weigh yourself? daily, weekly, never because the scale is evil....I am really trying to break my obsession with the scale....

A) What I should say: "Never, throw the scale out".... What I do: "Daily, before I shower"
A) Seriously throw the scale out


2. How often do you take your measurements?


Every Wednesday.

3. Any other advice?

Hit your TDEE cut target for at least 6 weeks before making any changes. This is a lifestyle change, not a fad diet so its a slow and steady approach.

Oh ya, and lean on us for support!

fiveohmike

And remember throw the scale out and take measurements

only YOU see the scale weight

WE see the inches.

twinmomtwice4

First of all, welcome to the group!!

1. How often do you weigh yourself? daily, weekly, never because the scale is evil....I am really trying to break my obsession with the scale....


I weigh daily and keep track on the same site that JuiceMoogan mentioned. I don't pay attention to the individual numbers as much as I pay attention to the overall trend. If you think you might get too obsessed with the numbers, hide your scale and go by how your clothes are fitting.

2. How often do you take your measurements?

I take mine every 4 weeks. I like to see big changes there so I found if I do it more often than that, I end up disappointed.

3. Any other advice?

Just commit to the process and stay focused on your end goal. You may get frustrated from time to time and experience some disappointments here and there but you just have to keep you eyes on the prize. When you feel yourself drifting back to that "Oh no, I'm eating too much food" come here and read through the posts...that's what I do and it always helps to keep things in perspective!

carriea67

Thanks for the advice! Yep - really trying to remember to embrace the whole "lifestyle" change rather than just another fad diet...of which I have bought into a number of times...only to see the scale increase.

I really like lifting and have read NROWLFW and understand the concept of eating calories and hitting macros....I just need to stick with it through the roller coaster ride of the beginning.

I am going to re-read this "WE see the inches".....

rebekahgo

i weigh every day, several times a day. i'm not bothered by the fluctuations. i actually find them interesting. don't do as i do, lol. i measure whenever i feel like something might be smaller. i am not the best model of consistency for sure...except in my diet. i use up all my consistency there.

advice......go all in. be sure to set your activity level correctly. some people have the idea of setting their activity level lower in order to give themselves wiggle room, but this just results in eating too little. follow the plan as closely as possible with the macros and the sodium and the exercise, but you can relax a bit too. enjoy eating. fit treats in. if you go over, don't sweat it. it's actually better to go over than under.

bradthemedic

1. Every 4-6 WEEKS
2. Weekly on my "off" day.