Not convinced this EM2WL works
Mads1997
Posts: 1,494 Member
3 weeks in am the only thing that is happening is I'm gaining weight. 2.5kgs to be exact. The first two weeks raised cals from 1400 to 1700 and ate pretty well. This last week ate more like 2000 cals,I ate out a bit though so it wasn't the healthiest of weeks. I am not game to up the cals anymore or I'll be right back to where I started from. Not sure this eating more to weigh less works.
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Have you checked out the stickies? In particular the weigh in/measurement one? There are plenty of people that are eating more and losing pounds and inches...the process is slow going-not a quick fix. If you stick with it, you'll see results! Are you eating your cut? What are your stats? Don't get discouraged...you can do it!0
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I have read that some people take more than that in weeks to see results!
Have you definitely got your numbers right? I ran mine again and i was looking at it like days rather than hours of exercise on the scooby website and was less than moderate so what i thought was my 15% cut was actually my TDEE. Now i have reduced again and in last 4 days (couldn't help myself and jumped on to scales) i have lost 0.5kg.
Or if you are eating at your TDEE then try dropping down to your -15% now and see how the week goes.
Also did you measure ... any lose in inches?
Other than that hang in there. I read a lot of them saying 'trust the method' over and over again
Not a pro at this so someone else may have some more answers for you but just something that i realised this week :flowerforyou:0 -
Could it be water retention due to sodium?0
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Takes longer than three weeks for most of us. Think closer to a month to two months.
Have you read the sticky- what to expect when upping cals? It's a good read and a good reminder, I read it often still.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/521728-upping-cals-what-to-expect-why-you-need-patience0 -
It has only been 3 weeks which is not a long enough time to let your body get used to the extra calories. Plus you haven't been consistent. You started upping to 1700, then went to 2000. You need to eat the same amount for 4-6 weeks (some even say 10 weeks), take your measurements and then reevaluate before you convince yourself it doesn't work.
Read through all of the stickies as well.0 -
It has only been 3 weeks which is not a long enough time to let your body get used to the extra calories. Plus you haven't been consistent. You started upping to 1700, then went to 2000. You need to eat the same amount for 4-6 weeks (some even say 10 weeks), take your measurements and then reevaluate before you convince yourself it doesn't work.
Read through all of the stickies as well.
^^this
Your cals haven't been consistent enough to say one way or the other yet. It takes most people longer than 3 weeks, and that time starts *after* being consistent.
If you read all of the stickies, and weigh-ins/success stories, & watch the vids, you will be more fully prepared and there will be no doubt in your mind. It works. period. But there is an adjustment period.
How many of us took the low cal route, lose all the weight, and then gain it all back, PLUS more? Doesn't that put us right back where we started? :huh: You have to look at the long term effects of anything that you choose to do to your body. The quick-fixes that the mass media spit at you, are just that, quick-fixes, not *permanent* fixes. 90% of people gain the weight back, & are unhealthier to boot...
Stay consistent, stay focused on your health during this time, not the scale. If you are not at your cut # yet, then you really should consider bumping the numbers up again. :ohwell: If you never get to the # you're supposed to be at, you won't know if it "works." Until then, your body will just think that you are binging for a while, and that you will soon go back to starving it, so it will hold on for dear life to those extra cals right now, thinking that starvation is just around the corner.
Don't prove it right.
This is a new way of life. Please read the sticky about "patience" that Gemiwing linked to.
You have to be fully convinced that very low cal diets "don't work," or else you will always give yourself the "out"
~Kiki0 -
Yes I have read all the stickies, still not convinced this works. Supposedly my TDEE is 2252 my BMR is just over 1600, It was suggested to up the cals even more from 1700 to 2000. The thing is if I am gaining so much eating 1700 what the heck am I going to do eating 2000. 2.5 kilo gain in 3 weeks.
I had maintained my weight (within a few kilos) for a year without counting cals I certainly didn't gain it all back.0 -
Yes I have read all the stickies, still not convinced this works. Supposedly my TDEE is 2252 my BMR is just over 1600, It was suggested to up the cals even more from 1700 to 2000. The thing is if I am gaining so much eating 1700 what the heck am I going to do eating 2000. 2.5 kilo gain in 3 weeks.
Really, all you can do is try it for a couple months and see what happens. You have to want to give it a good shot though, no one is forcing you to do it. You have to be committed to it, to doing it consistently and to to take measurements.
If your TDEE is 2252 then your 15% cut would be about 1900. I would stick with that.0 -
Honestly, I was in the same place. I really didn't think this would work. Eat more? Lose weight? BS! Everybody knows you have to REDUCE your calorie intake to lose, right??
Right?????
Well ... I did reduce my calories. I ate between 1200-1600 for two years - after doing crazy yo-yo diets and using diet pills/drinks/powders for what seems like my entire life. I lost 67 pounds!! Then everything came to a dead STOP. For the past 2 years, I have followed the same exact "diet" I used to lose those 67 pounds (even going to the extreme of going back to weeks I knew I lost a significant amount of weight, checking my food and exercise diary and repeating it to the 'T'). But ... nothing. I've fluctuated UP 10 pounds in those 2 years, never getting below 213 pounds. It didn't make sense.
When I found this group, I was searching for some alternative. Should I eat less? This group said NO. Eat more! I have been doing so since April 10. I now eat 2700 calories per day. I feel AMAZING. I have gained 13 pounds on the scale, but my clothes are fitting just fine. I would've been up a pants size if I was a true 226 pounds! I know that the scale will start agreeing with my body soon, but for now ... I am content with the feel good. It's hard to not look at the scale (trust me ... I was told not to, but I still do!), but you've got to have a disconnect from it. What's more important is how you feel and how your clothes are fitting. What really made me believe is seeing all these people working the system! Why would so many people subject themselves to the possibility of getting fatter? They wouldn't.0 -
I just want to tell you a little about me. It's not some magical story that's going to make you suddenly convinced that this works. It's just a my story.
I grew up thin and could eat anything, and I did. I then went onto the military and was fed A LOT during training. Went in at 136 and came out at 141, but was smaller, 8 weeks later I was 126 and was really tiny but fit! Since I was in the National Guard I went right into college, carrying the same appetite but not the same exercise. I gained tried to lose but didn't work, or never stayed. I have had six children since then and have become a pro at losing, never maintaining. What's even worse I have a beautiful 16 year old daughter who walks around with the body I used to have. I haven't set a good example and she is going to go down that same path.
So I had to make some hard decisions;
1. No more quick losing.
2. Healthier food choices.
3. Trust those who have gone before me
4. Listen to my body.
5. Exercise consistently.
6. FUEL MY BODY!
7. Lifestyle change!!!
Don't become like how I was, master of losing and not maintaining. You need to know If you are seriously in it for the long haul! Only you can decide that.0 -
Its working for me, and I eat 3150 calories a day. Now its slower weight loss than I had imagined, however its not the weight thats changing fast....its the inches around my midsection that I a losing.
Now this past week though things seem to be picking up in the scale department, as I just hit into the 280's for the first time in 15 months.
So I started measuring on 4/20/12 (a week after I started this) - and in the past 27 days I have lost 1.5" off my waist, 1.5" off my hips, 1" off my neck ect.....but only 4ish lbs on the scale.
Remember this is not a fad diet, its a lifestyle change. If your looking to drop 20lbs in 10days, I think they have some Cayenne pepper/lemon juice diet for that.
Another thing to remember is you cannot eat whatever you want. You still have to make healthy choices, and hit your macros.
This works. Period. But it does take hard work, willpower and determination to better yourself.0 -
Skepticism is fine but if you're not committed to TRYING to change and giving it a true shot then you will fail at it along with everything else.
You sound pretty down and upset about it which is normal. But you've come this far so why not see it through?0 -
Yes I have read all the stickies, still not convinced this works. Supposedly my TDEE is 2252 my BMR is just over 1600, It was suggested to up the cals even more from 1700 to 2000. The thing is if I am gaining so much eating 1700 what the heck am I going to do eating 2000. 2.5 kilo gain in 3 weeks.
I had maintained my weight (within a few kilos) for a year without counting cals I certainly didn't gain it all back.
Does the math even work out that eating 1700 a day will cause you to gain a true 2.5 kg in just 3 weeks? That's 5.5 lbs in 3 weeks. You'd have to overeat by an insane amount to gain that much is actual fat in just 3 weeks. So, thinking reasonably and critically, it has to be water weight, right? Re-read the sticky or watch the YouTube video. I found the videos to be SO encouraging and inspiring.
That's not to say the scale number is not discouraging. I'm facing the same thing. Just keep telling yourself it's not a real number -- it's not a true representation of what is going on.0 -
I know its frustrating as hell to be here to lose weight and instead you are gaining. Believe me, we ALL know what that is like. I was you about 6 weeks ago crying and screaming and throwing a fit because the scale was going up and nothing was happening in my inches.. BUt I stuck with it.. I went from 1400 cals a day to 2400 cals.. thats ONE THOUSAND calories more than I was eating prior... And after 6 weeks or so... the scale finally started trending downwards. ... in the last 5 weeks I have had losses consistently (outside of AF week) and I have lost 3 inches so far. All by eating almost double what I used to.
This is eating for your life, not eating for the next 5 pounds.. So if you are just looking to fit into that bikini or whatever this summer, you need to reevaluate your goals. This is to make sure you able to MAINTAIN your losses when you get to goal and still be able to eat "normally"
Put it this way... Have you tried losing weight before? Were you successful in losing anything? Possibly at first, right? You would diet and eat so little and finally get into whatever it was you wanted to fit, and then guess what?? You started eating "normally" again and the weight came back on... So in the end.... not successful.
This way of eating is to set you up for SUCCESS. To make sure when you do get to your goal, you are not living off of 1200 calories and hating ever looking at a salad again
It does work. There are many of us who are proof of the process right now. Put your scale away for a few weeks, give yourself a "diet" break and eat your Cut value... take your measurements and just have patience. You will get there in the end0 -
I know its frustrating as hell to be here to lose weight and instead you are gaining. Believe me, we ALL know what that is like. I was you about 6 weeks ago crying and screaming and throwing a fit because the scale was going up and nothing was happening in my inches.. BUt I stuck with it.. I went from 1400 cals a day to 2400 cals.. thats ONE THOUSAND calories more than I was eating prior... And after 6 weeks or so... the scale finally started trending downwards. ... in the last 5 weeks I have had losses consistently (outside of AF week) and I have lost 3 inches so far. All by eating almost double what I used to.
This is eating for your life, not eating for the next 5 pounds.. So if you are just looking to fit into that bikini or whatever this summer, you need to reevaluate your goals. This is to make sure you able to MAINTAIN your losses when you get to goal and still be able to eat "normally"
Put it this way... Have you tried losing weight before? Were you successful in losing anything? Possibly at first, right? You would diet and eat so little and finally get into whatever it was you wanted to fit, and then guess what?? You started eating "normally" again and the weight came back on... So in the end.... not successful.
This way of eating is to set you up for SUCCESS. To make sure when you do get to your goal, you are not living off of 1200 calories and hating ever looking at a salad again
It does work. There are many of us who are proof of the process right now. Put your scale away for a few weeks, give yourself a "diet" break and eat your Cut value... take your measurements and just have patience. You will get there in the end
I guess you didn't read my opening post or my ticker?
Thanks but I think I will go back what worked in the past.0 -
I know its frustrating as hell to be here to lose weight and instead you are gaining. Believe me, we ALL know what that is like. I was you about 6 weeks ago crying and screaming and throwing a fit because the scale was going up and nothing was happening in my inches.. BUt I stuck with it.. I went from 1400 cals a day to 2400 cals.. thats ONE THOUSAND calories more than I was eating prior... And after 6 weeks or so... the scale finally started trending downwards. ... in the last 5 weeks I have had losses consistently (outside of AF week) and I have lost 3 inches so far. All by eating almost double what I used to.
This is eating for your life, not eating for the next 5 pounds.. So if you are just looking to fit into that bikini or whatever this summer, you need to reevaluate your goals. This is to make sure you able to MAINTAIN your losses when you get to goal and still be able to eat "normally"
Put it this way... Have you tried losing weight before? Were you successful in losing anything? Possibly at first, right? You would diet and eat so little and finally get into whatever it was you wanted to fit, and then guess what?? You started eating "normally" again and the weight came back on... So in the end.... not successful.
This way of eating is to set you up for SUCCESS. To make sure when you do get to your goal, you are not living off of 1200 calories and hating ever looking at a salad again
It does work. There are many of us who are proof of the process right now. Put your scale away for a few weeks, give yourself a "diet" break and eat your Cut value... take your measurements and just have patience. You will get there in the end
I guess you didn't read my opening post or my ticker?
Thanks but I think I will go back what worked in the past.
All I have to say is it's NOT rocket science. Eat less then you burn even just 15% less and you will lose FAT.0 -
Ultimately you will do what you think is best. Keep in mind one true pound of weight is 3500 cals eaten above your tdee. We all know the weight gained is more water than anything else. Not everyone is ready to go through the adjustment period, it is hard, and I don't want you to feel put off in any way. It works but sometimes not in the timing that we want. I do wish you would give the process a full hearted go for 6wks but if not..we will always be here if you decide at some point to try it again.0
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