I know this does work, but....

SweatpantsRebellion

Grrrr....I'm frustrated. I started EM2WL on April 5th and had a steady loss of 1 pound a week. Usually I weigh in every day so I know my pattern. I will drop to an all-time low, go back up, bounce around through the week, then drop to a new low. That's how it's been every week. Except. since May 8th. I can't seem to drop down any lower. I know I know I know it's not the scale. But I'm not one of these people who only has five pounds to lose. My goal is 97 pounds, so I do need to see the pounds continue to go. I do measure. And yes, I've seen small losses every week. But do I just continue as is and my body will start losing fat once it's done shifting around or whatever it's doing right now? Do I play around with my calorie numbers? Right now I eat 2300 calories a day, sometimes more if I have a higher burn. I might eat a bit less if I know that I went over the day or so before, but I'm always careful to net at least a couple hundred over BMR (somewhere in the 1700ish range depending on the calculator - so I always stay above 1800 to be safe). I know getting the weight off will help to make my running easier too, so I really want to see some movement downwards soon. I guess I'm just struggling with this whole idea of being stuck in a plateau right now.

tangiesharp

Hey, I see some great things in your statements above.

I will drop to an all-time low, go back up, bounce around through the week, then drop to a new low. That's how it's been every week.

YEA!! So that means that your body is getting used to the changes, wants to make sure you're actually gonna feed it, and then drops knowing that it will get fed again. That's good. And it started on week 1, not week 6-8 like a lot of people.

I do measure. And yes, I've seen small losses every week.

Hello.?!?! That's what so many people want around here. Remember, people in the street can't see your scale, but they can see the lost inches. Congrats on that.

You didn't give enough information to figure out if you're eating enough. What's your BMR and TDEE?

Last point, remember this is a way of life. Not a quick fix. You will meet your weight loss goals in time. Hang in there.

mommamuscles

Hang in there, slow and steady wins the race. You may lose weight more quickly with a low calorie diet, but you're also losing muscle, which in turn makes us fatter, not leaner. Figuring that put was a huge turning in my journey mentally. Also, over the last six months, the scale is up but I'm down two sizes. So the scale really is a lying demon after all!! You are making great progress. Think about how many times we start and stop diets, but looking back, we really make little to no progress this way because it's not livable. You will lose wright more slowly this way, but you can hang with this for life. if a year from now, you're only down, say 10 lbs, that's still 10 lbs!!!

SweatpantsRebellion

Hey, I see some great things in your statements above.

I will drop to an all-time low, go back up, bounce around through the week, then drop to a new low. That's how it's been every week.

YEA!! So that means that your body is getting used to the changes, wants to make sure you're actually gonna feed it, and then drops knowing that it will get fed again. That's good. And it started on week 1, not week 6-8 like a lot of people.

I do measure. And yes, I've seen small losses every week.

Hello.?!?! That's what so many people want around here. Remember, people in the street can't see your scale, but they can see the lost inches. Congrats on that.

You didn't give enough information to figure out if you're eating enough. What's your BMR and TDEE?

Last point, remember this is a way of life. Not a quick fix. You will meet your weight loss goals in time. Hang in there.

You are both right. I think I just needed a little reminder/ encouragement. I know this works, but I still struggle with my doubts. I guess today is a doubting day!

My BMR is anywhere from 1578 (Katch-McArdle) - 1700s (pretty much every other formula). My TDEE is 2721. I'm eating 2268 (along with 300 breastfeeding calories). I can't imagine that the amount I'm eating is that off. Obviously I eat more somedays when I have a higher calorie burn (especially long run days). But most days I stick to my calorie goal. Sometimes I end up a few hundred over and other days I end up a few hundred calories under in order to make up for it. But I always make sure that I'm netting at least 1800 to make sure that I'm over BMR.

SweatpantsRebellion

So after my griping I dropped to a new low today. It seems like such a weird balance - this calorie stuff. Yesterday I overate by a few hundred calories. I forgot to log food all day, went to put in dinner and just kind of went "Oh crap." By the time I entered everything I realized I'd gone over by several hundred calories.

Maybe I need to put a higher calorie day or two in there every week to facilitate the drop??? Anyone have any experience/advice on this?

SweatpantsRebellion

Thoughts anyone? Does anyone find it necessary to have one or two higher calorie days in order to keep the metabolism revved?