Feel like Dory on Finding Nemo..."just keep swimming"

naonah

If you've seen the movie, you recognize the scene when she says "just keep swimming". It's dark, I can't see where I'm going, not sure where I'm headed, if I'm going in the right direction. I just know that this is the way it should be, it feels right. I believe I'm doing the right thing, though not sure of the journey and when things will get "clearer" for me.

It's been 9 weeks since I've upped my cals (recently all the way to maintenance) for a metabolic reset. I've gained, as expected..though i could be making better food choices. Feel a tad uncomfortable in my already tight clothes. But I decided to really give my body the time to recover. I even temporarily stopped going to the gym.

I've only been at maintenance for a few weeks now.... I'm eager to start cutting (TDEE-15%) and lifting but I'm not sure if I should give my body more time.

When do I know that it's time to cut?

twoboys2012

I am sure i read somewhere something about 6-8 weeks. So maybe you are ready to cut???

This video might have some answers

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COzMKkXeiFo

Hope someone has some answers for you :flowerforyou:

fiveohmike

If you've seen the movie, you recognize the scene when she says "just keep swimming". It's dark, I can't see where I'm going, not sure where I'm headed, if I'm going in the right direction. I just know that this is the way it should be, it feels right. I believe I'm doing the right thing, though not sure of the journey and when things will get "clearer" for me.

It's been 9 weeks since I've upped my cals (recently all the way to maintenance) for a metabolic reset. I've gained, as expected..though i could be making better food choices. Feel a tad uncomfortable in my already tight clothes. But I decided to really give my body the time to recover. I even temporarily stopped going to the gym.

I've only been at maintenance for a few weeks now.... I'm eager to start cutting (TDEE-15%) and lifting but I'm not sure if I should give my body more time.

When do I know that it's time to cut?

Its hard to say when you cut because it depends on your body. However everything I have researched and read says that staying at TDEE Maint weight for 7 - 10 days followed by moving down to a TDEE - 15% cut is the way to go...now dont take this as gospel because I did not do TDEE Maint eating as I was not aware of it.

For me I just started at TDEE - 20% and have kept it there. For me its hard to eat 3200 calories a day, let alone maintenance at 4000 calories without eating some form of crap junkfood...let alone the sheer cost of food lol

ANewLucia

Ok weird I wrote this long response last night....I was sleepy guess I didn't save lol.

We suggest doing it for a good 8 weeks. There is a sticky or link on group page on it and a vid. After maintenance I would start with a 10% cut and see how things go. Every 12 weeks or so its good to tdee for a week to give yourself a break from dieting.

nmzeta

I haven't read anything but the topic title. I LOVE Finding Nemo. I named my dog Dory cause she ain't that bright.

Meaganandcheese

Ok I am 3 days into this so no expert, but I thought you were supposed to keep up your normal activity for the reset. Otherwise you will need to recalculate your TDEE for lower activity.

grimm1974

I wasn't aware of the reset either. I'm guessing I probably do not need to worry about it at this point. I went back and compared my net calories from 3-4 weeks ago to what I have been eating since EM2WL. By my calculations, I am netting 4000 to 10000 calories more per week. I had stopped losing weight at the old level and I'm not gaining any weight now. So, I am assuming my metabolism has picked up to the point where it is burning those extra calories now. I'm guess that is really the way to tell if it has reset. If your weight is staying stable, my guess would be is your metabolism is working up to your TDEE again.

missdimpley

Didn't realize about the reset either. I started with my tdee- 15%. I think it will be ok for now. I will definitely try TDEE in few months from now for a week.

naonah

Thanks guys!

The eating at TDEE for the reset was suggested in a few of the posts here in theirs forum. Specificaally by two of the "gurus" themselves: anewLucia and Kiki (prvrb31). So I went for it rather than just gradually increase. I've been on a low cal diet for 7 years so have some repairing to do. The advantage of eating at maintenance is that my cut won't be so low afterwards.

As for stopping the gym, I only stopped the twice per week routine. I continued with the rest that I do. It's just that I don't normally consider that exercise, if it's not in a gym

I gained 3 lbs when I upped from 1500 to 1900 and gained another 3 when I upped it to 2100. After the initial gain, the weight was steady - no gain nor loss.

To be even more specific with my question, now that I've upped my cals to maintenance, does my 8 week counter restart? (I started upping 9 weeks ago, but did another jump 2 weeks ago).

I know it's all a personal choice but I just wanted some options.

Thanks!

31prvrbs

The metabolism reset starts from the time you hit maintenance.

Feel free to keep up your activity during that time, lifting is still recommended if you lift. No crazy cardio is recommended, though, as it kinda "fudges" the #s, lol. But feel free to lift if you want. Remember you figured out your TDEE based on a certain activity level, so you would probably want to at least keep that up, during your reset.

It's good to hear from you, I'd wondered how your reset was going!

And you're right...just keep swimming :flowerforyou:


Kiki

naonah

The metabolism reset starts from the time you hit maintenance.

Feel free to keep up your activity during that time, lifting is still recommended if you lift. No crazy cardio is recommended, though, as it kinda "fudges" the #s, lol. But feel free to lift if you want. Remember you figured out your TDEE based on a certain activity level, so you would probably want to at least keep that up, during your reset.

It's good to hear from you, I'd wondered how your reset was going!

And you're right...just keep swimming :flowerforyou:


Kiki

Thanks girl!! Nice of you to remember me :flowerforyou: So I shall continue at maintenance until I hit 8 weeks. Yes, I will keep up the walks and as soon as I finish reading NROLFW I will start that too!

Just keep swimming!