Kind of Unsure....

alcon79

So I've been reading about EM2WL for a little while and I understand the concept behind it, and would be excited to try it since I'm generally usually hungry, I am pretty unsure that it'd work for me. Any reassurances or calling me crazy would be appreciated

Background: I've never been really overweight and have generally been in the mid-130s, while always working out 3-5 times per week. I never counted calories but thought I was eating generally okay, minus eating out and enjoying some beverages. Then I got the boyfriend (now fiancee) and after 2-3 years together, my weight went up to 145ish - typical comfort weight. Last August I decided to really work to change this and I signed up for MFP.

Now: Through MFP I realized while I was eating generally healthy, I was eating too much of it (and not enough protein), so counting calories and buying a HRM has helped to see how much I was eating/burning. My original goal weight was 130, which I hit about a month ago. I'm curious if I can get to 125, but if not I'm perfectly happy in this 127-129 range. Would like to continue to build muscle.

Numbers (from Scooby):
BMR: 1359
TDEE: 1869
-15% (with light exercise) - 1589 (with the moderate workout setting).

MFP, to lose .5 lbs/week has me at 1480 cals/day. I work out 5-6 times per week mostly doing BodyRock (started about 1.5 months ago) with some step, elliptical, kickboxing, and weight lifting mixed in. BodyRock has really brought a change in my body - defining muscles, seeing some abs, but it's not a big cal burner.

The reason I'm concerned is because the year or 2 when I gained I wasn't eating horribly and I was always working out - everything the same except BodyRock and I gained all that weight. My weight loss has now hit a plateau and I realize this might just be it, which is fine, but I'm worried of changing to maintenance cals so this whole eating more idea is scary.

My main question: f I gained 17 pounds while still working out and not eating terribly, how is this plan going to work with me now?

Sorry for the long-winded message, but I don't talk weight loss with anyone so feels to good to air it out, but also wanted to see if this program really could work for me. Thanks!

alcon79

BUMP?

fiveohmike

Hello!

Well for one, do you know how many calories you were eating when you were gaining weight? Healthy calories dont matter so much if your taking in more than your body can process.

Its VERY easy to spike 2500+ calories without realizing it.

If you are active, and have been eating at TDEE Maint or higher, I would drop the calories down to the Scooby recommended TDEE cut target.

What activity level did you pick?

alcon79

Thanks for responding. No, I have no idea how many calories I was taking in because I wasn't tracking then, but it's not like I was eating out daily and eating fried foods and wings daily. From what I can guess based on how I've been eating the last year, it was 1 more scoop of pasta here, 1 chipotle bowl there, higher calorie beer on Sundays instead of Miller Lite, that kind of thing.

I haven't been eating at TDEE. I've been eating at MFP's .5 lb loss/week on lightly active, which is 1480 net. I've only eaten this for 2-3 months. I was at 1390 for most of my loss (sedentary).

I ran the numbers on that Scooby site, which gave me this:
BMR: 1359
TDEE: 1869
-15% - 1589 - I chose the 1-3 hours per week since I figured better to underestimate, but I generally workout 5-6 days.

tangiesharp

Two things come to mind on this one: 1) age and 2) body composition. When you do your BMR calculation, it asks you to input your age. As you get older, your BMR drops a little. Not a lot (<10 calories), but that can add up over time. The other thing that may have impact you is your body composition. Muscle tends to burn more calories at rest than fat. So, if you weren't doing much muscle building activity in the past 2 years, your metabolism could have slowed down.

alcon79

Thanks, I understand all that, and I was doing body pump, etc.. I'm not focused on the fact that I gained weight because I lost it and now I weigh less than I did even before I gained it all, so woohoo for me!

My main question is I'm currently on a 1480 cal/day plan per MFP but when I enter my information into that Scooby website, the numbers are much higher:

BMR: 1359
TDEE: 1869
-15% - 1589 - I chose the 1-3 hours per week since I figured better to underestimate, but I generally workout 5-6 days.

So just want to make sure that with my goals in mind currently (lose 1-3 more pounds, continue to build tone), that increasing to 1589 (or more) would be effective.

tangiesharp

It sorta sounds like you want to be at maintenance. Yes/no? I do not recommend underestimating activity level. I did it when I started because I was scared. But, my calories were up and down all the time (like a 500+ calorie swing) based on whether I worked out. Your body will appreciate knowing that you will feed it consistently and then it will start working with you, not against you.

Anyway, once you rerun your TDEE for moderate activity, then you should eat your Revised TDEE without any cut everyday, if you want to be at maintenance. If you exercise more than Revised TDEE-BMR, then you need to eat at least enough so that your net calories exceed 1359.

Hope that helps.

ANewLucia

It sounds like you are looking to lose fat not really weight per se. The last few pounds you can eat maint, lift heavy and burn off the fat if you are looking to fit a size it doesn't matter the weight. I'm wearing some 4 and all 6's 14lbs heavier than my lowest weight.

We stress the lifting because muscles take up less space and burns off fat, but, it is heavier so the scale could frustrate you...it was a mental thing for me for too long (I'm sure Tangie remembers that...lol). You are in a great place, bump your lift routine pushing to go heavy, try to get in a gr prot per lb of bodywgt and eat your tdee, the fat will burn off.

alcon79

Thanks for all of the input everyone. Yeah, it's definitely a mental hurdle for me to wrap my head around 1) eating more calories and 2) possibly gaining muscle. My fiancee has been doing P90X so I may start to incorporate that into my routine, in addition to BodyRock to increase weight training. Thanks again!