This Process Sucks.

bdotshaw

Hi all! I'm Brittany. 26 years old. My stats:

Height: 5'9"
Weight: 209
My BMR is 1760 and my TDEE is 3036, which puts my daily calorie requirement at 2429.

I have lost about 19 lbs (eating 1950 cals/day), but it has taken about 6 or 7 months. I'm wondering if I really need to eat that 2429. My trainer says no; her take on it is that because I'm not eating oatmeal, broccoli, and steamed chicken all freaking day, the weight loss is slow. It's annoying because I stalk MANY MFP forums and many say that weight loss is all about the caloric deficit, which I always have. If that's true, I should be losing weight like crazy, no?

I'm starting to wonder if I'm doing too much cardio. I strength train 3x/week and do cardio 4-5x/week for 30-45 minutes and burn an average of 600 cals each time, according to my HRM. Should I reduce cardio to 2-3x/week? I'm thinking my decifit is too high, thus hindering my loss. Should I eat that 2429? I log EVERYTHING, good and bad - my diary can get pretty ugly at times haha. I'm just frustrated with this entire process and I currently feel like saying *kitten* it, throwing on my stretchy pants, and eating a large pepperoni pizza.

Saelina

. I'm just frustrated with this entire process and I currently feel like saying *kitten* it, throwing on my stretchy pants, and eating a large pepperoni pizza.

LOL I have no advice for you, but I found that very amusing. I did exactly that last fall after eating 1200 calories for 3-4 months and being completely stagnant for 2 of it.

When i restarted in March i did 1500 or so a day... scale still didn't budge. Just found this group 2 weeks ago, and am now trying to up my calories to 1900 to see what happens.

Raynn1

The process does suck. A lot of it is mind games.. having someone else telling you what you should be doing to lose the weight.. This group is no different.. However, in here the idea is to NOT DIET anymore and to give yourself a complete metabolism reset and a shift in the way you think about food and calories.

Since you are at the point where most of us are at, you have to ask yourself, do you want to lose weight quickly and then yoyo diet for the next 30 years of your life, or do you want to reset yourself now, maybe gain a bit of the weight back for a short period of time, and then finally be able to lose the weight eating normal foods and never having to slash cals again?


Im definitely in the skeptic camp here as well and Ive been doing this for 10 weeks already.. However, in that 10 weeks I increased my cals by 1000 a day, and basically my weight has stayed the same. Ive lost and gained the same 5 pounds back, but overall, Im not ballooning up eating almost double what I used to, KWIM?

Based on your activity level, you should be eating more.
You have two ways you can go about it from here... Give yourself the chance to completely reset, which means eating AT TDEE for a number of weeks, then dropping to your Cut value.. Or go to your cut value and see what happens first..For many of us, we went straight to Cut value and basically nothing changed, so we are going up to TDEE to give our bodues a chance to completely reset, know we arent starving it, and then drop back to Cut...


Im still very nervous about it, but Im at the point where I dont want to eat 1400 cals again for the rest of my life. I dont want to have to count every little thing I eat and fret if I end up splurging one day... so its a huge PITA to even fathom gaining weight right now, but its my last hope before I force myself to "starve" again..

aj_31

I feel the same way. Some days I feel like I'm just spinning in circles. I started to eat more about 2 wks ago now. The scale has gone up some and my stomach looks bigger. I have yet to take new measurements because i felt a little bloated and wanted to give myself time. Anyways - then I have days like yesterday where the scale may be up but I look in the mirror while I'm lifting and I see my muscles showing and it makes me feel good inside.

I'm not 100% clean eater. I try my best but I still like a snack bag of chips with my sub sandwich and I still like an occational soda. Once or twice a week I might have an energy drink. I feel like even if I'm 100% all week if I eat out 1x on the weekend it took all of that way. I've said it before - my new "skinny" weight has become my "fat" weight. Last week I was 168 lbs - today I was 171 lbs. Granted I splurged on Saturday because we had people over but now when I look at that number I freak out because at the beginning of the year I was 162 lbs.

Ugh...again I feel like I just spin in circles but I'll get there eventually. Trying to keep a positive outlook.

Greenrun99

Hey,
Just a quick post that might help if your thinking of staying at your current eating level.. if your only eating 1950 calories, and burning 600, thats 1350 calories a day.. you need to eat up to your BMR(1760) at the minimum, so if your not eating back exercise calories I suggest doing that (410 calories more needed).. So ya that 2429 you may want to start eating daily

aj_31

So as a person that likes to do cardio and lift should I only do cardio on my non-lifting days so I'm not burning too much and having to try and eat more? Or doesn't it matter as long as there is still a deficit?

Today for example - I was going to go run for like 30 min. Probably burn 350-400 cals. Then tonight I would lift weights and burn an average of 300-400 calories. Say on the low end I burnt 600 cals and I'm eating my cut at 1900. Now I'm down to 1300 and my BMR is 1526. So does it make sense to work that hard or should I weight and run tomorrow when I don't lift?

Any thoughts on this?

bdotshaw

Wow, you guys are fast! I do believe I love this group

bdotshaw

. I'm just frustrated with this entire process and I currently feel like saying *kitten* it, throwing on my stretchy pants, and eating a large pepperoni pizza.

LOL I have no advice for you, but I found that very amusing. I did exactly that last fall after eating 1200 calories for 3-4 months and being completely stagnant for 2 of it.

When i restarted in March i did 1500 or so a day... scale still didn't budge. Just found this group 2 weeks ago, and am now trying to up my calories to 1900 to see what happens.

LOL! We have to laugh to keep from crying, no? Good luck with your calorie increase! I hope it works out for you

Zylayna

Hi all! I'm Brittany. 26 years old. My stats:

Height: 5'9"
Weight: 209
My BMR is 1760 and my TDEE is 3036, which puts my daily calorie requirement at 2429.

I have lost about 19 lbs (eating 1950 cals/day), but it has taken about 6 or 7 months. I'm wondering if I really need to eat that 2429. My trainer says no; her take on it is that because I'm not eating oatmeal, broccoli, and steamed chicken all freaking day, the weight loss is slow. It's annoying because I stalk MANY MFP forums and many say that weight loss is all about the caloric deficit, which I always have. If that's true, I should be losing weight like crazy, no?

I'm starting to wonder if I'm doing too much cardio. I strength train 3x/week and do cardio 4-5x/week for 30-45 minutes and burn an average of 600 cals each time, according to my HRM. Should I reduce cardio to 2-3x/week? I'm thinking my decifit is too high, thus hindering my loss. Should I eat that 2429? I log EVERYTHING, good and bad - my diary can get pretty ugly at times haha. I'm just frustrated with this entire process and I currently feel like saying *kitten* it, throwing on my stretchy pants, and eating a large pepperoni pizza.

What you do for exercise is a personal choice, but the often recommended exercise is 3 days of heavy lifting along with 1 -2 days of moderate cardio. (on non-lift days) If you poke around this forum long enough you'll start to see that. Too much cardio combined with strength/lift training can actually just put you into an exhausted state and hinder your efforts - partly because high cardio burns tend to eat up some of that muscle you are trying to put on (especially at a deficit) instead of using the body's fat stores. So, in essence you wind up spinning your wheels or going backwards in your strength training. The other downfall to high cardio burns is you have to eat a LOT to give you the fuel you need. And since most are coming from a large cal deficit, they just can't fathom eating that much at first!

So, figure out what exercise pattern works for you (make sure you have at least one rest day in there) and then properly fuel whatever you decide to do to maximize your efforts.

twinmomtwice4

Darnit, I wish I had quoted the person who mentioned that you're not eating enough....going below your BMR on days you do cardio if you're burning 600 cals. But I'm too lazy to go back and look...LOL!

I think cutting back on your cardio would help. Most people here lift 3-4 days a week and then do 2-3 sessions of cardio per week.

Make sure you're not netting below your BMR, which will only hurt you in the long run and could be the reason why you're not losing weight as quickly as you'd like. With high burns on your cardio days, I have a feeling that's what's happening to you.

bdotshaw

The process does suck. A lot of it is mind games.. having someone else telling you what you should be doing to lose the weight.. This group is no different.. However, in here the idea is to NOT DIET anymore and to give yourself a complete metabolism reset and a shift in the way you think about food and calories.

Since you are at the point where most of us are at, you have to ask yourself, do you want to lose weight quickly and then yoyo diet for the next 30 years of your life, or do you want to reset yourself now, maybe gain a bit of the weight back for a short period of time, and then finally be able to lose the weight eating normal foods and never having to slash cals again?


Im definitely in the skeptic camp here as well and Ive been doing this for 10 weeks already.. However, in that 10 weeks I increased my cals by 1000 a day, and basically my weight has stayed the same. Ive lost and gained the same 5 pounds back, but overall, Im not ballooning up eating almost double what I used to, KWIM?

Based on your activity level, you should be eating more.
You have two ways you can go about it from here... Give yourself the chance to completely reset, which means eating AT TDEE for a number of weeks, then dropping to your Cut value.. Or go to your cut value and see what happens first..For many of us, we went straight to Cut value and basically nothing changed, so we are going up to TDEE to give our bodues a chance to completely reset, know we arent starving it, and then drop back to Cut...


Im still very nervous about it, but Im at the point where I dont want to eat 1400 cals again for the rest of my life. I dont want to have to count every little thing I eat and fret if I end up splurging one day... so its a huge PITA to even fathom gaining weight right now, but its my last hope before I force myself to "starve" again..

The thought of eating 3000+ cals BLOWS MY ENTIRE MIND! I suppose I have nothing to lose, though. My sanity is long gone.

bdotshaw

Darnit, I wish I had quoted the person who mentioned that you're not eating enough....going below your BMR on days you do cardio if you're burning 600 cals. But I'm too lazy to go back and look...LOL!

I think cutting back on your cardio would help. Most people here lift 3-4 days a week and then do 2-3 sessions of cardio per week.

Make sure you're not netting below your BMR, which will only hurt you in the long run and could be the reason why you're not losing weight as quickly as you'd like. With high burns on your cardio days, I have a feeling that's what's happening to you.

I agree. I think I'll start by reducing cardio and making sure to net my BMR or more every day. I'm skurred, but I'm going to do it.

aj_31

Darnit, I wish I had quoted the person who mentioned that you're not eating enough....going below your BMR on days you do cardio if you're burning 600 cals. But I'm too lazy to go back and look...LOL!

I think cutting back on your cardio would help. Most people here lift 3-4 days a week and then do 2-3 sessions of cardio per week.

Make sure you're not netting below your BMR, which will only hurt you in the long run and could be the reason why you're not losing weight as quickly as you'd like. With high burns on your cardio days, I have a feeling that's what's happening to you.

Thanks. I was wondering if I was doing more damage than good. Right now the workout that I'm doing has 4 phases. I'm on the second phase and it is a 4 day split. So I have this week and next week of doing 4 days. Then weeks 7-9 is a 3 day split and then phase 4 goes back to 4 days for weeks 10-12. So maybe on the days I don't lift I should do cardio (2 days) and then have 1 rest day. Then in the next phase I could do 1-3 days of cardio and so on.

bdotshaw

What you do for exercise is a personal choice, but the often recommended exercise is 3 days of heavy lifting along with 1 -2 days of moderate cardio. (on non-lift days) If you poke around this forum long enough you'll start to see that. Too much cardio combined with strength/lift training can actually just put you into an exhausted state and hinder your efforts - partly because high cardio burns tend to eat up some of that muscle you are trying to put on (especially at a deficit) instead of using the body's fat stores. So, in essence you wind up spinning your wheels or going backwards in your strength training. The other downfall to high cardio burns is you have to eat a LOT to give you the fuel you need. And since most are coming from a large cal deficit, they just can't fathom eating that much at first!

So, figure out what exercise pattern works for you (make sure you have at least one rest day in there) and then properly fuel whatever you decide to do to maximize your efforts.

Thanks so much for your help! I am finally starting to realize that cardio is NOT necessarily king. It sucks, because I HATE strength training with a fiery passion.

aj_31

What you do for exercise is a personal choice, but the often recommended exercise is 3 days of heavy lifting along with 1 -2 days of moderate cardio. (on non-lift days) If you poke around this forum long enough you'll start to see that. Too much cardio combined with strength/lift training can actually just put you into an exhausted state and hinder your efforts - partly because high cardio burns tend to eat up some of that muscle you are trying to put on (especially at a deficit) instead of using the body's fat stores. So, in essence you wind up spinning your wheels or going backwards in your strength training. The other downfall to high cardio burns is you have to eat a LOT to give you the fuel you need. And since most are coming from a large cal deficit, they just can't fathom eating that much at first!

So, figure out what exercise pattern works for you (make sure you have at least one rest day in there) and then properly fuel whatever you decide to do to maximize your efforts.

Thanks so much for your help! I am finally starting to realize that cardio is NOT necessarily king. It sucks, because I HATE strength training with a fiery passion.

I never really got the whole lifting thing until I started and now I'm addicted. Same with my husband. He did more cardio and now he's addicted to lifting. Maybe you'll catch that bug too.

bdotshaw

Hey,
Just a quick post that might help if your thinking of staying at your current eating level.. if your only eating 1950 calories, and burning 600, thats 1350 calories a day.. you need to eat up to your BMR(1760) at the minimum, so if your not eating back exercise calories I suggest doing that (410 calories more needed).. So ya that 2429 you may want to start eating daily

That makes so much sense. I can see clearly now! Just an FYI, if I gain even .25 of a lb while doing this, I WILL have a nervous breakdown and need medical assistance. I warned you.

bdotshaw

I never really got the whole lifting thing until I started and now I'm addicted. Same with my husband. He did more cardio and now he's addicted to lifting. Maybe you'll catch that bug too.

That would be awesome! I dread it every single time. It just sucks because we have been told for SO LONG that if we eat 1200 cals and do 5 hrs/day of cardio, we would lose. We seriously have to re-program our entire brain! It's a process.

aj_31

I never really got the whole lifting thing until I started and now I'm addicted. Same with my husband. He did more cardio and now he's addicted to lifting. Maybe you'll catch that bug too.

That would be awesome! I dread it every single time. It just sucks because we have been told for SO LONG that if we eat 1200 cals and do 5 hrs/day of cardio, we would lose. We seriously have to re-program our entire brain! It's a process.

You can say that again!

bdotshaw

So as a person that likes to do cardio and lift should I only do cardio on my non-lifting days so I'm not burning too much and having to try and eat more? Or doesn't it matter as long as there is still a deficit?

Today for example - I was going to go run for like 30 min. Probably burn 350-400 cals. Then tonight I would lift weights and burn an average of 300-400 calories. Say on the low end I burnt 600 cals and I'm eating my cut at 1900. Now I'm down to 1300 and my BMR is 1526. So does it make sense to work that hard or should I weight and run tomorrow when I don't lift?

Any thoughts on this?

I have decided that cardio and strength will be done on seperate days. Responses so far seem to show that I'm simply creating too large a deficit (below my BMR) by doing both on the same day. I have a good feeling about this approach.

rebekahgo

Hey,
Just a quick post that might help if your thinking of staying at your current eating level.. if your only eating 1950 calories, and burning 600, thats 1350 calories a day.. you need to eat up to your BMR(1760) at the minimum, so if your not eating back exercise calories I suggest doing that (410 calories more needed).. So ya that 2429 you may want to start eating daily

That makes so much sense. I can see clearly now! Just an FYI, if I gain even .25 of a lb while doing this, I WILL have a nervous breakdown and need medical assistance. I warned you.

*snort*

i like you.

same advice as all the others.

zukkiz

I like that you are so willing to give it a try! Your great attitude will help you succeed!

I have some advice, on getting started.

1. Take pictures.
2. Take measurements.
3. Weigh just this once, now. (Toss the scales for awhile! )
4. Journal, not only food but how you feel during this process.

Changes will come from all aspects.

avalynsmom

Hi all! I'm Brittany. 26 years old. My stats:

Height: 5'9"
Weight: 209
My BMR is 1760 and my TDEE is 3036, which puts my daily calorie requirement at 2429.

I have lost about 19 lbs (eating 1950 cals/day), but it has taken about 6 or 7 months. I'm wondering if I really need to eat that 2429. My trainer says no; her take on it is that because I'm not eating oatmeal, broccoli, and steamed chicken all freaking day, the weight loss is slow. It's annoying because I stalk MANY MFP forums and many say that weight loss is all about the caloric deficit, which I always have. If that's true, I should be losing weight like crazy, no?

I'm starting to wonder if I'm doing too much cardio. I strength train 3x/week and do cardio 4-5x/week for 30-45 minutes and burn an average of 600 cals each time, according to my HRM. Should I reduce cardio to 2-3x/week? I'm thinking my decifit is too high, thus hindering my loss. Should I eat that 2429? I log EVERYTHING, good and bad - my diary can get pretty ugly at times haha. I'm just frustrated with this entire process and I currently feel like saying *kitten* it, throwing on my stretchy pants, and eating a large pepperoni pizza.

I would also agree with pretty much everything everyone else has said. I have similar stats to you, except that I'm shorter, and now I workout less, and I eat more than you do. I have my MFP set to 2300/day, and I add 200 in on weight days. I do New Rules of Lifting for Women 3x/wk and I just lowered my cardio again to only 2x/wk, and not on lift days. When I first started on MFP and "started" eating more (I only tried 1200 for 4 days lol, I have ALWAYS known that's not the way to go!) I was working out 6 days/wk for around an hr to an hr and a half. I was doing a mix of weights and cardio, but more cardio than now, and my weights were only on machines, so not "heavy" lifting. I was eating at 2500 cals and doing all that working out and I was losing quick. I lost about 13lbs in around 4-5wks or so. When I changed to New Rules and less cardio, my weight loss stalled out a bit, but mainly due to the increase in muscle, and I also had lowered my cals a bit. I raised them back up last week AND took the whole week off of cardio, so just lifting 3x/wk, and I lost 2 more lbs that way.

I know that's a lot of rambling, but my point was mainly that you should try increasing your cals and decreasing your cardio and see how that goes:) And make sure you're tracking your weight so you can see the trend rather than the day to day:)

graysmom2005

Hey,
Just a quick post that might help if your thinking of staying at your current eating level.. if your only eating 1950 calories, and burning 600, thats 1350 calories a day.. you need to eat up to your BMR(1760) at the minimum, so if your not eating back exercise calories I suggest doing that (410 calories more needed).. So ya that 2429 you may want to start eating daily

That makes so much sense. I can see clearly now! Just an FYI, if I gain even .25 of a lb while doing this, I WILL have a nervous breakdown and need medical assistance. I warned you.

HAHAHA! My advice is to NOT go on the scale. I'm starting week four and I haven't stepped foot on it. I know it will freak me out, so until I hit weeks 6-10 ish...I'm steering CLEAR! :-D

aj_31

Hey,
Just a quick post that might help if your thinking of staying at your current eating level.. if your only eating 1950 calories, and burning 600, thats 1350 calories a day.. you need to eat up to your BMR(1760) at the minimum, so if your not eating back exercise calories I suggest doing that (410 calories more needed).. So ya that 2429 you may want to start eating daily

That makes so much sense. I can see clearly now! Just an FYI, if I gain even .25 of a lb while doing this, I WILL have a nervous breakdown and need medical assistance. I warned you.

HAHAHA! My advice is to NOT go on the scale. I'm starting week four and I haven't stepped foot on it. I know it will freak me out, so until I hit weeks 6-10 ish...I'm steering CLEAR! :-D

Same here. I totally get freaked out by the scale. I try only to get on it once a week if that.

mrs_dwr

No new advice from me, but welcome to the group! I love your attitude - I think you'll do well!

tenpets

Hey, Brittany.

Sounds like you're in a good place to join a group of us who are plunging head first into a full metabolism reset. Here's the link to the thread http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/612353-metabolism-reset-eating-at-tdee-support-thread

BTW, You made me giggle! Love your attitude!:laugh:

ANewLucia

Hey,
Just a quick post that might help if your thinking of staying at your current eating level.. if your only eating 1950 calories, and burning 600, thats 1350 calories a day.. you need to eat up to your BMR(1760) at the minimum, so if your not eating back exercise calories I suggest doing that (410 calories more needed).. So ya that 2429 you may want to start eating daily

That makes so much sense. I can see clearly now! Just an FYI, if I gain even .25 of a lb while doing this, I WILL have a nervous breakdown and need medical assistance. I warned you.

Ok, I just about fell out of my chair on this one...too funny. Hun, please just throw away the scale or ask someone to hide it. You must read what to expect when upping...gaining is almost inevitable in most cases, and I don't want you to have a nervous breakdown

It is a process, but a truly rewarding one, especially once you really start to understand your body, the cause of most fluctuations, and how to tweak the process on your own. It takes time and patience and a reliance on this amazing group of people in the EM2WL family. The support here is truly amazing, so you come right here and cry cause trust there are a few that will be doing so with you...shoot I may join ya too!

Lucia:flowerforyou:

MyHighestPraise

It may have been mentioned already and I missed it, but when was the last time you ran your numbers? You know every time you lose say 5 pounds or so, you should re-calculate your new goals. At least that it is what I see on the boards when I'm reading...

Just a thought

Greenrun99

That makes so much sense. I can see clearly now! Just an FYI, if I gain even .25 of a lb while doing this, I WILL have a nervous breakdown and need medical assistance. I warned you.

If you gain .25 of a lb.. I will tell you to take your belt off.. or shoes.. or high heels.. or earrings.. or whatever else you girls weight yourselves down with (cell phone, ipod, house/car keys, purse)!

bdotshaw

Thank you ALL for all the fabulous advice and encouragement! After reading all your comments, I looked at my net calorie history and for the most part, I was always netting around 1300 when my BMR is around 1800 Starting TODAY, I am reducing cardio and making sure to at least net my BMR every day. I'll *try* to wait two weeks before tackling that b*tch called the scale. As far as the reset...that takes much more courage than I have at this moment. We shall see what the future holds I'll be posting my results...

Thanks again! Awesome group of people!