weight up, waist down, hips up.... I'm soooo torn!

MyHighestPraise

I think part of my frustration is that this is summer. We live at the pool and the beach. We have a family vacation with my Bro and SIL in September and I soooo want to already be "there" with my body.

I don't mind the long haul, slow and successful, the turtle wins the race, etc... starting in the fall!!!! Why did I just discover all of this now?

Then, on top of how confusing my body stats are, I'm losing my mind with how I feel. I'm HUNGRY all the time now! I think I'm in step 5 of that list on the thread about what to expect!! I had not gained, I had actually lost until this week!!!

What is up with my hips getting bigger?! I know I blew it earlier this week, and then with the tropical Storm (Beryl) raining us in for two days I couldn't get outside.

I guess I'm just torn, confused, scared of gaining right now at the beginning of summer, and yet tired of being on this roller coaster.

I've seriously been thinking about doing a reset, but that's even scarier here at the beginning of summer!!

It's my pity party...sorry I pulled you all in it...

:sad:
Catherine

fiveohmike

Hey Catherine!

Step 1: Calm deep breaths

Step 2:

What are your TDEE numbers? How long have you been eating at your TDEE cut target? What do you have your activity level set to?

Have you been consistent with the calories? Are you eating cleanish?

Did you come from eating calories for a long while directly to this?

Thanks!

Mike

mommamuscles

I think part of my frustration is that this is summer. We live at the pool and the beach. We have a family vacation with my Bro and SIL in September and I soooo want to already be "there" with my body.

I don't mind the long haul, slow and successful, the turtle wins the race, etc... starting in the fall!!!! Why did I just discover all of this now?

Then, on top of how confusing my body stats are, I'm losing my mind with how I feel. I'm HUNGRY all the time now! I think I'm in step 5 of that list on the thread about what to expect!! I had not gained, I had actually lost until this week!!!

What is up with my hips getting bigger?! I know I blew it earlier this week, and then with the tropical Storm (Beryl) raining us in for two days I couldn't get outside.

I guess I'm just torn, confused, scared of gaining right now at the beginning of summer, and yet tired of being on this roller coaster.

I've seriously been thinking about doing a reset, but that's even scarier here at the beginning of summer!!

It's my pity party...sorry I pulled you all in it...

:sad:
Catherine

Welcome to the group! I think if you are concerned about gaining weight at the beginnning of summer, I would ease into increasing your calories and perhaps save the metabolism reset for the end of summer or fall, after the threat of swimsuit weather is behind you. I think a good starting point for you would be TDEE -15%. If you read through some of the stories on the boards, there are all kinds of results. Some people gain water weight right at the beginning and others lose. I think alot of it depends on how drastically you've been undereating, and how prone your body is to retain water. When I did my metabolism reset, I was incredibly bloated and looked like 6 months pregnant, lol. I also gained like 8 pounds in 4 weeks. But I retain ALOT of water after eating salty foods, and it is not unusual for me to gain 7-10 pounds the week before TOM.

Im not sure what the deal is with your hips getting bigger, but I would be ecstatic about your waist size going down, regardless of what the scale says, lol!!! You will probably find as you increase calories that even though the scale doesnt move (down, it may move up), your clothes will fit better. I am actually up about 5 pounds since Christmas time, but down from a size 8/10 to a size 4/6. I am beginning to realize that the scale doesnt really reflect everything that is going on.

As far as the hunger, I think that is a common thing that alot of us experience when increasing calories. It means that your metabolism is firing up. Hang with it. It is far worse for our bodies to do this constant back and forth thing out of fear of gaining weight. To really assess whether or not this is working, keep your calories consistent and stick it out for about 6 weeks, and then you will be in a position to take information from a number of sources (the scale, measuring tape, body fat, the way your clothes fit, energy level, etc.) and see if you need to make any changes.

I hope that helps!!

MyHighestPraise

Hey Catherine!

Step 1: Calm deep breaths - that does help, thanks

Step 2:

What are your TDEE numbers? 1724 How long have you been eating at your TDEE cut target? 2 weeks, sort of. Because I was eating sooo far below my BMR for so long, I took a few weeks to gradually increase my cals to the TDEE -15%. Ive been at that for two weeks basically. My last increase was only about 100 cals. What do you have your activity level set to? I have it set to light active. That is another one I'm unsure of. I homeschool my sons so although I am "always well. We go for walks/bike rides/roller blading a few times a week.

Have you been consistent with the calories? I'm super meticulous about recording and keeping it in the green with the exception of a few days over the last month where I blew it that day. When I see I've ended up a bit more than my norm early in the day I'm diligent to get in the activity to bring my net into the green. Are you eating cleanish? I'd say so. We've always been healthy eaters on the whole. I'm not totally familiar with the term, but I'm imagining that means my food choices are healthy choices and not the calorie dense waste of my time choices. Our veggies are organic anytime possible, we eats lots of live foods as well as homemade from scratch unprocessed foods. We are mostly pescatarians and have been for working on two years.

Did you come from eating calories for a long while directly to this? My long term history is one of 700 - 1000 calories daily on the whole for the last 10 years-ish. I didn't realize how much damage I was doing, but I ate when I was hungry, never felt deprived, and just didn't have an appetitie for more. When I first starting using MFP I was struggling to get to the 1200 cals it set me to. Having been doing it for a month now and gradually increasing my cals up to the 1439 I'm at now, I'm hungry all the time and serously can't imagine going back to less than 1000 cals a day....

Thanks for taking to help "bring me down"

Thanks!

Mike

fiveohmike

Hey!

So there a couple things (and this is the scary part) about moving to a healthy amount of calories for weight loss. If you have been eating at a VLCD for a long time your metabolism may be out of wack.

Right now what you are doing is trying to fix that first, before the real weight loss can begin. It sounds to me like you almost need to do a full TDEE Maintenance metabolism reset.

Yes that is scary aint it? You should check out the TDEE Maintenance support thread. Also check out the posts on "Making the blunder" i think its called, about not doing a TDEE reset.

I am starting to feel its almost mandatory for people to go through. It will be VERY hard, as you may gain weight as your metabolism is recovering.

However with that said, remember this is NOT a quick fix. This is a full lifestyle change for something that can be easily maintained for the rest of your life...no starving your self, no worry about that 1/4oz of bread causing bloating ect.

This is the long haul. for the first two months, while you do a metabolism reset you might not lose anything. However fixing the metabolism is the first step to the rest of your life.....whats two months compared to a lifetime of no longer having to yo yo diet?

Mike

MyHighestPraise

Hey!

So there a couple things (and this is the scary part) about moving to a healthy amount of calories for weight loss. If you have been eating at a VLCD for a long time your metabolism may be out of wack.

Right now what you are doing is trying to fix that first, before the real weight loss can begin. It sounds to me like you almost need to do a full TDEE Maintenance metabolism reset.

Yes that is scary aint it? You should check out the TDEE Maintenance support thread. Also check out the posts on "Making the blunder" i think its called, about not doing a TDEE reset.

I am starting to feel its almost mandatory for people to go through. It will be VERY hard, as you may gain weight as your metabolism is recovering.

However with that said, remember this is NOT a quick fix. This is a full lifestyle change for something that can be easily maintained for the rest of your life...no starving your self, no worry about that 1/4oz of bread causing bloating ect.

This is the long haul. for the first two months, while you do a metabolism reset you might not lose anything. However fixing the metabolism is the first step to the rest of your life.....whats two months compared to a lifetime of no longer having to yo yo diet?

Mike

At least "chewing on" and "digesting" this doesn't add to my cals for the day! I'm headed to the pool in my "fat day" swim suit. At least I burn a lot of cals swimming and it is the right exercise. I do seriously have to figure out what my next step is. Maintain my TDEE cut for the summer and d a full reset in teh fall, or go ahead and dive into the deep end for the full reset now. I just don't know.

Thx for your responses!! I love reading on these boards and I love the support of this group!
Cateherine

jj3120

I recall my hip measurement went up initially while waist went down, it has all evened out now.

mrs_dwr

Totally off-topic, but when you mentioned Beryl I went to your profile to see where you live (I promise I'm not stalking! Lol) - small world, I live in Rincon! *wave* :flowerforyou:

graysmom2005

I feel you. I'm into week 4 and I was bummin' looking at myself during Bodyflow today. I STILL look fluffy. I looked lean before I started. If I have to do a reset, I may start in the Fall too. It's me and a herd of ripped instructors at our pool, and spilled out of my swimsuit does NOT excite me. LOL!

nyspotlight

I'm nearly a month into this and Chalean Extreme (lifting). My waist has gone down an inch and my hips up a little bit. So maybe this is common? I'm not terribly worried about it. I think I'm adding muscle on my legs/ hips. Eventually that muscle has to conquer the fat, right? :-)

MyHighestPraise

Thanks, y'all! I do feel better after some time in the pool I thought about it this afternoon and I do think I'm going to stick with the TDEE-cut for the summer. I may not lose anything, but I don't think I'll continue gaining. Now that I'll be in the pool and the ocean somuch, my exercise level will go up drastically from our school year levels. As soon as we are done with the vacation in Sept. I'm doing a metabolism reset and setting myself on the right path for good.

Totally off-topic, but when you mentioned Beryl I went to your profile to see where you live (I promise I'm not stalking! Lol) - small world, I live in Rincon! *wave* :flowerforyou:

Yaaayyy!!! It's nice to have someone so close! :flowerforyou: What did you think about that little rainstorm this afternoon?! We had been at the Y for 20 minutes when it came out of nowhere and cut our trip short..lol

Thank you all for sharing your experiences. It truly makes a difference knowing others have had similarities and it turned out okay

HUGS!!! Catherine

swingkid1975

Don't forget that when your summer activity level goes up you need to recalculate your numbers based on activity level.

MyHighestPraise

Don't forget that when your summer activity level goes up you need to recalculate your numbers based on activity level.

That's true! So technically, I will get to eat more Yaaayy! I can barely remember the days of feeling full and not wanting to eat and falling below 1000 cals consistently. I'm sooo hungry now and I eat all day!!