Freaking out.......... 6lbs on after 24 lbs lost :(

nc_blue82

Hey Guys,

Looking for a bit of help/support as have now put on 6 lbs. after 6 month long plateau and then starting again based on EMTWL principles:

I work in a sedentary desk job and last October decided to get more active as I had a reached a high of 240 LBS at 5'4"! I reduced my food intake to around 1800-2000 kcals, whilst exercising 2-3 hours per week at the Gym and Body Combat. After doing this for 2-3 months, I had reached a long time low of 217 LBS.

When my work opened a new gym I changed my routine to consuming around 1600 -1800 kcals in line with the recent weight loss using MFP, and upping my exercise to 10-15 hours per week as I had access to a significantly larger range of fitness classes e.g. Pump, Step, Attack, Conditioning, Pilates and Body balance, alongside a few cardio/calisthenics interval sessions at the gym every now and again. Over a 6 month period (including the ups and downs of 2 holidays) I plateaued at 217 LBS.

So after no recent weight loss, i was searching hard for answers/solutions and caught sight of and was encouraged by EMTWL.
So using Scooby, I calculated my BMR at 1757, TDEE at 2724, and cut (30/20% fat loss) at 2179-2425.

So after being freaked out about resetting my metabolism through eating 2700 kcals a day for 8 weeks, I decided this wasn't for me, but did however, stop counting at the weekends, and pushing the amount I eat to around 1900 -2400 kcals during the week (my exercise days and now 6-8 hours per week).

I have been doing this for 3-4 weeks now, and to be quite honest need some reassurance:
a) doing the right thing?
b) at some point soon will I see lbs. off rather than the recent 6lbs on,
c) do I just need to wait it out?

Any thoughts on my predicament would be very much welcomed as I’m left wondering have I irrevocably put my body into starvation mode? do I have enough patience to wait it out? am I doing too much exercise? is my tendency to eat more at 9-10 PM after work and the gym ruining my efforts?

Thanks in advance
Nx

mommamuscles

Hey Guys,

Looking for a bit of help/support as have now put on 6 lbs. after 6 month long plateau and then starting again based on EMTWL principles:

I work in a sedentary desk job and last October decided to get more active as I had a reached a high of 240 LBS at 5'4"! I reduced my food intake to around 1800-2000 kcals, whilst exercising 2-3 hours per week at the Gym and Body Combat. After doing this for 2-3 months, I had reached a long time low of 217 LBS.

When my work opened a new gym I changed my routine to consuming around 1600 -1800 kcals in line with the recent weight loss using MFP, and upping my exercise to 10-15 hours per week as I had access to a significantly larger range of fitness classes e.g. Pump, Step, Attack, Conditioning, Pilates and Body balance, alongside a few cardio/calisthenics interval sessions at the gym every now and again. Over a 6 month period (including the ups and downs of 2 holidays) I plateaued at 217 LBS.

So after no recent weight loss, i was searching hard for answers/solutions and caught sight of and was encouraged by EMTWL.
So using Scooby, I calculated my BMR at 1757, TDEE at 2724, and cut (30/20% fat loss) at 2179-2425.

So after being freaked out about resetting my metabolism through eating 2700 kcals a day for 8 weeks, I decided this wasn't for me, but did however, stop counting at the weekends, and pushing the amount I eat to around 1900 -2400 kcals during the week (my exercise days and now 6-8 hours per week).

I have been doing this for 3-4 weeks now, and to be quite honest need some reassurance:
a) doing the right thing?
b) at some point soon will I see lbs. off rather than the recent 6lbs on,
c) do I just need to wait it out?

Any thoughts on my predicament would be very much welcomed as I’m left wondering have I irrevocably put my body into starvation mode? do I have enough patience to wait it out? am I doing too much exercise? is my tendency to eat more at 9-10 PM after work and the gym ruining my efforts?

Thanks in advance
Nx

First of all welcome to the group and congrats on your weight loss! I want to encourage you to keep on keeping on. It sounds like youre body was in starvation mode due to the amount of exercise you are/were doing. Is that the same activity level you are keeping now? If so, you definitely need to bump up your calorie goal to the next activity goal. I personally would not recommend that much cardio. Put more emphasis on the weights, which will build some nice lean muscle which will work hard for you to burn the fat in the near future!
For now, I am going to recommend that you put the scale somewhere where you will not be tempted to get on it for the next six weeks. Your body is learning to trust you right now, and in order to do that, you need to stay consistent with your calories (even on the weekend). Eventually, your weight will stabilize and then should start to move in the right direction, provided you have your activity level figured correctly.
It does take some time for our bodies to figure out we are done starving them. Alot of that depends on the level of our consistency as well as our dieting history. The longer you've been eating at a severe deficit, the longer it will take for your metabolism to return to normal. I would keep your calories as is for the next 6 weeks, but if after then you still are not seeing the results you want, it may be advisable to look into doing a metabolism reset.

Hope that helps!
Becca

meggyh20

My recommendation is to pick one number (to go with your high activity level) and eat that amount exactly each day. I also agree that you may want to decrease your cardio and start a weight training program such as New Rules of Lifting for Women. You may gain slightly initially but weight training will give you better results in terms of shaping your body over time. Also, I don't think you mentioned what types of foods you are eating. Most of the posters here eat a 40% carbs/30% protein/30% (healthy) fat balance and this helps give your body the appropriate fuel to get better results. I also agree with setting the scale aside, but you should also be tracking your calories on the weekends. Not being consistent confuses your body and could lead to weight gain if you tend to eat more on the weekends. I have been eating more for about six weeks and while i havent been gaining, i also havent lost much but can see positive changes in my body. I am gaining muscle at this point so I don't expect a lot of change yet. But the most important thing I would say is to be consistent and evaluate what you eat in addition to how much. If you'd like ideas or suggrational feel free to look at my diary, or if you want to open yours, we may be able to help there as well.

HeidiHoMom

You mentioned that you are not tracking on weekends, you really should go back to tracking...your weekends of not tracking can be undoing your hardwork during the day and can be the reason you have gained.

nc_blue82

Thanks lot ladies.....will definately take all your advice, starting with counting my calories fully i.e. on weekends as well. Had a serious moment of weekness and doubt but a bit calmer now. Have already cut back on cardio and introduced more weights as an alternative. Resest wk 5 here i come....

graysmom2005

This is totally off topic, but I love that your rocking the Les Mills. :-) I teach Combat, Pump, CXWORX, and Sh'bam. Just had to chime in. :-)