Double checking because starting to have doubts

RoosMommy01

I know my friends are probably tired of hearing me ramble on and on about this but I really think I'm one of the ones that the whole EMTWL won't work for me.

I'll put my info out there first.
I'm 5'6, 30 yrs old and am currently 258.5
I put that I'm lightly active because I usually only do 35-40 minutes of walking or will do Leslie Sansone walk away the pounds dvd which is also around 40 minutes.

When I started this group I was at 252 and I went up to 263. I was devastated. I expected to put on the weight so it wasn't a huge shock but now I'm stuck going between 258-260. I get as close to my bmr as possible which is 1943 but will admit that I don't always meet it. I'm usually off by 100.

What annoys me is that some people tell me it's not that big of a deal to meet that number and others tell me that I'm going to be stuck at this weight because I'm still not eating enough. I've switched from eating low cal meals and fat free stuff just to meet the calories requested but good god, what is the point of eating all this stuff if the weight is going to keep going up. I'm not trying to put back on the 40lbs that I worked so hard to get off. :mad:

Is it possible that I'm eating too much and not exercising enough? Or am I still exercising too much and not eating enough. I still find it hard to eat back exercise calories that I just burned. It just makes absolutely no sense to me to do that.

I have my dairy open. The last 2-3 days I haven't eaten breakfast only because it's summer time and my son and I will sleep in until almost lunch time. *L* A typical day for me starts out with breakfast and then I do my walking outside, then I have lunch and a snack and that's about it for the day.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Forgot to mention that before I lower calories, I'm going to try some weight lifting for a week or 2 to see if that will make a difference.

avalynsmom

I'm no expert by any means, but I say you still need to eat more. And just doing a quick skim on your diary, you need to change WHAT foods your eating, and up your protein, big time. I eat more cals than you, though I consider myself in the "moderate" activity level. I started at 227, and I started my cals at 2500, but that was with working out 5-6days/wk. When I first started, before I started heavy lifting, the lbs just melted off.

BUT I eat frequently, cleanly, and consistently. For a little while, I tried the whole "just making sure I netted my BMR" and it did not work at all for me. It was only when I was consistent and ate the same every day that it started working.

If you can, try eating every 2-3hrs, shooting for your 30% protein, and hitting your cals every day. I ran your stuff through Scooby and came up with a 15% cut being 2270, so try eating that number every day. You don't even have to think about "eating back" your exercise cals, just eat that amount every day. Give it some time, if it doesn't work, reevaluate, but I bet you'll be surprised. Every single time I have a "celebratory" day or just completely blow my cals for whatever reason, I lose. EVERY time, so I've been shown plenty that it works:) My diary is open if you need ideas for meals/snacks. I eat the same foods every day pretty much, it's easier for me that way:)

rotnkat

I know my friends are probably tired of hearing me ramble on and on about this but I really think I'm one of the ones that the whole EMTWL won't work for me.

I'll put my info out there first.
I'm 5'6, 30 yrs old and am currently 258.5
I put that I'm lightly active because I usually only do 35-40 minutes of walking or will do Leslie Sansone walk away the pounds dvd which is also around 40 minutes.

When I started this group I was at 252 and I went up to 263. I was devastated. I expected to put on the weight so it wasn't a huge shock but now I'm stuck going between 258-260. I get as close to my bmr as possible which is 1943 but will admit that I don't always meet it. I'm usually off by 100.

What annoys me is that some people tell me it's not that big of a deal to meet that number and others tell me that I'm going to be stuck at this weight because I'm still not eating enough. I've switched from eating low cal meals and fat free stuff just to meet the calories requested but good god, what is the point of eating all this stuff if the weight is going to keep going up. I'm not trying to put back on the 40lbs that I worked so hard to get off. :mad:

Is it possible that I'm eating too much and not exercising enough? Or am I still exercising too much and not eating enough. I still find it hard to eat back exercise calories that I just burned. It just makes absolutely no sense to me to do that.

I have my dairy open. The last 2-3 days I haven't eaten breakfast only because it's summer time and my son and I will sleep in until almost lunch time. *L* A typical day for me starts out with breakfast and then I do my walking outside, then I have lunch and a snack and that's about it for the day.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Forgot to mention that before I lower calories, I'm going to try some weight lifting for a week or 2 to see if that will make a difference.

I looked at your diary for the last couple of days and you are not eating enough!! Also how long have you been doing em2wl and how many hours do you workout total?

This is what I got for your #'s.

BMR= 1912
TDEE= 2629
15% cut= 2235 (With light activity) You need to eat this everyday.

RoosMommy01

I started em2wl on May 21st. I strive to workout 30 minutes a day Monday-Friday. 2 or 3 times a week I feel like I'm not doing enough so I will work out an extra 30-45 minutes.

rotnkat

I started em2wl on May 21st. I strive to workout 30 minutes a day Monday-Friday. 2 or 3 times a week I feel like I'm not doing enough so I will work out an extra 30-45 minutes.

Have you taken your measurements? Please read the stickie "The Dreaded Scale" Becasue it has some very good information about flucuations!!!!

Also you need to be consistant with your eating because your body gets confused on how much you're going to feed it. Once it gets used to being fed properly it will start letting go of the fat instead of hoarding it! :drinker:

RoosMommy01

I started em2wl on May 21st. I strive to workout 30 minutes a day Monday-Friday. 2 or 3 times a week I feel like I'm not doing enough so I will work out an extra 30-45 minutes.

Have you taken your measurements? Please read the stickie "The Dreaded Scale" Becasue it has some very good information about flucuations!!!!

Also you need to be consistant with your eating because your body gets confused on how much you're going to feed it. Once it gets used to being fed properly it will start letting go of the fat instead of hoarding it! :drinker:

I actually took my batteries out of my scale because after seeing the 60s back on the scale I was done with it. *L* I'm going to do my meausments tomorrow. I know my clothes were feeling a little tighter but seem to be getting loose again so I know the number isn't totally correct. I like telling myself that I know I haven't been the whole 10 lbs back on.

As far as eating goes, I'm pretty good with sticking to a schedule. Especially while my son is in school. My day is usually breakfast at 8:30-9am; snack at 11; lunch at 1-1:30; snack at 4 and a small dinner at 6

mphlab

I am 44 years old & disabled and cannot exercise (even walking two blocks is a major accomplishments). I have lost 9.5 pounds in about 10 weeks on EM2WL with no exercise by eating beteen BMR &TDEE, In 10 weeks I have maybe been below BMR 3 or 4 times but try to eat at cut every day. I did go up a pound or 2 in the beginning.

I am sorry that you are having a hard time. I like to bring out the old saw "If I can do it anyone can" cause really I am not exactly the poster child for weight loss! I would try it eating above BMR consistently before you throw in the towel!.

nsalerno90

This is confusing me too - I am hovering around BMR and am really nervous about eating too much. I have been fat for a long time and am not sure I can handle any more weight gain. However, I am slowly becoming convinced because eating at MFP levels is doing me no good. So I started lifting and increased protein and calories . . . thanks for the explanations. They helped me too.

RoosMommy01

Yeah I def. quit the 1200-1400 a day and have noticed a huge difference in the way that I feel. My nails start growing and my hair started growing back so I know there are advantages to it but the "gain" and tightness of my clothes is starting to get annoying.

AprilRenewed

I'm no expert either, but I am going to agree with those who say it looks like:

1) You aren't eating the right things and
2) you aren't eating consistently.

Sometimes, you skip dinner. Sometimes, a bag of chips serves as your lunch. Sweetheart, I so want this for you, but it's not going to happen when you don't eat right. I know so many people will tell you a calorie is a calorie, and to some extent it is. But you're not giving your body the right nutrients, nor are you telling it, "Hey! Don't worry! Just because you're getting food now does NOT mean I'm going to starve you later! I'll feed you again!"

Instead, you're telling it, "Eat this and enjoy it because I may not feed you later."

Your body then grabs ahold of that food and storing it as fat for later because it's afraid it may not get dinner! Or if it does, it may not get any protein!

Try to eat a bit of carbs and protein 6 times a day. Lean protein.

I'm NOT judging you or anything, please know that, but you also have what seems to me a lot of fat. You certainly need some in your diet, but compared to the amount of protein you're getting, you're getting too much fat.

I think before you worry too much about your workouts, you need to focus on your diet.

Again, I'm no expert. And I'm no one to judge and NOT judging. I'm genuinely trying to help. I too, come from a place of pain. It's just on a different side. I know how scary and frustrating this whole food/weight/exercise/body image thing is.

I'm going to friend you because I think we can all learn from each other.

slays1415

Hmmm, looked at your diary and the only thing I could think of was measurements, especially things like peanut butter. Are you taking a tablespoon out and levelling out two of them when you have that for breakfast? I know I can get into trouble very easily with estimating those high caloric density foods. Any chance that could be part of the problem? All it takes to stall is being off by a few hundred a day...

Raynn1

Many have already touched on things, but I will add..

Put the scale away. I know exactly what you are thinking, seeing the higher number come up. It took me almost 18 months to PAINFULLY lose 20 pounds after the birth of my second child by VLCD and over exercising.. It kiled me because I "should" have lost like 60 or so pounds, right??... When I did the reset, I gained back about 6 of them, so far thats holding still.

Im 240. I know seeing those higher numbers creep up are killers to us. SO often we are told how fat and overweight and obese we are, and that if we dont get the numbrs down, we are in serious jeopardy...
For now... STOP paying attention to that scale.

As others have touched on.. You are not eating enough. BMR is too low. Are you spending 24 hours a day in a bed? No. So eat like you are living.. As others have shown, your 15% cut is about 2200 with light exercise.. start there.. Were you VLC prior to eating more? If so, you may want to consider jumping up to TDEE and doing a complete reset. Honestly it will do you wonders in the long run.

Forget about increasing exercise just because you think you should be doing more. If you are happy with your current level, then stick with it. Get it out of your head that you have to work your tail off and eat so very little, in order for the scale to drop.. We are all here to PROVE to you that you cannot lose weight that way... That is WHY we are all here together..

Have Faith. This does work. there are many of us who are already showing it in ways you never would have thought of.. sleeping better, hair stopped falling out.. less stress. HAPPIER!!!!... and of course loss in inches and scale weight. It will happen. But you need to take a step back in order to go forward.

Track consistently. Track honestly and work on eating way more protein, and cutting out more processed foods. JUst because you have more cals in a day to eat does not mean you fill those cals with Junk.. We have all done it.. guilty of it and working on it:) Eat every 2 hours or so. In the first few weeks, you will feel incredibly stuffed, bloated upset that you are eating and eating and eating, but it DOES get better. Your body will thank you for it.

We are all here together and in the same boat. Have faith in yourself, and us:)