How much 'time' should I give it?

MeganKate24

Started today on TDEE-15%.

I have dieted in the past, but put on around 7lb in the past few months and its definitely not from sticking to a LCD ;-)

I started EMTWL today.

How much time should I give it?

My predicament is that after 1 full week, I go on holiday for 12 days! I'm going to try and stick to my TDEE-15% but its not going to be accurate so the reality is I could be under / over each day.

With that in mind - how long should I give it to work for me? I think the norm is 4 weeks, but if 2 of those are spent potentially eating over TDEE or under, do I need to try 6 weeks before making any changes?

Thanks

HeidiHoMom

It works for everyone so you don't need to put a time limit on it. This isn't a fad diet, it's just creating a smaller deficit than the typical 1200 calories that most people start on.

Generally it takes 6-8 weeks for any diet to start working but really this is meant to be a change in lifestyle.\\

I think if you go into it with a :"how long should I give it" mindset, you are more likely to fail and go back to old eating habits.

So my answer for how long you should give it.....The Rest Of Your Life.

Raynn1

There is no time limit. Most of us in here have been going at it for about 3-4 months now and are still working on TDEE or beginning to Cut. Like anything, any new changes will take time. You have to give it time for your body to adjust... As much as I would love to tell you, "results will happen in 4-6 weeks", thats likely not the case or the same for everyone..
This is to change your life, not give you a quick fix.. so you have to give it your whole life now. Thats how long things will take:)

As for your vacation time, If it were me, honestly I would just start eating at TDEE now, eat what I liked and wanted on vacation, and worry about making the cut when I got back.. then you give your body a good 3 weeks of full tdee and then you feel no guilt about "enjoying" your vacation:)

MeganKate24

Thanks.

Your both so right. I really want to do this but at the same time after just one day I'm feeling really bloated and uncomfortable.

I'm considering sticking to a lower calorie diet for one week before I go then, switching to TDEE for the time I'm away + a few more days, then making the cut.

Noor13

So my answer for how long you should give it.....The Rest Of Your Life.

^^^^^this^^^^^
the bloat is just part of the game. It will subside, just hang in there

MeganKate24

Thanks for your reply.

I'm 98% with this but the 2% of my head is saying wait until after holiday! That way I don't have the mess up of 'overeating' on holiday, and I won't have this bloat for my bikini holiday But then whats to say I'll be happy with it after holiday - I'll have overeat bloat plus extra bloat!

MeganKate24

ps I think I meant how long do I give it before I change something, not give up

I've read about this lots and know that after a certain period people try upping their exercise level as they have put it down too low, or they have to try the full reset, etc

rr85114

I'm 98% with this but the 2% of my head is saying wait until after holiday! That way I don't have the mess up of 'overeating' on holiday, and I won't have this bloat for my bikini holiday But then whats to say I'll be happy with it after holiday - I'll have overeat bloat plus extra bloat!

I totally feel you on this. That was me two weeks ago - when I'd been eating at cut for 2 weeks, and was tossing up the idea of doing a reset. Part of me thought - wait until after the holiday (which is for about 5 weeks by the way), but the other part of me said - I need to get past the 'diet' mindframe. We always have this irrational fear of going on holiday because we think that we can't possibly eat what we want and still stay under our calorie goal. The beauty of EM2WL is that you have a realistic, generous, abundant calorie goal, so it is entirely possible to just enjoy yourself, relax, log things perhaps after you've eaten them, only to find that you're smack bang on your goal, or in some cases, slightly under! That's what I've found, and I'm so glad I am doing the reset while on holiday because I love that by the time I get home and can start to get serious, I'll only have 3 weeks of the reset to go and then I can go to cut!

MeganKate24

Decided to stick with it!

HeidiHoMom

ps I think I meant how long do I give it before I change something, not give up

I've read about this lots and know that after a certain period people try upping their exercise level as they have put it down too low, or they have to try the full reset, etc

Generally, about 8 weeks. After 8 weeks then you reevaluate to see if you need to rethink activity level or the percentage of cut etc.

MeganKate24

Thanks