I'm at a loss (but not literally a loss, unfortunately)

cannonsky

When I started MFP I was doing the whole 1200 calorie thing. I went from 149 to 137 but was pretty miserable... Eventually I was able to bring myself to eat back exercise calories.. .and then shortly after that I joined this group. I knew to be patient... that weight loss wasn't going to come overnight... but it's been about four months and I'm sort of at a loss. When I first started my TDEE cut I was doing yoga, 30DS and a stationary bike... By june I had gotten my calories up to 1700 and started NROLFW and running on non-lifting days... I was also aware that lifting was going to make me hold some water weight.... so I gladly stayed away from my scale. After each phase of NROLFW you are suppose to take a week off... I did that... and weighed myself at the end of that week thinking that the week off would allow for any excess water weight I was holding to go away. At that point I had gone up to 143... I wasn't too upset about it because my measurements were almost exactly the same, but I decreased my calories to 1550-1600 because I felt that maybe I put in the wrong activity level with determining my TDEE..

Recently I've been a little curious about what the scale says... and it's not saying awesome things... I've been between 147 and 152 and I'm just really frustrated because I feel like I was doing everything right. I was hoping maybe someone would have some insight about what I should do.

Stats
23 years old
5'2"
currently 150 (ish?)

I used the calculator at Scooby's Workshop to determine my TDEE (http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/)

LuluProteinFueled

Hey there, it can be SO frustrating I totally understand where you are coming from.

However, honestly if you're lifting heavy now, you need to throw that scale away. Your muscles are growing so you can't expect the weight to fall off on the scale. But you CAN expect your size and body to change. Putting all your hope into the scale is just going to disappoint you all the time... it's not an accurate measure. Have you read the sticky on the forums about the scale? You definitely need to have a read.

Also, lowering your cals can be a recipe for disaster. Your muscles need fuel and you sound like you are doing a lot of exercise. If anything, you probably need to up them rather than lower them. I do much less than you every week and my activity level is set to moderate.

Did you start EM2WL with a reset (eating at TDEE for 6-8 weeks) or did you go straight to your cut. Unfortunately if you've come from a history of VLCD (like many of us have) a reset is very important to reset your metabolism so it expects a certain amount of food and no longer worries where its next meal is coming from.

Another thing to consider is what your marcos are set at. A good equation to follow is 40% carbs, 30% protein, 30% fat.

Can I ask, are you netting your BMR everyday? If you've lowered your cals again, and with all that exercise, I would think that maybe you're not coming anywhere near netting your BMR. And if you're not, your body thinks it's starving and will hold onto whatever fat it can.

Hang in there though... and don't be scared to up your cals again. It is SO important to net BMR. Let us know how you go. And have a think about doing a reset... your body might need it, mentally and physically

cannonsky

I never did a reset... after mulling it over I decided that's probably what needs to happen. I also need to work on my macros... I consistently go slightly over on carbs... so gotta work on that... TERRIFIED to eat at maintenance... but I think it needs to be done

LuluProteinFueled

Sometimes it's a really scary decision to make, but it's definitely the right one. The mental & physical benefits from resetting are fantastic and your body will love you for eating TDEE every day

70davis

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