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Lisa's New Thinking - Advice Welcome
LisaGirlfriend
Posts: 493 Member
Hi everyone, I've spent the last 2-3 weeks reading everything I can about eating more to lose weight, and heavy lifting for women. I'm the typical woman (42, 5'3, 160 1bs) who always thought I needed to eat less and do more cardio (2-3 spin classes a week, etc). My weight has actually been creeping up over the last year on 1200 calories a day and 3 big vacations. I would gain while on vacation, then not be able to lose it when I returned.
2.5 weeks ago, I worked out my numbers and started eating at 1600 calories a day. I just did my numbers again on Scooby's site and it shows a BMR of 1576 and a TDEE at 2167 (based on moderate activity). I've changed my exercise routine and now typically lift 3 x a week with a cardio warm-up first (45-60min total), and have added some walking on the other days. I also plan to do one spin class a week. I have not weighed myself since I started eating more but I feel fatter around my waist for sure. I have upped my water intake a lot, I make sure I eat something every 3 hours, I watch my macros (set at protein 30; carbs 40; fat 30) and have noticed I get hungry sooner - good sign I think. I don't eat the exercise calories.
From what I've read on here about resetting my metabolism, I need to eat at TDEE for 8 weeks, then cut by 10% to start. The thought of eating at 2167 for 8 weeks scares the crap out of me. I guess I'm just looking for you guys to tell me to do it... ?? I must say that I am enjoying eating more, and not saying no to the pumpkin pie this weekend if it fits in with my day. :-)
Any advice/tips/feedback is welcome. Thanks! Lisa
2.5 weeks ago, I worked out my numbers and started eating at 1600 calories a day. I just did my numbers again on Scooby's site and it shows a BMR of 1576 and a TDEE at 2167 (based on moderate activity). I've changed my exercise routine and now typically lift 3 x a week with a cardio warm-up first (45-60min total), and have added some walking on the other days. I also plan to do one spin class a week. I have not weighed myself since I started eating more but I feel fatter around my waist for sure. I have upped my water intake a lot, I make sure I eat something every 3 hours, I watch my macros (set at protein 30; carbs 40; fat 30) and have noticed I get hungry sooner - good sign I think. I don't eat the exercise calories.
From what I've read on here about resetting my metabolism, I need to eat at TDEE for 8 weeks, then cut by 10% to start. The thought of eating at 2167 for 8 weeks scares the crap out of me. I guess I'm just looking for you guys to tell me to do it... ?? I must say that I am enjoying eating more, and not saying no to the pumpkin pie this weekend if it fits in with my day. :-)
Any advice/tips/feedback is welcome. Thanks! Lisa
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Replies
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You don't NEED to do a reset. Before that concept existed a lot of us just started at TDEE -15% and that was actually more than enough to reset my metabolism and get me started on the right path. What I strongly recommend is that you increase slowly (say 50 cals a day) up to a level you are comfortable with.
4-6 weeks is a fine timeframe. The first 2 weeks mentally are the toughest ever.... once you're past that you're golden.
Best of luck and be active - we love to see people succeed!0 -
I think I'm going to agree with Brad. When I began eating more (with helloitsdan's roadmap) I didn't jump to TDEE. For one thing, that number is at best a good estimate. So, I began at my starvation cals of 1200 and added 100 a week. I began to lift and do more strength training 3 days a week and just took a nice walk on the other 3 days with 1 day being total rest. I kept adding until I was 30% below my TDEE. I monitored my weight and kept going until this point. I am still losing (about 1 pound a week) and that is fine with me. Everyone's number can vary a little and you need to find your "sweet spot" where you are eating enough to fuel your body and still losing weight. I have a lot more to lose than you do, but I hope this helps! Jan0
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