Did I not reset long enough? No results at all.

greenmeena

Hi all!
So glad I've joined you. I'm a bit confused right now what to do, so I'm hoping someone has some suggestions.

I am 5'4", female. I have been active (running, weight machines, dancing) for many years. I have had time periods where I was chubby (150 lbs) and too skinny (120- raw diet experiment, bad idea).

Basically: I went through a long period of grief for almost 2 years where I definitely ate a VLCD. I lost weight, was 130 to 135 lbs and skinny fat, ran 5 days a week to stay sane.
Then this past fall I started to eat like a "normal" person, and packed on a bunch of weight- up to 145. I was unhappy with that so I joined MFP. I thought, wow- I guess I must be "aging" (I'm 37) and can't eat "normal" ever again. MFP of course told me to eat 1200 cals per day, and I was used to that from the time period where I ate VLCD... but I had a sense that it wasn't a good thing. I was eating so little! Why could other people eat 3 meals a day and stay so fit?

Well that's when I found road map and EM2WL.
So I have done my calculations.
There are several calculators, and they aren't all agreeing on numbers! Basically, though, this is what I have:
BMR 1450
TDEE 2100 (or something like that) and thus a cut would be at 1750- 1800.

I did a reset for 6 weeks, eating 2000 to 2100 cals per day. I gained weight, up to 150, none of my clothes fit. I stayed cheerful throughout though, committed to normalizing my metabolism.
I discovered NROL4W at about that 6 week period, and there is a calculation in there that is WAY lower than any of the on line calculators I've used; it has me eating at 1560 on off days and 1800 on lifting days. I eat my macros well, 40-30-30. I only cheat on weekends with hard cider (yum) but still try to keep within calorie limit.

I have not lost a single pound since then and it's been 4 weeks. My measurements are only slightly different, mostly in my thighs. No difference in the waist line, clothes still pretty tight.

Should I scrap that idea, and follow the calculations from the on line calculators, like Scooby or the one recommended by the road map? That would mean eating a solid 1750-1800 every day, regardless of whether I'm lifting.

I'm getting discouraged. Did I not reset long enough? I am cutting too much, or too little, and how can you tell????
thanks so much.

ladyace2078

I don't know enough about resets to really comment, other than to say that everyone is different and 6 weeks may not be long enough for you specifically.

Are you running and doing NROLFW?

The best piece of advice I can give you while lifting heavy is to IGNORE the scale. It is your absolute worst indicator of success. Have you been able to lift more weight? Then you've made progress. You've lost inches on your thighs, you have made progress. What about the other things like - more energy, clear skin, mood improvement, no more brittle hair/nails, regular bowel movements? If you have had improvements there you have made progress. What about pictures? Have you noticed any change? Then you've made progress. Are you tracking your BF%? Any progress there?

The scale just won't tell you anything if you are heavy lifting. Great progress will be when you weight 150 lbs but are smaller in size.

greenmeena

Good point, good point. It's mostly that I want to fit back into my clothes. Spring's almost here!

Actually I am more tired. Exhausted!! And somewhat cranky. That's part of what got me wondering if I maybe need to eat MORE> and isn't that terrifying, I am already bursting out of my clothes. Yes, some difference in measurement, so I know I'm getting there. I just don't want to do the wrong thing (aka eat too little or too much) and get in my own way.

sigh.

ladyace2078

Good point, good point. It's mostly that I want to fit back into my clothes. Spring's almost here!

Actually I am more tired. Exhausted!! And somewhat cranky. That's part of what got me wondering if I maybe need to eat MORE> and isn't that terrifying, I am already bursting out of my clothes. Yes, some difference in measurement, so I know I'm getting there. I just don't want to do the wrong thing (aka eat too little or too much) and get in my own way.

sigh.

You may need to eat more then. I find that exhaustion for me = not enough food. And possibly water. In stage 1 of NROLFW you are supposed to eat at maintenance and it says in the book that you will hit exhaustion if you aren't eating enough.

Remember that in order to gain 1 lb of fat a week you have to eat 500 calories in excess of TDEE every day. It doesn't sound like you are doing that.

Eat more, finish level 1 and take a 1 week break from exercise but continue eating. While heavy lifting, my rest weeks are the only weeks I ever saw changes on the scale. I was a size 10 last May weighing ~175 lb. My weight fluctuates between 169 lb and 174 lbs, but I am now a size 4/6. It takes time, but seriously throw out the lying liar of a scale.

Gapwedge01

Hi all!
So glad I've joined you. I'm a bit confused right now what to do, so I'm hoping someone has some suggestions.

I am 5'4", female. I have been active (running, weight machines, dancing) for many years. I have had time periods where I was chubby (150 lbs) and too skinny (120- raw diet experiment, bad idea).

Basically: I went through a long period of grief for almost 2 years where I definitely ate a VLCD. I lost weight, was 130 to 135 lbs and skinny fat, ran 5 days a week to stay sane.
Then this past fall I started to eat like a "normal" person, and packed on a bunch of weight- up to 145. I was unhappy with that so I joined MFP. I thought, wow- I guess I must be "aging" (I'm 37) and can't eat "normal" ever again. MFP of course told me to eat 1200 cals per day, and I was used to that from the time period where I ate VLCD... but I had a sense that it wasn't a good thing. I was eating so little! Why could other people eat 3 meals a day and stay so fit?

Well that's when I found road map and EM2WL.
So I have done my calculations.
There are several calculators, and they aren't all agreeing on numbers! Basically, though, this is what I have:
BMR 1450
TDEE 2100 (or something like that) and thus a cut would be at 1750- 1800.

I did a reset for 6 weeks, eating 2000 to 2100 cals per day. I gained weight, up to 150, none of my clothes fit. I stayed cheerful throughout though, committed to normalizing my metabolism.
I discovered NROL4W at about that 6 week period, and there is a calculation in there that is WAY lower than any of the on line calculators I've used; it has me eating at 1560 on off days and 1800 on lifting days. I eat my macros well, 40-30-30. I only cheat on weekends with hard cider (yum) but still try to keep within calorie limit.

I have not lost a single pound since then and it's been 4 weeks. My measurements are only slightly different, mostly in my thighs. No difference in the waist line, clothes still pretty tight.

Should I scrap that idea, and follow the calculations from the on line calculators, like Scooby or the one recommended by the road map? That would mean eating a solid 1750-1800 every day, regardless of whether I'm lifting.

I'm getting discouraged. Did I not reset long enough? I am cutting too much, or too little, and how can you tell????
thanks so much.

I am not a reset expert, but I did spend the night in a Holiday Inn Express once.

6 weeks may not be enough time for your reset. It sounds like your metabolism was a train wreck It is encouraged to stay on a reset 8-12 weeks. If you weight gain was early in the reset more than likely it was water retention and as ladyace2078 said you would have to eat 500 calories per day above your TDEE to gain a pound of fat.
Double check your numbers to make sure you have your TDEE correct. And if you were like me I "eyeballed" my food portions rather than weighing them with a digital scales. Trust me it makes a difference. If you were just off 250 calories a day guessing food portions that is a 1/2 pound of weight gain. Log faithfully and measure your food and accurately count your calories. You may actually be eating slightly above your TDEE and don't realise it.
But it sounds like you have not given your body time to reset its metabolism.

greenmeena

These are all excellent points.

No, I don't run on in between days... I sort of think I should but I don't want to overstress my body, plus i'm so damn tired!

Perhaps then I will go back up to 2000 another few weeks, and then try doing the deficit. It may not have been enough time. And the tiredness really may be due to too few cals... once my body started liking the reset, that was that! I actually hated the deficit, I dislike being that hungry! Lol! I thought it would be hard to eat that much food and now I am reliably hungry, like I used to be before I tanked my metabolism. I'm grateful to be hungry, I feel like that means I'm healing.

Thanks for the suggestions and support.

holleysings

These are all excellent points.

No, I don't run on in between days... I sort of think I should but I don't want to overstress my body, plus i'm so damn tired!

Perhaps then I will go back up to 2000 another few weeks, and then try doing the deficit. It may not have been enough time. And the tiredness really may be due to too few cals... once my body started liking the reset, that was that! I actually hated the deficit, I dislike being that hungry! Lol! I thought it would be hard to eat that much food and now I am reliably hungry, like I used to be before I tanked my metabolism. I'm grateful to be hungry, I feel like that means I'm healing.

Thanks for the suggestions and support.

Did your weight gain level off at 150lbs or were you still gaining at TDEE before switching to the cut?

Mom2M_and_O

I actually hated the deficit, I dislike being that hungry! Lol! I thought it would be hard to eat that much food and now I am reliably hungry, like I used to be before I tanked my metabolism. I'm grateful to be hungry, I feel like that means I'm healing.

If you're hungry, EAT! Even at the deficit, if you're hungry, eat. Particularly if you can tell that it's not just an "I'm bored" kind of hunger. When I first started back exercising this year, I was ravenously hungry in the first couple of weeks. That has tapered off a good bit.

Your numbers are similar to mine. I'm 5'3" and my TDEE is 2100-2200. I'm aiming for a 300-400 calorie deficit on average each day. Some days it's less, some days a little more, and one day a week I eat at TDEE or a little over as my "splurge" day, but the average deficit over the week is 300-400/day. So that means I'm eating anywhere from 1700-1900 calories a day.

I've been working at this for almost 7 weeks now. I didn't feel like I had to do a reset because I came off of 7 months of not watching what I was eating or exercising and wasn't trying to diet at all and had gained 9 pounds back. But progress has been slow. I've been doing Chalean Extreme which incorporates strength training with moderate cardio. My deficit numbers between my MFP logging and my BMF TDEE look like I should have lost more by now. But while the scale isn't showing anything to write home about, the tape measure is going down and my clothes fit better and I just feel stronger and leaner somehow. So something is happening internally.

But you have to give this time. Stay the course and good luck!

bradthemedic

If you're tired - especially exhausted, you need to eat more. I know it's scary and downright frightening to think about but it's your body speaking to you. When I run now I feel like energy is surging through me and I never have that "shot" feeling where I have runners fog.

The whole clothes not fitting thing....errrr it sucks. There's no doubt about that. But you're essentially healing your body right now. I'd continue to reset for 6 more weeks, ensuring you eat more nutritionally dense foods every day. As clean as possible is my motto!

Also consider ditching any high GI foods (if you eat them that is). I know we as runners love that high we get from them but they are nasty and evil!

I promise it will make sense when you see your body respond positively.