Trying to decide whether to do a metabolism reset....

Bettyeditor

I am considering doing a metabolism reset. I have lost 75 lbs so far and I need to lose another 75 lbs. I lost the first 70 lbs. eating 1300 calories (6 months), and the last 5 lbs. eating about 1700 calories. It felt really good to up my calories. But now I'm getting snacky again... feeling the need for more calories. Even though I have not stalled or hit a plateau, I was thinking I should do a reset now anyway. Since I'm in this weight loss thing for the long haul, I thought it might be good to pause and remind my body what "normal/maintenance" calories feels like. And I figure that if I get my metabolism reset and stoked at max, it will make the next 75 lbs. easier and help ensure that I don't gain any of this weight back.

Some people have told me "if you are losing, if what you are doing is working, don't change it." One of the hardest things for sure about this idea is to give up the nice momentum that I have. I turn 40 in January of 2014 and I was excited about hitting my goal weight by then..... but I will compromise on that dream if needed to do what's best for my health. I care more about being fit and thin 5 years from now (with no regain of the weight) than meeting an arbitrary deadline....

So my questions are, should I do a reset now? And how long should I take? Does it always take a full 8 weeks? Or could it take less time? How will I know when the reset is done and I should start cutting?

Thanks! :flowerforyou:

heybales

If you are losing on avg weekly what your TDEE and deficit would suggest you should be losing, then you don't really need a long reset.

Though even a difference there could just indicate your TDEE estimate is incorrect, and the amount you are losing is correct. Depends on how far off it is.
Like if 1 lb weekly is expected, but you get 1 lb every 2 weeks, and you haven't changed the workout routine any to confuse the numbers, that 250 daily difference in calories could be over-estimated TDEE, or suppressed metabolism.

If you have a full workout routine, your body would benefit from a break there. No stress from exercise week.
1 week, nothing but walking 3-4 mph during that normal exercise time. Eat correctly for new activity level, with deficit.

Then when you come back to normal workout routine, you'll be stronger and refreshed.
Now that first week back, eat at TDEE with no deficit, you're body stronger and more able to do your workouts will really make use of those extra calories. No stress from diet week, and less from exercise since eating more.

Many will do some variation of that process every 6 to 8 weeks.

I like that order because what better time for the body to use those extra calories, than when it's refreshed and really able to workout harder. But it's less stress still because you are eating more.

Bettyeditor

I wear a Fitbit all the time, so it gives me a pretty accurate idea of my daily burn. I have run the numbers via MANY calculators so they all come in pretty darn close. I average about 2300 calories burned a day (TDEE). BMR is 1636. When I exercise, I use a HRM so when I record in MFP I can put in an accurate number, and I eat back all/most exercise calories.

As for workouts, I ~*~don't~*~ have a regular workout schedule but I would like to have the energy to work out. That's one of my motivations to do a reset. I have had a LOT of health problems. Its been a rough year for me. Missed half a month of work in January. I'm always fighting one infection or another, constantly on antibiotics. I think that eating too little was hard on my health. My nails just break off in pieces and I got a thinning spot on the top of my scalp. When I ate 1300, I was also SO COLD all the time and could never get warm (wore two sets of clothes at home). I do think my body has been under stress and needs a break. I'm hoping I can rejuvenate enough to start doing weight lifting (I'm reading NROL4W right now). I have been so lethargic and low energy that I have an appointment with a doctor tonight to talk about getting tested for yeast, thyroid, and adrenal exhaustion. I did see a spike in energy when I upped my calories initially and my Fitbit tracked more activity for me. I got another spike in activity when I replaced my old breakfast with smoothies (greens+fruit+nuts+seeds+protein powder).

But despite those spikes, I still have very low energy overall and although I've had some exercise spurts, I haven't been able to get anything routine going yet. I'm hoping that eating at TDEE for a while will be the extra energy I need. I just finished my last antibiotic yesterday and in a few more days I should be off the other meds too. Fingers crossed I won't have any more infections. :flowerforyou:

I haven't been eating at 1700 long enough to see a good pattern. Last week I lost 1.4 lbs. Week before I gained 2 pounds (but bodyfat% dropped and lean muscle mass went up). The week before I lost 1 lbs, week before that I lost 3.2 lbs. And my calories were a moving target.... I upped to 1400 at first... then 1500 etc. I've only been at ~1700 consistently for about 2-3 weeks.

heybales

So you are eating at 1700, and your BMR is 1636, and your FitBit TDEE you trust is 2300?

You are still eating 250 too little, no wonder you still have problems.

You selected MFP's 500 cal deficit or 1 lb weekly, so you really aren't trying to follow this program then of 15% deficit to keep it reasonable.

I'd suggest too with weight fluctuations like that you are not weighing in on valid days, and get false gain/loss readings.
Morning after rest day eating normal sodium levels and not sore from prior lifting workout is really only valid day. You can't really do math on invalid data.
If that BF% estimate on same invalid days, it won't have a chance of being right either, hydration levels will be off.

See my response to other post about FitBit right here today for how to use your FitBit and EM2WL method.

Bettyeditor

Thanks for your tips, heybales. Just to be clear, I do not work out. I have never lifted a weight in my life. There is no "sore from prior lifting workout" in my universe. I walk. Sine days less, some days more. I sometimes manage to get on the treadmill. That's it! I just started READING about weight lifting but that's a long ways from actually doing it. I have been so sick and tired and stressed that I am lucky to just hold my job and make it through school and do my shopping/preparing for my meals.

And like I said, I have been gradually upping my calories the last few WEEKS. From 1300 to 1700 so far. I need to get above 1700. But I am thinking of just going straight to 2300 metabolism reset instead.

You said: "You are still eating 250 too little, no wonder you still have problems." I was not able to jump right from 1300 to 1700 in one day. It is taking me 3-4 weeks. Also, I do not claim to "have problems" with anything. I am losing weight. My whole point is that even though I am NOT having problems with eating more, I am still considering a reset.

You said "You selected MFP's 500 cal deficit or 1 lb weekly, so you really aren't trying to follow this program then of 15% deficit to keep it reasonable." Do you think you are judging me a tad harshly? No one ever told me that there was a "program" that involved "15%" -- I have just been reading and researching and doing the best I can.

I'm looking for information and support, not judgment or criticism please. I am just an imperfect human doing the best I can with the information that I have at the time. I am harsh enough on myself so I have the judgment thing all covered!

heybales

Thanks for your tips, heybales. Just to be clear, I do not work out. I have never lifted a weight in my life. There is no "sore from prior lifting workout" in my universe. I walk. Sine days less, some days more. I sometimes manage to get on the treadmill. That's it! I just started READING about weight lifting but that's a long ways from actually doing it. I have been so sick and tired and stressed that I am lucky to just hold my job and make it through school and do my shopping/preparing for my meals.

And like I said, I have been gradually upping my calories the last few WEEKS. From 1300 to 1700 so far. I need to get above 1700. But I am thinking of just going straight to 2300 metabolism reset instead.

You said: "You are still eating 250 too little, no wonder you still have problems." I was not able to jump right from 1300 to 1700 in one day. It is taking me 3-4 weeks. Also, I do not claim to "have problems" with anything. I am losing weight. My whole point is that even though I am NOT having problems with eating more, I am still considering a reset.

You said "You selected MFP's 500 cal deficit or 1 lb weekly, so you really aren't trying to follow this program then of 15% deficit to keep it reasonable." Do you think you are judging me a tad harshly? No one ever told me that there was a "program" that involved "15%" -- I have just been reading and researching and doing the best I can.

I know you aren't lifting, I always throw in the valid weigh-in day spiel because you aren't the only one reading this, others can benefit too.

So the stress is major reason for failure to lose fat or weight. Too much stress from whatever source, problems. Diet too extreme, exercise too extreme, food allergies not recognized, daily stress, whatever.
You control the ones you can, sometimes compensating for the ones you can't.

Good job going up in calories before you had worse effects you would not enjoy.

And it wasn't a judgement of you, but you are posting in a group that has certain recommendations. One would assume if asking for help in such a group, it's about what that group recommends. You would not be the first one to think they actually are following the program but misunderstood.

I actually judged correctly, you are not doing the program then are you? Whether you knew about it or not is immaterial really, you aren't following it.

The correct response would be as you said, what program? And then ask about it or go look at the stickies for the group you posted in.

Bettyeditor

I have read all of the stickies. I didn't see where it said I had to be at 15% below only and right away. I do distinctly remember reading that it takes TIME to ramp up in calories. Which I have been doing. I also remember reading where it says that when you have a lot of weight to lose, you can eat as much at 20% below. As you get closer to goal weight, need to back down to 15% below and when you are really close down to 10% below.

I am listening to the cues of my body about how I ramp up calories. In the first couple of sentences of my OP I mentioned how my body has adjusted to 1700 and is getting snacky again so I'm about to go up again in calories. But my question was whether I should just aim for TDEE and do a reset.

So I thought that increasing my calories as fast as my body could adjust over a few weeks period with the goal of getting to 15% deficit WAS "the program" --- but I'll be happy to stop posting for tips/advice and just go back to reading/lurking until I get the program down perfectly.

And btw my whole point was that I can't guage right now how much I'm losing based on what I'm eating since its in transition. I will just have to do a full 8-week reset I guess.

I have read all of the stickies, and a lot of other threads, and books and website and Fat2Fit radio and a number of sources. I read ALL of the reset threads before I posted my question. Note: I only found threads about reset support, not about how to exactly do it. I stumbled on a post a while back about what to expect each week but I can't find that post again.

My question was not about following a 15% deficit TDEE program, it was about reset.

Btw, I do trust what I get from my Fitbit plus the exercise calories that I log. Because I am careful to input the clock time and duration when I log aerobic exercise, Fitbit is able to adjust so I don't get double-counted. Just like my Fitbit totals will be off if I didn't log my sleep hours (thinks I have too much sedentary but recalculates sleep as sleep and not sedentary after I log sleep), so Fitbit also adjusts during the exercise period when I log it correctly. And since I don't use the inflated calories amounts that comes up when I find an exercise in the MFP database but actually edit the calories to match what was recorded by my HRM, then I believe that the exercise calories that I log are about as accurate as I can get them, and that my Fitbit non-workout activity is pretty accurate too. Fitbit also adjusts the BMR portion of its calculations dynamically each week as my weight and bodyfat change. And I do keep the negative calorie adjustment enabled because on some days when I have been very sick and not able to get out of bed my burn for that day does drop below the projected amount.

But in any case, let's consider this thread close. Thanks.