Another Eat More to Weigh Less win

257_Lag

Hi All, I am posting this for my sister since she doesn't use the boards.

She is an active mother of two that has been stuck at 170 for 5 months. Her goal is 150. In the previous year she had lost 35 pounds through Weight Watchers but gave it up when it stopped working. She consulted her doctor who put her on a 1200 calorie diet without eating any exercise back. This was very close to where Weight Watchers had her also.

I started my journey January 22 and have had very good results. Slow and easy was my goal and I am happy with my progress. Anyway, I am a hard numbers kind of guy. I like to research things and learn all I can. When she saw my results she asked me for some help. Ok, maybe I pushed my help on her but she was receptive.

First I had her log for a week. Don't change anything else, just log. Turns out some days she wasn't even getting to her 1200 let alone the exercise she was doing.

I explained the science of not eating enough as best I could and we calculated her TDEE on numerous sites. We were going for TDEE-15%. I explained the difference between calculating it with exercise included and not eating her exercise back or calculating it without exercise and then eating them back. She chose the latter as she is all about the reward for extra work. (I like this approach as well) We put her at 1600 and I urged her to eat back all her exercise. She agreed to eat back 2/3 of it. Close enough.

For about 25 days nothing happened but she agreed to stick it out for 6 weeks. And then... 2 lbs off in a week.! The first loss she saw in almost 6 months. Since then she is steadily losing 1/2- 1 lb a week and she is thrilled!

I'm not saying this will work for everybody but it sure did for her. I should also mention that she is very honest with her logging. Good or bad, it gets logged.

Yeah, she is only down 5 lbs so far but after being stuck for so long we both see this as a huge victory!

CallMeCupcakeDammit

That's awesome! I'm glad to hear she stuck with it, even though she wasn't seeing changes at first. So many people give up too soon. Tell her to come to the dark side. I mean the boards. Coooome to the booooards! :bigsmile: :drinker:

chunkydunk714

Aww thats awesome. Must be a great feeling for your sis.

257_Lag

I was hoping to print some kudo's for her

SlimSumday

That is excellent! :drinker: :happy:

AnnieWoodLong

That is what I needed to hear today. I feel like I generally watch what I eat and I don't see a lot of results. Guess I need to be patient! Thanks.

Autazell

Yay!!!! That takes a lot of will power to stick it out that long without seeing any results. You're my inspiration for the day.

-and awesome brother points for you OP.

CallMeCupcakeDammit

Yay!!!! That takes a lot of will power to stick it out that long without seeing any results. You're my inspiration for the day.

-and awesome brother points for you OP.

This for sure! :crabcakeforyou:

257_Lag

Thanks! The truth is that her initial loss on ww inspired ME but I couldn't go with ww. I didn't learn anything on Nutrisytem (even tho I lost) so why would I on ww? But when I succeeded on MFP with all this knowledge and the fact that she was stalled I was happy to try and help

jennontheroad

Great story! I recently explained the same to my mother, she logs her calories on paper and trys to meet 1200 cal a day. I showed her the BMR and TDEE calculators- 1200 cals is her BMR!!!! No wonder she gets cranky!
I love the boards and have learned alot, I am more likely to be on them than actually logging my food! (but I am already at a healthy, fantastic weight, just trying to maintain and slowly patiently lose 5-10 vanity pounds).

nuemmedigg

Good for you both. And extra sibs points for being a caring bro.

savemama

Yay for her! I get so frustrated. I was on doctor assured weightloss and not losing at 1200 calories either. Doctors advice? Eat less!! I went back to 1500 calories and started losing!

So glad to know this ridiculous misinformation is not plaguing her any more!

Bettyeditor

What an awesome story, thank you for sharing! And kudos to your sister for sticking with it. So many people give up and go back to <1200 calories just a day or two before the weight starts melting off.... And you are an awesome brother for helping her! Hats off to you both!