Before & After - 2 mo. Pic TDEE-20% & Lifting Heavy

OtiWanKenobi

Two months ago I decided to get over my fears and eat more (TDEE - 20% = 1936 cals) and lift heavy weights. Best results I've seen in a almost a year after a long plateau and starving myself.

In 62 days:
Total weightloss >> 7.8 lbs
Total Inches Lost >> 11"
Waist 35 > 33.5
Arm 14 > 12.25
Bust 41.5 > 40
Hips 45 > 43.5
Thigh 27.25 > 25.5
Calf 16 > 15.75
Neck 14 > 13.5
Chest (under bust) 37.25 > 35

Thank you "helloitsdan" for your wisdom and thank you to all the women I personally know and the women on MFP who have encouraged me to start lifting heavy. :flowerforyou:

LOL... I am definitely not SWOLLLLLL or BULKY! :bigsmile:

sweetpea03b

Congrats! Sounds like you have are similar in size to me. I was stalled for a few weeks and decided this week to start eating more because I am eating very clean... it was the only solution I could come up with.

Right now I'm training for a 5K so I'm doing 1-2 Miles running everyday and the 30DS (minus the cardio portions) for my "strength training" until I get the hang of it

cmurphy252

I too decided today to up my calories to 1900 (TDEE - 20%). Must be HONEST in saying that I'm a little fearful of eating MORE calories but when I looked at my friends list of those who have been successful in this weight loss journey, most are eating MORE calories than what I was previously eating (1400).

Encouraging to see that its working for you

OtiWanKenobi

cmurphy...all you can do is try it for a few weeks. The first time I tried it was in January and I stopped after 2 weeks because I GAINED!!! I freaked out but later I read from other posts that it can take from 4 - 6 weeks for your body to adjust if you've been eating at a really big deficit for a very long time.

So this March I summed up the courage and decided to have patience. Just like they said...it took me about 4 weeks for my body to adjust.

ducky715

When you say you lift heavy, how much weight do you lift?

maryannelk

Great progress! Thanks for sharing the pics!

OtiWanKenobi

ducky715... well I'm a newbie, but I've been about 70 lbs on squats, 95 lbs on barbell dead lifts, 100 lbs for wide grip pull downs, 15 lb hand weights for curls. LOL...I have really weak upper body strength.

dixiewhiskey

GREAT JOB!!!

I wish I saw more threads like this! bumping cause it's awesome

Chrissysftns

AWESOME progress, girlfriend!

I, too, just started my journey of heavy lifting This past April (the 15th to be exact)

I do only a 10 minute HIIT along with my lifting,,do you do any cardio?

Also, When did the scale start to go down for you? I'm trying not to pay too much attention to it, since it hasn't even been a month yet, but I want that sucker to MOVE!! lol

You look great. Congrats!

Jagkat

Are you eating back the exercise calories? if not what did you put in for your weekly workout for your tdee

eatrunstretch

Congrats on busting through your plateau! Its amazing progress in such a short amount of time!

Are you following the NROLFW? I just started this 2 weeks ago and my trousers seem to be getting tighter which is worrying!

I too am of the mindset that more is less and have adjusted to TDEE - 20%. Wish there was more of this on MFP.

Good luck with the rest of your heavy lifting journey and keep us posted for motivation!

tattedlady75

Great results. Hoping I can start lifting soon. Are you going to a gym to lift or are you doing it at home. Also, how many times a week are you lifting?

zaftiggirl

Looks like you have very similar measurements to myself! I am in my third week of NROLFW... I'm super excited to show my progress pics after a couple more months and inches

Bakerchk

Incredible! I didn't start to see ANY changes in my body until I starting lifting heavy. It really has changed my life.

RhinestoneRocky

Absolutely awesome! Great job!!!!

BamaBreezeNSaltAire

Awesome job!!!! Look great too!

RoseTears143

I love reading threads like this. I know for a lot of women it can be scary when you need to eat more lol. But when you do and your body stops freaking out fromb eing starved, that's when the real work can begin. Congrats on busting through that plateau and getting such awesome results in 60 days!! :drinker: Woot!!

HealthyLeeLee

This is such an encouraging post as I am now going by TDEE-20% (up from my previous 1200 cal goal) and my clothes are feeling rather snug I started upping my calories 2 weeks ago and I'm hoping it will just be a matter of time before I start seeing results! Thank you for posting! :happy:

zaftiggirl

Congrats on busting through your plateau! Its amazing progress in such a short amount of time!

Are you following the NROLFW? I just started this 2 weeks ago and my trousers seem to be getting tighter which is worrying!

I too am of the mindset that more is less and have adjusted to TDEE - 20%. Wish there was more of this on MFP.

Good luck with the rest of your heavy lifting journey and keep us posted for motivation!

In the first two weeks of lifting heavy and eating at TDEE-25% (I'm technically 'obese'), my body weight and inches fluctuated like CRAAAAZY. I kept measurements every day just so I could start to see patterns. Two things: when you first start a new exercise program, your muscles retain a lot of water in order to protect themselves - so that can translate to feeling thicker, especially if you're sore. Second, I have read about "newbie gains" - which is an initial, more rapid gain in muscle. I don't have a ton of research on that but I think I experienced that.

I'm finishing my third week, and finally starting to normalize. I have lost a half inch from my waist and an inch from my hips just in the last few, highly irregular, weeks. So anyways, just wanted to encourage you to keep at it and I think you'll start to see progress soon!

jacque930

Great Results!
I want to do this.. I just need to get myself in gear and do more lifting. Make the time!

Did you follow any plan? book? I have purchased the lifting guide for women book.. just have read and follow it..

Once I get to it.. I know the lifting heavy will make a difference..

Great Job to you!

llangstraat

Omg, thank you for posting! Awesome job and that's only 2 months! Congratulations!

Melissa22G

Great job! Love your progress! Keep it up girlfriend!

earvizu92

YOu look amazing!! Good job!! :flowerforyou:

justjenny

Congrats on your progress!

bzmom

Congrats!! Keep up the good work!

Quick question how many times a week and how log do you lift for? and what is your height?

Healthy_4_Life2

You look amazing!! I wish more people realize that they don't have to starve themselves in order to lose weight!!

MumOfADuo

love it! helloitsdan is AMAZING!!!! Everyone MUST read his roadmap plan!!!!!! Check out his page and read his blog!!!!!

taylorckt1

Congrats!

JenRun1

Amazing progress. Congrats to you for trying something new! It paid off, thats for sure.

OtiWanKenobi

Wow... love the responses. thank you so much!

I'll try to answer everyone's questions....

I followed "helloitsdan" In Place of a Roadmap otherwise known on here at IPOARM.

I did read the whole book "New Rules of Lifting for Women", however, for me I found it to be too restrictive and hard to follow for some reason as I'm a person that loves to run. HOWEVER, it's a great book to read if you're just starting out because it gives you a lot of background of how lifting works and it's easy to read. I do recommend you read this because it may work for you and if not at least you'll gain knowledge and confidence.

I ended up following Jamie Eason's livefit plan which is free. I followed her plan but modified in the sense that I ran on one or two of the rest days in the first phase. I also didn't go by her diet...followed my own, but with some of her tips and recipes.
I found her plan easy to follow and she also post pics and videos of the sets in case you're not sure of the proper form.

I also went to my personal friends who lift for advice and encouragement as this was really scary and intimidating for me.

***I GAINED WEIGHT THE FIRST TWO WEEKS. After raising my calories I gained and I was discouraged. HIDE THE SCALE!!! My husband hid it from me while I was at work. So be patient, you're body will eventually let go. IT TOOK A MONTH TO SEE AND FEEL ANY CHANGES (**this was the case for me because I was eating at high deficit for over a year!!!). & if you're lifting weights you definitely don't want to weigh yourself everyday because your muscles repair themselves by retaining water and glycogen.

Make sure you take measurement and pictures. You really don't notice the changes until you see it in pictures. I found a great app on the iPhone called Body Shot that helps keep track of your measurements and pics and does the whole comparison thing for you.

I work out at my home gym where I have several heavy hand weights and I work out at my work gym...they have free weights, a smith machine, etc.

However, right now I'm in the process of finding a local gym that has all free weights because as I've been learning from other lifters is that the smith machine doesn't give you the full benefit because you're not learning how to balance the bar when squatting or pressing.

I was actually kind of shocked at how quickly my body changed. I was working out 5 days a week, doing rigorous exercises where I was burning like 500 - 700 cals and hour and my body just did not want to budge. Now I workout 1/2 as much.

I think a combo of eating more and lifting definitely got my metabolism going. I'm much more happier now that I am eating more because I see it as fuel not as something to fear.

Hope this helps some of y'all!

melaniecmajors

Check out this program - stronglifts.com 5x5 I just switched to TDEE and this program. I haven't gained any weight in fact today I lost 1.5 lbs. It's really easy to do and you won't have to spend a lot of time in the gym.