The bad and the ugly side of the journey
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rachel4
Posts: 95 Member
Ok here is my story….
I have never been severely overweight, I went through a tough time in 1996 and I got to be about 20 pounds overweight.
Once life was back on track, I was back to having a healthy lifestyle, eating right and living strong.
I have always been the active one in the group, always worked out and ate properly.
I developed a reputation for being such a clean eater that people wouldn’t even offer me food..
(that’s funny because I did in fact eat, just not in excess)
Weight gains…..
2003 I had my first baby (a girl) I gained 40 pounds and lost the weight before her first birthday.
2006 baby girl number 2, I gained 50 pounds with her and again lost it before her first birthday.
I workout hard, eat right and love going to the beach, hanging on the boat and flaunting my 6 pack abs, I have been trying forever to get strong sexy legs..
In fall of 2010 I was getting ready for a cruise with my family.
Of course we ALL know the main ingredient in a cruise is FOOD.. and I DID hold back, I was able to get off the cruise with only a 2 pound gain. I was elated!
Then back to working out and my normal routine, well s l o w l y for some reason I started to gain weight. It was slow! Like a pound a month gain. But why was it happening????? So there I was 10 pounds overweight…
Then I found “Helloitsdan” I’m sure most people here on MFP know who he is.
If not, he is very opinionated and informative person and everyone should be friends with him
Well he kept preaching that eating 1200 calories was AWFUL and how we need to FEED our bodies, well that got my attention!
Have I been doing this wrong all along???
I gave Dan my numbers and he ran then for me and told me I needed to go from 1200 calories a day to 1700 calories a day… say huh???
You want me to eat THAT MUCH MORE?????
He said I had been underfeeding and that I needed to eat more to keep up with my daily hour workouts.
Ok, so I did… I started eating more. I loved it!
I had fuel for my workouts! I was eating yummy food, I didn’t feel deprived at ALL!
Then 2 weeks into it, the scale went up 3 pounds…… WHOA! WHAT?! The scale should go DOWN, NOT UP!
I emailed Dan and freaked out on him and he was baffled at why it went up.
He encouraged me to “stick with it” so secretly I said no way and went back to doing what has ALWAYS WORKED for me. Low calorie high cardio. (Not VLCD)
Just to be clear… If I was given 1300 daily calories and I burned 500 I would eat 1800 that day I never was only eating 1200
So I concluded that Dan was crazy but still a good friend.. then I met “sleepytexan” she was my age, she also gained weight and she too was eating at a high calorie goal. Interested I sent her a PM and she was super informative about how eating enough is really important and how she eats more than most guys on here and such. She sent me to sights of strong women eating and losing weight… again I was very interested.
Someone said think of your metabolism as a smart phone. If you never fully charge the battery it will die faster. So if you don’t fuel your body correctly, your metabolism will slow *bells were going off* this was everything I needed to hear. It made perfect sense to me! so again I slowly brought my calories up. I found EM2WL and I even found the Fat2Fit site.
On the fat2fit site I ran my numbers and SHOCKED it said I should eat 1700 (Just like Helloitsdan said) so I started eating that calorie goal. And still having my hour workouts daily I saw ZERO results! The scale never budged, the measuring tape never moved….
NOTHING WAS HAPPENING………
WHY?!?!?!!?!?! I’m eating to fuel my body, I working out…. what is the problem.
Ok that was back on June. So I sent ANewLucia a PM and asked what’s going on??? I have not lost a pound. She encouraged me that if I increased my calories and didn’t gain weight that is a good thing, my body is still refueling itself.
OK she had me there! I need to hold on and stick with it…
Ok.. here is the ugly….
Well here I am six months into the “resetting” of my metabolism and I’m heavier that I have ever been… I’m moody, I hate all my clothes and I bite the head off my husband daily because I HATE the way I look.
We just spend the weekend on an island having an amazing time, as soon as I looked back at the pictures I was so disgusted in myself I couldn’t stand it.
Everyone talks about how moody and angry they were eating a low calorie diet but I think it’s just the opposite or me. I’m simply disgusted and embarrassed of my body right now.
I call myself a strong fat! We have all heard of skinny fat right? well I’m strong fat. I can do 40 minutes of HIIT or 60 min of weights and not have any problem, but I’m still FAT.
I have just started to go from 1700 calories to 1400 and I’m thinking now I need to just let MFP factor in my workouts and eat that…
I know the journey is long and hard. But to go 6 months and completely lose my six pack abs and have ZERO weight loss is not my idea of a path I want to take…
I think the MAIN KEY that no one tells you is how many calories should you burn in a workout to be at a food calorie goal?
I can say that I work out 5 times a day, but that doesn’t say that I burn 200 calories or 1800 calories???
I don’t understand???
I’m extremely frustrated and discouraged
So that is my story… not a pretty one, and not a happy ending.
Rachel
I have never been severely overweight, I went through a tough time in 1996 and I got to be about 20 pounds overweight.
Once life was back on track, I was back to having a healthy lifestyle, eating right and living strong.
I have always been the active one in the group, always worked out and ate properly.
I developed a reputation for being such a clean eater that people wouldn’t even offer me food..
(that’s funny because I did in fact eat, just not in excess)
Weight gains…..
2003 I had my first baby (a girl) I gained 40 pounds and lost the weight before her first birthday.
2006 baby girl number 2, I gained 50 pounds with her and again lost it before her first birthday.
I workout hard, eat right and love going to the beach, hanging on the boat and flaunting my 6 pack abs, I have been trying forever to get strong sexy legs..
In fall of 2010 I was getting ready for a cruise with my family.
Of course we ALL know the main ingredient in a cruise is FOOD.. and I DID hold back, I was able to get off the cruise with only a 2 pound gain. I was elated!
Then back to working out and my normal routine, well s l o w l y for some reason I started to gain weight. It was slow! Like a pound a month gain. But why was it happening????? So there I was 10 pounds overweight…
Then I found “Helloitsdan” I’m sure most people here on MFP know who he is.
If not, he is very opinionated and informative person and everyone should be friends with him
Well he kept preaching that eating 1200 calories was AWFUL and how we need to FEED our bodies, well that got my attention!
Have I been doing this wrong all along???
I gave Dan my numbers and he ran then for me and told me I needed to go from 1200 calories a day to 1700 calories a day… say huh???
You want me to eat THAT MUCH MORE?????
He said I had been underfeeding and that I needed to eat more to keep up with my daily hour workouts.
Ok, so I did… I started eating more. I loved it!
I had fuel for my workouts! I was eating yummy food, I didn’t feel deprived at ALL!
Then 2 weeks into it, the scale went up 3 pounds…… WHOA! WHAT?! The scale should go DOWN, NOT UP!
I emailed Dan and freaked out on him and he was baffled at why it went up.
He encouraged me to “stick with it” so secretly I said no way and went back to doing what has ALWAYS WORKED for me. Low calorie high cardio. (Not VLCD)
Just to be clear… If I was given 1300 daily calories and I burned 500 I would eat 1800 that day I never was only eating 1200
So I concluded that Dan was crazy but still a good friend.. then I met “sleepytexan” she was my age, she also gained weight and she too was eating at a high calorie goal. Interested I sent her a PM and she was super informative about how eating enough is really important and how she eats more than most guys on here and such. She sent me to sights of strong women eating and losing weight… again I was very interested.
Someone said think of your metabolism as a smart phone. If you never fully charge the battery it will die faster. So if you don’t fuel your body correctly, your metabolism will slow *bells were going off* this was everything I needed to hear. It made perfect sense to me! so again I slowly brought my calories up. I found EM2WL and I even found the Fat2Fit site.
On the fat2fit site I ran my numbers and SHOCKED it said I should eat 1700 (Just like Helloitsdan said) so I started eating that calorie goal. And still having my hour workouts daily I saw ZERO results! The scale never budged, the measuring tape never moved….
NOTHING WAS HAPPENING………
WHY?!?!?!!?!?! I’m eating to fuel my body, I working out…. what is the problem.
Ok that was back on June. So I sent ANewLucia a PM and asked what’s going on??? I have not lost a pound. She encouraged me that if I increased my calories and didn’t gain weight that is a good thing, my body is still refueling itself.
OK she had me there! I need to hold on and stick with it…
Ok.. here is the ugly….
Well here I am six months into the “resetting” of my metabolism and I’m heavier that I have ever been… I’m moody, I hate all my clothes and I bite the head off my husband daily because I HATE the way I look.
We just spend the weekend on an island having an amazing time, as soon as I looked back at the pictures I was so disgusted in myself I couldn’t stand it.
Everyone talks about how moody and angry they were eating a low calorie diet but I think it’s just the opposite or me. I’m simply disgusted and embarrassed of my body right now.
I call myself a strong fat! We have all heard of skinny fat right? well I’m strong fat. I can do 40 minutes of HIIT or 60 min of weights and not have any problem, but I’m still FAT.
I have just started to go from 1700 calories to 1400 and I’m thinking now I need to just let MFP factor in my workouts and eat that…
I know the journey is long and hard. But to go 6 months and completely lose my six pack abs and have ZERO weight loss is not my idea of a path I want to take…
I think the MAIN KEY that no one tells you is how many calories should you burn in a workout to be at a food calorie goal?
I can say that I work out 5 times a day, but that doesn’t say that I burn 200 calories or 1800 calories???
I don’t understand???
I’m extremely frustrated and discouraged
So that is my story… not a pretty one, and not a happy ending.
Rachel
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Replies
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I'm with you Rachel!!!! I've very overweight (Need to lose 80+). When I was at 1800 cals I lost 15 pounds, then stalled. So I started reading into this fueling the body thing. Makes sense. So I reset at 2400 cals for over a month and gained a few pounds, but leveled out. So I thought great! I'm ready to cut. So I did. And I gained.... again... still gaining... I've gained back 11 of the 15 I lost and still growing. I hate the way I look and I'm feeling ready to quit. I've posted needing help on the EM2WL site with no response. I was never VLCD, but I'm still stuck. Two of a kind Rachel. I'm ready to go back to what was. So now, instead of going to the doctor tomorrow and telling her I lost 5 pounds from last year when I saw her, I'm going tomorrow with my head down in shame that I'm up 7 pounds from last year. Not a good feeling since I've been working on this since February and all my progress has gone down the tubes in the last 2.5 months. :sad:0
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OMG! you and I are the same!!!!!!!!!!!
I just don't think that this lifestyle is for all body types. Personally! I would LOVE to be able to eat and lose weight but it's not happening :{
UGH! I'm very sorry about your doctors visit
I also go to the doctors on the 12th and I'm SURE I'll get the "what in the world are you doing" speech :grumble: 0 -
I'm thinking about trying a rhythm. I was losing at 1800 and then I stalled. So I'm thinking about going back to 1800 for a few weeks, then going to maintenance for a week or two, and then back to 1800. Maybe that will work. But I'm thinking that since I'm already gaining, adding more calories in right now would not be helpful.0
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I understand.. it's so frustrating0
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I think the MAIN KEY that no one tells you is how many calories should you burn in a workout to be at a food calorie goal?
I can say that I work out 5 times a day, but that doesn’t say that I burn 200 calories or 1800 calories???
I don’t understand???
I’m extremely frustrated and discouraged
I so agree with this ^^^. I workout 6x/week. When I finish there are literally sweat puddles on the floor. I can burn 500-700 calories an hour per HRM. I have a desk job and sit on my bum all day. So, am I moderate or streneous? I go hard in my workouts, but I'm not ready to die when they are over. So, am I moderate?
I haven't found the magic number yet, but I think I've stopped gaining. I'm not quite ready to give in.
I hope you find what works for you!!! :flowerforyou:0 -
Wow. I read your story, and am in awe how similar it is to my own story. Started this whole EM2WL deal last March. I started at 144, and only wanted to lose another 8-10 pounds, but had stalled at my 1400/1500 calorie level (I always ate exercise calories back). I followed the TDEE -15% with no loss, but was gaining steadily. Decided to do a complete reset, which turned out to be about 12 weeks. I'm up about 15-20 pounds heavier since last spring. I'm up in inches, and up about 2 sizes in pants. I'm depressed, flabby, yelling at everyone. This is NOT how I wanted to spend my summer. When I look back at my weightloss journey, I just put myself back to where I was a whole year ago. WTH!?!?!? This is NOT working for me. Sorry, people who it's worked for, but I'm going back to about a 1500/1600 because I just can't stand this anymore. I was faithful w/ macros, checking Scooby for my numbers, etc, etc, etc, but I've had enough, too.0
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Thanks Moylie,
I was expecting everyone to bash me for wanting to stop EM2WL,
but I'm with you.
I've had enough it can't be for everyone0 -
Thanks Moylie,
I was expecting everyone to bash me for wanting to stop EM2WL,
but I'm with you.
I've had enough it can't be for everyone
And to be clear, I was never VLCD. I was at 1400ish, and then eating exercise calories back which would be 1700-1900 for 3-5 days a week. So, I reached out to this group to bust through a plateau, and instead just put myself back to where I was this time last year. I do believe in going to TDEE once in awhile, or zig-zagging calories, or taking a diet-break. So tired of the "the scale lies" phrase, too. BS. The scale says I'm up almost 20 pounds, and it isn't lying! My hips alone are up 3 inches, people! I'm done.0 -
I so agree with this ^^^. I workout 6x/week. When I finish there are literally sweat puddles on the floor. I can burn 500-700 calories an hour per HRM. I have a desk job and sit on my bum all day. So, am I moderate or streneous? I go hard in my workouts, but I'm not ready to die when they are over. So, am I moderate?
I haven't found the magic number yet, but I think I've stopped gaining. I'm not quite ready to give in.
I hope you find what works for you!!! :flowerforyou:
I wasn't sure what activity level to put myself. If you know what you burn you could try what I did. Add up your exercise burn for the week. Divide that by 7 to get you average daily burn. Now add this figure to your TDEE @ sedentary. If you compare this to the figures given for each level it should help figuring where you're at.0 -
UGH I am right there with all of you!
Best of Luck!
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I'm not sure why you all aren't losing weight, but have you taken a cold hard look at your macros and each week's total calories? And whether or not you're netting under your BMR? Do you have a fitbit that can confirm your TDEE? It sounds like somehow your numbers are not correct. If I were in your position, I would go back over the past few months and figure out if perhaps I ate more than I should have too often. I keep a spreadsheet of calories eaten and burned (through my fitbit) separately from MFP in order to hold myself accountable week by week.
I was on a VLCD for 14 weeks before starting EM2WL. I've been eating at maintenance for three months and barely gained 1lb from start to finish. The only time I gained consistently was right before I figured out that I am extremely lactose intolerant. I stopped eating dairy, and dropped the 6lbs that I put on. I started eating at a slight cut yesterday. As you can see by my ticker, I have quite a bit of weight to go. During my reset, I lost a pants size doing NROL4W for one month. (I'm almost done with Stage 1!)
I think this program can work, but you need to figure out how to make it work for YOU. Maybe you need to eat less protein. I eat 15% rather than the recommended 30% and that works for ME. Protein makes me feel sick. And since I know that I've put on 5lbs of muscle and lost 5lbs of fat over the past 8 weeks (from two DEXA scans), clearly my body is just fine with 15%. Or maybe you still aren't eating enough because you're netting below BMR or your TDEE is wrong. Or maybe your cut is too big. Don't give up. Fight back and figure out what you need to change to make it work.0 -
ugh. i hear you completely. i was where you were in july.
i gained 6lbs during my reset (TDEE = 2150) and when i started my cut (TDEE-15% = 1800-1900) i gained another pound. wtf?! i was so upset but i kept at it. a few more weeks went by and the weight wasn't moving...at my cut! i was it possible that i was eating at a deficit and weighing more than during my reset. i was so frustrated, i was convinced that this method just didn't apply to me....so i cut again, down to 1650. i stayed here for a week or two and still nothing was changing...plus i felt bloated all the time. i reached out to lucia and some other lovely EM2WLers and they suggested that i reset again for a month. starting aug 1, i started eating at 2000-2150 again and kicked up the intensity (not frequency) in my workouts. in august i even took a 5-day diet + workout break while on a pretty active vacation. i ate whatever i wanted w/o worrying about calories or macros. i came home and jumped right back into my normal workout routine and i think that was my turning point.
the second half of august was great. i think it really just took that long for my body to get used to more calories. i wasn't a chronic low calorie eater but i was definitely a yo-yo dieter for a longgg time and it just took a while for my body to trust me again. i found that my TDEE is actually closer to 2250 and i slowly started to lose at 2000 at the end of aug. i started cutting again at the end of aug and my weekly avg intake is back at 1850-1900 cals. the first attempt at cut in july and this cut feel entirely different. i'm leaner. i feel stronger.
another thing is, i created all sorts of spreadsheet and i've been tracking every # since starting EM2WL and after doing the math, i noticed i was eating at higher than my TDEE during my reset. plus, since i was eating out a lot, i'm sure i was underestimating my calories. the excess calories (+sodium) plus the readjusting of my metabolism completely explains the gain. i think during july/aug, my body was still just trying to figure everything out and it was only in july that i started cooking most my meals. i wanted to make sure that 100% of what went into my mouth was accounted for (a little OCD, i know). i also found that my body doesn't tolerate beans and broccoli very well. (i used to each broccoli and chili really often...not together). i cut those out and saw a lot of my uncomfortable bloat subside (i was eating 1650 and looked 6 months preggo!!). this is a really long way of saying that take a look at what you're eating carefully. be honest and detailed in your tracking. also, take a moment to listen to your body. it might be telling you things that could be hindering your fat loss process.
all that said....give it time. our bodies have been through a lot and it just takes a few months to readjust. i know we all want to reset for a month and see the scale drop weight as soon as we start eating at a deficit (i know i sure did), but we have to let the body process the changes.
i hope this helps.0 -
Girls~
Apparently you all missed my meltdown over the last couple of days about the EXACT thing you are all talking about.
I have gained a total of 24 pounds since April when I started EM2WL and with a 6 week Reset included. I am only 5 foot tall and got up to 224 pounds!! I WAS ready to give up COMPLETELY but here's what has happened:
I heard from Lucia and she went over my whole, sad story.
And she came up with this for my situation:
I started NROL4W AND a Reset at the same time. I have MS and the lifting was really draining me so I COMPLETELY cut out ALL cardio and just lifted.
I ADDED a TON of food and cut out ALL cardio~ everything I at went straight to FAT although I'm sure SOME of that weight and inches was MUSCLE.
SO:
1) She suggested that I cut down to 2 days of lifting so I won't be so worn out so that hopefully I can do some much needed cardio.
2) She also looked at my food diary and reminded me to MAKE SURE I hit that Protein Macro first and foremost.
But one of the best things she told me was that EM2WL was a GUIDELINE (and so was NROLFW) and that you have to TWEAK it to the individual's needs.
Knowing this gave me hope that maybe I CAN hang in there for a bit more.
Not sure if any of this will be helpful to any of you and if it isn't, just know that you are not alone!0 -
Girls~
Apparently you all missed my meltdown over the last couple of days about the EXACT thing you are all talking about.
I have gained a total of 24 pounds since April when I started EM2WL and with a 6 week Reset included. I am only 5 foot tall and got up to 224 pounds!! I WAS ready to give up COMPLETELY but here's what has happened:
I heard from Lucia and she went over my whole, sad story.
And she came up with this for my situation:
I started NROL4W AND a Reset at the same time. I have MS and the lifting was really draining me so I COMPLETELY cut out ALL cardio and just lifted.
I ADDED a TON of food and cut out ALL cardio~ everything I at went straight to FAT although I'm sure SOME of that weight and inches was MUSCLE.
SO:
1) She suggested that I cut down to 2 days of lifting so I won't be so worn out so that hopefully I can do some much needed cardio.
2) She also looked at my food diary and reminded me to MAKE SURE I hit that Protein Macro first and foremost.
But one of the best things she told me was that EM2WL was a GUIDELINE (and so was NROLFW) and that you have to TWEAK it to the individual's needs.
Knowing this gave me hope that maybe I CAN hang in there for a bit more.
Not sure if any of this will be helpful to any of you and if it isn't, just know that you are not alone!
Amen!!0 -
I'm going to keep this short and sweet. Feel free to friend me if you want more info.
I did the reset. I am very active. I now eat about 500-600+ calories more than I used to DURING CUT PHASE and around 800-1000 more than i used to during a rest week at TDEE!
Although slow, (and slow is a loose term since we all know that when we starved ourselves the scale weight flew off and we got used to that, but when you do it the RIGHT way it takes time) the scale weight is coming off and my inches are going crazy.
i.e. During my last 7 week fitness bootcamp I lost about 7 lbs and THIRTEEN total inches and I did this all while eating around 1850-2000 calories a day.
Give it time, get to know your body, check check check your numbers. Get happy, get healthy!0 -
i am sorry you are so frustrated. i will say this - i understand completely. in fact, i may friend you cause i understand so well!0
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ARGGGGH !!!! I feel much better reading I'm not the only one who can't EMTWL !!! I got a bodybugg in may, used 500-1000 cal/ day deficit. Lost nothing. Started EMTWL June 1st, 8 wk reset. Am up 13 lbs. totally burnt out !!! HATE the way I look & feel. I must say I did stop most all cardio during reset so I didn't have to eat all those cals back. Ready to haul my butt to the dr and try to explain it to her & ask what to do. Good luck to you all !!!!0
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A gal named CrystalChaos PM'd me and gave me some new numbers to try. I'm going to try it for a few more weeks. I'm glad someone finally reached out to me. I was asking for help often and never getting a reply. Hopefully I'll get some progress. This is killer. :frown:0
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I can relate, I've been upping my cals. since the beginning of the summer from 1400 to now 2200 which is my TDEE (and I am 2 weeks into 2200 a reset) and I feel huge! I only wanted to lose 10-15 pounds but was eating at 1400 and exercising and I kept gaining weight slowly. I think after about 6 weeks of upping my cals. I had only gained 1 pound which was great. But now it's been about 2-3 more weeks and I can't even get on the scale, I am scared of the number! thinking I will just forget the rest of the 2200 reset and do the 15% cut and see what happens. I have been lifing faithfully all summer and just began NROWL a few weeks ago. Although I can't go as heavy as they would like, I have a bum knee. So I am doing it slowly. Haven't been real good with cardio this summer either. Ugh. Been working on this 10-15 pounds for Years, Years I tell ya. I hit 40 last year and gained another 5 pounds WTH, super.0
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I think going to the Dr. is a good idea as you mentioned earlier. Perhaps there is something wrong with your thyroid or some other issue present.0
