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MyFitnessPal Community

Words can't describe my appreciation...

photojunkie28

I am making time in my day today just to make sure I get this post in because I think people should know exactly what the EM2WL group in combination with my fitness bootcamp/zumba instructor has done for me. She knows her stuff along with SOME of the people on this forum.

Just like so many other people , I woke up one day and decided today was the day I will get my body/life back. And like so many others I said NO to food and YES to exercise. The scale certainly moved so I must have been doing an awesome job right?!? WRONG! The scale moved and I got smaller, but my energy level took a dive and so did my mood. I of course stalled out quickly and got frustrated...this is when I joined MFP and started "don't my homework".

I found out I wasn't eating enough to fuel my never stopping body. I went through the whole process of hating eating that much, gaining weight, wanting to give up and not believing in the science. I did a 6 week reset (which I recently found out that I still didn't eat at TDEE during but that's beside the point).

Lets fast forward to the happy part...ME! The scale although hesitant sometimes is moving in the right direction, pretty much donated my entire wardrobe due to being silly big, and best of all I found my happy place on the inside. I may not be at my goal yet, but mentally I feel energetic and positive and people are responding to this even more than the weight loss. (which has been 12 lbs in roughly 14-16 weeks with EM2WL)

To the women:
During this process I lost my period. I have not had it for 3 months now and understand that this is common with this type of lifestyle change but I started to get concerned. So today I talked to my trainer and guess what? I'm STILL not eating enough and this is more than likely the cause. I really wanted to put some things in perspective for people out there with doubts about weight loss and how much to eat and all that so here's the math...

I am 5'5
Age 28
Start Weight January - 212.5
Current Weight 169
BF% - Around 27.5 (I was 29.2 seven lbs ago)
I am physically active at work as I am a retail manager
I do a fitness bootcamp 3 mornings a week, zumba once or twice a week and occassional jogs/dog walks

I have currently been eating 1850-2000 cal a day to LOSE weight. I will be increasing this number shortly as instructed, but I just wanted to share because if somebody had told my 212.5 lb butt that I would be eating this much , rarely feel hunger and be this happy I would have laughed. For those who doubt the process, and I was one of them...you cant doubt the facts. I am living proof that food is our friend

So THANK YOU Em2wl and friends for all the information and support!

Replies

RunAlyndaRun

Yay!!! I really needed to read your post this morning. I'm on day six of my "reboot" and I've been wavering whether to stay on it or decrease my calories again. I haven't been eating exactly at TDEE, but trying pretty hard to get there. I'm feeling a bit bloated (almost TOM...ugh!) and overly full these days. I know that's part of the process, but it's disconcerting when you're concerned about gaining back that weight that you worked so desperately hard to lose in the first place.

I'm looking at you as my inspiration in this endeavor. I want to feel like you do and I know I can get there!

Thanks for your post on a day when I needed to see it!

braves1girl

Thank you so much for sharing! We have some things in common...it was very hard for me to wrap my 45 yr old stubborn mind around the fact that I have to eat more! It took me 2 freakin years! (Talk about stubborn:blushing: ) I am halfway thru my 4th week of reset and have never felt better! I have so much more energy, my hair is the healthiest its been in years and my skin and nails are great too! But most importantly it finally clicked! I am taking care of my body like it's needed for 2+ yrs!

I hope I can hang in there...I'm eating at cut and I know that's not TDEE, but it's sooo much more than I was eating before! I would be lucky to net 900-1000/day! For me this is reset. If this doesn't work, then I'll do TDEE for a while.

I am so grateful for the friends and information I have learned on this forum! I am better because of it!

:drinker: :flowerforyou:

bltrexler

Thanks for the words of wisdom. This is something I struggle with and hearing your story provides motivation and support.

Thank you.

photojunkie28

Thank you all for your replies and support! It means a lot to me. I am happier than ever but make no mistake , I do have my days and it is VERY mentally exhausting and a huge battle but i'm proud to say that I'm going to win this one

Raynn1

Congrats on sharing your story!! You have been doing amazingly!! It is absolutely astounding how much food we do in fact need to eat. Everytime I hear someone say they cant eat that extra banana, or piece of meat because it will go ove their 1200 cal allotment, I want to cry for them.

Like you, the scale stopped moving after a certain low cal point. After I began eating more, my hair stopped falling out, my skin is not dry and cracked, Im happier and I sleep better. I am still a HUGE work in progress as the scale isnt quite moving where I want it to go, but like you, I just found out I still wasnt eating enough either.

This works. No matter how many bad days I have where I want to throw in the towel and scream for the hills because things arent going my way, I KNOW in my gut this makes sense, this is how I want to live the rest of my life and I never want to go back to "dieting" again

coolvstar650

I have currently been eating 1850-2000 cal a day to LOSE weight. I will be increasing this number shortly as instructed, but I just wanted to share because if somebody had told my 212.5 lb butt that I would be eating this much , rarely feel hunger and be this happy I would have laughed. For those who doubt the process, and I was one of them...you cant doubt the facts. I am living proof that food is our friend

Me too...I am amazed at what I can eat now that I am doing weight lifting (New Rules of lifting for women). I eat anywhere from 2000-2700 a day and I'm losing! I had stalled out losing before I started the weight lifting workout...three weeks ago I upped my calories by 700-800 a day started lifting and have lost another 5 pounds.

You can eat more, you can lose weight. I started my journey at over 300 pounds and eat more now in a day than I did back then. The skeptics will say, yeah, but your exercising imagine how much you would lose if you dropped those calories....THEY ARE DEAD WRONG. I have actually decreased my cardio over the last month. In most of July I was putting in 6-7 hours a week on a treadmill and doing 3 days of Kettlebells. Now I do 30 mins 4-5 days a week on the treadmill or stationary bike and weight lift.

I eat more, I do less cardio, and I lose weight. You can too!

holleysings

I feel the same way! I would NEVER have thought that I could eat 2500-3000 calories a day and not gain anything. It's crazy that I starved myself for so long off and on when all this food was possible!

maruby95

Totally needed to hear this today. Thanks so much for sharing. You are inspiring! Sending you a FR