REALLY CONFUSED

jmzz1
jmzz1 Posts: 670 Member
PLANNING FOR A METABOLISM RESET .... ANYBODY ANY SUGGESTION AS TO HOW TO DO IT......I am eating 1300 calories as of now and my TDEE say to 2300 calories (moderate exercise--- since i workout for 6 days both combined cardio and strength training)... should i suddenly increase my calories or increase gradually 200 calories week after week
and how should i design my workout plan?
plz help

Replies

  • yeshualovesme
    yeshualovesme Posts: 121 Member
    6 Days combined cardio/strength isn't moderate for starters. Either cut back on the cardio or up the calories. I've just started a few weeks ago on the reset, and read all the stickies. You may want to buy their $5 starter pack to save time. I didn't, but am thinking about buying it. Anyway, this is how I make it out:

    Calculate your TDEE @ the Scooby site. If you want to keep doing your cardio, then make sure your activity matches - so change it from moderate. Eat @ your TDEE and do not eat back exercise calories UNLESS whilst doing your cardio, you dip below your BMR. So, let's say your BMR is 1600 and your TDEE is 2300. You do a massive cardio burn at 800 calories. That would place you at -100 calories below your BMR. You would eat those calories. I could be wrong, but this is how I read it. This is why most people kind of cut out major cardio during reset, and use it as a time to build muscle. They usually lift (and lift heavy - no cute little pink weights) 3x a week full body or 4x a week split and do not eat back calories. THEN, when you are ready to "cut" you do not cut big - you cut 10-20% off of your tdee. Anyway, I watched a bunch of the videos and read a bunch of the stickies and this is what I gathered. There is no clear concise post that explains everything easily - which is why a lot of people recommend the $5 ebook.

    Hope this helped - if not - I will stand corrected and change, haha!

    ETA: PUT AWAY YOUR SCALE. Really - just do it for the reset. Take pictures and measurements at the start and do not get on that scale until you start the cutting process. Scale is just showing your relationship with gravity.
  • jmzz1
    jmzz1 Posts: 670 Member
    6 Days combined cardio/strength isn't moderate for starters. Either cut back on the cardio or up the calories. I've just started a few weeks ago on the reset, and read all the stickies. You may want to buy their $5 starter pack to save time. I didn't, but am thinking about buying it. Anyway, this is how I make it out:

    Calculate your TDEE @ the Scooby site. If you want to keep doing your cardio, then make sure your activity matches - so change it from moderate. Eat @ your TDEE and do not eat back exercise calories UNLESS whilst doing your cardio, you dip below your BMR. So, let's say your BMR is 1600 and your TDEE is 2300. You do a massive cardio burn at 800 calories. That would place you at -100 calories below your BMR. You would eat those calories. I could be wrong, but this is how I read it. This is why most people kind of cut out major cardio during reset, and use it as a time to build muscle. They usually lift (and lift heavy - no cute little pink weights) 3x a week full body or 4x a week split and do not eat back calories. THEN, when you are ready to "cut" you do not cut big - you cut 10-20% off of your tdee. Anyway, I watched a bunch of the videos and read a bunch of the stickies and this is what I gathered. There is no clear concise post that explains everything easily - which is why a lot of people recommend the $5 ebook.

    Hope this helped - if not - I will stand corrected and change, haha!

    ETA: PUT AWAY YOUR SCALE. Really - just do it for the reset. Take pictures and measurements at the start and do not get on that scale until you start the cutting process. Scale is just showing your relationship with gravity.
    wht u have said is right ..... but i do not know for how long should i increase my calorie and at wht rate should i increase ... like 100 calorie increase per day or per week...
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    wht u have said is right ..... but i do not know for how long should i increase my calorie and at wht rate should i increase ... like 100 calorie increase per day or per week...

    Have you been losing weight or measurements up to this point?
    If you, you currently have a deficit then, add 200 per day for a week, then another 200 for another week.

    If you have plateaued in weight and measurements for at least 3 weeks, then you were eating at TDEE.

    Add 100 per day for a week, then another 100, ect.

    Also, wanting to confirm that if you don't want to shoot yourself in the metabolism, you'll be honest with your activity level.

    And your level is mostly unneeded stress, probably a good part of the reason for having problems.

    Your strength training is probably not as strong as it could be if daily, your cardio isn't as good as it could be either. Unless you mean nice walking.

    First week eating 100 extra daily - no exercise except 30 min of walking daily.
    Second week eating another 100 - only lifting 3 x week.
    Third week with another 100 daily - lifting 3x week and 30 min walking on non-lifting days.
    You should now feel the difference in being able to really lift well when you haven't run your body down with no rest or food.
    Fourth week with another 100 daily, lifting 3 x week and 30 min cardio at max Aerobic HR zone, no higher.
    If you don't feel as strong on the lifting, you just proved what happens with too much cardio.

    At this point your calories should be correct for Moderately Active TDEE. May need another week of 100 more again.
  • jmzz1
    jmzz1 Posts: 670 Member
    wht u have said is right ..... but i do not know for how long should i increase my calorie and at wht rate should i increase ... like 100 calorie increase per day or per week...

    Have you been losing weight or measurements up to this point?
    If you, you currently have a deficit then, add 200 per day for a week, then another 200 for another week.

    If you have plateaued in weight and measurements for at least 3 weeks, then you were eating at TDEE.
    i was eating around 800- 900 calories for almost 1 year and increased my calorie to 1300 past 2 months... but still no difference in weight loss its just the same
  • jmzz1
    jmzz1 Posts: 670 Member


    Also, wanting to confirm that if you don't want to shoot yourself in the metabolism, you'll be honest with your activity level.

    And your level is mostly unneeded stress, probably a good part of the reason for having problems.

    Your strength training is probably not as strong as it could be if daily, your cardio isn't as good as it could be either. Unless you mean nice walking.

    First week eating 100 extra daily - no exercise except 30 min of walking daily.
    Second week eating another 100 - only lifting 3 x week.
    Third week with another 100 daily - lifting 3x week and 30 min walking on non-lifting days.
    You should now feel the difference in being able to really lift well when you haven't run your body down with no rest or food.
    Fourth week with another 100 daily, lifting 3 x week and 30 min cardio at max Aerobic HR zone, no higher.
    If you don't feel as strong on the lifting, you just proved what happens with too much cardio.

    At this point your calories should be correct for Moderately Active TDEE. May need another week of 100 more again.
    i have been adviced by my trainer to do light strength training daily along with cardio since it will be able to strengthen the muscle and there will be an inch loss..........
    how long should i be increasing my calorie.... since i am gaining weight after increasing my calorie.. at present i am on a 1500 calorie diet,, should i increase till 2300 which is my TDEE or stop when my weight stops gaining and reduce 15% calories... really confused
  • jmzz1
    jmzz1 Posts: 670 Member


    Also, wanting to confirm that if you don't want to shoot yourself in the metabolism, you'll be honest with your activity level.

    And your level is mostly unneeded stress, probably a good part of the reason for having problems.

    Your strength training is probably not as strong as it could be if daily, your cardio isn't as good as it could be either. Unless you mean nice walking.

    First week eating 100 extra daily - no exercise except 30 min of walking daily.
    Second week eating another 100 - only lifting 3 x week.
    Third week with another 100 daily - lifting 3x week and 30 min walking on non-lifting days.
    You should now feel the difference in being able to really lift well when you haven't run your body down with no rest or food.
    Fourth week with another 100 daily, lifting 3 x week and 30 min cardio at max Aerobic HR zone, no higher.
    If you don't feel as strong on the lifting, you just proved what happens with too much cardio.

    At this point your calories should be correct for Moderately Active TDEE. May need another week of 100 more again.
    i have been adviced by my trainer to do light strength training daily along with cardio since it will be able to strengthen the muscle and there will be an inch loss..........
    how long should i be increasing my calorie.... since i am gaining weight after increasing my calorie.. at present i am on a 1500 calorie diet,, should i increase till 2300 which is my TDEE or stop when my weight stops gaining and reduce 15% calories... really confused
  • jmzz1
    jmzz1 Posts: 670 Member


    Also, wanting to confirm that if you don't want to shoot yourself in the metabolism, you'll be honest with your activity level.

    And your level is mostly unneeded stress, probably a good part of the reason for having problems.

    Your strength training is probably not as strong as it could be if daily, your cardio isn't as good as it could be either. Unless you mean nice walking.

    First week eating 100 extra daily - no exercise except 30 min of walking daily.
    Second week eating another 100 - only lifting 3 x week.
    Third week with another 100 daily - lifting 3x week and 30 min walking on non-lifting days.
    You should now feel the difference in being able to really lift well when you haven't run your body down with no rest or food.
    Fourth week with another 100 daily, lifting 3 x week and 30 min cardio at max Aerobic HR zone, no higher.
    If you don't feel as strong on the lifting, you just proved what happens with too much cardio.

    At this point your calories should be correct for Moderately Active TDEE. May need another week of 100 more again.
    i have been adviced by my trainer to do light strength training daily along with cardio since it will be able to strengthen the muscle and there will be an inch loss..........
    how long should i be increasing my calorie.... since i am gaining weight after increasing my calorie.. at present i am on a 1500 calorie diet,, should i increase till 2300 which is my TDEE or stop when my weight stops gaining and reduce 15% calories... really confused
  • Noor13
    Noor13 Posts: 964 Member
    No, don't stop when you stop gaining (unless you have reached your calculated TDEE), cause then your body will take this lower number as your new TDEE, which you do not want.

    It is normal to gain, and your body will need some time to be able to trust you again. You have been starving yourself over quite a long time, so what your body does now, is storing every morsel of food that comes in, in case the next famine is around the corner. Once you feed your body properly over a longer period of time, and when your metabolism has reset, you will cut slowly 10-15% of your TDEE.Only if you fuel your body properly, even when you are cutting, it will start to willingly let go.

    Please be sure to either read all the stickies, or better get the starter kit. It is essential, that you know, what to expect. It can be mentally challenging to gain weight. If you are prepared for what's to come, you will be able to deal with it better.

    If you increase your cals slowly or jump to TDEE is up to you. everybody dies it differently. I went from 1200 straight to my cut value. Since I was not losing I upped to my TDEE. I personally found it easier to jump straight in, but I guess it depends on you. However you feel more comfy with, go for it. It will take longer though if you increase slowly, as you are supposed to eat at TDEE for 6-8 weeks, some people need even longer to reset.

    Best of luck
  • jmzz1
    jmzz1 Posts: 670 Member
    No, don't stop when you stop gaining (unless you have reached your calculated TDEE), cause then your body will take this lower number as your new TDEE, which you do not want.

    It is normal to gain, and your body will need some time to be able to trust you again. You have been starving yourself over quite a long time, so what your body does now, is storing every morsel of food that comes in, in case the next famine is around the corner. Once you feed your body properly over a longer period of time, and when your metabolism has reset, you will cut slowly 10-15% of your TDEE.Only if you fuel your body properly, even when you are cutting, it will start to willingly let go.

    Please be sure to either read all the stickies, or better get the starter kit. It is essential, that you know, what to expect. It can be mentally challenging to gain weight. If you are prepared for what's to come, you will be able to deal with it better.

    If you increase your cals slowly or jump to TDEE is up to you. everybody dies it differently. I went from 1200 straight to my cut value. Since I was not losing I upped to my TDEE. I personally found it easier to jump straight in, but I guess it depends on you. However you feel more comfy with, go for it. It will take longer though if you increase slowly, as you are supposed to eat at TDEE for 6-8 weeks, some people need even longer to reset.

    Best of luck
    How did u know for how long to continue with tdee ....... did ur weight start dropping or after reducing ur calories intake to 10% ur weight decreased?
  • jmzz1
    jmzz1 Posts: 670 Member
    bump
  • Noor13
    Noor13 Posts: 964 Member
    I ate at TDEE (as calculated by my fitbit) until I stopped gaining. Then I did a 10% cut. Did not lose however, what meant, that I needed to reset for longer. So I continued to eat at TDEE.For some people it can take quite a long time, depending n how badly your metabolism was damaged from low calorie dieting.
    Of course it was stressful at times, but you have to have the bigger picture in mind. This is not something that changes quickly. You have to give your body the time to heal.
    I have been on VLC for almost two decades. Do my body needed the time to reset. I started in early may with the reset, and now I am finally at the point where I feel my body starts to trust me again.

    Don't rush the process. Take the time. It is for the rest of your life. So a few months longer will not make a big difference. Just stay focused and strong.
  • Raynn1
    Raynn1 Posts: 1,164 Member
    I ate at TDEE (as calculated by my fitbit) until I stopped gaining. Then I did a 10% cut. Did not lose however, what meant, that I needed to reset for longer. So I continued to eat at TDEE.For some people it can take quite a long time, depending n how badly your metabolism was damaged from low calorie dieting.
    Of course it was stressful at times, but you have to have the bigger picture in mind. This is not something that changes quickly. You have to give your body the time to heal.
    I have been on VLC for almost two decades. Do my body needed the time to reset. I started in early may with the reset, and now I am finally at the point where I feel my body starts to trust me again.

    Don't rush the process. Take the time. It is for the rest of your life. So a few months longer will not make a big difference. Just stay focused and strong.

    This. If you are hoping to eat at TDEE and then see the scale start to drop the pounds after, you might be sorely mistaken. This is a long process, and its NOT a diet. This is to repair your metabolism, eat at the level you should be, get your body to trust you again and then will it start to release the fat. Depending on how close you are to your goal weight, you may find the scale wont budge at all, but the inches will. Depending on how heavy you are lifting in strength training, will also make a difference to your body shape.

    For most of us, we did a 8 week reset, and it wasnt enough. This coming from years of low cal dieting, years of starving our bodies and doing nothing but cardio... so it can take a long time before your body may forgive you. Know that it WILL be frustrating at times and you may want to give up and go back to eating VLC.. but trust the process, trust it for the LONG HAUL, not a short term goal. For a lot of us we had to stop thinking about where we wanted to be in 6 months and concentrate on where we wanted to be in 18 months.

    This is not a weight loss way of life.. this is a FAT loss way of life.. keep that in mind as you begin:)
    Hope this helps
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    i have been adviced by my trainer to do light strength training daily along with cardio since it will be able to strengthen the muscle and there will be an inch loss..........
    how long should i be increasing my calorie.... since i am gaining weight after increasing my calorie.. at present i am on a 1500 calorie diet,, should i increase till 2300 which is my TDEE or stop when my weight stops gaining and reduce 15% calories... really confused

    Light strength training may not even maintain the muscle.

    You lost a lot on that diet, you need to maintain.

    You should be increasing your calories 100 extra a day, each week adding another 100 daily, until you reach your TDEE.

    But - you need a new TDEE. You need to cut back on activity, and make that which you do really count for something. The body responds best to hard stress, great rest and recovery. Constant stress daily is NOT good.

    Don't be confused, and stop being stressed about it. Think back to how long you have been wasting time and muscle mass on previous diet already with no results.

    Ready to change your thinking that several weeks isn't that long?

    I spelled out your first several weeks, recalc your TDEE based on ending with 3 x weekly weight lifting, and 3 x weekly walking up to 60 min. That's going to be your new TDEE if you want to cut out your stress.
    That would be the Moderately Active TDEE, rounded down to nearest 100.

    If already eating 1500 then start doing what I spelled out there.
  • norcal_yogi
    norcal_yogi Posts: 675 Member
    bump
  • jmzz1
    jmzz1 Posts: 670 Member
    i have been adviced by my trainer to do light strength training daily along with cardio since it will be able to strengthen the muscle and there will be an inch loss..........
    how long should i be increasing my calorie.... since i am gaining weight after increasing my calorie.. at present i am on a 1500 calorie diet,, should i increase till 2300 which is my TDEE or stop when my weight stops gaining and reduce 15% calories... really confused

    Light strength training may not even maintain the muscle.

    You lost a lot on that diet, you need to maintain.

    You should be increasing your calories 100 extra a day, each week adding another 100 daily, until you reach your TDEE.

    But - you need a new TDEE. You need to cut back on activity, and make that which you do really count for something. The body responds best to hard stress, great rest and recovery. Constant stress daily is NOT good.

    Don't be confused, and stop being stressed about it. Think back to how long you have been wasting time and muscle mass on previous diet already with no results.

    Ready to change your thinking that several weeks isn't that long?

    I spelled out your first several weeks, recalc your TDEE based on ending with 3 x weekly weight lifting, and 3 x weekly walking up to 60 min. That's going to be your new TDEE if you want to cut out your stress.
    That would be the Moderately Active TDEE, rounded down to nearest 100.

    If already eating 1500 then start doing what I spelled out there.
    ready to change my thinking........:),,,,,,,,,,according to scooby calculator my TDEE is 2370........ today being my first day of eating TDEE......... how should i plan my exercise this week ........ should i do low or intense cardio? ........ should i start weight training with light weights or heavier weights ?.......
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member

    ready to change my thinking........:),,,,,,,,,,according to scooby calculator my TDEE is 2370........ today being my first day of eating TDEE......... how should i plan my exercise this week ........ should i do low or intense cardio? ........ should i start weight training with light weights or heavier weights ?.......

    You missed my post above where I spell it out to help prevent weight gain, or at least make it a minimal impact.

    You were eating 1500 with no more loss, you were eating at TDEE.
    You are now going to start eating at 2370, that's 870 extra cal's a day, almost 2lbs a week of gain depending on how quickly your metabolism moves. It'll become less and less as metabolism goes up.
    As your weight goes up, so does your BMR, so does your TDEE, so does your goal, you'll be eating even more though gaining!
  • jmzz1
    jmzz1 Posts: 670 Member
    the most funniest part ever ......... is my trainer advicing me not to eat till my TDEE calorie but to have some food tht will boost ur metabolism like green tea, tulsi leaves, oregano . etc. and maontain my 1300 calorie diet ........ but my BMR is 1445... now i am confused as to wht to do reset my calorie intake to TDEE or eat 1300 calorie diet planned by her.........
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    the most funniest part ever ......... is my trainer advicing me not to eat till my TDEE calorie but to have some food tht will boost ur metabolism like green tea, tulsi leaves, oregano . etc. and maontain my 1300 calorie diet ........ but my BMR is 1445... now i am confused as to wht to do reset my calorie intake to TDEE or eat 1300 calorie diet planned by her.........

    So you know what the BMR is right. Calories your body would like to burn taking care of and supplying energy to all the cells.

    You are giving it less than that. Since it is literally spending energy on all the cells, it is needing that taken in for the most part.

    It's not even getting that. So it's slowing down because it doesn't have the energy taken in to use.

    So it can't speed up, or it would never have dropped in the first place.

    A trainer is NOT a dietitian, and even some of them haven't kept up with current knowledge/studies. Neither do they many times follow their clients long enough to see how their plans fail.

    If you speed it up artificially, meaning anything causing it to go faster than it normally would, then your body will just make sure you burn less energy on other things to make sure enough is left over for your increased metabolism, you will have no daily NET gain in metabolism.

    Several studies have found that when you go too low eating, your body just slows down other activities.

    So you burn 500 calories in an hr workout. You would have burned 100 during that time anyway with normal activity.
    Net calorie burn 400.
    Now you are tired later in the evening and what was 2-4 hrs of more activity doing stuff has turned into longer sitting time, normally would have burned 600 calories, now only 300 calories, so just lost 300 extra calories.
    Net calorie burn is 100.

    Studies have shown this happening. This is how your body balances out.

    So please, take your trainers advice since you have great success so far, and head on back in 6 - 9 months after having 2 - 4 months of no weight loss or measurement changes and your trainer is convinced you are doing something wrong. Oh wait, you've already had 6 month plateau!

    If not, you've been given plenty of good advice above to help decide which one you are going to wrap your mind around.

    Or do some self-education and decide which way sounds more sustainable, also based on your past experience if you've ever lost weight before.
  • riouxt
    riouxt Posts: 104 Member
    I just made an extremely long thread because I have come out on the other side of RESET. Maybe it will help you. :)
  • jmzz1
    jmzz1 Posts: 670 Member
    I just made an extremely long thread because I have come out on the other side of RESET. Maybe it will help you. :)

    can i have the linnk to tht thread
  • jmzz1
    jmzz1 Posts: 670 Member
    the most funniest part ever ......... is my trainer advicing me not to eat till my TDEE calorie but to have some food tht will boost ur metabolism like green tea, tulsi leaves, oregano . etc. and maontain my 1300 calorie diet ........ but my BMR is 1445... now i am confused as to wht to do reset my calorie intake to TDEE or eat 1300 calorie diet planned by her.........

    So you know what the BMR is right. Calories your body would like to burn taking care of and supplying energy to all the cells.

    You are giving it less than that. Since it is literally spending energy on all the cells, it is needing that taken in for the most part.

    It's not even getting that. So it's slowing down because it doesn't have the energy taken in to use.

    So it can't speed up, or it would never have dropped in the first place.

    A trainer is NOT a dietitian, and even some of them haven't kept up with current knowledge/studies. Neither do they many times follow their clients long enough to see how their plans fail.

    If you speed it up artificially, meaning anything causing it to go faster than it normally would, then your body will just make sure you burn less energy on other things to make sure enough is left over for your increased metabolism, you will have no daily NET gain in metabolism.

    Several studies have found that when you go too low eating, your body just slows down other activities.

    So you burn 500 calories in an hr workout. You would have burned 100 during that time anyway with normal activity.
    Net calorie burn 400.
    Now you are tired later in the evening and what was 2-4 hrs of more activity doing stuff has turned into longer sitting time, normally would have burned 600 calories, now only 300 calories, so just lost 300 extra calories.
    Net calorie burn is 100.

    Studies have shown this happening. This is how your body balances out.

    So please, take your trainers advice since you have great success so far, and head on back in 6 - 9 months after having 2 - 4 months of no weight loss or measurement changes and your trainer is convinced you are doing something wrong. Oh wait, you've already had 6 month plateau!

    If not, you've been given plenty of good advice above to help decide which one you are going to wrap your mind around.

    Or do some self-education and decide which way sounds more sustainable, also based on your past experience if you've ever lost weight before.
    sry to say its my nutritionist who adviced me and not my trainer.......... had lost around 20lbs last year and after tht my weight was on a plateau since i was eating less than 1200 calories may be around 800-900 .....
    nutritionist is asking me to have some metabolism boosting food like green tea , mustard seed , oregano etc.....
    my question is does it these foods help to boost the metabolism after eating less than my BMR?
    is my nutrtionist heading in the right direction since i have suffered foor quite a long time on plateau........
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    sry to say its my nutritionist who adviced me and not my trainer.......... had lost around 20lbs last year and after tht my weight was on a plateau since i was eating less than 1200 calories may be around 800-900 .....
    nutritionist is asking me to have some metabolism boosting food like green tea , mustard seed , oregano etc.....
    my question is does it these foods help to boost the metabolism after eating less than my BMR?
    is my nutrtionist heading in the right direction since i have suffered foor quite a long time on plateau........

    You are not doing a good job reading, or re-reading, what has already been provided to you.
    All you asked was answered already.
  • jmzz1
    jmzz1 Posts: 670 Member
    bump
  • oonga
    oonga Posts: 336 Member
    sry to say its my nutritionist who adviced me and not my trainer.......... had lost around 20lbs last year and after tht my weight was on a plateau since i was eating less than 1200 calories may be around 800-900 .....
    nutritionist is asking me to have some metabolism boosting food like green tea , mustard seed , oregano etc.....
    my question is does it these foods help to boost the metabolism after eating less than my BMR?
    is my nutrtionist heading in the right direction since i have suffered foor quite a long time on plateau........

    You are not doing a good job reading, or re-reading, what has already been provided to you.
    All you asked was answered already.

    Agree with Haybales :)
    Seems like you may have missed some of the posts made for you in this thread.
    Maybe start reading your thread from the start again, i think sometimes if people post at the same time, posts get lost :)
  • jmzz1
    jmzz1 Posts: 670 Member
    thanks guys will incorporate seeting of my metasbolism to TDEE