Celebrating a healing metabolism...
Zylayna
Posts: 728 Member
For those that don't know me, I've been a part of EM2WL since March of this year. I came to this forum in bad shape. 20 years of a VLCD practice and severe over exercising had put my body and my metabolism into a tailspin and I was crashing mentally, physically and emotionally.
I am now into my 7th month of EM2WL. It's been a very bumpy process with multiple NSV's along the way and I expect that by next spring I will have healed my metabolism completely and be able to start a successful cut process. I wanted to share the most recent victory that proves my metabolism is healing with you because it was such an awesome thing to me.
I just got back from an 8 day vacation in Mexico. Previous vacations have always ended in my gaining at least 5 - 7lbs. No exception...and always while eating very little, exercising like crazy and basically not being able to fully enjoy my vacation the way it was intended. This year was different.
I weighed myself before I left. Then I went and completely relaxed and enjoyed my vacation. I did not go to the resort gym, or try to swim off cals or walk off cals. I just did what I wanted, rested when I wanted, enjoyed my excursions and relaxed. And I ATE. A LOT. I didn't watch macros, or worry about how many cals were in those 3 deserts I just ate in one sitting followed by a margarita or two. I didn't worry about fried foods or breads or sauces or the fact that I just had a hotdog and tortilla chips for a snack....I just ate what I wanted. I was so incredibly full every day that by the time I got home I couldn't hardly imagine eating another bite. Of course, I still woke up starving the next morning, but whatever...lol.
Here's the greatest part. I weighed myself when I got back....and I didn't gain an ounce. I weigh EXACTLY the same as I did when I left. My body dealt with all those extra cals, regulated my eating naturally enough and my energy that it all balanced out perfectly in the end! This is proof that my metabolism is truly,. and wonderfully healing to a natural, healthy state. And that is beyond awesome to me. I may not be losing any weight yet, but I knew going into this process that it would likely take me months of refeeding and building up my metabolism before a cut would work for me (even if I hoped otherwise) and I am thrilled with every milestone I achieve in this journey. For me, this is a big one.
If you are like me, coming from a severe diet/exercise history, take your time and refeed your body. Watch for the milestones. You may need months of healing before you will see success at cut (which sucks-believe me, I know, but it may be necessary)....Just remember to celebrate the NSV milestones along the way because those are just as important and just as awesome. :drinker:
I am now into my 7th month of EM2WL. It's been a very bumpy process with multiple NSV's along the way and I expect that by next spring I will have healed my metabolism completely and be able to start a successful cut process. I wanted to share the most recent victory that proves my metabolism is healing with you because it was such an awesome thing to me.
I just got back from an 8 day vacation in Mexico. Previous vacations have always ended in my gaining at least 5 - 7lbs. No exception...and always while eating very little, exercising like crazy and basically not being able to fully enjoy my vacation the way it was intended. This year was different.
I weighed myself before I left. Then I went and completely relaxed and enjoyed my vacation. I did not go to the resort gym, or try to swim off cals or walk off cals. I just did what I wanted, rested when I wanted, enjoyed my excursions and relaxed. And I ATE. A LOT. I didn't watch macros, or worry about how many cals were in those 3 deserts I just ate in one sitting followed by a margarita or two. I didn't worry about fried foods or breads or sauces or the fact that I just had a hotdog and tortilla chips for a snack....I just ate what I wanted. I was so incredibly full every day that by the time I got home I couldn't hardly imagine eating another bite. Of course, I still woke up starving the next morning, but whatever...lol.
Here's the greatest part. I weighed myself when I got back....and I didn't gain an ounce. I weigh EXACTLY the same as I did when I left. My body dealt with all those extra cals, regulated my eating naturally enough and my energy that it all balanced out perfectly in the end! This is proof that my metabolism is truly,. and wonderfully healing to a natural, healthy state. And that is beyond awesome to me. I may not be losing any weight yet, but I knew going into this process that it would likely take me months of refeeding and building up my metabolism before a cut would work for me (even if I hoped otherwise) and I am thrilled with every milestone I achieve in this journey. For me, this is a big one.
If you are like me, coming from a severe diet/exercise history, take your time and refeed your body. Watch for the milestones. You may need months of healing before you will see success at cut (which sucks-believe me, I know, but it may be necessary)....Just remember to celebrate the NSV milestones along the way because those are just as important and just as awesome. :drinker:
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Replies
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This is so fabulous!!! I am thrilled to hear this. I am feeling the same way to a lesser degree and I am so thrilled to see that what I am starting to take in as my belief is actually working for others as well.0
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Pure, unadulterated AWESOMENESS !
Congrats for staying the course and on your wonderful progress !
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So amazing, Nicole! I am very happy for your progress. Thank you for sharing!0
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I believe that. I believe that it is what I really need. Thanks for sharing girl!
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I am SO HAPPY for you!!! Amazing news and it sounds like you are able to fully enjoy your life again (some would say, this is MORE important than losing weight). I have no doubt that your metabolism is healed after this experience and that you'll never cut more than 15% off your TDEE again!
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What an incredible NSV. I have watched you working so hard & am so proud that you are my friend.0
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Amazing Nicole. I am so happy for you and your mind is healing along the way too..
Cant wait to share in the rest of your journey!0 -
What a wonderful NSV! Fantastic! You are on the right path!0
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This is so awesome to hear! I had a similar experience after going on vacation this past summer. Metabolism reset is an awesome thing!0
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i am also trying to set my metabolism ...... good piece of info0
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That is brilliant!!
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Congratulations!! You deserve it! Thank you for always sharing and being so helpful here. :flowerforyou:0
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One word -- AWESOME!!!!! I am so happy for you and thanks for being an inspiration.....
And I have to ask - was this one of the best vacations of your life? :happy:0 -
This is great, and really what I needed to hear! You are an inspiration!0
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That is nothing but pure awesome right there!!!! I bet it felt great to just relax and not stress about every little ounce of food!
Thanks for sharing!!0 -
LOVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yeeeeeaaaaahhhhh!0
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Very happy for you and this sounds great. I am in the same boat as you. We did the reset at the same time, I think. I too haven`t lost any weight. But am feeling good in my life. I don`t gain when I rarely overeat anymore but still tend to go up on weekends. I guess my NSV is that I don`t binge anymore. I didn`T even think about this as an nsv until I read your post. I guess we do have to be thankful for the little things.
Just.....
Ummm. I started MFP to lose weight and I still feel frustrated that I haven`t lost anything. Sorry to be a downer on the thread. But I came here to acheive a goal. Will I ever be successful? Or do I have to completely change my mindset that not reaching my goal is success. With all the no excuses weight loss advice, it seems sort of a cop out. No?....0 -
Ummm. I started MFP to lose weight and I still feel frustrated that I haven`t lost anything. Sorry to be a downer on the thread. But I came here to acheive a goal. Will I ever be successful? Or do I have to completely change my mindset that not reaching my goal is success. With all the no excuses weight loss advice, it seems sort of a cop out. No?....
I don't see it as a cop out at all and you shouldn't either unless you've given up. If you knew me personally, you'd know that I am not one to give up or take any kind of 'cop-out'...it goes against every grain in my body. I'm competitive, determined, strong willed, feisty and stubborn, and I will lose this weight, but I've come to accept that my journey is just longer than some others may experience. I spent a lot of years doing a lot of damage to my system. It takes time to repair that, and time to heal the way I think about myself and food. From all the research I have done, one thing has become clear....repairing a damaged metabolism can take many months or even a year or more depending on how much time was spent in a vlcd or ED. I had hoped that I could lose shortly after the 8 week reset, but as I cross each milestone I realize just how many things have to get 'fixed' before a proper cut can work for me like it does for someone who has never crash dieted, or had any ED or someone who has spent less time on a vlcd.
I'm frustrated, believe me...but mostly I'm frustrated that I made the choices that got me into this situation in the first place. I learned long ago that every choice has a consequence, and I'm paying for poor diet choices now with a longer journey to the body and health I am looking for. It sucks. And I want to get the body I'm working so hard for just like anyone else does, but I have made a decision to do this the right way this time, even if it takes me a year of re-feeding my body. I will use my stubborn, strong willed, determined self to get me through this time of healing (which I have found harder than starving myself). And eventually, this weight will come off...properly, slowly and without extreme measures.0 -
I think Nicole hit the nail on the head. You have to remember what your dieting history is. If you are like the majority of us, we came from VLCD which means our metabolisms are shot. We cannot expect the healing to be complete in the short 6-8 weeks we gave it during reset, no matter how much we want it to.. Its taken me an additional 3 months to finally wrap my brain around that..
I finally had to admit that I was undereating for 10 years being on WW. Its the reason I was able to achieve a 100 pound weight loss 6 years ago, but it is also the reason the weight piled back on once I had to eat extra calories during both my pregnancies. It is the reason I am struggling so hard to get the weight off now.
But I realized after doing cut, and seeing no changes happening, that this is a lifelong process now. I cannot expect to lose "enough" weight to get me into the next bikini season (even though I would never wear one)... but I can expect that in say 18 months. my Body fat will be down, and my body will be rocking in a few sizes smaller. Notice how I didnt put a number on the scale in there? Thats because the old me would have expected in 18 motnhs to have dropped probably 60 pounds and be near goal... the New me knows that muscle is denser than fat, so I can be 5 sizes smaller in that time, but the scale might only be down say 25 pounds.. Id be thrilled with that.
I think a huge part of this process is understanding the scale means absolutely NOTHING. No one sees that number but you. You dont walk around with that number attached to your head. But you DO walk around in clothing that shows off your size. So you could be rocking a size 4 pant, but your body weight is saying you should be in a size 8.... SO while we all came hre for the same reasons, to see that scale number go down, I think realizing that seeing the body fat numbers change, is much more important.
If you can recall, Kiki has said many times, on the scale she is considered overweight... but she rocks a size 2.. If i could look like her and be considered "overweight".. I would die a happy woman:)
I hope this helps.. I know we all still have days where we struggle with seeing that number.. but you have said a bunch of itmes already, you are happy with your progress and your changes taking shape.. so throw the scale away and just keep trucking along:)0 -
Nicole wow is all I can say!! I remember well when you started... I'm so glad you stuck with it.. You never gave up... :-)0
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So encouraging! I have not yet come to terms with eating more (past ED) and still am on what is considered "low calorie" (though it is over twice what I used to eat), but just being apart of this group has helped. I am a bit less militant about getting the EXACT reading on the food scale and I don't worry about logging little tastes here and there (in my ED days I had an entire mental meltdown on the floor of my kitchen because I ate ONE piece of shrimp from a cocktail [without sauce] thing my mom bought and the label only showed for with sauce. I wasn't able to find the calorie amount for that ONE shrimp and I had a full blown panic-attack-meltdown-crying-fit-tantrum. Dark days.) So I have mentally/emotionally healed a bit 0
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So encouraging! I have not yet come to terms with eating more (past ED) and still am on what is considered "low calorie" (though it is over twice what I used to eat), but just being apart of this group has helped. I am a bit less militant about getting the EXACT reading on the food scale and I don't worry about logging little tastes here and there (in my ED days I had an entire mental meltdown on the floor of my kitchen because I ate ONE piece of shrimp from a cocktail [without sauce] thing my mom bought and the label only showed for with sauce. I wasn't able to find the calorie amount for that ONE shrimp and I had a full blown panic-attack-meltdown-crying-fit-tantrum. Dark days.) So I have mentally/emotionally healed a bit
That's awesome that you are working towards healing! It can take time to get to the point where you can comfortably eat at the level you should be but I encourage you to keep working towards it. You are doing great so far! Every little NSV is one more step in the process. :happy:0
