Two and a half weeks in advice
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disintegratedgirl
Posts: 22 Member
Hi guys,
I started a reset about 2 1/2 weeks ago after stumbling across the Eat More theory on the internet. I had pretty much been on a 2 year plateau despite exercising alot and eating moderately and healthily, after losing about 3 stone in the space of about 18 months. I didn't calorie count exactly but had kept a very honest food diary for a good few years with quantities in so inputted a few weeks into MFP to see how much i was actually eating. I was averaging 1300-1700 calories a day but doing a reason amount of exercise and not eating any extra to compensate for this. So was actually netting between 600 and 1000 calories alot of the time. It made alot of sense that I would have killed my metabolism this way. But now i am wondering if this was the case.
I used the spreadsheet to calculate TDEE and have been aiming for 2200 calories a day. The first 3/4 days it was really really difficult to get to this but then my appetite kicked in with an avengence and i was ravenous every 2.5 hours on the dot. This eased very quickly and after another 4 days it just felt normal to be eating this much but i didn't have the the same level of huge and uncontrollable hunger. I gained 1.5 lbs in the first week and a half but the last week i have had an exact STS down to the nearest 1/10 of a lb. Now don't get me wrong I am definitely not complaining about not gaining more but it just seems odd that if my metabolism was as damaged as i thought it was i wouldn't have gained more. I am a bit worried that this means this perhaps wasn't the reason for the plateau. Logically I know its probably far too early after one week of STS to think the weight gain is done and might just be a bit of a fluke and I had loosened the reigns a little over the last 2 months or so already, eating a bit more than usual and was already 3lbs up on my lowest weight but would really appreciate anyone's thoughts or advice on whether this is normal or expected?
That's a bit of ramble isn't it??? So i guess the real question is: is it normal to have an exact STS in week 2 of a reset? Does that mean your metabolism wasn't as damaged as you thought or does it just go in phases?
Generally though I am feeling enjoying eating like this and have SO much more energy. I had my MOT at my gym on friday and mentioned i was eating at maintenance calories after not losing weight allegedly doing the right things for months on end and they thought it was quite a good idea which was a bit of a relief. I was a bit worried about having to justify it all to someone so early on. I've also ordered NRLFW and have booked in with one of the personal trainers at the gym to design a heavy lifting programme. Really looking forward to that. I already do kettlebells once a week but really looking forward to concentrating on a bit more lifting and a bit less cardio.
I started a reset about 2 1/2 weeks ago after stumbling across the Eat More theory on the internet. I had pretty much been on a 2 year plateau despite exercising alot and eating moderately and healthily, after losing about 3 stone in the space of about 18 months. I didn't calorie count exactly but had kept a very honest food diary for a good few years with quantities in so inputted a few weeks into MFP to see how much i was actually eating. I was averaging 1300-1700 calories a day but doing a reason amount of exercise and not eating any extra to compensate for this. So was actually netting between 600 and 1000 calories alot of the time. It made alot of sense that I would have killed my metabolism this way. But now i am wondering if this was the case.
I used the spreadsheet to calculate TDEE and have been aiming for 2200 calories a day. The first 3/4 days it was really really difficult to get to this but then my appetite kicked in with an avengence and i was ravenous every 2.5 hours on the dot. This eased very quickly and after another 4 days it just felt normal to be eating this much but i didn't have the the same level of huge and uncontrollable hunger. I gained 1.5 lbs in the first week and a half but the last week i have had an exact STS down to the nearest 1/10 of a lb. Now don't get me wrong I am definitely not complaining about not gaining more but it just seems odd that if my metabolism was as damaged as i thought it was i wouldn't have gained more. I am a bit worried that this means this perhaps wasn't the reason for the plateau. Logically I know its probably far too early after one week of STS to think the weight gain is done and might just be a bit of a fluke and I had loosened the reigns a little over the last 2 months or so already, eating a bit more than usual and was already 3lbs up on my lowest weight but would really appreciate anyone's thoughts or advice on whether this is normal or expected?
That's a bit of ramble isn't it??? So i guess the real question is: is it normal to have an exact STS in week 2 of a reset? Does that mean your metabolism wasn't as damaged as you thought or does it just go in phases?
Generally though I am feeling enjoying eating like this and have SO much more energy. I had my MOT at my gym on friday and mentioned i was eating at maintenance calories after not losing weight allegedly doing the right things for months on end and they thought it was quite a good idea which was a bit of a relief. I was a bit worried about having to justify it all to someone so early on. I've also ordered NRLFW and have booked in with one of the personal trainers at the gym to design a heavy lifting programme. Really looking forward to that. I already do kettlebells once a week but really looking forward to concentrating on a bit more lifting and a bit less cardio.
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Replies
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Just bumping to see if anyone can provide some advice on whether a STS in the second week of a reset might imply that damaged metabolism wasn't the main reason for a very very very long plateau.0
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Put the scale away for a month. Get used to eating- then check in after 4-6 weeks.0
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Thanks for the reply, and I am gradually moving away from placing so much importance on the scales but i kind of thought from reading up on here that knowing whether any gain that occurs happens very suddenly or gradually was quite useful in this process? Is that wrong?0
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It is useful to know.
So fast water weight gain of 1.5 lbs.
Then exact STS for 1 week.
STS - i can't place that acronym in the scheme of things - it's not a stone which is 14 lbs, that would be impossible.
But I will say, as a woman, you can have a BMR change of up to 300 cal in a month - so the advice still stands, wait.
All good signs that you had.
But if you were not losing on lower amount, and now you know it was suppressed, how do you know that no loss on this higher amount is still not suppressed?0 -
Sorry, "STS" = stay the same. Its commonly used on another forum i go on so didn't realised it wasn't commonly used. So the slight concern is that things have stabilised quite quickly, albeit that they may well not remain the same as the weeks go on. I guess I just wondered if this was normal when resetting; to have a gain, then a week of staying the same etc.
Afraid I am a bit lost by your comment heybales of "but if you were not losing on lower amount, and now you know it was suppressed, how do you know that no loss on this higher amount is still not suppressed?". What do you mean?0 -
What many find.
They ate 1200 and plateaued for months.
They increase slowly to 1400 - no loss or gain. Does that mean that is your TDEE, just because you didn't gain?
Increase to 1600 - no loss or gain. True potential TDEE now?
Make your way up to estimated TDEE from rough 5 levels of 2100 - no loss or gain. True TDEE now just because 1 of 5 levels told you a number?
Obviously the act of NOT losing or gaining does not mean you have reached potential TDEE yet.
So to your comment, has my metabolism recovered because I didn't gain weight in the 2/3 week?
Unknown, is that really your true potential TDEE? How would you know?
Eat 250 more daily for 2 weeks. If no fast water weight gain, but only 1 slow pound gained over the whole 2 weeks, then you were at TDEE prior. If it's less of a gain and takes 1 month to add 1 pound, then TDEE is really 125 less than what you are eating.0 -
Ah, I see. Thanks for the advice.
I think i will give it at least another 2/3 weeks and see if the scales are still staying the same before trying your technique. I'm away staying with friends next week so won't have as close an idea of exact calories so that wouldn't be a good a good indication, and then give it a couple of weeks after that.
I'm in no hurry and really beginning to enjoy all the food options and how they are making me feel energy-wise. I also got The new rules of listing for women in the post today and keen to start working on my increasing my lifting over the next few weeks so don't want to change too many things at once.
Thanks again.0
