EMWL - not work for anyone?

andrea_kohlman · July 2013

I swear I followed all the advice, upped my protein, calories, did a 12 week reset - continued working out...gained close to 15 pounds. Well, its been 5 or 6 weeks since I dropped my calories to cut and nothing has changed.

Based on heybales suggestion of sizes are wrong or I'm forgetting things, I dropped another 300 calories, just be safe. I also started WW again 4 weeks ago (I want to compare the two) and nothing is changing. Not my clothes, not the scale. I also decided to cut out wheat and see if that does anything.

I am meeting with a nutritionist on Monday and hopefully she will have some suggestions...I was just curious if eating more didn't work for anyone. It seems like I have tried almost everything, short of surgery -- which I don't want to resort to.

My diary is open, if you want to look.

Note: I had a Girl's Weekend last weekend, so I didn't eat as healthy as I usually do (Sunchips, etc)

alleekat · July 2013

I peeked at your diary. I noticed that you have those fruit snacks (sugar and empty calories) and a protein bar (glorified candy bar) pretty much every day. You might try cutting those out and replacing them with more nutritionally dense, whole food snacks - fruit & nut butter, veggies and hummus, cheese, etc... - and see if it makes a difference. They could be shooting up your blood sugar (therefore boosting insulin, slowing fat burning) more than you think.
Unless you have celiac or are gluten intolerant (I am), you'd really be better off ditching the sugary snacks before you cut out wheat.

Just a thought.

Good luck!!!!

heybales · July 2013

So you dropped 300 calories for what length of time and no measurement or weight loss?

I'd suggest you went the wrong way then, unless that was only 2 weeks. Should have had 1 lb loss at least even then.

Yep, eating more than bare bones recommended safety level but still less than TDEE will work for everyone.

Just need to be accurate, or equally sloppy in the same direction, on both sides of the equation - eating and burning.

You could have used the spreadsheet and tried to nail the burning side with great estimates.
But then are sloppy on the eating side logging, and either could make your deficit disappear or be too big actually.

andrea_kohlman · July 2013

I dropped 300 calories, going on 4 or 5 weeks ago. No measurement loss and no recordable weight loss, +- same two pounds, depending on day, exercise, sodium intake. I have noticed that I retain a lot of water in my abdomen, feet & legs at times. I know that I have edema; but it isn't consistent.

I have only been putting 1 calorie down for any amount of exercise, so I stay around my TDEE. I am beginning to think that I have miscalculated it and the deficit may be too large. I have been very good about logging and measuring everything that I eat and more so, I have been honest with myself about it. Which is where the frustration comes in, long gone are the days of eating crap and hiding it. ;-)

AnitraSoto · July 2013

So, after doing the re-set, you dropped to cut, stayed there for a while and then dropped another 300 calories? If that is the case, it sounds like you might be at too steep of a deficit... You certainly don't want to "un-do" all of that hard work you did on that metabolism re-set by just dropping down too low again.

What have you figured your BMR and TDEE to be? What are you doing for exercise, and how much of a cut did you start with?

And to answer your question, yes, eating less than TDEE should result in a loss for everybody - it may just take longer for the body to "cooperate" based on what your past dieting history has been and how accurate your diet and exercise numbers are.

andrea_kohlman · July 2013

I agree, I really don't want to undo all the hard work (mostly mental) of doing a reset.

I figured out my TDEE to be 2546 and BMR to be 1642 (according to Scooby). I started at a 15% cut which took me down to 2164. After that didn't get me a change (for a month); I dropped down by another 500 calories. It was suggested that I was eating more than I was recording. Perhaps I created too much of a deficit?

andrea_kohlman · July 2013

Sorry! Forgot to answer the question about working out. I swim a lot with my kids & do EAS Sports 6 week challenge 4 times a week. Before starting that again, I was doing various Wii games & 30 Day Shred - 3 times a week

heybales · July 2013

Is that BMR Katch based on bodyfat%, Scooby Most Accurate calc you have to select and of course enter that stat.

Is your 40 hr workweek time indeed sedentary desk job, and outside of exercise a bump on a log?
And then you added 3-5 hrs a week on top of that to get Moderately Active?

Or the kids keep you moving, and then you should bump up the level just from that, and then add exercise?

If you don't want the best estimate of exercise, at least use the rough estimate improvement here. Uses the formula behind the 5 level 1919 study that made it.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1018770-better-rough-tdee-estimate-than-5-level-chart

Greenrun99 · July 2013

I figured out my TDEE to be 2546 and BMR to be 1642 (according to Scooby). I started at a 15% cut which took me down to 2164. After that didn't get me a change (for a month); I dropped down by another 500 calories. It was suggested that I was eating more than I was recording. Perhaps I created too much of a deficit?

What were you eating at for your reset? 2546? Also on a bunch of the days I see food that is ordered or pickup or something.. So those calculations are really estimates.. I would use a food scale, measure everything, eat a scheduled meal plan for a few weeks and see if anything changes.. Plus if your BMR is 1642 (estimated) and your eating 1642 your body is going to adjust really quickly and stop what your reset achieved.. I mean if I guessed I would do 2000 calories for a few weeks and see if something changes.. if not increase by 100 to see if your really doing that much activity and your numbers are there.

AnitraSoto · July 2013

It sounds like you are quite active. If I were you, I would bump your calories back up to that 15% cut, so as not to un-do all the hard work you put into that re-set.

As suggested above, try to eat as clean and unprocessed as possible. Not only is that healthier, but it will probably result in a more accurate calorie count. When you are eating as a small deficit, it is even more important than ever to make sure your estimations of intake and exercise are accurate, as there is a smaller margin of error.

Hang in there - it takes time for the body to adjust. Just keep tweeking your numbers and eventually you will find your "sweet spot".

andrea_kohlman · July 2013

Thanks everyone! I am going to up my calories to 2040 and see if that helps.
I hear what you all are saying about processed foods and I have cut a lot out. I
am doing an experiment, cutting out all wheat and limiting processed foods. Thanks heybales for the formula, I plugged in the numbers and got the 2040.

natesangel · July 2013

some great advice on here, when i started with this i got a hrm for the exercise and found that my tdee/actual exercise were a LOT more than i thought (i see kids!) and just playing with my girl and the running around the house made for a much higher daily than i had estimated. that spreadsheet was a huge help too (thanks haybales for pointing me to that one!).
love your attitude, that's half the battle, don't give up and remember that if you have been off for a long time then it's takes a little longer to start seeing the great results, but yes, if you stick with it, they do come! give any changes at least 4 weeks (based on my understanding that it's been a while before starting all this) and then tweak numbers.
good luck!!!

misskym · July 2013

I would definitely listen to everyone's advice. And I'd get a HRM if you don't have one already.

There have been moments where I've had my doubts about EM2WL, especially when I went two or three months without any weight or inch losses. I've been doing this for 7 months now, and I've only lost 4lbs, but I've lost 3.5 inches from my waist, 3 inches from my abdomen (navel), 2 inches from my hips, and 1 inch from my neck.

I come here when I feel like I'm stuck, and heybales and a few others will always give you invaluable advice. Before you give up, tweak your calories. Just recently I was stuck in a plateau, and I came here and got great advice and clarification. Since then, I've tweaked my calories, re-adjusted my TDEE calculations, and lost a little over 1lb. My process has been slow, but I've learned the most important thing is to be patient and trust the process.

Eat More 2 Weigh Less

EMWL - not work for anyone?

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