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Metabolism reset??

llfretwell
llfretwell Posts: 218 Member
in Social Groups
I need some guidance please. I have had my calorie goal set to 1200 the past year or so, but I wasn't very strict with it and would still go over this goal often. I was also doing some cardio most days. Then a couple of weeks ago, I set my caloric goal to 1500. Now as I am learning about eating more to lose more, I am interested to see if this is what will work for me, so I set my goal to 1800 a couple of days ago. I have gained weight the past couple of days from eating more (which I expected), but I'm wondering if that will eventually turn around and I will start losing, or if a full metabolism reset (which I have been reading about on here) is really necessary in my situation? I am also in the middle of doing INSANITY, and I go for walks in the evenings. A full reset is super scary for me, as I have already stressed myself out a little bit by increasing my calories to 1800. Will someone help? Is a full reset necessary for someone who wasn't necessarily eating as low as 1200 every day?

Replies

  • norcal_yogi
    norcal_yogi Posts: 675 Member
    .... i personally don't think its necessary. i've never done one. tried for almost two years to eat a lot more --- upward to around 1800 and only gained. drove me crazy... cut back some (back to 1200 for a while), then stopped logging altogether but eating intuitively. i'm 5'7" and weigh about 130...which is pretty nice for me. most of life i was around 124/125, but i'm older and have quite a bit more muscle due to vinyasa yoga practice. i just cannot wrap my mind around trying to force feed myself to hit a certain arbitrary number. it simply didn't work for me. i even had a BMF and gained. my supposed TDEE is around 2700-3000 a day (i'm an active mom of 4).... but hell no am i going to eat that much!

    i'd say just play around with 50-100 calorie increments on a weekly to bi-monthly basis to see what works for you.

    good luck.
  • metalvegan
    metalvegan Posts: 133 Member
    I'm not sure anyone has a perfect answer in here for you - most people are trying to figure things out for themselves. I'll share my experience with you though!

    I've bounced all over from 1200 and never eating back exercise calories to 1750 eating back everything. I'm 5'8 and have been stuck at 125-130 for about a year. I'm not in maintenance. My personal recommendation is to find out what your TDEE is and go off of that. I like http://www.fitnessfrog.com/calculators/tdee-calculator.html

    My TDEE is around 2450. If I subtract 500 from that (1950) and eat that many calories, I can expect to lose one pound per week. I currently have my daily goal at 1700 which gives me lots of flexibility to eat back some exercise calories if I feel like it, but I don't have to "overeat" if 1700 feels good that day.

    I have a HUGE problem with bingeing (diagnosed BED/COE/EDNOS about ten years ago) and when I restrict too much, I lose control pretty quickly. For me, keeping my calorie goal "high" actually means eating a lot less. I know this isn't what your issue is, but I'm sharing anyway :P

    To answer your question about whether you will start losing by eating higher, I'd say it's pretty certain you will. If you honestly exercise as much as you do daily (Insanity, walking, cardio) you need more fuel than 1200 calories can provide.

    If you've only started a few days ago, stick with the higher calories. Your weight may have gone up simply because there is more waste/water in your body at the moment. If you keep gaining for a week or more, then you might want to reconsider. But I think you need to stick with any changes for a while in order to determine if they're actually working :)
  • llfretwell
    llfretwell Posts: 218 Member
    I'm not sure anyone has a perfect answer in here for you - most people are trying to figure things out for themselves. I'll share my experience with you though!

    I've bounced all over from 1200 and never eating back exercise calories to 1750 eating back everything. I'm 5'8 and have been stuck at 125-130 for about a year. I'm not in maintenance. My personal recommendation is to find out what your TDEE is and go off of that. I like http://www.fitnessfrog.com/calculators/tdee-calculator.html

    My TDEE is around 2450. If I subtract 500 from that (1950) and eat that many calories, I can expect to lose one pound per week. I currently have my daily goal at 1700 which gives me lots of flexibility to eat back some exercise calories if I feel like it, but I don't have to "overeat" if 1700 feels good that day.

    I have a HUGE problem with bingeing (diagnosed BED/COE/EDNOS about ten years ago) and when I restrict too much, I lose control pretty quickly. For me, keeping my calorie goal "high" actually means eating a lot less. I know this isn't what your issue is, but I'm sharing anyway :P

    To answer your question about whether you will start losing by eating higher, I'd say it's pretty certain you will. If you honestly exercise as much as you do daily (Insanity, walking, cardio) you need more fuel than 1200 calories can provide.

    If you've only started a few days ago, stick with the higher calories. Your weight may have gone up simply because there is more waste/water in your body at the moment. If you keep gaining for a week or more, then you might want to reconsider. But I think you need to stick with any changes for a while in order to determine if they're actually working :)

    This was exactly what I needed to hear. My TDEE is around 2250, and I just recently set my goal to 1800. I am hoping I can start to see a loss soon. It feels so much better being able to EAT during the day! I feel like I have basically been starving myself!!! Thank you so much for sharing your experience!

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