Hi Everyone! I've been on MFP for 5 months have lost about 17 lbs since Oct of 2015. This group has always intrigued me and so now that I'm with in 5-8 lbs of my goal I decided to join and see what it's all about. I'm just here to absorb(initially) and then hopefully start applying and seeing results! I know it's kind of silly but I would like to see my abs for once in my life...Call it part of my bucket list. Even if it's not sustainable, I want it to happen for one brief shining moment!

@TerezaToledo Thanks for the encouragement. It's easy to succumb to the "quick fix" mentality. I know that it doesn't last, and that what I need is sustainable long term change to increase my strength and flexibility so that I can maintain my quality of life. Feeling better about how I look will be a nice bonus. It's just hard to figure out how in a quick fix world with too many different points of view on how to get there. I'm not going to look any more, just focus on this and the long term goals. @tinywonder25 I'd like to see my abs again too!

Here are some of my progress photos. I just need to get to the next level now!

Next level is more an definition. So I guess fat loss but I also want to get to a point where I gain muscle. I read here a while back that it's a good idea to go 5lbs below your idea weight so that when you start to gain you get to your goal weight with muscle and maybe a tiny bit of fat gain. So my goal weight is set 5 lbs below my idea and as of today I am 2 lbs from my idea weight and 7 lbs from my goal.

tinywonder25 wrote: »

Next level is more an definition. So I guess fat loss but I also want to get to a point where I gain muscle. I read here a while back that it's a good idea to go 5lbs below your idea weight so that when you start to gain you get to your goal weight with muscle and maybe a tiny bit of fat gain. So my goal weight is set 5 lbs below my idea and as of today I am 2 lbs from my idea weight and 7 lbs from my goal.

Fat loss and Muscle gain are two different goals. Unfortunately you cannot do them at the same time as they require two very different methods of eating and exercising.
First off, Muscle gain. To gain muscle, your body needs to eat in a surplus, which means eating ABOVE your TDEE. This is called a Bulk phase. By adding more calories to your diet, above your maintenance, and working the muscles in the right way to enhance muscle growth, the muscles can build slowly ans add more size. This however, is a very slow process and for women can be long and hard because your chemistry does not make for easy muscle gains.
Gaining muscle also means not relying on what a scale says. A pound of muscle takes up less space than a pound of fat, which means you can look a LOT leaner with more muscle, but the scale will be heavier. I dont recall seeing anything within our forum saying to go below a certain weight so you gain it back as muscle. We dont recommend that. EM2WL believes in not being a slave to a number on a scale and that for a lot of us, that number might be 5-10-30 pounds heavier than we thought it should be but still look fabulous.
there are some blog posts on our site talking about the benefits of bulking when it comes to muscle building
http://eatmore2weighless.com/the-benefits-of-bulking/
http://eatmore2weighless.com/weight-gain-while-building-muscle/

Is there any particular reason you have a certain number pegged as your "goal"?

For fat loss, there is a big difference between losing fat, and losing WEIGHT. They are not the same thing. Weight is just a number and it does not mean when the scale drops 5 pounds, it means you lost 5 pounds of fat. More often than not, that weight loss is muscle, something you dont want to lose. So if you want to gain muscle or lose fat, I wouldnt wait to hit a magical "goal" number to begin doing that.

Here is a good blog post on weight loss vs fat loss
http://eatmore2weighless.com/weight-loss-vs-fat-loss/

Hope these help you a bit.

Kelly
EM2WL Ambassador and Moderator

@tinywonder25 Kelly is 100% on point. Figure models and bodybuilders go through many bulk/cut cycles to get the physique they want, they build muscle (therefore gaining some weight and some fat) and then cut, trying to lose the most fat possible while keeping the most muscle. I can tell you lost weight and are showing more muscle than before. You abs are showing definition and you glutes are more pronouced.
If you only focus on losing weigth, you may end a skinnier version of yourself, while if you focus on building muscle you will see a different, stronger, leaner, tighter version of yourself. When I was focusing most on cardio (I was in love with Zumba and running) and cut strenght training to twice a week, I lost some weigth but did not like round flat my behind looked and hiw I couldn't see muscle definitin. Once I switched the focus, things started changing towards the way I wanted. It took time and I'm still working on it, but the curves are way more pronounced now. I have no clue what the scal says, but I'm sure that I weigh more than my old ultimate goal, just because muscle is heavier than fat. The good thing of having more muscle and weighting more because of it, besides the looks, is that I can and need to eat more to preserve. That's a win-win for me!

Yes you could go for 5 pounds under. I think a healthier way would be to get your body the way you like it and then not care about the exact number.

Hi I'm Piney this is my first time with a goal of 1600 cal per day. Since I've been doing this I've lost 2 inches off my hips,2 of my chest,3 off ,my waist.Altogether that's 1 pound I'm happy,because this have helped me so much.

@gillianrose1 Welcome and yes, even though the american diet seems to have a lot of protein, we end loading up on carbs and fats, lowering our protein percentage. Work on increasing your calories and keep them steady. The idea of being consistent with your three meals and 30% protein at each one of them is excellent!
Have you checked out the EM2WL free quick start guide? http://training.eatmore2weighless.com/get-your-quick-start-guide/?utm_source=mfp&utm_medium=DM&utm_campaign=quick start

Tereza
Team EM2WL

@tinywonder25 Honestly, I don't think that dropping 5 lbs below your goal just so you can stay at your goal weight makes any sense, unless for someone who is a competitor and needs to make weight by a certain date to fit in a certain weight category. The scale reading is just that, a reading, a measurement. It does not guarantee that someone will look a certain way. Someone could lose a limb and become instantly lighter. What matters to look leaner and more toned is the body fat/lean mass percentage. The more muscle you have and the least fat you have, the more ripped you will look. I understand the high that we can get from seeing the scale go down, but honestly, we should not rely on that to be happy and enjoy ourselves and our lives.
This is why we need patience in this process:http://eatmore2weighless.com/upping-cals-what-to-expect/

Tereza
Team EM2WL