Should I push my calories higher?
Replies
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I get it, really.
I felt the same way. But that just reinforced when I broke it down that I was still equating a scale loss with success.
So I questioned myself, dug deep, "What if I never got on a scale again, how would I judge my success?"
And that's just what I've been doing
Have not got on a scale for 3 + years now.
I use other things as progress monitors like mood stability, energy levels, strength increases in the gym, months without having a back flare up etc.
I know you're probably thinking, yada, yada, yada! I know all that stuff but I want to lose weight! I want to look good!
And yes, I want to look good too! I want to get smaller. So for that I take measurements and progress pictures. You can gain weight or stay the same weight and actually look better and be smaller so I don't want to get thrown off my long term goals by not seeing any scale movement so I have just put it away!
Don't get caught in the trap of equating weight loss with fat loss. They are 2 very, very different things.
http://eatmore2weighless.com/weight-loss-vs-fat-loss/
Ichel
Team EM2WL3 -
Have been absent for a while so thought I'd update. Had stomach pains and extreme lethargy so my doctor ran some tests. He sent me for an ultrasound to look for a hernia, so I didn't think it was wise to lift while I was waiting to see if I had a hernia...
Have not posted and have been at really rough TDEE for a couple of weeks. I had to guess because I realised I am really only confident with what my TDEE is when I am heavy lifting 3 times a week.
Great news is that the tests showed that I'm a hypochondriac. No, not really. Just very healthy blood work, no hernia. Perhaps just some sort of virus to burning the candle at both ends. Still have tenderness throughout my belly so I'll just need to see how that goes.
So I just pulled the battery out of my scale and put the scales in the shed. No need for them anymore.
Will lift today for the first time in a few weeks.2 -
Yay, for yanking out the battery on your scale! Take measurements. Hope you feel better. 1
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Wow, the shed - you are serious about getting it away! Love it.
and LOL out results of your test, that's great, for you, and funny.
Lot of strange stuff still getting people sick this far into spring. Hope it passes quickly.0 -
@Firefly0606 Last week I too was experiencing stomach pain and tightness, etc. I am thinking it was a bug. I have had digestive issues most of my adult life. I am wondering if its flu symptoms. Feel better!!!0
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Its such a relief for a clear test. Hope u get better and back on fire!0
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Its such a relief for a clear test. Hope u get better and back on fire!0
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Righto. Cut starts today. This will be my second cut, this time with no scale because that stupid thing is in the shed with no battery in it.
Will take photos tonight and use a measuring tape, make a note of what I lift tonight. Then put it all away and check again when I finish the cut. Lets just see what happens 2 -
Yay for no scale!!! And double yay for good blood work and being healthy!
This article has great tips on taking measurements: http://eatmore2weighless.com/tips-on-measuring/
Tereza
Team EM2WL Certified Personal Trainer and Coach0 -
Making bags of progress!
A cut with no scale! Love it!
I've just done a bulk with no scale and now have started a cut with no scale too!
Glad your tests came back good.
Ichel
Team EM2WL0 -
Have taken measurements and they are different from last time I measured. I'm not sure whether to worry about it too much. I am finding I'm still having to battle scale thoughts so I don't want to simply replace weighing in every day with measuring in everyday. I'm thinking I'm just going to use my clothes, kids comments (and others) and weight on the bar as measures, and not bother with anything else.
I wore a pair of jeans out yesterday that were a loosely comfortable fit and I nearly had them around my knees in the supermarket. I had to walk with the grocery basket in one hand and my other hand pulling one of the belt loops towards the heavens. Customers nearly saw things they could not have ever unseen. Crisis averted. So there is something shrinking there, and I need a belt.
Lifting is hard work, but I'm still progressing even on the cut. Score. Lifting always makes me feel awesome. Just awesome.
Cutting is hard. I want to eat more. I'm not starving, or really really hungry, just miss those extra calories that keeps me 100% satisfied at TDEE. Are there any short cuts? (See what I did there?
My sister-in-law is staying with us for a while and has decided she needs to lose 20kg, so she is eating salads and boiled eggs. She already walks her dogs twice a day but is going to the gym to sign up today and talks about using the treadmill when she's there. I offered her my weights in the gararge at any time and to show her some exercises - I've got the menacing looking rack and barbell but also some less menacing looking kettlebells. She has classic diet mentality unfortunately and looks at me like I've got two heads when I talk about taking time to find out how much she needs to maintain her current weight and then cutting from there. She keeps saying she needs to exercise more so she can eat more, and just "eat healthy". Then say things like "I was good today, I only ate two biscuits at morning tea" as if the ~200 calories in 2 biscuits is preventing 20kg of weight loss. Then I eat 3 for supper.
We took my son to McMuscles yesterday and she ordered a tiny burger, I ordered a regular meal with extra nuggets and just made it fit in my day - even on a cut. My son ate more than she did. I'm not trying to be critical of her here, just feel sad that I'm seeing my former diet-self there in the flesh (as well as some of the things I am still dealing with) - the mentality says that McMuscles is "bad food" and "unhealthy" so eating it is the problem, when really, food is food and that's all there is to it.
I guess I'll have to wait about 2 years to be able to show her what I'm talking about.2 -
Exactly! i dont try to explain anyone till now unless i set an example of myself infront of them! my sisters keep asking me if i'm still eating more while they r seeing me shrinking! Yes u need consistency and patience as it is a sllllooowww process.2
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I think that eventually once she shes your more healthy - losing inches and eating so much food she may ask how you do it. Personally I just enjoy eating the food I like, while other around me stare and wonder hehe. I am dreading my first cut - which probably means its really close to time to do it LOL.
(and HAHA Short cuts, good one!)
Kelly too (two?)0 -
Yes all you can do is just keep living the EM2WL life and eventually people will ask how you do it!
Even with Kiki, it took about 5 years before her own family started asking how she was doing it!
Ichel
Team EM2WL1 -
First, they will wonder why you are doing it
Then, they will ask how do you do it
Finally they ask How can THEY do it.
Its hard to see the DM of ourselves in other people. I look at friends now that are soo deeply rooted in it and I can't help but feel sorry for them, and a bit for myself. I look back on all those years I was unhappy with myself, with my food, with my life, and now with things like facebook memories reminding you what you said on days past, it makes it even sadder for me when I see my old statuses pop up that are terrible DM.
We will be the ones to change their world in time. But the patience needed first is the hardest to get through:)
Kelly
Team EM2WL2 -
My cut I was on a month ago fizzled out into an unplanned nothing phase. Life got busy and I got lazy so working out has stopped. I got sick of logging everything and I've been eating whatever, plenty of fiber but I'm pretty sure not enough protein.
I also got the scale out and have gained, not really surprised there. But I have figured out I have gained 5kg in 4 months.
When I think that through, we are entering into winter here and my autumn has been less active than summer - when I was confident on TDEE. So I think I've been over-shooting the mark on TDEE, like I have a Summer one and a Winter one.
So I really don't know whats going on. Maybe I need to reset again? Or just set calorie intake where I guess is right.
I'm also not really coping very well in cut phases. I need to cut to lose fat, but I seem to hit struggle street if I try to cut for any longer than 2-3 weeks. Perhaps I need to plan a 2 week cut next time, stick to it for 2 weeks than get back into maintenance calories. Would this work or is that not long enough?0 -
Seasons definitely change TDEE as you notice. Shorter day length in winter, less outdoor work once leaves are done, unless there is the pleasure of tons of snow to shovel, less sun usually means not as energetic too it's been found, ect.
Since you've been gaining weight and TDEE has likely gone down - I'd suggest you don't need a reset, you've been in surplus already.
Hard to set calories right though when you don't really know how much you were eating.
If pretty sure eating more than prior TDEE goal, start at that prior goal and move down slowly to compensate for winter.
Any deficit can cause fat loss - that's why the 5/2 diet showed not only good success for fat loss but other health markers - 5 days in a week at TDEE (actually they ate as desired but mindful, so no logging), and 2 separate days at 25% of avg TDEE.
Some can sustain that, some can't. Sustainable into maintenance is what is desired, otherwise don't go down that road.
So sure 2 weeks on and a week or two maintenance will still lead to overall fat loss.
Shoot, 3 days in a week on and 4 days at maintenance (or vice versa) would be even better as far as hormones are concerned.
If schedule is pretty much the same weekly, that can be great.
If workouts and errands and such move around weekly, probably not so great.
Really if you think about eating average weekly TDEE, but with a deficit, you kind of already do the above.
Some days are literally probably eating at that day's TDEE.
Other days have a big deficit, others days have minor.
But it might be easier to say winter TDEE is 2250 (or whatever) - so 3 TDEE days at 2250, 4 cut days at 1900 (15%). Spaced out if possible, or at least matched up correctly with workouts.
Meaning feed the workout that happened for good repair.
Food to have a good workout is rarely as much.2 -
So to quote you "feed the workout that happened for good repair"...would it be better to figure out TDEE with no structured exercise, then after that period of time eat extra calories the following day if I got a workout in? Say, eat an extra 150xal of good quality calories for a heavy lifting session the previous day.
Yes life is crazy, so I don't always get in what I plan, and sometimes get in extra without planning it.
That almost feels like a reset again...if the way forward is to drop all structured workouts for say, 4 weeks to find TDEE based on normal life. Then build workouts/ calories back in.0 -
But you would be finding an non-exercise TDEE - which is not the plan going forward - so not really useful then.
No need to drop the workouts if semi-regular, or there are makeups.
If truly iffy, then your method would be better.
Indeed, the 24-48 hrs after good lifting would benefit from more calories (no deficit), than the time leading up to a workout (deficit) which may need just good food timing in order to feel energized enough.
I know many of us do the same thing, there is a 4-4:30 pm snack if it really looks like the workout after work is going to happen. Just enough to confirm we have energy levels where we need them. Really, it's about blood sugar levels, which don't matter a whole lot to lifting since it's anaerobic using muscle glucose stores - but that mental hurdle can be pretty high sometimes.
If it's looking bad like errands and changes, it can be skipped.
An easy 150 cal snack. Or, breakfast & lunch is lowered by 75 each so that snack happens every day, workout or not.
Many ways to skin a cat. Which has decent macro's, but terrible taste and preparation ... ;-)
Just think out what you mentioned, how to make the 24-48 hrs after a good workout TDEE level, and shove some extra protein in that night, and how to make the 24 hrs before a good workout the deficit eating while still enough for a good workout.
I do evening workouts, it would be so much easier if morning, but alas....1 -
Firefly0606 wrote: »My cut I was on a month ago fizzled out into an unplanned nothing phase. Life got busy and I got lazy so working out has stopped. I got sick of logging everything and I've been eating whatever, plenty of fiber but I'm pretty sure not enough protein.
I also got the scale out and have gained, not really surprised there. But I have figured out I have gained 5kg in 4 months.
When I think that through, we are entering into winter here and my autumn has been less active than summer - when I was confident on TDEE. So I think I've been over-shooting the mark on TDEE, like I have a Summer one and a Winter one.
So I really don't know whats going on. Maybe I need to reset again? Or just set calorie intake where I guess is right.
I'm also not really coping very well in cut phases. I need to cut to lose fat, but I seem to hit struggle street if I try to cut for any longer than 2-3 weeks. Perhaps I need to plan a 2 week cut next time, stick to it for 2 weeks than get back into maintenance calories. Would this work or is that not long enough?
As far as my experience is you should stick with a number. Your workouts included tdee and without workouts tdee. You should have your numbers in your mind and the cut values accordingly. Dont expect your clothes to get off you in your first two cuts. You have a lot of weight to lose,so u should be cutting longer. The body stays in guessing in the first two weeks to adjust whats going on. I am in my 3rd cut 5th week....i usually start seeing some 'difference' in pics after the 4th week probably on the 6th week of cut.So i keep my cuts for 8 weeks and then go back to tdee for a week or two. And yes my scale weight stayed constant for 4 months rather increased during the first cut. But i saw some downward trend on the thrid cut after 3 weeks. Hope this helps.1 -
Ibtmas- that is great info. Thanks for sharing.1
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I do not even know how I EVER ate under 2000 calories. I had another little stop and think break after my last post (seem to be doing a few of those...)
Heybales - you are all over it, I realized that I do not need a reset as I have been eating more than TDEE so just need to find a number to cut to.
And ibtmas - thank you - I've settled on a number. TDEE being around 2600 - 2700 which includes getting in 1-2 heavy lifting workouts a week. This is not where my TDEE was in summer, but my stop and think break helped me to realize that what I'm actually achieving in the regular work out department and what I want to be achieving are two different things - and that's ok! So I set my calories at the actual marker, then if I do more I'm willing and able to add in a few more snacks to compensate.
Now that I'm typing that I don't know why that has been so hard to figure out....
So I started a cut at 20% (I know, I know) and as YOU are about to tell me, that's too much. Well I only lasted 3 days before figuring that out. Seriously, I'm fighting off hunger pangs at 2150 - and I don't accept a reality anymore where hunger pangs are a necessary part of the process. So readjusting today to 2400, which is 10% cut, with the willingness to ADD MORE if I move more, and a focus on protein, water and fibre.
On a positive note - my time to figure out my mistakes is decreasing!! It only took me 3 days this time, last time 2 weeks, prior to that a few months, prior to reset my whole adult life...so I'm getting smarter 4 -
Smarter every day - which is a good youtube channel too!
And that's whats nice with deficit like that - you may have a day with hard workout and want to eat more.
may have a day with lots more walking and low level burn and can eat less but within reason.
Balance.0 -
Glad the 20% cut didn't last long!
Why would you? There's no need!
Don't you love the little epiphanies that happen along the way? We just have to give ourselves the space to think, just like you did.
Ichel
Team EM2WL0 -
2 weeks in to 10% cut. Not having a meltdown or anything like that at the 2 week marker, on track and holding steady.
I look back over my first few attempts at cutting - I had no idea cutting would be hard. I guess I have come to a point where my body refuses to accept a large deficit. I am not just paying lip service to the slow cut mantra, I feel like I am beginning to understand now. Fat loss is going to take TIME.3 -
Yes it would take time and two weeks are not enough to expect any change in pics or inches. Be consistent for the next 4 weeks. I have ditched my scale and there was a time during my cut when i also ditched the measuring tape!! I take measurements every five to six week of cut after TOM and a rest day. What kept me doing was a dress which did not fit me before but fitted me after second cut without any change in measurements. Strange??!!2
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Sadly measurements can't hit all spots, so good point about that even being a possible method without showing progress.3
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Just don't wash that dress in hot water!1
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