As the title says, I just finished week 4 of eating more calories and saw a 1 pound loss this week. Let me start by saying I lost all of my weight (52 pounds) by starving myself at 1,200 calories a day. I did the whole 'zig zag' method and didn't log weekends, thinking I was 'tricking' my metabolism into not getting stuck. I saw great losses initially, then it slowed waaaay down. Then I would see gains and losses of the same 2-3 pounds. I'm not really set on losing more weight at this point, though I do admit the vanity in me would like to dip in the 130s, just to be in the 130's (even if it is 139! LOL) I'm more focused on muscle building now.

So, about 6 weeks ago, I tried to go into maintenance and went up to 1,650 from 1,300 and saw a huge gain. I freaked out and went back down to 1,300. Then I read and read on this whole concept of 'eating more and weighing less.' It made sense and I decided to give it a try. I had to get back to normal somehow, and figured it couldn't hurt. And Lord knows that there is no way I could maintain a 1,300 a day calorie diet for the rest of my life (and still see gains at that level.) It clicked that there is no way in the world that I should gain at 1,300 a day, not possible. I have 3 kids, 8, 6 and 11 months and am very active, plus I exercise 4-5 times a week. It just doesn't make sense.

After my first 'failed' experiment, I decided I mentally couldn't handle jumping up that much at once and would do 200 calories at a time (for 2 weeks, or until I saw a loss), then up again. I went to 1,450 first and saw a couple of pound gain that week. Then the next 2 weeks, I saw small losses, like .2 and .7 lbs. Last week I upped again to 1,650. Today I saw a 1 pound loss! I'm eating ALL of my exercise calories back, so actual consumption is around 1,800- 2,200 calories a day! I'll even admit I haven't been a pillar of health the last 2 weeks. Insert excuses here; but bottom line I didn't eat like I should. I had soft drinks, candy and lots of processed food. So all logic says I should have gained, but I didn't. *I'm not condoning eating bad, just being honest.

This has made a believer out of me and my only regret is that I didn't start sooner. I'm on here because I like to eat, really love to eat. I didn't get overweight by starving myself, and would like to eat and enjoy food again. I don't want to feel bad because I ate normal calories or had a cookie. Overall, my diet is 100 times better than it was before, I'm exercising, and other than school PE, I had never exercised before, and I now have a healthy BMI. The journey has taken longer than I thought it would and had I realized then, what I know now, I would never have done 1,200 a day. It's not maintainable and who the heck only wants to eat 1,200 calories for the REST OF THEIR LIVES? Not me!

Special thanks to Kiki for drilling it in our heads that we really can eat more and lose weight. I'm so glad I stumbled upon your blog!

Oh and lest I forget, I feel so much better physically. No more dizziness when I work out, more energy to do things (I used to work out and be spent for the day, because I wasn't giving my body the fuel it needed to work.) I'm enjoying food again and don't feel guilty about it (even if I know I should do better, I'm not losing any sleep over it.) I will continue to improve my eating and work on getting proper nutrition and building muscle tone. This is a lifestyle change for me and I'm never going back to that fat girl (who's also 5'10", so wanna talk about the 'big' one in the room!) So, keep going ladies, it will happen! The mental part is harder than any of the physical, so keep reading successes and anything you can on the subject. That's what kept me going.