Metabolism Reset - Eating at TDEE Support Thread
Replies
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yes - i think its best since my metabolism has flatlined over the last several years years and years of yo-yo dieting0
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yes - i think its best since my metabolism has flatlined over the last several years years and years of yo-yo dieting
Welcome. :flowerforyou:0 -
I am wondering if I only need a diet break. I hadn't been calorie restricting before joining mfp in januart 2012. It had been over a year since I had restricted calories. The lowest I was eating at since joining was 1400. I have slowly been upping calories in 50-100 calorie increments. I just upped to 1800 on 5/28/12.
I don't know that I really need a reset or just a 2 week break.
Any thoughts?
You could always try 2 weeks eating at your full TDEE and play it by ear. If you want to go ahead and drop down then, try it and see how it goes. If you feel like you're not ready you can extend the length of time that you eat at TDEE.0 -
I went ahead and ate full TDEE for the first 6 weeks after finding EM2WL to do a metabolic reset, since I had been eating 1200 calories (while half-marathon training AND breastfeeding) for soooo long. Then I tried to cut 15%, and couldn't cut it...haha... backed off to 10%, and some days I still end up closer to full TDEE. I've started to love eating too much.
How did it help with your weight loss?
I too am curious how this is working. I'm wondering if I may end up in your boat. I'm also training for a half and nursing, so my body really loves all of the food. I might have to ponder the idea of doing a smaller cut (perhaps 10% like you're doing) until after my half.
Im sure she will speak for herself shortly., but I see her progress checks in my news feed, and she has been losing weight recently:)0 -
I am in - even though i am not sure how i am going to eat over 3000 calories a day
any tips?
There are a few of us who are near that 3k mark.. Im at 2800.. Kind of funny that us "larger" gals get told all our lives to stop eating so much, and here we are practically stuffing our faces:)
It does get easier to eat more once you get into it. For me, the biggest thing was changing out a few of my favorite "diet" products and making them ful fat again, like cheese and salad dressings. These eat up a few cals.. Also I put nuts back into my diet. I love them and I missed them for a long time. Now I can easily enjoy a serving size and not feel deprived or feel like I need to eat the whole bag. Greek Yogurt is a great calorie choice and its high in Protein.
If you can, drink protein shakes. The powders are generally inexpensive and you can get 30-70g of protein in a shake. Great way to boost your protein up and use up cals.
I also add in extra servings of meat. So inteast of 3 or 4 oz, Im eating 5oz.
Take it slow, resist the urge to eat a ton of junk just to get in the cals, drink your water and see how things go0 -
Wow - this thread has really blown up since I started it. I'm so excited to see so many of us wanting to support one another through this! Thank you for posting and telling your stories. I wanted so badly to respond personally to people, but there's so many responses I can't remember who said what right now. :blushing:
Well, I'm on day 2 of eating at TDEE. I actually was down a bit on the scale this morning. I think it's likely because I had some binge days last week. So I wonder if my weight will level off and then stay constant. If the loss continues over several days, I will increase calories. I admit that will be hard for me to do - someone might have to remind me that I'm supposed to be maintaining and I better up my calories some more. But despite my reluctance, I do think this is necessary given my history.
I kind of feel like I have a vested interest to do this metabolism reset. I mean, maybe I could plug along at TDEE with a cut. But what if my body can actually handle a few more calories. Let's say doing this reset means I can maintain at 2600 vs. 2300. That's 300 extra calories that I get to live off of for the rest of my life. I am a bit of a foodie, so I get excited by things like that. I mean, that's two squares of dark chocolate and a glass of wine right there. :drinker:
I'm not sure that I will need the full 8 weeks. I did a lot of splurging prior to joining MFP in February. I was lucky to learn about the concept of eating more at the beginning of April. So I was following MFP's recommendations for roughly 6 weeks. Back then I thought it was a "bad" day when I ate back all of my exercise calories. Now I'm thankful that I had so many "bad" days, so I'm hoping I didn't kill my metabolism too much.
Anyways, I'm so glad everyone is here and I hope we can be encouraging to one another to stick it out!
I am so happy to hear you say that! I was beginning to think I was the only one who thoroughly enjoys eating 2600 calories! 300 cals extra than I thought? Sure!
I did my cut for 3 weeks and now doing the reset I do feel a little bloated, like I have the fat suit on but also I am getting into TOM territory so that could also explain some of that......
Either way I am still loving it!0 -
I have weighed in every day for the past 2 months... its killing me not to look at the scale this morning.... but I need to avoid it for a while and give myself a sanity break.. I found to many times my day was made or broken by what the scale said.. not good for me..
So.. 7 days, no scale0 -
Hello all. I'm just starting week 2 today of EMTWL. I was eating 1,200 calories and starting last week upped my calories to 1881 a day. On workout days I often have to eat back a small portion of my calories so on those days I'm eating approx. 2000 calories. Anyhow, I'm trying to figure it all out still. I either do great making my 1881 calories a day but go over in fat and sugar grams or I can stay under on my sugar and fat grams but also go under on my calories for the day. I have myfitnesspal set up for what was suggested (30/30/40).....I have my sugar set up for 40 grams a day. I always go over every day in fiber and protein. Any suggestions?? Which is more important? staying right on my calorie allowment for the day or sticking to my sugar/fat grams allowance for the day>0
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Hello all. I'm just starting week 2 today of EMTWL. I was eating 1,200 calories and starting last week upped my calories to 1881 a day. On workout days I often have to eat back a small portion of my calories so on those days I'm eating approx. 2000 calories. Anyhow, I'm trying to figure it all out still. I either do great making my 1881 calories a day but go over in fat and sugar grams or I can stay under on my sugar and fat grams but also go under on my calories for the day. I have myfitnesspal set up for what was suggested (30/30/40).....I have my sugar set up for 40 grams a day. I always go over every day in fiber and protein. Any suggestions?? Which is more important? staying right on my calorie allowment for the day or sticking to my sugar/fat grams allowance for the day>
Just checking your macro is actually 40% carbs, 30% fat 30% protein, and not 40% protein...
Protein is great to go a bit over on. no problems there.. same with fibre.I never pay attention to sugar because if you eat fruit, you will likely go over on it. There is no distinction between "good" sugars and bad.. same with Carbs.. i dont worry too much if I go over on Carbs, especially if my day was really healthy and lower on the breads than the fruits. .0 -
That's why I dont eat any fruit, b/c I would over in sugar grams every single day... I've always thought that was crazy but that is what my registered dietician told me to do...then again, she also told me to eat 1,200 calories a day........
so in your opinion, I should pay more attention to the 1881 calories a day and not worry so much if I go over in sugar and fat grams.....as long as they are healthy forms of sugar grams and fat grams (fruits, nuts, peanut butter, etc)
I (think I) have my macro's set up as the following: 30% carbs, 40% protein and 40% fat............isn't that right?0 -
ok. never mind. i just checked and I have 40% carbs, 30% protein and 30% fat.............
now i'm confused. what should I have them set to?0 -
I am in - even though i am not sure how i am going to eat over 3000 calories a day
any tips?
Right off the bat, eliminate just about everything "lite" or "diet" in favor of their real/whole food counterpart. Salad dressing, condiments, bread, dairy, etc. Second, add more protein - 5 oz servings instead of 3oz, for example. Add nuts and nut butters. Add healthy fats like olive oil and avocado. Have a protein shake after a workout (made with water or milk). You still want to get your 5-9 servings of fruit/veg a day, but paired with lower volume foods so that you don't feel quite so stuffed.
I found it helpful to review what I was already eating and flesh it out a bit. No use re-inventing the wheel.0 -
The 40 carb, 30 fat, 30 protein is correct!
One week in and I lost a half pound. First time the scale had gone down in WEEKS! I am a very happy girl today!0 -
My connection is crawling ATM so can't browse much but I have a question if someone can kindly help. I am doing the "reset" and eating at Tdee. My question is: do I eat at Tdee everyday, even when I'm working out? I normally would make sure my net meats bmr at least by the end of the day when I work out. So that means eating back some calories sometimes. I'm just wondering if during reset I'll have to eat calories back to Tdee value or not.
Ty!0 -
That's why I dont eat any fruit, b/c I would over in sugar grams every single day... I've always thought that was crazy but that is what my registered dietician told me to do...then again, she also told me to eat 1,200 calories a day........
so in your opinion, I should pay more attention to the 1881 calories a day and not worry so much if I go over in sugar and fat grams.....as long as they are healthy forms of sugar grams and fat grams (fruits, nuts, peanut butter, etc)
I (think I) have my macro's set up as the following: 30% carbs, 40% protein and 40% fat............isn't that right?
40 carb, 30 fat, 30 protein
Yes, I would just wory about staying close to your calorie target, making sure protein is as close as you can get to your macro, but dont worry so much about the sugar and fat, especially if you are eating "clean" healthy things like fruits and nuts. Its a shame there isnt a breakdown of the good fats and bad.. kind of lumps it all under one..
For carbs, as long as you are eating whole grains, whole wheats, fruits then those carbs are good for you, and the ones you want to have..0 -
My connection is crawling ATM so can't browse much but I have a question if someone can kindly help. I am doing the "reset" and eating at Tdee. My question is: do I eat at Tdee everyday, even when I'm working out? I normally would make sure my net meats bmr at least by the end of the day when I work out. So that means eating back some calories sometimes. I'm just wondering if during reset I'll have to eat calories back to Tdee value or not.
Ty!
You want to eat TDEE every day. You only eat back exercise cals if your burn takes you below BMR. So for simplicity, your TDEE is 2000, your BMR is 1700.. You burn 400 cals running, 2000-400 = 1600, So thats below BMR, so you would want to eat back at least 100 of those cals,0 -
Thanks!
I eat as clean as possible throughout the day but always allow a nightly treat which currently is a golden grahm treat bar lol It has 13 grams of sugar in it which doesnt help when I'm only allowed 40 grams for the entire day. lol I also have a nut/trail mix most days and that has a lot of sugar in it as well. It is healthy with almonds, cashews, etc. but mixed in with dried fruit and chocolate chips. YUMMY!!
I always go over in fiber and protein but those things I dont mind going over in. It just bothers me to see those red numbers at the end of the day. lol
Thanks for the help everyone
By the way, my weight went up 3 lbs. but then back down to where I started.......then had a "cheat" day this past Sunday and went back to normal the next day but for dinner ate subway (way high in sodium) and between the cheat day and sodium, I was up on the scale by like 8-10 lbs. As of this morning, I'm still up 5 lbs. which I know is sodium, etc.. but hate seeing those numbers on the scale. Not going to get back on till my weigh in day next weekend.
I finally bought a tape meausure yesterday so going to get those taken shortly.
NSV: I have a Omiron to measure my body fat % and BMI and my BMI has stayed the same but my body fat % has went down from 30.2% to 29%0 -
Count me in! I've been doing TDEE -15% for the past 2 weeks having been on 1300 cals for the past 6 months or so and watching my weight slowly creep up. Now I think I'm going to go the whole hog for 8 weeks and do my TDEE which I think is 2300, I'll have to double check. I also have a Fitbit so I am going to average out the past month or so on that and see how it compares with Scooby.
I'm nervous and yet kind of excited! I'm finding eating clean is making me feel better, I don't feel the urge to eat chocolate or stodge which was my issue on 1300 cals.
Good luck everyone!
Alison0 -
Hi Everyone!
I am in! Here are my answers:
Start Date - Friday, June 1st
Reset Length - 4 weeks but will go for 8 weeks if I need to
Why - I don't want to go another year and not feel good about where I am at. I just realized that I have been working out fairly consistently for a couple of years and have not gotten to where I feel good about myself. I also have tried every fad diet under the sun and realize I should be kind to my body - it's the only one I got after all :happy:
Here are my stats:
Height - 5'1"
CW - 126.8
GW - 115ish but frankly I just don't want to be squishy (am also trying to break my obession with the scale)
Per Scooby:
BMR - 1336
TDEE - 15% - 1760
TDEE - 2071
So I will up my calories to 2071 on Friday and weigh in, take measurements, and the dreaded before pictures.
My workout schedule will be - 3 days - 10 minute mile & strength training; 2 days - Run/Walk - 60 minutes.
I will also work really hard to meet my macros -- I have trouble with going over on my carbs and being under on my protein.
We can do this ladies!!!!0 -
I am so excited to see this thread! I will be good to get to know other resetters and help each other out.
I will spare you all my long story that I posted in another thread, but in a nutshell, I have been eating too little and working out too much for about a year and a half now. I have lost 60 pounds and have been stalled out for way to long to count.
I started my full reset 3 weeks ago today and not sure how long I will go. At least 4, maybe 8, maybe more??? My weight is up a little from when I started by about 3-5 pounds, but I know I haven't eaten enough extra to gain that much, so I know it is just from weight lifting and my body trying to repair and replace from when I was starving it. I am okay with it. I think my weight will guide me. When I level out for a few weeks that's when I know it is time to do a (small) cut again.
I too am wondering if I will be able to do a cut, I have grown accustomed to what I am eating and am comfortable at this amount.
I still have about 20 pounds to lose to get under my red line, so I will have to cut at some point, but jeesh, I just like the amount I am eating.
I have cut out most cardio except for light walks. I still lift weights 3x per week. I am really trying to do this right for once in my life. No quick fixes, no magic potions, just eat well and take care of my body so it can take care of me.
I think the hardest thing for me is watching other friends losing weight left and right on very low calorie diets, but I just keep reminding myself this is setting me up for success and I don't want to starve myself like they are, I know what the repercussions are. Soooo not worth it, but still hard to "watch.
I hope to get to know you all better!0 -
I'm gonna jump in the deep end, too.
Start Date - 5/25/12 (Start of Memorial Day weekend with no WiFi or Cell = no MFP tracking = eating and drinking mucho, so I'm sure I was at TDEE or over)
Reset Length - 4 weeks, and then evaluate if I need to do longer
Age: 40 (41 in July)
Height: 5'6.5"
Lowest MFP Weight: 144
After starting EM2WL: 150 (also current weight)
GW: 135-140
BMR: 1425
TDEE: 2210
Exercise: Run 3x week (training for 2nd half-marathon), Lift 1-2x week (hoping to start NROLFW after my race season winds down, and aim for 3x week lifting)
Brief History:
Lost about 30ish pounds after being on MFP a year, eating 1400-1500 (always eating exercise calories back, too). At the holidays of 2011 I reached a plateau that lasted until late February. Found this group, and started eating TDEE -15% beginning of March. Ate 1800-1900 calories from March to May, and all I got out of it was an extra 6 pounds. BOOOOOO. No change in measurements or body fat % since end of 2011. Kept reading all these posts that it was water weight that would go, but it never did. Very discouraged to see 150 again.
Question on eating back calories. I know we're supposed to at least net BMR on exercise days, but if the actual food calories is lower than TDEE, we should aim to hit TDEE everyday, right?? For example, today I burned 400ish calories. If I just hit my net BMR of 1425, the actual food calories is around 1900, and still lower than my TDEE of 2210. I should actually eat 2210 in total food calories, right?0 -
My connection is crawling ATM so can't browse much but I have a question if someone can kindly help. I am doing the "reset" and eating at Tdee. My question is: do I eat at Tdee everyday, even when I'm working out? I normally would make sure my net meats bmr at least by the end of the day when I work out. So that means eating back some calories sometimes. I'm just wondering if during reset I'll have to eat calories back to Tdee value or not.
Ty!
You want to eat TDEE every day. You only eat back exercise cals if your burn takes you below BMR. So for simplicity, your TDEE is 2000, your BMR is 1700.. You burn 400 cals running, 2000-400 = 1600, So thats below BMR, so you would want to eat back at least 100 of those cals,
Sorry, Im still confused lol.
I know I always want to NET at least my BMR. My question is, during this "reset", do I need to eat my TDEE (1700) on workout days as well? So even if my net is already at BMR, do I keep eating until I hit 1700, everyday?
Thank you
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My connection is crawling ATM so can't browse much but I have a question if someone can kindly help. I am doing the "reset" and eating at Tdee. My question is: do I eat at Tdee everyday, even when I'm working out? I normally would make sure my net meats bmr at least by the end of the day when I work out. So that means eating back some calories sometimes. I'm just wondering if during reset I'll have to eat calories back to Tdee value or not.
Ty!
You want to eat TDEE every day. You only eat back exercise cals if your burn takes you below BMR. So for simplicity, your TDEE is 2000, your BMR is 1700.. You burn 400 cals running, 2000-400 = 1600, So thats below BMR, so you would want to eat back at least 100 of those cals,
Sorry, Im still confused lol.
I know I always want to NET at least my BMR. My question is, during this "reset", do I need to eat my TDEE (1700) on workout days as well? So even if my net is already at BMR, do I keep eating until I hit 1700, everyday?
Thank you
Hi there! It's confusing isn't it? Short answer to your question is YES....keep eating until your total food eaten number is the same as your TDEE goal number on workout AND non-workout days. Long answer:
1. Set your MFP goal to your TDEE. Eat that number of calories every day, workout or not.
2. Your total food number should be close to the Goal number at the end of the day, UNLESS your net/bmr issue has to be resolved because you worked out and the burn was really high, then it will be higher.
3. Your net will always be lower than your goal number and lower than your total food number EXCEPT on non-workout days...then it will be the same as your total food number (and close to your goal). If your net number is lower than your BMR (the number you keep in your head), then eat enough calories back to get it higher than your BMR number. This will make your total food calorie number HIGHER than your goal number and that's ok.
does that help?0 -
uuuuuh so I ate 2494 calories today (TDEE has me at 2697) when I clicked the button to post my diary it says If every day were like today... You'd weigh 168.0 lbs in 5 weeks...I weight 165 now?!?!
I don't even read that number! It's just discouraging no matter if you eat too little (makes it seem as though it's a good thing to undereat) or too much!0 -
uuuuuh so I ate 2494 calories today (TDEE has me at 2697) when I clicked the button to post my diary it says If every day were like today... You'd weigh 168.0 lbs in 5 weeks...I weight 165 now?!?!
I don't even read that number! It's just discouraging no matter if you eat too little (makes it seem as though it's a good thing to undereat) or too much!
yup...ignore it. mine keeps telling me I'm going to gain too....it's too stupid to know better.
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My connection is crawling ATM so can't browse much but I have a question if someone can kindly help. I am doing the "reset" and eating at Tdee. My question is: do I eat at Tdee everyday, even when I'm working out? I normally would make sure my net meats bmr at least by the end of the day when I work out. So that means eating back some calories sometimes. I'm just wondering if during reset I'll have to eat calories back to Tdee value or not.
Ty!
You want to eat TDEE every day. You only eat back exercise cals if your burn takes you below BMR. So for simplicity, your TDEE is 2000, your BMR is 1700.. You burn 400 cals running, 2000-400 = 1600, So thats below BMR, so you would want to eat back at least 100 of those cals,
Sorry, Im still confused lol.
I know I always want to NET at least my BMR. My question is, during this "reset", do I need to eat my TDEE (1700) on workout days as well? So even if my net is already at BMR, do I keep eating until I hit 1700, everyday?
Thank you
Hi there! It's confusing isn't it? Short answer to your question is YES....keep eating until your total food eaten number is the same as your TDEE goal number on workout AND non-workout days. Long answer:
1. Set your MFP goal to your TDEE. Eat that number of calories every day, workout or not.
2. Your total food number should be close to the Goal number at the end of the day, UNLESS your net/bmr issue has to be resolved because you worked out and the burn was really high, then it will be higher.
3. Your net will always be lower than your goal number and lower than your total food number EXCEPT on non-workout days...then it will be the same as your total food number (and close to your goal). If your net number is lower than your BMR (the number you keep in your head), then eat enough calories back to get it higher than your BMR number. This will make your total food calorie number HIGHER than your goal number and that's ok.
does that help?
Lol, this:)...0 -
uuuuuh so I ate 2494 calories today (TDEE has me at 2697) when I clicked the button to post my diary it says If every day were like today... You'd weigh 168.0 lbs in 5 weeks...I weight 165 now?!?!
I don't even read that number! It's just discouraging no matter if you eat too little (makes it seem as though it's a good thing to undereat) or too much!
yup...ignore it. mine keeps telling me I'm going to gain too....it's too stupid to know better.
I like having a conversation with mine.. "in 5 weeks you will be 238.6" OH REALLY?? Ill show you, you piece of crap siggy line!!:)0 -
Sorry, Im still confused lol.
I know I always want to NET at least my BMR. My question is, during this "reset", do I need to eat my TDEE (1700) on workout days as well? So even if my net is already at BMR, do I keep eating until I hit 1700, everyday?
Thank you
Hi there! It's confusing isn't it? Short answer to your question is YES....keep eating until your total food eaten number is the same as your TDEE goal number on workout AND non-workout days. Long answer:
1. Set your MFP goal to your TDEE. Eat that number of calories every day, workout or not.
2. Your total food number should be close to the Goal number at the end of the day, UNLESS your net/bmr issue has to be resolved because you worked out and the burn was really high, then it will be higher.
3. Your net will always be lower than your goal number and lower than your total food number EXCEPT on non-workout days...then it will be the same as your total food number (and close to your goal). If your net number is lower than your BMR (the number you keep in your head), then eat enough calories back to get it higher than your BMR number. This will make your total food calorie number HIGHER than your goal number and that's ok.
does that help?
Ty for replying to my post.
So then, do I want my "net" or my "food" to be the tdee every day during this reset process?
I think the mobile app has "net" so im getting hung up on that word.
At the moment what I see on food diary here on the website is
Totals 770 Your Daily Goal 1,911 Remaining 1,141
*You've earned 211 extra calories from exercise today
On the phone I see:
Goal 1700 Food 771 Exercise 211 Net 560 Remaining 1140
So the breakdown is different, and confuses me. I mostly use my phone app, so in order to be clear, I want to understand that one.
So which number should match my daily goal (tdee) of 1700? And which number should not be lower than my BMR?
The one that says "food" on my phone app, or the one that says "net"?
Gah! my head is spinning now >_<0 -
From what I understand, only pay attention to NET if it takes you below BMR. If it does, eat back enough calories to get above BMR.
This should only happen occasionally because you should already have your activities figured into your TDEE, so normal days, you shouldn't go under BMR, only on unusually high burn days.
If you are constantly burning enough to get under BMR then perhaps you have your activity level of your TDEE set too low.0 -
Sorry, Im still confused lol.
I know I always want to NET at least my BMR. My question is, during this "reset", do I need to eat my TDEE (1700) on workout days as well? So even if my net is already at BMR, do I keep eating until I hit 1700, everyday?
Thank you
Hi there! It's confusing isn't it? Short answer to your question is YES....keep eating until your total food eaten number is the same as your TDEE goal number on workout AND non-workout days. Long answer:
1. Set your MFP goal to your TDEE. Eat that number of calories every day, workout or not.
2. Your total food number should be close to the Goal number at the end of the day, UNLESS your net/bmr issue has to be resolved because you worked out and the burn was really high, then it will be higher.
3. Your net will always be lower than your goal number and lower than your total food number EXCEPT on non-workout days...then it will be the same as your total food number (and close to your goal). If your net number is lower than your BMR (the number you keep in your head), then eat enough calories back to get it higher than your BMR number. This will make your total food calorie number HIGHER than your goal number and that's ok.
does that help?
Ty for replying to my post.
So then I want my "net" to be the tdee every day during this reset process, right?
I think the mobile app says "net" so im getting hung up on that word.
At the moment what I see on food diary here is Totals 770 Your Daily Goal 1,911 Remaining 1,141
On the phone I see: Goal 1700 Food 771 Exercise 211 Net 560 Remaining 1140
So the breakdown is different, and confuses me. I mostly use my phone app, so in order to be clear, I want to understand that one.
So which number should match my daily goal (tdee) of 1700? And which number should not be lower than my BMR?
The one that says "food" on my phone app, or the one that says "net"?
Gah! my head is spinning now >_<
Ok, I see where you are getting mixed up. When you look at your food diary itself on the website, it is different, but it's easier to go to your home page (click on MY HOME tab at the top of this website) You will see at the top of that a similar set of numbers as what you are seeing on your phone. Those (and the phone ones you mentioned) are the ones I'm talking about.
So the one that should match your daily goal is the 'food' one (although it might be higher on exercise days if you burn a LOT of calories and need to bring up your net number back over bmr. On the flipside, your food number should never be more than a few calories lower than your goal because no matter what, you want your food number to get up to the same number as your goal). Now that you have the right numbers to look at, go back through my answer before and start piecing it together...hopefully now it will make more sense!0
This discussion has been closed.