Ty ladies, I think I understand now.

Last thing: So even though my home page shows I have 831 calories remaining, since Goal Food =1700 and food says 1080. Does that mean I really only have 620 calories left to eat today?:huh: Because if I eat those 831 remaining, that would be 1911 calories, higher than my 1700 tdee.

My net says 869. 869+620=1489 which is above my 1250 BMR.

Thanks again for your patience.

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!!:)

Yeah...mine has been telling me for a year and a half how much I will lose if everyday was the same.....it lied then, too:noway:

Yeah...mine has been telling me for a year and a half how much I will lose if everyday was the same.....it lied then, too:noway:

Haha! I'd forgotten about that end of it! So TRUE!

Ty ladies, I think I understand now.

Last thing: So even though my home page shows I have 831 calories remaining, since Goal Food =1700 and food says 1080. Does that mean I really only have 620 calories left to eat today?:huh: Because if I eat those 831 remaining, that would be 1911 calories, higher than my 1700 tdee.

My net says 869. 869+620=1489 which is above my 1250 BMR.

Thanks again for your patience.

Yep, you got it...eat 620 more calories and if your NET = 1489 at the end of the day that is perfect because it's above your BMR. :happy: Now you're rockin'!

So that "calories remaining"number is useless during workout days eh? ;p

Ty again for the help! you rock

LOL, yep, it's pretty useless on those days! :laugh: And you are welcome!

I'm resetting! Started yesterday,

BMR 1613
TDEE 2500

On Kiki's suggestion, I will increase until I see a gain that sticks (not water, TOM, etc.). I'll back off a bit and sit there for a month or so then cut back 15%.

Reason: I lost 75# 11 years ago and never found it. I kept it off on VLCD. I've tried to lose an additional 15# for 3 years, with zero success, in spite of working out 6hr/wk. I've maintained at 1200 calories and at 1900 calories.:noway: Think I'll try showing myself some love and see what happens.

I'm curious about this, because I was doing TDEE -15%, and gained 6 lbs. It's been twelve weeks, so I know it's not TOM or water weight. What do you mean "back off a bit"? This happened to me on a cut, so now I'm scared to go up 300 calories a day to get to TDEE. I seriously don't want to gain another 6 lbs. in the next 4-8wks.... it's swimsuit season for cryin' out loud.

I'm resetting! Started yesterday,

BMR 1613
TDEE 2500

On Kiki's suggestion, I will increase until I see a gain that sticks (not water, TOM, etc.). I'll back off a bit and sit there for a month or so then cut back 15%.

Reason: I lost 75# 11 years ago and never found it. I kept it off on VLCD. I've tried to lose an additional 15# for 3 years, with zero success, in spite of working out 6hr/wk. I've maintained at 1200 calories and at 1900 calories.:noway: Think I'll try showing myself some love and see what happens.

I'm curious about this, because I was doing TDEE -15%, and gained 6 lbs. It's been twelve weeks, so I know it's not TOM or water weight. What do you mean "back off a bit"? This happened to me on a cut, so now I'm scared to go up 300 calories a day to get to TDEE. I seriously don't want to gain another 6 lbs. in the next 4-8wks.... it's swimsuit season for cryin' out loud.

Let my clarify my answer to stating I have no idea what I'm doing.

That said, if I start seeing a regular gain, I know I'm eating a bit too much so I will back off about 100 calories until I level out. I've been eating really close to cut for 13 weeks now and my weight has gone up about 1#. I'm trying to increase the number of calories where I can maintain then cut back to trick my body into losing again.

Kiki can explain it much better. Maybe together we can all find the magic number!

Hi guys,

I'm having second thought about eating at TDEE. I'm going back and forth between doing it for just a week, going back to TDEE -15%, or just eating a flat 1750 cals daily. My weight started creeping up at least a week before I started a heavy lifting program (Stronglifts 5x5), and I weighed myself on Tuesday morning because a lot of my small clothes are getting tight (and these were clothes I bought fairly recently). I measure myself once a month, and from April 28th - May 29th I went up 1" in my belly, 2" in my hips, and almost 2" in my breasts.

I weighed again this morning, because I decided to weigh in daily so that I could understand that daily weight fluctuations are normal.

I think I'm too worried that this won't work--which might be ok if I were to maintain--but I'm scared I'll gain a lot and that I won't be able to fit into ANY of my clothes, and of how long it will take me to get that weight back off. Plus I'm just feeling super bloated, stuffed, and uncomfortable. I pre-logged my after-dnner snack, but I don't want to eat it.

I might stick it out for the rest of this week, but right now I'm very nervous and scared. I've often been the odd one out in these situations--i.e., what seems to work for practically everyone else backfires on me.

I'm in! I've been EM for 7 weeks. I feel good and have lost a few inches but feel like I should be looking better since Jillian is killing me with the Body Revolution 6 days per week! I feel stronger and more toned but still very ...thick! My reset date is May 26. I'm planning on 6-8 weeks but can't make any promises at this point! Love the group and the thread. You guys are great! Stay tuned...

Hi guys,

I'm having second thought about eating at TDEE. I'm going back and forth between doing it for just a week, going back to TDEE -15%, or just eating a flat 1750 cals daily. My weight started creeping up at least a week before I started a heavy lifting program (Stronglifts 5x5), and I weighed myself on Tuesday morning because a lot of my small clothes are getting tight (and these were clothes I bought fairly recently). I measure myself once a month, and from April 28th - May 29th I went up 1" in my belly, 2" in my hips, and almost 2" in my breasts.

I weighed again this morning, because I decided to weigh in daily so that I could understand that daily weight fluctuations are normal.

I think I'm too worried that this won't work--which might be ok if I were to maintain--but I'm scared I'll gain a lot and that I won't be able to fit into ANY of my clothes, and of how long it will take me to get that weight back off. Plus I'm just feeling super bloated, stuffed, and uncomfortable. I pre-logged my after-dnner snack, but I don't want to eat it.

I might stick it out for the rest of this week, but right now I'm very nervous and scared. I've often been the odd one out in these situations--i.e., what seems to work for practically everyone else backfires on me.

I am sorry you are struggling, I know how hard it is to trust what you are doing is right. If it makes you feel any better, I am feeling puffy and bloated and my scale is up some too, but I know it is part of the process. I think resetting is right for you when you get sick of the other process. The trying so hard, exercising so much, eating so little and seeing small to no results. And you realize you don't want to live the rest of your life like that. I figure small sacrifices right now will help me in the long run to be able to eat more normally (not like a bird) and still lose inches/weight.
Also, I know how much it takes to gain a pound of weight. If I am gaining and gaining and gaining at what I think my TDEE is, then I know my metabolism is seriously screwed up and I NEED to do this anyways, just think about that. So the weight gain is telling us something. I also don't believe this is true weight gain. It is water and just my body repairing the damage I did by feeding it too little and working out too much. It will resolve itself. Once my weight seems to level off (aside from TOM and lifting), then I know I have hit a sweet spot, I will stay there to reinforce to my body it will be fed and then I will know it is time to cut back a little bit.
I have been at this for so long, I am just sick of it all (starving/stressing/weighing,killing myself at the gym), so that is how I knew this was right for me. You have to find your own reasons and motivation and then it will make total sense.

If any of you would like more info on metabolism repair there is a group for that too.
Just look up metabolism repair in the group section.

There are some great posts about what to expect. Required reading I'd say.
Don't let the head game get you. You are doing the right thing.
Repeat, you are doing the right thing. It's my mantra.

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?

Our stats are really similar. I am 26 5 ft 6.5 Lowest weight 143.5 Current 149...150 today! GW 135. I have been aiming for 1800 cals for a month but I keep gaining. I just started NROLFW yesterday and hope to do that 3x and run 2x per week.

That's a great idea! I decided to do the same thing with the exercise. I posted this note on my friend feed this morning. I can't believe how much better I feel today!

Day 3 of the metabolism reset. Increased my calories drastically yesterday, but for a work day it helped me to get through the day much better! I'm eating 6 small meals and spreading healthy calories over the course of the day. My weight went down overnight, which I'm sure was the water I put on yesterday. I feel great and I slept well last night. I didn't awaken with being "shaky" and didn't feel a great rush to get some food in right away. It will be interesting to see how this progresses for me.

Frankly - I need it to be simple because I am "trained" to make the numbers zero out so I am scared that if I track my exercise calories the standard way then I will be eating above my TDEE and then will gain because of that.

K.I.S.S. has always worked best for my brain....

Knitter - so glad that day 2 went so well for you....

Hi guys,

I'm having second thought about eating at TDEE. I'm going back and forth between doing it for just a week, going back to TDEE -15%, or just eating a flat 1750 cals daily. My weight started creeping up at least a week before I started a heavy lifting program (Stronglifts 5x5), and I weighed myself on Tuesday morning because a lot of my small clothes are getting tight (and these were clothes I bought fairly recently). I measure myself once a month, and from April 28th - May 29th I went up 1" in my belly, 2" in my hips, and almost 2" in my breasts.

I weighed again this morning, because I decided to weigh in daily so that I could understand that daily weight fluctuations are normal.

I think I'm too worried that this won't work--which might be ok if I were to maintain--but I'm scared I'll gain a lot and that I won't be able to fit into ANY of my clothes, and of how long it will take me to get that weight back off. Plus I'm just feeling super bloated, stuffed, and uncomfortable. I pre-logged my after-dnner snack, but I don't want to eat it.

I might stick it out for the rest of this week, but right now I'm very nervous and scared. I've often been the odd one out in these situations--i.e., what seems to work for practically everyone else backfires on me.

I totally understand your worries about being that 'odd person' it doesn't work for. My personal history seems to have written the book on "that works for everyone BUT me". However, as I've pondered this group's philosophy and strategies, I've come to understand something....and it's based on something my husband used to say: "Honey, if a bunch of us got stranded on a desert island with no food, you'd be the last one standing....your body just makes the most of every bit of food it gets."

He said that because he watched me exercise for hours a day for years and eat so little (now I know I was netting around 500 cals or less many days) and I still gained weight (or lost nothing). My body had to be so efficient on so little food and I STILL kept going, and going, and going. I should have dropped like a fly. I wound up on medications so I could sleep (strong ones) and medication for depression, and countless other meds and vitamins for energy, fat loss, etc. My Dr. couldn't find anything wrong with me to explain my symptoms and she could not for the life of her figure out why I couldn't lose weight. So she sent me to a nutritionist/personal trainer/life coach. She got stumped too. And now I know why. Because NOBODY ever asked me what my NET calories were in a day!! All of them believed that the low cal, high exercise diet should work. But my body went into survival mode and it was VERY good at survival mode. Other people's bodies just might not be as efficient as yours and mine at survival mode...thus, they find success in things we couldn't after a while even though they were doing similar things.

I'm a survivor...I know that now-I've proven it...but it's time to get off the island. I want my life back, my body wants food and until I feed it, it's going to remain in survival mode and keep rationing/storing every bit of food it gets for where/when it needs it most. Once I feed it, it will know it's 'off the island' and food is abundant and it will stop storing for emergencies. This process will work because it just makes logical sense.

You all rock! What a beautifully supportive group

I had a big bang on the head today as to WHY I'm doing this.

At some point, I will reach my goal. And I don't want to reach that goal, and be stuck forever at a maintenance of, say, 1800 calories, because that's what I've trained my body to do.

I'd rather have a maintenance, after goal, that's more reasonable. That allows me to live my life and enjoy food and be active and be healthy & thin, too.

A reset will train my body so I can take in more food over the long haul. Is it a bit scary? Yeah. I don't want to be puffier. But I also want to get it RIGHT this time

THIS is what i want. we can do this!