I think I've hit the dreaded "exhaustion" piece of reset. I felt like I had this nailed, 6 weeks in, tomorrow is the start of week 7, and I'd only gained 2 pounds and stayed very stable since then. Now it's like I can hardly get myself to work out. Part of it is working extra hours and lack of sleep the last few days. Plus I strained my shoulder/trap area. It's tight and definitely swollen. Hard to turn my head let alone do any heavy lifting or working out. So the scale is showing another 3 pound gain. Not happy at all about it. If it sticks around until my Wednesday weigh in I have to bite the bullet and put it on my ticker. So now I'm wondering if that means it's time for me to cut? Or do I stick the reset out the next two weeks? Or do I need to reset longer? Totally feel like I've screwed things up.

Today is Day 1 of Week 2 of eating at TDEE for me. The great thing is, since I'm away from home visiting family for a month, my daily scale obsession is hard to maintain since I don't have a scale readily available in my bathroom. I really don't think that 'coincidence' could've come at a better time, because I actually feel amazing eating at TDEE. My body is loving the consistency and abundance of good food I'm feeding it, and even if there's a gain, I think having this initial week of this feeling of well-being will help me ignore any gains on the scale.

One thing that constantly keeps me going is this: in the past, whenever I have tried a new program or whatever to lose weight, I've always thought to myself - once I get to my goal weight, I can go back to eating normally. Which is a fallacy! Completely! If I stuck with a VLCD and then went back to a 'normal' eating regimen, I'd gain a whole bunch of weight back for sure! So, I'd rather gain some weight back *now* while I've still got the 'weight loss' frame of mind, fix my metabolism, and while doing that I can see for myself that eating 2480 calories a day will actually maintain my weight. So, TDEE of 2480 for the remaining 7 weeks - hopefully after the fluctuations my weight will stabilise, then cut, lose the last few kgs, and then up back to whatever my TDEE is then, KNOWING that eating more food won't undo all my hard work.

This new way of eating has really changed my life. I'm staying with my parents who are used to me constantly being on a VLCD and they actually comment on how much food I'm eating, even though they can see a clear change in my body.. It's actually quite funny!

YOU GOT THIS GIRL!!! Your fresh attitude and positive frame of mind is so inspiring!!!

^^^^^^This^^^^^^

Thanks for the help Raynn!

I have to admit I'm still ambiguous about the TDEE or TDEE-15%. My head has a tendency towards TDEE but my feeling screams that it's going to be too much. So stupid!

And it has to be 2400 cals of 'clean' food, right? No junk... that's going to be a lot!
But the fact that I'm dreading to do this is probably all the more reason to go ahead and up my cals. I hate feeling so insecure about this!
I plan to up my calories slowly for a few weeks and then maintain for 4 weeks. The whole process is going to take a bit longer but hopefully this way it can be an anxiety-free experience.

How do you all get your proteins up to the required number? Is everybody doing multiple protein shakes? I'd like to limit those to 1 a day. I have started to drink more milk and have a yoghurt as my afternoon snack, but it's still not enough to meet my protein goals (which I set at 30% of my current 1799 cals). I know that cottage cheese ought to be good, but can't stand the consistency.
If my question is inappropriate here, could you please point me in the right direction?

Thanks!! You're all such an inspiration!

You know what I love about this thread? If you go back far enough, just about everyone who is now coaching others to hang in there and stick with the reset was considering quitting at some point and needed the same pep talk from someone else. It's so inspiring to see how we are all sticking with this and how amazing the support is on this thread! I just think everyone is doing awesome! Hang in there ladies. This is worth it for our long-term health. Let's think about giving our bodies some love!

I'm at the beginning of week seven! Woot! I'm getting soooo close. Just two more weeks before my cut. I'm so excited! I'm still struggling with the "great fatigue". Ugh. There's a break in the heat for part of this week, so I'm hoping that helps. I'm going to get back to running tomorrow, whether I feel like it or not.

This is going to be a crazy week for me, so I may not be around a ton. I have my boys' birthday party to plan this weekend and there's a whole lot that needs to be done around here. On a sidenote that has nothing to do with fitness and health, I made homemade fondant for the cake I'm making later this week. First time I've ever made it and I'm very happy with the way it turned out - both taste and texture wise. Woot!

Hi Everyone!

Sorry but I was way offline this weekend or I would have joined in on the "cheering section". ^^^^^^THIS is what I love about this group -- the support and the willingness to answer questions and provide cyber hugs or a kick in the pants makes this entire process so much easier.

To all the first weekers....it gets easier! I only signed up for 4 weeks initially but decided to just go for the 8 weeks. I am now entering week 6 and frankly I am nervous about cutting because I don't know where I want to cut my food intake :laugh: Oh what a difference 6 weeks makes. Also, put the scale away....don't stress about the gain - it's bound to happen but it won't last forever. And eat your protein...that is still a work in progress for me.

For the old timers - wow I can't believe we have stuck it out! For those that are starting your cut - I will be following your progress closely....can't wait to see you rock it out!

For me - this weekend was my lowest point where I was thinking okay I feel icky and sluggish and pudgy...and I am wearing my bigger sizes again so that's a bit of an ego bruise. I am avoiding cameras and swimming pools at all costs . But I am determined to (for the first time in my get healthy journey) to stick it out for 8 weeks and then begin my cut at 10%.

Thanks for the help Raynn!

I have to admit I'm still ambiguous about the TDEE or TDEE-15%. My head has a tendency towards TDEE but my feeling screams that it's going to be too much. So stupid!

And it has to be 2400 cals of 'clean' food, right? No junk... that's going to be a lot!
But the fact that I'm dreading to do this is probably all the more reason to go ahead and up my cals. I hate feeling so insecure about this!
I plan to up my calories slowly for a few weeks and then maintain for 4 weeks. The whole process is going to take a bit longer but hopefully this way it can be an anxiety-free experience.

How do you all get your proteins up to the required number? Is everybody doing multiple protein shakes? I'd like to limit those to 1 a day. I have started to drink more milk and have a yoghurt as my afternoon snack, but it's still not enough to meet my protein goals (which I set at 30% of my current 1799 cals). I know that cottage cheese ought to be good, but can't stand the consistency.
If my question is inappropriate here, could you please point me in the right direction?

Thanks!! You're all such an inspiration!

The mental challenge of this process is one of the hardest things to overcome....just keep coming back to the forums and read the stickies and watch the videos and come to this post. I have found once you start to feed the voice in your head - she quiets down pretty quickly .

The best part about this process is that it is a whole life change...not a diet. So yes ideally we all would eat our TDEE of clean calories but guess what - life happens and sometimes you want that ice cream or french fries or adult beverage....there are no "restricted" foods. I aim to make more healthy choices than not but don't even blink an eye at eating pizza or spaghetti. My one thing is I try to have some sort of protein at every meal but that I mainly because I have a tough time hitting that macro.

So for protein - I do one shake (made with almond milk) in the morning and then greek yogurt; beans; peanut butter (an all-time fav or mine); nuts; cheese sticks; lean meats. I feel ya about cottage cheese :sick: yuck! I wish I did like it though because of the amount of protein it has......

Friend me if you want to look at my diary....

The mental games are the hardest. But once you get past the first few weeks, it stops being so loud and controlling over you. Honestly, I would just jump right up to TDEE rather than slowly build up. Had I known that back then, I would have done TDEE right away rather than 6 weeks at cut with no change... Id be a good 5 weeks into cut now had I:)

As for protein, I have to get in 210 or more grams a day and I have hardly ever gotten there:) But I do get well over 160 most days. I do have a protein shake daily, and I likely have a protein bar as well.. Id like to eventually stop relying on those so much, but being as heavy as I am, I need to get the protein in and its incredibly hard without them. outside of those, I eat a lot of greek yogurt, milk, cheese, nuts, edamame beans and lean meats.. its a work in progress, but way better than I ever was.


Eat at TDEE does mean more cals, but you can still incorporate your treats into it. Actually its way better this way, because you dont feel so guilty about having something now.


two weeks left for me... then CUT!!!:) I took a look at the scale, and its up. From when I began eating at TDEE, its up only 2ish pounds.. but from my lowest point eating EMTLW, Im up about 6 pounds. Id like to say I was happy about it, but of course Im not. However its not the end all, be all for me at this point, which is nice. I am definitely ready for cut, definitely ready to start seeing the muscle that I have been building the last 10 weeks and definitely ready to lose the weight. Still trying to figure out how to do it without 400 extra cals though:)

I got a nice compliment via email last night from an aquaintance. We see each other very rarely, kids birthday parties and such, but she wrote this to me:

"I know you said you were down about health and weight etc a
week ago, I think when your in it and living it its hard to see
change, just like a person growing taller doesn't really see the
change. I don't get to see you often (which is too bad for me ) but
you look fantastic. Seriously, I see big changes."

I have no reason to believe she would lie about it, even though that was my first reaction. I have never been good at compliments of any kind, so it took me a bit to accept what she said to me. Then I cried:)
It made me realize that even though the scale is up, inches are up, something else is happening which is showing. Maybe its confidence, maybe its how I hold myself, I dont know, but someone notices out there:)

Those compliments are the best, right?
I was at my mom's birthday saturday and so many people commented on my looks, it was almost emarrasing.
Since my dad's birthday in April I have not lost a significant amount of weight, so that shouldn't be it. It can't be the weight workouts as I've only done 4 of them. It's probably (in my case) just the fact that I'm discovering how to take care of myself, the fact that I'm proud at my body that it was able to complete those aforementioned workouts and a general feeling of wellbeing that radiates out.

Anyways, back OT.
I'm feeling a need to un-friend some people on my list as they are down the path of 1200 calories and we just not compatible anymore. It’s nice to have some new EMTWL friends to get me up to speed and help me 'reset' my thinking. Thanks for taking the effort to get us newbies up and going! I plan to pay it forward later on.
Also the comments of my fellow newbies help me to realise I'm not alone in this journey and everybody feels insecure at first.

Thanks for the help Raynn!

I have to admit I'm still ambiguous about the TDEE or TDEE-15%. My head has a tendency towards TDEE but my feeling screams that it's going to be too much. So stupid!

And it has to be 2400 cals of 'clean' food, right? No junk... that's going to be a lot!
But the fact that I'm dreading to do this is probably all the more reason to go ahead and up my cals. I hate feeling so insecure about this!
I plan to up my calories slowly for a few weeks and then maintain for 4 weeks. The whole process is going to take a bit longer but hopefully this way it can be an anxiety-free experience.

How do you all get your proteins up to the required number? Is everybody doing multiple protein shakes? I'd like to limit those to 1 a day. I have started to drink more milk and have a yoghurt as my afternoon snack, but it's still not enough to meet my protein goals (which I set at 30% of my current 1799 cals). I know that cottage cheese ought to be good, but can't stand the consistency.
If my question is inappropriate here, could you please point me in the right direction?

Thanks!! You're all such an inspiration!

The mental challenge of this process is one of the hardest things to overcome....just keep coming back to the forums and read the stickies and watch the videos and come to this post. I have found once you start to feed the voice in your head - she quiets down pretty quickly .

The best part about this process is that it is a whole life change...not a diet. So yes ideally we all would eat our TDEE of clean calories but guess what - life happens and sometimes you want that ice cream or french fries or adult beverage....there are no "restricted" foods. I aim to make more healthy choices than not but don't even blink an eye at eating pizza or spaghetti. My one thing is I try to have some sort of protein at every meal but that I mainly because I have a tough time hitting that macro.

So for protein - I do one shake (made with almond milk) in the morning and then greek yogurt; beans; peanut butter (an all-time fav or mine); nuts; cheese sticks; lean meats. I feel ya about cottage cheese :sick: yuck! I wish I did like it though because of the amount of protein it has......

Friend me if you want to look at my diary....

The mental games are the hardest. But once you get past the first few weeks, it stops being so loud and controlling over you. Honestly, I would just jump right up to TDEE rather than slowly build up. Had I known that back then, I would have done TDEE right away rather than 6 weeks at cut with no change... Id be a good 5 weeks into cut now had I:)

As for protein, I have to get in 210 or more grams a day and I have hardly ever gotten there:) But I do get well over 160 most days. I do have a protein shake daily, and I likely have a protein bar as well.. Id like to eventually stop relying on those so much, but being as heavy as I am, I need to get the protein in and its incredibly hard without them. outside of those, I eat a lot of greek yogurt, milk, cheese, nuts, edamame beans and lean meats.. its a work in progress, but way better than I ever was.


Eat at TDEE does mean more cals, but you can still incorporate your treats into it. Actually its way better this way, because you dont feel so guilty about having something now.


two weeks left for me... then CUT!!!:) I took a look at the scale, and its up. From when I began eating at TDEE, its up only 2ish pounds.. but from my lowest point eating EMTLW, Im up about 6 pounds. Id like to say I was happy about it, but of course Im not. However its not the end all, be all for me at this point, which is nice. I am definitely ready for cut, definitely ready to start seeing the muscle that I have been building the last 10 weeks and definitely ready to lose the weight. Still trying to figure out how to do it without 400 extra cals though:)

I got a nice compliment via email last night from an aquaintance. We see each other very rarely, kids birthday parties and such, but she wrote this to me:

"I know you said you were down about health and weight etc a
week ago, I think when your in it and living it its hard to see
change, just like a person growing taller doesn't really see the
change. I don't get to see you often (which is too bad for me ) but
you look fantastic. Seriously, I see big changes."

I have no reason to believe she would lie about it, even though that was my first reaction. I have never been good at compliments of any kind, so it took me a bit to accept what she said to me. Then I cried:)
It made me realize that even though the scale is up, inches are up, something else is happening which is showing. Maybe its confidence, maybe its how I hold myself, I dont know, but someone notices out there:)

For Raynn

I was hoping and praying for a miracle for you and there it is!! What a lovely, lovely friend.

I'm on week 7 I think. However last week I went on vacation and now I'm back. I ate over my 1700 calories during vacation. Hard to tell since I couldn't log the food, could only estimate. I got to walk and keep active but only made it to the gym once. I had pain on my right calf and ankle which limit my activity the last 2-3 days.

I weighed myself this morning, as usual and found I'm 4 lbs heavier! I have been stuck at the same weight for months and in 1 week I destroyed months of work, back to what I was weighing about 4 months ago or so. I am pretty upset.

I am very meticulous when I'm logging, preplanning my days, making sure I meet my macros and calories but 1 week of not doing this completely destroyed me.

I was hoping I was on the right mindset and this was a lifestyle for me and I could stop being a slave to measuring and logging my food but the cruel reality is I'm slaved to it if I want to at least maintain my weight. Apparently I can't do it any other way. This is NOT what I want to do for the rest of my life. I don't want to have to measure every piece of food I consume and have to stress out about meeting my macros and calories every day. But is that or gaining weight again it seems.

I wanted to actually up my intake to 1800 since I have been maintaining during this reset but now I can't do that with the extra weight. I'll go on at 1700 and hope that's good enough to lose these 4 lbs, otherwise I will have to go into cut already, which I actually didn't want to do. My goal was to be able to find how many calories I could eat and keep maintaining my 119-120 lbs fluctuation. And these stupid injuries I keep getting are making things even harder, been suffering back pain for weeks now which won't go away, neck pains, especially if I stress out, joint pains, ankle, calf etc. Wth!!

I feel very sad and angry right now, sorry for the rambling.

YOU GOT THIS GIRL!!! Your fresh attitude and positive frame of mind is so inspiring!!!

^^^^^^This^^^^^^

YES! That's an awesome update! It sounds like you're really seeing the benefits of EM2WL! Woot!

Honestly - you are all *such* wonderful, encouraging, inspiring people and I could NOT do this without the invaluable support you constantly provide.

Thank you xx

I'm diving into the reset. I read the entire first thread and this one. It makes sense to do it.

I've been on VLCD on and off for couple years (mostly Weight Watchers) without a whole lot of success in the last 3 years. I lost about 60 lbs before getting pregnant with my daughter in 2008 but gained all 60 lbs back during the pregnancy. I've been struggling to lose the weight since I gave birth.

I upped my calories couple weeks ago with a couple lb increase on the scale (maybe because I wasn't 100% consistent or maybe because of all the damage I've done or maybe because of both.) At this time I feel that I have nothing to lose by eating my TDEE. My hope is that my body will trust again and let go of the fat. I will be tossing the scale and will only measure. I will try to keep in mind that it takes additional 3500 cal to gain a pound of fat. As long as this doesn't happen, it will be my body taking back what it lost and the muscle I build through weight lifting :laugh:

I'm about to workout and when I'm done, I will calculate my new daily goal with the numbers my Bodybugg is giving me.

I'm pretty motivated right now but I'm sure I will come back crying :laugh: Deja vu right here :laugh: I said the same thing when I first upped my calories.

I would love to have a close "reset buddy". Someone who just started and would like to keep in closer contact (messaging) during the reset. Of course I plan on checking in here too and cry :laugh:

You are an awesome bunch!

Welcome to the International Union of Whiners!!!:laugh: All manner of venting, crying, whining, rambling and even the occasional WTF is allowed here.

All kidding aside, the Reset is difficult emotionally and physically and goes against ALL of our ingrained Diet Thinking.

But I, for one, believe in the science of it and am hoping to come out on the other side with a healthy, working metabolism, a stronger, fitter body and a well adjusted attitude!!:flowerforyou:

Stop by often and tell us all about it, OK?

I'm reading that people are doing the reset for anywhere between 4-8 weeks. How will I know that my body is ready for the cut?

Okay. Deep breaths. My weigh-in today (after not weighing for a whole week!) saw another 1kg up. So total gain over the past 4 weeks, 1 week of which was on the reset (the rest were at cut), is 1.9kg (about 4 lbs). Deeeeeep breaths.

What I don't understand is that while some measurements are down (waist, belly), others are RANDOMLY up! Like my thighs which went up by 1cm. Go figure.

I've started tracking my body fat on a body fat scale -- 30.5% today. What confuses me is that when I plugged my numbers into the fat2fit BF calculator, I got a much nicer number - 27.6. Which one is more accurate?

I'm trying VERY HARD to ignore the total 1.9kg gain. I think I'll be okay. Just have to keep reminding myself - this would've happened in any event, and how much more upset would I be if it happened after I thought I was done and had reached my goal weight? Much rather have it happen now.

Oh look at the time - must be time for breakfast!

I'm diving into the reset. I read the entire first thread and this one. It makes sense to do it.

I've been on VLCD on and off for couple years (mostly Weight Watchers) without a whole lot of success in the last 3 years. I lost about 60 lbs before getting pregnant with my daughter in 2008 but gained all 60 lbs back during the pregnancy. I've been struggling to lose the weight since I gave birth.

I upped my calories couple weeks ago with a couple lb increase on the scale (maybe because I wasn't 100% consistent or maybe because of all the damage I've done or maybe because of both.) At this time I feel that I have nothing to lose by eating my TDEE. My hope is that my body will trust again and let go of the fat. I will be tossing the scale and will only measure. I will try to keep in mind that it takes additional 3500 cal to gain a pound of fat. As long as this doesn't happen, it will be my body taking back what it lost and the muscle I build through weight lifting :laugh:

I'm about to workout and when I'm done, I will calculate my new daily goal with the numbers my Bodybugg is giving me.

I'm pretty motivated right now but I'm sure I will come back crying :laugh: Deja vu right here :laugh: I said the same thing when I first upped my calories.

I would love to have a close "reset buddy". Someone who just started and would like to keep in closer contact (messaging) during the reset. Of course I plan on checking in here too and cry :laugh:

You are an awesome bunch!

Your body will thank you for doing the reset, even if you will feel challenged along the way.
But we are here to help you out.
There are a few people on here who just started doing the reset-I am sure you can find a buddy

Apparently my TDEE is even higher than I thought. My body very cleverly had maintained its weight at 1800 cals so I bumped to 2000. Still maintained. Bumped to 2200. LOST WEIGHT, despite cutting out exercise during that time. So bumping again to 2400. I can't see how I need that much food, I'm only 5'1 and trying to maintain a weight of 107 (I'm down at 105 now). I will allow myself one day per week where I don't feel obliged to eat that much, because it's very tiring trying to remember to take enough food with me since I'm celiac. I also am finding it a financial pain in the *kitten* to eat 2400 healthy calories per day.