Ok so I thought, (from reading ya'lls whines ;P) that I was going to feel GROSS and yukky from being bloated and that it was going to be hard to hit my TDEE (granted mines not very high due to my stature) but
1) I am not having a hard time even when I am home with the "better" food (still working on eating great, 6 boys and one husband make this hard cause they can eat anything they want....and older boys can buy whatever they want.....) but some good news is that a few of my kids will try to eat what I am eating....and like it (for insance, red bell peppers today were a hit for my youngest tomato lover! He is one omy twins and is 5...great NSV in my book!)
2) I thought I would be fighitng bloat more, I mean I get gassy and feel yuk in teh tummy area but its not horrible, and I wake up with my stomach feeing like a million bucks...even after two meals at McDonals yesterday >.<

Is it okay that I am able (mentally even) to deal with all this food and if Im not feel terribly yukky does it mean possibly that I havent figured out my true TDEE? I mean I am still on week one so I dont even know what my weight is doing which doesnt really bother me either I just want to feel good, tired of feeling weak during workouts or having a hard time sleeping, I could care less if I am a size 10 (at 4'11" thats big which Im a size 12 currntly) but if I look good in that size 10 then thats what matters. I have always been a muscuar person, putting muscle on is easy peasy...and thats something I have had a hard time with mentally (in the past) because it meant the scale is never as low as Id like it to be, I just didnt know much about eating right to look good when I had all that musle before...Im rambling.
But really Im second guessing IF I figured out what my TDEE should be if Im not having such a hard time, I guess I should wait and see what weigh in is like on Wed...because I know I gained from last wed to last saturday, but then again...I was gaining and losing the same few pounds trying to eat as low cal as I could...which is what brought me here in the first place.
I guess Im just confused, except that I know I want to eat and am happy eating.

Ok so I thought, (from reading ya'lls whines ;P) that I was going to feel GROSS and yukky from being bloated and that it was going to be hard to hit my TDEE (granted mines not very high due to my stature) but
1) I am not having a hard time even when I am home with the "better" food (still working on eating great, 6 boys and one husband make this hard cause they can eat anything they want....and older boys can buy whatever they want.....) but some good news is that a few of my kids will try to eat what I am eating....and like it (for insance, red bell peppers today were a hit for my youngest tomato lover! He is one omy twins and is 5...great NSV in my book!)
2) I thought I would be fighitng bloat more, I mean I get gassy and feel yuk in teh tummy area but its not horrible, and I wake up with my stomach feeing like a million bucks...even after two meals at McDonals yesterday >.<

Is it okay that I am able (mentally even) to deal with all this food and if Im not feel terribly yukky does it mean possibly that I havent figured out my true TDEE? I mean I am still on week one so I dont even know what my weight is doing which doesnt really bother me either I just want to feel good, tired of feeling weak during workouts or having a hard time sleeping, I could care less if I am a size 10 (at 4'11" thats big which Im a size 12 currntly) but if I look good in that size 10 then thats what matters. I have always been a muscuar person, putting muscle on is easy peasy...and thats something I have had a hard time with mentally (in the past) because it meant the scale is never as low as Id like it to be, I just didnt know much about eating right to look good when I had all that musle before...Im rambling.
But really Im second guessing IF I figured out what my TDEE should be if Im not having such a hard time, I guess I should wait and see what weigh in is like on Wed...because I know I gained from last wed to last saturday, but then again...I was gaining and losing the same few pounds trying to eat as low cal as I could...which is what brought me here in the first place.
I guess Im just confused, except that I know I want to eat and am happy eating.

Do you feel pretty confident that you ran your stats and calculated your TDEE correctly? If not, we'd be glad to double check them. If you feel like you've got the right number, then hang tight. Dig in for four weeks and do not change your number! If at the end of four weeks you're trending down, then upping TDEE might be in order!

I think it's great that you don't feel yucky!

I do feel confident that I did, but I was questioning if it was strenuous on the low end or moderate on the high end or not, but Ill stick with my decision, 4 Weeks it is, then assess. Thanks! I might have trouble today, because I plan to run and I think Im going to make a trip to the store (pulling two kids in the trailer...I burn a lot) so just make sure to get over BMR, right? I might not have a problem tho cause I sure do like to eat and tonights dinner is yummy
I really appreciate the response, especially since the friends I have on here are basically all low cal, I have a guy on friends list that eats less than I do (when I was trying low cal) o.0!

So thankful for everyone's encouragement! Quick question: anyone know if a reset could work in less time (like 2 to 4 weeks)?

So thankful for everyone's encouragement! Quick question: anyone know if a reset could work in less time (like 2 to 4 weeks)?

2 weeks is basically a "diet break"..4 weeks is the absolute minimum for a reset, and thats if you didnt come from a VLC diet previous..

There is no set time frame for a reset. The idea is to give your body enough time to adapt, understand that you are not starving it anymore, and to forgive you for it. Once you start a reset, you can trakc your weight.. once your weight has stabilized, then you have found your TDEE and can hold there for a few weeks.. some people cut at 4.. a lot of others go for 8...
Up to you

So thankful for everyone's encouragement! Quick question: anyone know if a reset could work in less time (like 2 to 4 weeks)?

2 weeks is basically a "diet break"..4 weeks is the absolute minimum for a reset, and thats if you didnt come from a VLC diet previous..

There is no set time frame for a reset. The idea is to give your body enough time to adapt, understand that you are not starving it anymore, and to forgive you for it. Once you start a reset, you can trakc your weight.. once your weight has stabilized, then you have found your TDEE and can hold there for a few weeks.. some people cut at 4.. a lot of others go for 8...
Up to you

Thanks for the info. I guess I'll aim for 4 weeks. Im just afraid my clothes are gonna stop fitting (some are already tight) and i can't afford to buy new ones

You might find you need a pair or two to tide you over... some people found they lost inches even though the scale went up.. some stayed the same. Its not the same for every person.. But wouldnt you rather give yourself the chance now for 4 or so weeks, so you can fit into smaller pants in a very short time?:)

Ok so I thought, (from reading ya'lls whines ;P) that I was going to feel GROSS and yukky from being bloated and that it was going to be hard to hit my TDEE (granted mines not very high due to my stature) but
1) I am not having a hard time even when I am home with the "better" food (still working on eating great, 6 boys and one husband make this hard cause they can eat anything they want....and older boys can buy whatever they want.....) but some good news is that a few of my kids will try to eat what I am eating....and like it (for insance, red bell peppers today were a hit for my youngest tomato lover! He is one omy twins and is 5...great NSV in my book!)
2) I thought I would be fighitng bloat more, I mean I get gassy and feel yuk in teh tummy area but its not horrible, and I wake up with my stomach feeing like a million bucks...even after two meals at McDonals yesterday >.<

Is it okay that I am able (mentally even) to deal with all this food and if Im not feel terribly yukky does it mean possibly that I havent figured out my true TDEE? I mean I am still on week one so I dont even know what my weight is doing which doesnt really bother me either I just want to feel good, tired of feeling weak during workouts or having a hard time sleeping, I could care less if I am a size 10 (at 4'11" thats big which Im a size 12 currntly) but if I look good in that size 10 then thats what matters. I have always been a muscuar person, putting muscle on is easy peasy...and thats something I have had a hard time with mentally (in the past) because it meant the scale is never as low as Id like it to be, I just didnt know much about eating right to look good when I had all that musle before...Im rambling.
But really Im second guessing IF I figured out what my TDEE should be if Im not having such a hard time, I guess I should wait and see what weigh in is like on Wed...because I know I gained from last wed to last saturday, but then again...I was gaining and losing the same few pounds trying to eat as low cal as I could...which is what brought me here in the first place.
I guess Im just confused, except that I know I want to eat and am happy eating.

I was similar to you. I am taller though and was born muscular so I do add it on easy-ish which can be a good and bad thing. I Especially get bulky in my legs!:ohwell:

I had zero problem jumping up from about 1400-1500 to 2700 in one day and while I did bloat some, I was in the beginnings of TOM territory so who knows. But in the middle of week 5 it really hit me hard. I felt fat and bloated and had a real hard time mentally until about the start of week 7. I have yet to step on the scale. I too have always weighed high but seeing it go even higher....I just didn't think I could handle that. If you weigh, they say wait 4 weeks before you make any changes. Most of us seemed to have gained some on the scale, but the idea is that it should hold fairly steady after a few weeks. maybe if you are losing scale weight after two weeks maybe add some more calories. If you are hungry you could add 100 to your day and it shouldn't affect anything.

Its more about being consistent and better to be a tad over than under. So by adding more, the worst that will happen is you will gain more.

Hi everyone, back again. I just have a question about macros. I'm currently eating the default 55% carbs 15% protein and 30% fat macros mfp gives you- this works for me because I used to be a full vegetarian, and only recently started eating chicken again. I still refuse to eat red meat, and I absolutely cannot stand eggs. It is really hard for me to get in enough protien, and I just can't even imagine eating the 40%-30%-30% macros some people say you should. Can someone explain to me why those macros are recommended, and what the benefits of them are?
Is it ok for me to keep the mfp macro defaults? If not, could you give me some ideas of healthy ways to get enough protien in?

SO I am about 2.5 weeks into reset. At first it wasn't too bad - i even fund myselg going over here and there. Now, though - the bloating/tummy ache/can't eat another bite is hitting me. Yesterday it was all I could do to get somewhere near my TDEE in calories. It's almost like my body is saying "I know the lower calores are coming back, so let's just get this over with" UGh. I hope this passes soon! :frown:

Wow! Thank you for everyone that listen to me whining a few days ago. Currently day 4 and I was ACTUALLY hungry this morning. Super pumped to do my workout today!

My 4 yr old boy had a fever of 39.2 C for the past 2 days and I am finally able to go to work today and get back to my regular routine. Its amazing how fitness makes you feel better not just physically but mentally as well.

Again thanks for the support, I am sure I will be whining some time really soon

I recently started eating at TDEE because I was on a 2 month plateau. It's only 4 days and already I've gained 1.6 lbs. I know this must mean my metabolism is low from eating at a lower calories these past 7 months. I wonder how much I'll gain before my metabolism will go up and I stop gaining. It's really scary to see the scale number increase every time I step on it.

The best advice I can give you is to hide your scale....I didn't step on mine for the first 4 weeks of my reset and then did daily for a week to ensure that I had in fact hit my TDEE (you want your weight to remain fairly consistent).

It's hard to break the habit of the scale but the freedom of not having that number determine my mood for the day was such a huge relief for me.....

I need to get to this place......