holleysings Member

I've been living the EM2WL way since July 2012. I'm currently eating at maintenance 2500-3000+ calories. Anyone can add me, just put "EM2WL" in the message! :flowerforyou:

I know I just messaged you...but I wanted to add something since I had time to read your post! Adding in cardio won't cause you to lose weight as long as you increase your TDEE to match your increase in activity. Weight loss comes from burning more calories than you take in. So if you burn more by adding in cardio, eat…

I lean heavily on my MFP friendships when I'm in the middle of a breakdown. There's no waiting when you PM a friend or post a breakdown status on MFP. I'm glad you have a new plan now! I've been through an 8 week reset and a 6 month reset after a cut that didn't work. I know exactly what you're going through. There is…

I'm at 221 lbs right now (up from 216 lbs pre-vacation last week lol). Anyone can FR me! I've been doing EM2WL for over a year and my body is so much different now. It's smaller and a different shape!

STOP IT. Get off the scale. Focus on other things. Like your shrinking measurements! And a few questions: What the heck is your TDEE that you're eating under 2000 calories? And your cut level? What activity level have you decided on? It's hard to know what advice to offer you without knowing that.

I have half a thyroid gland. It functions completely normally following EM2WL. No drugs needed. Just take your meds and get your levels checked as your doctor recommends. No need to do anything special!

Probably not. I'm going back to TDEE according to BMF for four weeks. We'll see what happens scale-wise. Then I might eat 250 OVER BMF to see if the weight goes up! I know the sensors are not all that accurate for me according to your spreadsheet. I haven't really wanted to mess with it until I was done with my 12 week fat…

How is your consistency? Have you done each of the things you've tried for 8 weeks without making any changes? Honestly, the first thing you should look at is consistency and your food diary. Be honest with yourself. Is that dessert happening more often than you realized? I look at my diary as a whole week to try to keep…

FR sent! Anyone else can add me too. Just make sure to put something about EM2WL in the request so I know how you found me. :smile:

What are you stats? What's your BMR? Height, weight...it's hard to know what advice to give without more info! :flowerforyou:

Congrats on your results! You look fantastic!

I eat a lot 2200-3000 a day and lift weights! Anyone can add me. Make sure to include EM2WL in the FR so I know how I met you!

Whole grains. Do not be afraid of carbs! They are delicious and GOOD for you. If you eat them in combination with protein and veggies, you'll stay full for 2-3 hours.

So set the percentages that put you just over 120g. See how you feel. If you feel fine, stick with it! Not everyone does well with 30% of calories coming from protein. I get physically ill with more than 140g a day if it's from animal sources. So I don't do that to myself! No need. :smile:

I don't try all that hard to meet mine and I meet it almost every day WITHOUT eating meat (most days), eggs, dairy, or tons of protein powder. I only shoot for 20% protein, or around 110g. There's a good thread about calculating how much protein you need per day. You should check that out! Maybe you're aiming too high for…

I eat pretty cleanly and probably 90% vegan. I'm eating 2000-2500 calories a day right now. Feel free to FR me and check out my food diary! :flowerforyou:

My arms got bigger at first too, but now they're smaller than they were before I started lifting! Keep at it and be patient. :flowerforyou:

You can do HIIT if you plan a full rest day the day after. Some women like to do weight training and HIIT the same day and rest the next day. Or you can just do HIIT one day followed by a rest day. Nothing wrong with that! You definitely shouldn't be doing HIIT every day though. (Couch 2 5k does not count as HIIT by the…

I have a BodyMedia Fit, so I calorie cycle based on the day's burn. I cut 500 calories from my TDEE which is different every day given my activity level. Regarding your numbers, what activity level are you giving yourself? Most women highly under-estimate activity level. I thought I was sedentary or lightly active but I'm…

Try eating 1800 per day first until that feels ok. Then bump up to 2000 or 2200 calories. You will get used to it. You'll have to force yourself at first, but you will adapt to more! I did! I used to eat 1200 calories a day. I upped to 1700 calories + exercise calories for a while. Then I went to TDEE (2500-3000) after…

Your body will probably reset at the cut value, so when you do decide to eat at maintenance, you will gain. You might gain at the cut value too. :ohwell:

Just to give you some encouragement, this is where I was before EM2WL. It was advice like this that lead me to up my calories and eat like a real person. My background: I yo-yo dieted all through high school. Severely restricted calories (500-700 A DAY) with "binge" days (maybe 2000 calories) once or twice a week in…

Well...if your metabolism is damaged, you will gain weight at first. Or you might be one of the lucky ones who doesn't gain when she ups her calories! Do you weight lift? I gained 21lbs during my second reset but lost bf% and inches...so it's not the worst thing in the world to gain if you're building LBM.

What are your stats? Age, height, weight? Exercise plan?

Then you absolutely need to do a reset. 100%. Really no other option. You need to eat at TDEE for 8-12 weeks, but I would recommend 12. Or longer. I did two resets, one for 8 weeks and then another for 5 1/2 months since I gained weight when I cut calories. Your metabolism is damaged if you're gaining weight when you "eat…

How are you calculating your TDEE? If your BMR is 1748, unless you sit in a chair all day and only get up to pee, a TDEE of 2098 is really low...

I got mine tested at my gym. Lots of health places have the testing equipment!

Have you done a TDEE break since increasing your cardio? If you're craving carbs, eat more carbs! That's why I eat 50c/20p/30f. I need carbs to have the energy to get through my workouts. That's the first thing I would suggest: eat more carbs on cardio days and consider doing a TDEE break. I would definitely add some…

Have you gotten your RMR checked? I had a scare with mine a few weeks ago (it tested at 878 which seemed wrong, so we re-did it and it was 1771)...and it really opened my eyes to how important it is to let the metabolism repair itself. The thing is if you think your metabolism is suppressed and you cut too early, your…

If you aren't feeling "yourself", you definitely need to keep pushing. Give your body a chance to catch up with the increased amount of food. I gained 21lbs altogether and a few inches in my hips, but lost inches other places AND lost a bunch more body fat during my second reset. Yeah, I felt gross occasionally, but I knew…