Should I go ahead and make the jump?..

Okay, to fix my broken/mistreated metabolism I've been upping my cals slowly this last 8-9wks from 1000 to 1400 per day. I know its still too low before I get told off! In those weeks I've re-gained 7lbs but had stabilised for the last two weeks, and actually started feeling hunger again! (Yayy!- I think?) Anyway, this morning I'm up another lb.

My daily target is to get to 1700cals a day- what I was wondering was- since I'm gaining as I add slowly, should I up to 1700 quicker (say 100cals every day or two) until I get there? I feel I may gain anyway so why not just gain now & get it over with, hopefully stabilise, then I can work on losing the extra lbs when I get my metabolism sorted? Its only another 300cals? (I can't believe I just typed that! LOL!)

What do you think?

My suggestion is to do what you want.

When I upped my cals I just took the plunge and dove right in. I knew I was gonna gain so I just did it the quickie way. LOL. A lot of people stress the fact that upping the cals slowly sometimes saves you from the gain but I honestly dont think it does. IMO, it would take several months of upping slowly for the metabolism to stabalize and not gain from increased calories.

Just keep in mind that this may take several more months before your body lets go of any weight. Just eat the 1700 and get in your daily exercise and your body will do the rest.

Ok, another thing. I honestly think you should get up to 1700 and work on maintaining on the amount or even more. Give your metabolism, a break for a month or two, then you can start fresh.

I think you're doing the right thing by eating more little by little. I'd advise against jumping in (although I'm glad it worked for kristinedaqueen), only because that could unnecessarily stress your system -- driving up your blood pressure, bigger insulin spikes, etc. Plus, why would you want to create more work for yourself when you don't need to?

Hearing that you're stabilizing is a good thing. Most likely, you've gained back most of the water weight that you've lost, which is also good. Just give your body plenty of time to recover. It will perform better for you when it's time to go back to the gym.

(And when that times comes, focus on maintaining and building your muscle. More muscle = faster metabolism. That's where the real fat burning starts to happen -- not just by slashing every last calorie. Don't worry about "bulking up." If it were that easy, we'd all have bodies like bodybuilders.)

Good luck

Thanks for your advice ladies. I only have to increase by another 300 calories to get to 1700 so I didn't think it'd place too much stress on my system- I just thought it'd cut out another 3wks of agony! LOL! I plan on stabilising for a while then concentrate on losing the extra lbs when I feel my metabolism is up & running again?

Kristina- how long did it take for your metabolism to kick in again? When/Did you start losing again then? I know it'll take time- a rough time frame would be nice though! LOL!

I totally understand all your ?'s so ask away. I was the same way back in the beginning.

Ok sooo, I began to get really super serious about this back in May. Before that I had tried to be serious but would get scared about the gain so I was yo-yoing for several months and gaining at the same time. . So back In May I decided to bite the bullet increase cals and stick to it no matter what the scale said. I worked my way up to 2200, over like a 3 day period, which is about my burn at sedentary. I stayed there for all of May,June and part of July. It was my choice to stay there that long because I figured I wanted to Take care of my body and heal my metabolism. I gained 11lbs in the first month but my weight leveled off after that month and stayed the same the rest of the time. I wasnt exercising during that time so that may explain the 11lb gain. Honestly I couldnt care less as long as those 2 steps back helped me leap forward. . Anyway,  at the end of July I added in exercise but kept cals the same. After 2 weeks of added activity I cut back my cals to 1800-2000. That gives me a deficit of 500-750 which I what I want. I have lost 3lbs as of last week, may seem kinda slow to others but Im totally extatic about it since Im still eating a ton of food. LOl.

Also during those couple of months I had splurge days of like 2600-3000 on purpose. They didnt cause me any harm either, its weird how my weight just stayed the same.

I got a heart rate monitor and did all the math to really work things to my advantage. I decided to shoot for a pound a week. I figure if I go about it slow and steady this time I can avoid this situation again.

The one key thing I did during that first month was: I returned my scale to the store so I could NOT weigh myself. Theres is no need to do this since its just going to stress you out. Keep a positive attitude, stressing out will not help at all.

Hopefully I answered everything. Any more questions, please feel free to ask away.

Thanks so much for replying- anything that keeps me focussed is good. Well, I ate what seems like a ton of food over the weekend- all good stuff though. I'm upping my fibre & adding flaxseed to soups & cereals to help keep me going? LOL!  I am SOoo full in the evening though its not funny. I've managed to get up to about 1600 or so (It is HARD after restricting for so long) and as of this morning I'm 172lbs!?!  Now I can't imagine I ate THAT many extra cals to make that 'real' weight, so I'm trying not to panic too much? A 3lb gain from Saturday morning would be pretty hard to do right? Especially eating healthy and still under 2000cals a day! I'm going to stick at it though. I've researched some healthy snacks around 150-200cals that I can use to 'bump' my cals if necessary without bloating me too much- if you have any you use feel free to share! This is tough going...please God let it work...

No, you didn't gain 3 lbs of fat eating under 2000 calories per day. :-)   that is water weight.  Good luck!

I have found that besides sodium making me gain weight, carbs do too. LIke for instance if I make homemade dough for our pizza that scale will be up the next morning then just goes back down like normal. Once my body gets used to a lot of carbs the water weight leaves.

Anyway your doing great, just try not to weigh yourself too often because things are happening and the scale is not your friend right now.

Ha- you're telling me- I was 171 this morning, still 2lbs more than I was on saturday! LOL! I'm really struggling to hit the 1700 target, I only got to 1550 yesterday and I was honestly so stuffed I didn't have my 'necessary' wind-down cup of tea & snack last night (shock, horror! ;P)

I think I need to find a food that is good for me but doesn't bloat/fill me so much? I've spent so long living on good food that is low-cal & fills me up I don't know what to eat!

I don't eat a lot of carbs (well, potatoes mainly, but I AM Irish!) and I don't add salt to any food, and try to keep an eye on the sodium content in foods so I don't retain too much. I do need to up my fluids, theres torrential rain here at the minute & its cold, so drinking lots makes me colder- which makes it hard to drink a lot! Ah well...got to keep the faith...am soooo full....!

Thanks for the support. XxX

Calorie-dense foods: nuts, olives, small amounts of olive oil and dressing

Fluids: herbal tea

Thanks alevin, I've looked up the nuts- almonds & hazelnuts seem good? And I can cope with adding extra dressing to my salads! LOL! And my Irish roots show through with my endless cups of tea- does this count towards my 'water' intake though? If it does then I'm flying!

Thanks again.

Yes, tea and coffee count as liquids.   The caffeine has some diuretic effect but not enough to cancel out the water.  The notion that only plain water "counts" for consuming liquid is a myth.

another thing to remember is that more food=more weight in your tummy.

The bloatedness should reside after you adjust to more food. Trust me I had that same problem when I began eating more. It took me like 2 weeks to feel comfortable again.

Original Post by kristinedaqueen:

another thing to remember is that more food=more weight in your tummy.

The bloatedness should reside after you adjust to more food. Trust me I had that same problem when I began eating more. It took me like 2 weeks to feel comfortable again.

 So there IS light at the end of the tunnel! Yayy! Thanks for the feedback- it's keeping me motivated. I feel like a slug at the minute! LOL!

I'm 173lbs this morning. UP another 2lbs from YESTERDAY!

I managed 1550 cals yesterday, nothing high sodium...this is not good...or easy....

When will the balance tilt.....?

Like you, I decided up up my food intake to help heal my metabolism, so I know how you feel when you said that you are finding it hard to eat all that food.

The one thing that I found that helped me is to eat 5 or 6 small meals a day.  So if you are aiming to eat 1700 cals a day, that equates to 340cal per meal (1700 / 5) which in my experience makes the calorie intake more manageable.  Personally I eat a bigger breakfast (about 600cals) and a lighter tea dinner.

PS: Like you I love my spuds!!!  Especially the new potatoes!!

Original Post by entersandlady:


PS: Like you I love my spuds!!!  Especially the new potatoes!!

 PMSL! I could happily get all my cals from them! ;P

So far today I have had a 385cal breakfast, 100 cal mid-morning snack and a 445cal lunch- I'm stuffed, but on target so far for today? I'm planning a cauliflower soup & cajun chicken salad for dinner, and that'll bring me up to 1400, so I'll have to have a 300cal snack to get me to 1700, I think I'll probably have cereal? I have had plenty of fibre & water today so far so I should be seeing some results soon surely?

I also found an article on Google that is written by "x"(can't remember, sorry) who is a 'respected' nutritionist/health exeprt and he reckons that eating maintenence (1900 or so apparently for me) for two weeks then restricting to 1500 or so will ensure the lbs start shifting again? I have a good bit to go to get there though?

Is there such a thing as a low fat 'creamy' sauce- I'm not overly keen on tomato based ones but it'd be great if there was one that I could use with noodles or rice?  

what kind of cream sauces? I make my own from a little butter and using half-n-half instead of heavy cream. Tastes wonderful.

Good job keeping up on the food. Its hard but well worth it in the end.

I think you should just stop weighing if its getting too upsetting. The scale will prolly go up a few more pounds before it shifts in the other direction.

Just keep telling yourself that its just temporary.

 

 I know. I'm obsessed, sorry! I can cope with it, really, I'd be too nervy to eat properly if I hadn't some idea of my current weight? Like, I'm down 1lb this morning, but I'm assuming its just more fluctuations, not 'real' weight. I don't know where I am with 'real' weight at the minute as I've gained about 4lbs in a week after upping to 1600 or so, which I don't think can be a real gain?

 I'm sticking at this though, I'm feeling a bit better food-wise, my body must be getting used to the extra food? I'm trying to space it out a bit better so I'm not cramming all my calories last thing at night which helps with the 'bloated' feeling?

Thanks everyone for all your support, I really would've given up by now if it weren't for you all!