Egull1's Journal, 04 October 2020

wow. looking great!! 

Thank you, one point! One of these days, there will be an occasion to wear it! :-) 

How about national I make this look cute day? Thats what is say anyway.  

Thx for another reverse dieting post Egull. 👍My metabolism definitely slowed down this summer and I need to kick-start it. 

You have a great figure! And you definitely are doing it justice! Great work!!  

Don't totally understand the reverse dieting thing you do but you seem knowledgeable and informed and it's working cuz you look fabulous! 👍💜💪 

I increased mine by 100-200 a day which is an average of 10% increase for me (1500 so 150 average). I did have a bit of an initial gain then lost it then up down up down lol. I’m staying in range and overall I’m the same weight within one pound of doing that I think. I’m about 121 now and I think I was either 119.8 or 120.2 when I increased. And if I’m honest with myself I probably increased again this last month but I haven’t checked. Just happy my weight is holding steady in the 120-125 range. 

Hey peeper - your approach is what they would refer to as the standard approach to finding maintenance cals, which is absolutely okay, perfectly healthy, and honestly how it's done most of the time if you know the weight range you want to keep and maintain. Reverse dieting is a method that many strength trainers use with clients who had to lean out for physique shows on little more than 800-1000 cals/day for a prolonged period of time before the show. Needless to say, when one is eating that little for a long time, the metabolism is said to adapt, slows down, and is attempting to hold onto whatever it can. When the show is over, most folks in physique training will immediately binge and as you can imagine go on some major food benders...because, well they're damn hungry. LOL. What tends to happen is their metabolism doesn't have the time to adjust to taking in that much food, they will tend to gain and store fat very quickly. Slow metabolism = less cals burned. And, if they're not training the way they were, which is often the case, that means even less energy going out. What many of these folks find is when they go to train for another show, their metabolisms haven't quite re-adapted, even at a higher weight, and so they often have to consume even less at a higher weight to lean back down for another show, which IS NOT optimal given the amount of physical training needed. What some have found in these individuals is if they slooooowly increase the cals and allow them to gain up to 5-10 lbs (sometimes more), the metabolism will begin to re-adapt and actually speeds up, so that they can begin to lean out, but not have to do it on so little cals. And, in some cases what they have found is that they can get the metabolism to adapt so well by slowly increasing the cals, they can eat even more and still lose. Using this method is also another way of fine tuning what ones actual maintenance cals are without dealing with all the bloat or water retention that comes along with ripping off the band aid and just adding 100-200/day. Your initial gain was likely just that, water weight. It's really a preference thing. However, if there is a possibility that doing it this way will allow this body's metabolism to slowly re-adapt with small increases, and cause it to speed up a little, thus allowing me to eat more than what my maintenance cals might regularly be - I'm all for it! Results vary for folks who try it. Some simply find their standard maintenance cals, but at least they avoid gaining fat due to a slow metabolism from being in a severe deficit. And, some find they can eat even more. Either way is a win/win for me. To that end, all the calorie calculator's indicate for a 47 year old, 5'2 post menopausal female, who exercises everyday - the maintenance cals for 114 lbs is a little over 1700 cals/day. I don't even exercise everyday, and since I've been using this method I'm maintaining at 111 lbs at around 1800 cals. Think about how much more I might be able to eat just to maintain at 114? And yes, I like to eat! LOL. These online calorie calculators are not exact to be sure, but even with a margin of error - my metabolisms doing pretty darn well.  

You look absolutely lovely! You really must be so proud of all you have accomplished. You inspire us all! ❤️  

Great info thanks! I’d love to try that unfortunately it’s not possible for me. With my family on the go a lot I rarely can sit down and plan my entire weeks meals and snacks let alone trying to raise by just 2%. That’s like 30 cals a day for me. Although I seem to be doing okay at around 1700-1800. So more like a 36 cal jump. I probably eat more than that in tic tacs every evening trying to avoid my snickers lol. I would love to have the time to sit down and plan like that! And the family be okay with the meals it would take to allow me my treats. They get upset because fajitas, salads, chicken etc are “diet foods” to my kids. And I hate making them meals and a separate one for myself. Sounds like you are doing great with it though!  

I tend to stair step my calories. I don’t really count them on a regular basis... I just naturally boost the calories 2x weekly. Comes from my college days when I used to write everything down I guess 

You look great and happy thanks to all your hard work. 💖👏🏻 

I'm not at the reverse dieting phase but I do diet breaks and it's very interesting to see how one can maintain one's weight on higher calories. I will be reverse dieting for a few months once I reach my first weight loss goal so that hopefully it will be less painful to get to the second. 

First off - thank you so, so much one.point, princess, new name, Melissa and Diana! And, one.point I totally think it would be fabulous to have a National "I make this outfit look cute day" Can you imagine?! I think you're onto something - it might definitely keep folks smiling for a moment wouldn't it? :-) And, Peeper - your approach and perspective to weight maintenance is absolutely understandable. I feel quite sure there are many other parents or other folks in general on this site that empathize and can do just as well using the same pragmatic realistic approaches you're using that definitely consume much less time for sure. I cannot begin to convey in words how down on my hands and knees humbly thankful I am for the time I have at my disposal to put into exploring these alternative approaches. The last article I read in the Multiple Sclerosis forums highlighted an MS'er who is wheelchair bound, but works hard to maintain a healthy weight because it can really directly impact the progression of the condition on our bodies on every single level, not to mention the potential burden excess weight puts on caregivers. He was sustaining on just 1200 cals/day, because obviously when one is in a wheelchair - it's hard to get in the kind of activity that can burn more calories. So, having the time to explore an approach that may allow this body's metabolism to burn more calories at a less active rate, and further allow me to eat more is definitely a true gift I don't take for granted. Especially, if circumstances change or the damage to my thoracic spine worsens in time and a wheelchair becomes inevitable. The higher my metabolism, the less cals I will need to cut if this body can no longer quite move the way it does now. There are no guarantees, but I feel it's an approach worth trying if it benefits my future self as well :-) And, Laughing Chevre - that sounds like a wonderful plan. I did a reverse diet up to my first set of maintenance cals when I hit the 150 mark. It definitely takes some patience, but it was well worth it. 

You are doing amazing keep it up. 

You look Really Good !! And I am going to stop now lest I embarrass myself... 

LOL!! Tom, you're too funny :-) Thank you very much, dear for the compliment. 

You look great, I love the dress on you! Thank you for sharing your posts, so interesting.