Restart on weight loss in 1st

I don’t know what I was reaching for but suddenly it felt like there was a whole person in front of me. Everything seems like it should be closer… except there is this other me in front of me…

OK, so I’m back to logging what I eat but I’m eating better. The work plan went something like this: breakfast at work 7ish-2 hard boiled eggs, yogurt, a piece of fruit. First break 9- trail mix I made with cashews, peanuts, craisins, golden raisins, sunflower seeds this last week I added sesame sticks.... Lunch 11:30- a meat and veggie.... been mostly chicken have even made amazing salads and started making my own dressing… amazing for real. Last break 2- some more trail mix or a piece of fruit… and dinner looks a lot like lunch.... Saturdays have been “free day” my fave coffee and something with bread.... Sunday I’ve been prepping the food so I have been eating right again. NO sugar (except in fruit) and low carbs (it’s in veggies who knew).

I failed.... not how you would think though… I have been drinking a lot of water. It was a diet Sam suggested (mentioned in previous entry as Buffest guy on shift) and it doesn’t really “feel” like a diet. The food is good :) I cook more and have reason to. I stuck to it 3 weeks! maybe ate junk aside from free day 3 times (I blame Girl Scouts). I didn’t start logging the food until the second week. When I didn’t lose a dang thing I was kinda upset and posted on a community board within the app I have. Then, I got schooled. Education is key after all right. So let me share.

BMR- Basal Metabolic rate essentially this is what your body needs to function if you were in a coma. The calories needed to make poop, beat your heart, filter your blood and all that.

TDEE- Total Daily Energy Expenditure this is the amount of calories you need to do normal daily things. Your job, make lunch, walk around, do laundry...... whatever you need to do.

So after a long discussion and research (because just because someone says so doesn’t make it so) It looks like this: My BMR is 1384 and TDEE 1985 or so.... in order to use the energy my body has stored (fat) I need to eat between those numbers. IF I eat less than 1384 it is of no benefit. This is what I apparently was doing. Your body will hold tight to what it already has and just make you do less. Make you too tired to go to the gym and eventually can cause you to pass out randomly from not eating enough. Also, as it was put to me your body will eat some muscles before fat because it’s important to keep the heart safe but not important to run faster than a tiger. I was feeling worse than when I started because I was eating like 1000 calories maybe. I wasn’t hungry and that was my argument but they (the forum people) were telling me I was starving my body. Well, what I was doing wasn’t working so might as well just eat a little more right? 1500 calories was suggested on the JERF diet (Just Eat REAL Food lol). Also, if you workout… eat those calories back. Man is that ever confusing me but… it’s working… serious… no lie....
So below BMR you hold tight to the fat you have.... above TDEE you store fat. When you workout both numbers would go up so you have to eat more. NEVER got below BMR and NEVER got above TDEE.
Lost 3 pounds in a week and I’m eating!. I’m gonna tell you.... this keeps up I’m going to be a fountain of this knowledge. I will be telling everyone about how if they just stay between their magic numbers they can lose weight without working too hard. It’s just the first week though. I have 100lbs to lose. Gonna be a long road I think. Still to me this is great news.