Operation Increase
Posted in My Weight-Loss Journey by RachelToday is day three of Operation Increase and I’m enjoying every minute of it. I’m eating a ton more veggies, a ton more fruit, and! I even added a slice of yummy aged Swiss to my sandwich on Wednesday. I can’t even remember the last time I enjoyed a sandwich with cheese. Such blasphemy fell out of practice when I started to use those precious calories toward a quick snack before and/or after my workouts. Now? I can do both!
Will the scale be kind to me on Sunday?
It’s anyone’s guess, really.
Either way, I am committed to testing the waters for at least 2-3 weeks before reassessing. If I gain weight? I’ll take it off. If I lose weight? I’ll stay the course. Until I find out whre I stand, I’m adding this Holy Cheese to everything!
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11 Comments to “Operation Increase”
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What the…?
This is my journey to lose 121 lbs one calorie, one blog post, one tweet, and one workout at a time! No foods are off limits, moderation is a must, and calorie intake/expenditure is key.
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» Calculating Your BMR
Tania says:
Hey there. I believe you have a certain calorie goal for every day of the week (varying day by day) and I can’t seem to find the post where you list what your calorie goals are for each day. Could you tell me what they are real quick? I feel like since varying it like that has worked so well for you that I should do that as well. Thanks!
Rachel says:
Hey Tania! You’re right. I do vary my daily calorie goals. Yes, this is said to help with weight-loss, but I do it because I know that I am more likely to go out with friends or become a little ‘looser’ with my eating during the weekend than I would be during the week. Before I decided to increase my calories by 10% at the beginning of the week, I was eating the following:
Sun: 1600, Mon: 1500, Tues: 1400, Wed: 1500, Thurs: 1500, Fri: 1500, Sat: 1700
As you can see, I stole some cals from Tuesday to give to Saturday.
If you know what your BMR is (basal metabolic rate), I suggest multiplying that number by 7 and then creating your own calorie calendar. Give yourself more on the days where you think you’ll need it! Good luck!
JessicaD says:
I’m very curious to see how your Operation Increase works for you! I feel like I’ve already hit a sort of plateau in my second week only losing .2 lbs. I’ve been using the GoWear Fit, too, and have just been aiming for around 1000 calorie deficit/day, or at least a weekly total that averages out to that. There’s been a couple days I haven’t worked out, but still managed a calorie deficit just with my food, and I’m wondering if that’s a big fat mistake! Looking forward to following your results!
Rachel says:
First of all, congratulations on starting your journey! It can be trying at times, but it’s definitely with every minute. Anyways. A 1000 calorie deficit per day does not seem like ‘too much’ to me since that should produce a healthy 2lb loss. However, it sort of depends on how much weight you’re trying to lose. If you’re at the higher end of the scale (no pun intended!), you should be fine at 2lbs per week. I wouldn’t get too comfortable with skipping the exercise and creating the deficit solely by scaling back the calories. It works in a pinch, but that should definitely be the exception and not the rule.
Since you’re two weeks in, I would say that your body is probably adjusting to the new changes you’ve made to your diet and activity. Everyone’s body reacts differently to different things, but I don’t think you should slap the ‘plateau’ label on your lower-loss just yet. Keep going. Stay consistent. Be honest! And you will see results.
JessicaD says:
True, thanks so much for responding! I definitely don't plan to make skipping the exercise a habit, I've just been off and on fighting this darn recurring cold this week! Looking back, I may have overdone the sodium a bit, too, which definitely could contribute!
Rachel says:
Heeeey. I was thinking about your comment while I was at the gym just now and realized that my response didn't come out as planned. If you have a butt-load of weight to lose, you can definitely create most of your calorie deficit by simply cutting calories. After all, it takes a lot of energy to move around a lot of weight (assuming that you have a lot of weight to lose here) so it's not uncommon to burn a lot of calories by carrying out your daily tasks. Having kids to take care of def = lots of extra movement and calorie burning. For instance, my mother burns a cool 2800 calories per day between working her 9-5 and doing an extra ten minutes of walking as exercise. That's a lot! And most of her deficit is coming from scaling the calories back to 1500 per day. I still burn a good 2200 calories per day on days that I do not exercise just by walking to the train station and working my 9-5 desk jog which works out to be a 500-ish deficit for me as well.
So yes, it is normal to create part of or a lot of your deficit simply by reducing your food intake, however, exercising will ensure that your metabolism will not slow down and become sluggish.
JessicaD says:
No, I totally understood where you were coming from the first time, no worries! My goal is to lose 50 lbs to get back down to where I was when I got married. I've been yo-yo-ing every since the birth of my twins in 3/07, and where I'm at right now is typically a faster weight loss pace until I get down to where I only have 20-30 more to lose…that's when it gets hard. I realized that I made a mistake in calculating my weigh-in also. I'm one of those daily weighers, so I've been stuck at 194 for several days, but when I looked back to what I weighed last Friday, I actually did lose 2.4 pounds this week! DUH! Welcome to the world of mommy brain! LOL I love reading your posts, and thanks for being so responsive!!!
Sean says:
Thanks for being the test subject! I keep thinking of this idea but I had to mess with what is somewhat working. I am going to reach the hundred pound mark next week and only have 20 left to lose. I am really concerned about losing muscle mass during the last stretch. I take the average of my tanita scale and all the tape measure tests online. I would love to see how accurate the bod pod is compared to the electrical impedance and online tests.
AndrewENZ says:
Persistance is key!
afunkydamsel says:
Just checking in on you. Glad to see that you are still at it. Keep up the awesome work, Rachel. You look Mahhhhhhvelous! Hugs! <3
Jeremy Logsdon says:
There is nothing that adding cheese to won't make better.
And kudos on your willpower to stick to it for a few weeks before deciding. I'd be hopping on the scale every five minutes.