Hi, all! I am new here and hoping you all will share your wisdom with me. 
I'm 36, 5'10", 180lbs, 37%bf. Used to be 250lbs in high school, lost the weight in college thru diet and cardio. Got married and had 5 children (#5 is 2mos old now). Got back to goal between all but one of the pregnancies thru more diet and exercise, but it's gotten harder every time as I've always restricted calories too much. Recently I've been at the point of maintaining my weight on around 1100 calories/day + 6 hours of exercise (cardio and LIGHT weights).
I am in my 3rd week of incorporating heavy (for me) lifting (3hr/wk) + 3hrs/wk of cardio (1&1/2 being HIIT). I am working on goal setting....
Clearly I need to lose fat, however, given my history perhaps my #1 goal should be resetting my metabolism? I have been working on slowly upping my calories, and in the 3 weeks I have not lost anything but have not gained either, so that's a good thing. I had planned to ultimately work up to eating at a 25% deficit of what *should* be maintenance level, but upon further consideration I'm not so sure that that makes sense. If I work up to the 25% deficit should I then expect to suddenly start losing? OR, will I have to first work all the way up to maintenance level and THEN cut back 25%???
I would really love love love to hear from those of you who have overcome the obstacle of having previously eaten way too little. Were you able to reset your metabolism to a "normal" level? How exactly did you go about it? How long did it take?
TIA for any and all input!!
Michelle
I'm 36, 5'10", 180lbs, 37%bf. Used to be 250lbs in high school, lost the weight in college thru diet and cardio. Got married and had 5 children (#5 is 2mos old now). Got back to goal between all but one of the pregnancies thru more diet and exercise, but it's gotten harder every time as I've always restricted calories too much. Recently I've been at the point of maintaining my weight on around 1100 calories/day + 6 hours of exercise (cardio and LIGHT weights).
I am in my 3rd week of incorporating heavy (for me) lifting (3hr/wk) + 3hrs/wk of cardio (1&1/2 being HIIT). I am working on goal setting....
Clearly I need to lose fat, however, given my history perhaps my #1 goal should be resetting my metabolism? I have been working on slowly upping my calories, and in the 3 weeks I have not lost anything but have not gained either, so that's a good thing. I had planned to ultimately work up to eating at a 25% deficit of what *should* be maintenance level, but upon further consideration I'm not so sure that that makes sense. If I work up to the 25% deficit should I then expect to suddenly start losing? OR, will I have to first work all the way up to maintenance level and THEN cut back 25%???
I would really love love love to hear from those of you who have overcome the obstacle of having previously eaten way too little. Were you able to reset your metabolism to a "normal" level? How exactly did you go about it? How long did it take?
TIA for any and all input!!
Michelle
