Change in Game Plan Part 1

First off, I would like to thank all of you who take your time out to read my blog! My blog has finally reached over 1,000 views in just a few short months! While most of my viewers are from the US (Aslaska..yeah you too! I see you ha).., I would like to give a shout out to whomever is reading out in South Korea, Germany, and the Netherlands! Thank you so much and I hope you guys continue this journey with me...

Before I begin, I will have to list out some of the acronyms I will be using.
BMI- Body Mass Index, BMR- Basal Metabolic Rate, TDEE- Total Daily Energy Expenditure, Cals- Calories, VLCD- Very Low Calorie Diet

So long story short.. I was 196 3 years ago.. dropped down to a whopping 151 by decreasing my calories to about 1200 and did several workout DVDs and gym workouts. The weight loss was nice. I was slim. But few years later, I have gained 15-20 lbs back, still eating at a VLCD. I've been at a plateau (not losing or gaining weight) for a few months now. Even through my excessive workouts and dieting.. my scale is not budging. Now this is when I knew something was wrong.

It is not healthy to go under 1200 at all. 1200 cals is the minimum. Minimum for someone who is mini like a 5 foot petite woman. I took that number, ran with it, and my body has adapted to 1200, thinking that it is my maintenance calories. Do you know what that means? My metabolism is shut, done for, depressed, exhausted, weak.

The last couple years, a few weird things began happening to my body. One of them was, I was beginning to develop hair loss in certain areas of my head. Secondly, I was developed really bad acne. Not regular acne, but acne that I've never seen before. Third, I was going through major MAJOR mood swings.. sorry.. to all my exes out there.. and my current boo.. he's dealt with it the worst! Fourth, I was diagnosed with insomnia. Lastly, I experience moments of vertigo where I feel like im going to fall over. One time it got so bad, I had to leave work and go straight to my doctors office.

Eating at a VLCD is awesome for quick weight loss. I'm not going to deny that. But when you get very close to your goal, or reach your goal, and you want to up your calories to maintain.. you can't. Why? Because your metabolism has adjusted to the 1200 calories you've been eating as normal. So when you up to 1500 calories, your body will think it's eating more than your maintaining calories even though your actually under it (for me to maintain my  weight its 2458 cals..just so you understand how low I've been eating.) So from doing that, you have not only eaten under your BMR (the amount of calories you need for your organs like your brain to function), you've probably develop hidden thyroid problems, and other issues that will sneak up in the future. Like it did to me...

This is just part 1... this topic is so deep that I CANNOT fit it into one post.

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Xoxo,

Jess