But what some of you don’t know is that I had hit a plateau before that while eating 1300 calories or less and doing Turbo Fire.   After joining EM2WL and  increasing my calories to around 2000, I broke my plateau and lost 4 pounds.   Then I started Stronglifts 5×5 on February 7 and decided to ditch the scale because I just needed a break from it. I started noticing my appetite increasing because of the heavy lifting, so I decided to up my calorie intake.  I had been making pretty good progress gaining strength and losing inches, so I decided maybe it was time to jump on the scale.  Well, a couple weeks ago, I weighed in and saw that I had gained those 4 pounds back.  So I emailed one of my EM2WL buddies and asked for advice.  She told me not to worry about it because it was most likely muscle gain and some water weight.

She then advised me to, brace yourself, UP my calories!

Well, I decided when I started this that I am in it for the long haul so I took her advice and upped my calories by 200.  She also suggested I download the Happy Scale app and weigh myself daily to track my weight fluctuations, doing this would also help me to find my true TDEE.  So 2 weeks ago I began tracking my weight daily.  The trend on my reports has been consistently going down, and since I am trying to find my TDEE before I cut, I upped my calories another 200.  I weighed myself today and have lost more weight!  Since upping my calories by 400, I have lost 2 of those 4 pounds!  Is it really possible to eat 2700 calories a day and lose weight?!  Well, that’s where I am at.  I do Stronglifts 3 days a week and cardio on my off days, if I’m up to it, and EAT 2700 CALORIES A DAY and I am loving it!

I am sharing this because I have several PALS who are frustrated because they are not losing weight, they’ve “hit a wall,” well, I want to tell you folks that sometimes the solution is not to lower your calories, but increase them.  I truly believe the reason my body was holding on to those 4 pounds is because of the strength training I am doing. It needed more fuel and I wasn’t eating enough, so it held on to what I had.  Now that I’m fueling it properly, it seems like it’s trusting me again and starting to release.  I will continue to keep you all updated on this new journey.  Again I know it’s slow, but it’s just so much better for me!  I am living life, enjoying it, and building strength I never knew was possible!