My Dry January Fitness Experiment (UPDATE)
- Thread starter jannsis
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- female fitness
@dawn16 Thank you so much! I'm just shy of 5'6". I calculated my TDEE to be around 2300 so I figure I'll give 1800 a try and see how it goes. That is so interesting that you had that experience, because I've read about that happening but it's cool to talk to someone first hand who broke out of the calorie restriction and found better results. This month was an awesome lesson for me that I could eat ~2000 calories a day (I tracked for science, but didn't restrict) and still lose weight, it definitely shifted my paradigm and I think helps me have a better relationship with the food - like I can have a cupcake and it's not gonna offset my progress, I just prob shouldn't eat cupcakes every day. lol.
@jannsis Exactly! It’s all about moderation. What people forget is that when you workout, especially weight training like I do, your body continues to burn calories throughout the next 24 hours. When you aren’t eating enough calories your body tries to save all it can and when it does start actually using reserves for fuel it will use muscle, not fat. So it’s really important to have proper calorie intake and proper protein intake.
@dacoata I hear what you're saying, which is why I try to weigh myself around the same time of day. There are so many variables that it's challenging to make a science out of it without becoming obsessive. That being said, 4.5 lbs in 4.5 weeks is consistent with a 500 calorie per day deficit, which is a healthy, sustainable, and recommended pace. I'm stoked about my progress, I think the small wins are something to celebrate especially when they come hand in hand with healthy habit formation, and I hope that anyone else reading this feels permission to celebrate small victories as well
@jannsis Besides the weight loss, how do you feel? I was one of the people tempering expectations on the last post, ha. I just completed my dry January as well. I lost 2.5 lbs (but I think my weight on 1/1 was artificially high because I’ve only lost 0.2 lbs since 12/30). Body fat dropped by 0.25%. I also look less bloated, think I can see abs. The most interesting thing though was watching my resting heart rate drop from mid 50s to low 50s. Second most interesting was I ran my fastest 5k ever. I don’t feel any different though lol. Good job completing it!!
@garymiah I am feeling really good. It’s been kind of fun and emotionally really good for me to eat the food I want, because it’s really given me confidence that I will be able to successfully cut without going lower than 1500 calories a day. My yoga teaching has really improved and my core strength is feeling great! I was in a bad drinking habit so I definitely notice the difference, especially in my yoga teaching! I have Sunday morning classes and I kept drinking on Saturday nights 
princess_nerd
New member
@kreg21 I do look less bloated. I stayed up drinking and had a falafel sandwich at 2 am in the before pic - but, I definitely ate 2,500 calories yesterday hahahhaa
Edit: i want to add that even though I did these unhealthy habits, I don't think my weight in the before pic is falsely inflated because I weighed myself a few times between christmas and new years and all were in the 157's.
Edit: i want to add that even though I did these unhealthy habits, I don't think my weight in the before pic is falsely inflated because I weighed myself a few times between christmas and new years and all were in the 157's.