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2004/01/19, 12:32 AM
I recently lost 105 pounds, dropping from 252 pounds to 147 (at my lowest). Upon my doctor, nutritionist AND my trainers' advice, I have raised my caloric intake from 1800 to 2000 calories. I exercise irregularly (I am constantly walking, so I only count times I am actually in the gym as official "exercise time". I am keeping it low (2x/week) to establish my setpoint. Since this change to my diet is only 200 calories a day, I cannot understand why I have gained almost 10 pounds in only three weeks! I am afraid I am heading back toward obesity! I have monitored my food intake carefully. Yes, once in a while I go above 2000 calories (NEVER more than 2500), but just as often I fall short (as I did today at 1650.) How can I possibly be gaining so much weight so quickly?? If I can't stop it, I'll have to drop my calories again, and all three of my medical/fitness team oppose this. Any advice? I am already drinking almost a gallon of water, eating NO junk food (although I may be eating too much sodium without realizing it--I just learned that a simple 6" turkey Subway sandwich has over 1000 MG of sodium, for instance!)and consuming at least 30 Grams of fiber a day.
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2004/01/19, 03:56 AM
Isn't it marvelous how places do that... eat here it's made fresh, never fried, must be healthy *) I can't offer you much help, since I recently found out I was starving myself without my body even telling me I was hungry... but this much I can say just from what I've read so far, when it comes to dieting there's alot more to it than just counting calories, I mean a regular 12 oz. can of soda has 150 calories... yet an 8 oz glass of orange juice has 110 calories does that mean soda is healthier or won't put on the weight as bad as the orange juice...well no... OJ has a lot of other vitamins and nutrients in that help our bodies to maintain their weight and digest our food. I would suggest skipping the subway for a bit, yes, since that is an awful lot of sodium in a little 6" sub and if you love turkey sandwiches you could always toss one together at home where you know exactly what you're getting (it's a lot cheeper too *) ) But I would also suggest checking with your doctor and nutrionalist and make sure you're not over doing it on anything, including sodium intake, or visa versa and cutting out something that you really need. It's an amazing process how certain vitamins help us stay healthy and slim but only if we get the proper amounts *)
Starz
Btw WTG!!! 252 to 147 you should be very proud of yourself and don't beat yourself up too much over gaining back 10lbs... your concern over it speaks volumes as well as your desire to prevent it from growing into a much larger problem... You Rock!!! *)
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2004/01/19, 07:39 AM
Some gain my be water if you increased your carbohydrate intake. Carbohydrates attract/hold more water. Also if you increased your calories 200 a day and at the same time you are not burning 200 more calories a day you will gain weight. That is the way it works :-(. It is calories In , Calories OUT. If you want to eat and not gain you wil probably need to increase the exercise.
You said " I am keeping it low (2x/week) to establish my setpoint". Can you explain it little more how this will work. It is my understanding that we have little control over metabolism, set point and actually changing it. I do know adding muscle increases metabolism, but it is minimal. Studies show that it take about 5 lbs of muscle to burn another 50 (or so ) calories a day. I have read in the Muscle Magazines that it is higher than this, but no reports substantiate this therory.
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Leslie
\"Life is a succession of moments. To live each one is to succeed.\"
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2004/01/19, 08:46 PM
Thank you for your encouragement. This wasn't easy to do at my age (43)and I don't ever want to go back to that 252 level!
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Quoting from starznight:
Isn't it marvelous how places do that... eat here it's made fresh, never fried, must be healthy *) I can't offer you much help, since I recently found out I was starving myself without my body even telling me I was hungry... but this much I can say just from what I've read so far, when it comes to dieting there's alot more to it than just counting calories, I mean a regular 12 oz. can of soda has 150 calories... yet an 8 oz glass of orange juice has 110 calories does that mean soda is healthier or won't put on the weight as bad as the orange juice...well no... OJ has a lot of other vitamins and nutrients in that help our bodies to maintain their weight and digest our food. I would suggest skipping the subway for a bit, yes, since that is an awful lot of sodium in a little 6" sub and if you love turkey sandwiches you could always toss one together at home where you know exactly what you're getting (it's a lot cheeper too *) ) But I would also suggest checking with your doctor and nutrionalist and make sure you're not over doing it on anything, including sodium intake, or visa versa and cutting out something that you really need. It's an amazing process how certain vitamins help us stay healthy and slim but only if we get the proper amounts *)
Starz
Btw WTG!!! 252 to 147 you should be very proud of yourself and don't beat yourself up too much over gaining back 10lbs... your concern over it speaks volumes as well as your desire to prevent it from growing into a much larger problem... You Rock!!! *)
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2004/01/19, 08:49 PM
What I meant by establishing my setpoint is this: there must be a certain number of calories that would cause me to neither lose nor gain weight. Since I'm gaining at 2000 with only 2x/wk exercise (I also walk quite a bit but I only count "organized" time such as my gym workouts as "exercise" in my "equations"), I probably need to drop back to 1800. Once I find that intake that will maintain my weight along with the 2x/wk exercise, I will consider that my "setpoint" and act accordingly. My trainer is encouraging me to eat MORE! I don't understand why!
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Quoting from ltroisi:
Some gain my be water if you increased your carbohydrate intake. Carbohydrates attract/hold more water. Also if you increased your calories 200 a day and at the same time you are not burning 200 more calories a day you will gain weight. That is the way it works :-(. It is calories In , Calories OUT. If you want to eat and not gain you wil probably need to increase the exercise.
You said " I am keeping it low (2x/week) to establish my setpoint". Can you explain it little more how this will work. It is my understanding that we have little control over metabolism, set point and actually changing it. I do know adding muscle increases metabolism, but it is minimal. Studies show that it take about 5 lbs of muscle to burn another 50 (or so ) calories a day. I have read in the Muscle Magazines that it is higher than this, but no reports substantiate this therory.
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2004/01/19, 11:34 PM
You have made such a dramatic change in your body. Congratulations on a great accomplishment. You probably learned alot about how your body works in that time. If you feel you need to cut back 200 cal., go with your gut, and give it a try. See what happens.
I find that well meaning trainers, etc etc often encourage eating more based on the "averages" and seem to stick to that "eat more" attitude. I have to wonder about these numbers as I do not know many women who maintain a reasonable weight that eat that much. Most of my "fit" friends cannot eat that much either. Maybe it does have something to do with the age....(I am 42).
I worked with a trainer for a show I was doing two years ago...he kept adding more food to my pre contest diet...after 4 weeks he was amazed I gained weight and increased my bodyfat on 1600 cal.. I keep telling him it was more than I normally ate but he did not listen (and I was not even eating all he had on my diet!) Needless to say he finally relented that maybe I did not need to eat less. I then ended up back pedeling to get to a reasonable stage weight, but it was too late and I did not come in lean enough. Oh well lesson learned, listen to your body.
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Leslie
\"Life is a succession of moments. To live each one is to succeed.\"
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2004/01/20, 12:11 PM
Don't judge your body fat on scales, use measurements instead. If you gained 10 lbs, did you gain an extra belt size? If you didn't then that 10 lbs probably wasn't all fat.
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- Its never about how much you can lift, or how many reps you do. Its just about doing it, and doing it right.
- If your hungry all the time, your not eating enough. And anyways, being hungry sucks.
~Brad~
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2004/01/21, 09:15 PM
I did not add a size, so I suspect you're right about my not gaining fat (at least *much* fat.) Besides, I recently discovered I was eating far too much sodium, so a lot of the gain may be artificial. In fact, I'm back from two weeks of work-related travel to Utah (high altitude--I wonder if that affected anything) and am back down to 151. Still, I don't feel right. I'll just have to "play around" with my eating program. I never heard of anyone getting fat from carrots and chicken breasts!!
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Quoting from borpillicus:
Don't judge your body fat on scales, use measurements instead. If you gained 10 lbs, did you gain an extra belt size? If you didn't then that 10 lbs probably wasn't all fat.
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2004/01/21, 09:18 PM
I suspect that listening to my body would be a dreadful mistake! It's saying "you're starving! Eat more!" I find that hard to accept. I think I *will* drop back to 1800, then maybe go up gradually (50 calories more every other day, then 50 calories more per day instead of every other, etc.) I guess I'm still in the "Oh, my God! I lost a lot of weight, now I've gained back three! It's all over" phase.
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Quoting from ltroisi:
You have made such a dramatic change in your body. Congratulations on a great accomplishment. You probably learned alot about how your body works in that time. If you feel you need to cut back 200 cal., go with your gut, and give it a try. See what happens.
I find that well meaning trainers, etc etc often encourage eating more based on the "averages" and seem to stick to that "eat more" attitude. I have to wonder about these numbers as I do not know many women who maintain a reasonable weight that eat that much. Most of my "fit" friends cannot eat that much either. Maybe it does have something to do with the age....(I am 42).
I worked with a trainer for a show I was doing two years ago...he kept adding more food to my pre contest diet...after 4 weeks he was amazed I gained weight and increased my bodyfat on 1600 cal.. I keep telling him it was more than I normally ate but he did not listen (and I was not even eating all he had on my diet!) Needless to say he finally relented that maybe I did not need to eat less. I then ended up back pedeling to get to a reasonable stage weight, but it was too late and I did not come in lean enough. Oh well lesson learned, listen to your body.
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