Losing weight but also getting it back? Why?

[Deleted]

Hey MMO Forum, so let me start off with saying this is not a complaint post but more of a anyone knows post.

About 1 and a half year ago I started working out and at first just cardio and after a while also fitness.
I went from a stunning 98kg to 85kg so I lost a good 13kg and I am stable there.
I am 188cm ish and have about 20% bodyfat and really want to get down to the 10-12%, it looks better, feels better and also its for the self confidence ofcourse.

Now I went from 3 times gym to 3 times gym + 30 min of running and the days that I dont work out, except Sundays, another 45 minutes of running.
So I do alot of cardio to try and lose weight, or actually, fat.
Now I got ill a bit and could din't work out for a week or so, din't cardio either, BUT din't eat more, just kept to my daily food.
And I gained EVERYTHING back, its just weird.
Like, I work out 6 days a week and hardly lose weight, then I skip 1 or 2 days, eat the same as usual and gain 2 or 3kg back like.... why.
95% of the people around me do nothing and are still skinny, not ripped but skinny so they have the possibility to get ripped.
Then I have to work my arse off 1.30 hours a day 6 days a week to lose a little bit of fat and then gain it back in 2 days when I can't work out.
I checked everything on what I eat, it comes down to this.

2850 ish calories
200g Carbs
170g Protëin
Can't remember the fats, but it wasn't alot.

Eat about 300g of yoghurt with fruit for breakfast.
My lunch etc is 5 slics of bread, 1 with chicken filet, one with peanutbutter and one with cheese and mothen 1 goes in half and the other 2 slices just go on the remaining ones.
Diner varies ofcourse, but is generally healthy as my ma likes cooking healthy and I also requested her to do so, but basicly she always does.
Before workout I usually eat a banana.
I drink milk in morning and evening (before workout, after its so many carbs).
After workout I drink a protëin shake with the remaining yohurt, no fruit this time.
Its not actual yoghurt, not sure what you call it.
It has like 0,3g fat, high protëin and low carbs, zzz can't find the name for it.

I do not drink soda's, do not smoke, no pre-workout stuff.

My daily work is just at a desk right now, internships, boring as fuck but I can't do much else.
I mean still have to get to work by driving my bike for about 25 min, x2 and then another 1.30 hours of working out.
How am I gaining fat and not muscle.
Reason I know its fat is because I see it, my sides were almost flat and now they are bumpy again after the 3kg came back.
Is my metabolism just so slow that I need to consistently work out or can it have other causes?
Please help, my coach doesn't really know either, he's giving me advice etc and I'm following it but it doesn't seem to have alot of effect.

Main question: Does my metabolism just hate me and not cooperate?
Well you know what I mean ofcourse.

Thanks in advance.

[Mongoose19]

You eat 3k calories ofcourse u gonna get it back if you don't work out. Just eat less when you don't work out. And why is it so hard for you to drop weight? Genes suck dude, you have one that are bad for your metabolism. Life ain't fair just keep going. Although you shouldn't envy the skinny fags, you have muscles and they don't.

[Anjerith]

You said you were ill, did you drink a lot of fluids? Water weight is pretty much the bane of your belt-lines existence. The good news is that it is easy to work off.

My job is also *mostly* a desk job, and I am not sure what region your in (thus weather may be a hindrance), but I also started jogging during my break and at lunch. This has given me a fair amount of immunity to weight fluctuation.

Just some random thoughts on it all.

I don't think it is your metabolism though, if you were able to work it down before.


And yes, as the guy above me said, you eat way too much. If your going to try to lose weight, you have to work off more than you bring in. Try setting goals like "I am going to burn 1/2 of the calories I consume in a day, daily.". Unless your attempting to build muscle, but yeah if you don't work it you are going to gain.

[ripponesan]

3k calories is good WHEN you workout or a miner or something else equally hardworking.

1k is more than enough if you just sit around.

[Deleted]

You eat 3k calories ofcourse u gonna get it back if you don't work out. Just eat less when you don't work out. And why is it so hard for you to drop weight? Genes suck dude, you have one that are bad for your metabolism. Life ain't fair just keep going. Although you shouldn't envy the skinny fags, you have muscles and they don't.

A normal dude eats about 2500 calories a day. I eat 2850, I workout, and still drive a bike to work etc so I guess I need that.
A healthy diet is not eating less, its eating properly.
I dont feel sorry for myself it just sucks that its so hard for me.

Yeah I drank alot of water, but even still, you piss it out aswell.

[Selestarius]

your eating to many calories for starters, av. daily allowance for a man is 2.4k cal, when im trying to loose weight (and I will be doing after my exams) im on 1.5k usually - most of that greens and lean meat. cut out the bread, gluten and wheat increase weight gain. You say your doing weight training and cardio, your muscles will be increasing in weight also, it could be that your metabolism is a bit off because of your diet, check with your local gp. for breakfast try something like - omelette, low fat cheese, glass of tomato juice, tea/coffee with skimmed milk - lunch salad, maybe a bit of tuna thrown in there, dinner, steak on salad, e.t.c.

[Mongoose19]

A normal dude eats about 2500 calories a day. I eat 2850, I workout, and still drive a bike to work etc so I guess I need that.
A healthy diet is not eating less, its eating properly.
I dont feel sorry for myself it just sucks that its so hard for me.

Yeah I drank alot of water, but even still, you piss it out aswell.

Well how much you have to eat depends a lot on your body structure. Same height same weight dudes might have different calories need due to for example their bones thickness. If you are gaining fat then it's pretty much 100% due to too many calories. If you work out through out the whole year then what is the issue with eating bit less when you are feeling ill or you just take a 1-2 week break.

[Deleted]

your eating to many calories for starters, av. daily allowance for a man is 2.4k cal, when im trying to loose weight (and I will be doing after my exams) im on 1.5k usually - most of that greens and lean meat. cut out the bread, gluten and wheat increase weight gain. You say your doing weight training and cardio, your muscles will be increasing in weight also, it could be that your metabolism is a bit off because of your diet, check with your local gp. for breakfast try something like - omelette, low fat cheese, glass of tomato juice, tea/coffee with skimmed milk - lunch salad, maybe a bit of tuna thrown in there, dinner, steak on salad, e.t.c.

Thing is, I dont have long, I wake up, have about 30 min to eat etc. I cant get up any earlyer, will break me haha.

1k to 1.5k calories? Dude thats like....breakfast and diner thats it, how I live on that when I'm also trying to build muscle.
Okay 2850 might be too much then, I'll try cut on that, but what should I cut on.
We don't have much options with bread in holland, I'm not going to take raw chicken filet to work....
I could cut the 2 slices extra but then again, 1 slice at 10:00/1 at 12:15 and one at 14:15... that's not alot to live on.

---------- Post added 2013-05-14 at 02:06 PM ----------

your eating to many calories for starters, av. daily allowance for a man is 2.4k cal, when im trying to loose weight (and I will be doing after my exams) im on 1.5k usually - most of that greens and lean meat. cut out the bread, gluten and wheat increase weight gain. You say your doing weight training and cardio, your muscles will be increasing in weight also, it could be that your metabolism is a bit off because of your diet, check with your local gp. for breakfast try something like - omelette, low fat cheese, glass of tomato juice, tea/coffee with skimmed milk - lunch salad, maybe a bit of tuna thrown in there, dinner, steak on salad, e.t.c.

Breakfast, high protëin, a pear, milk low carbs etc, isn't that fine too?

[Shrouded]

Like the others have said, 2850 kcal is a lot to be eating each day if you have a desk job and trying to lose weight. There are many ways to lose weight, but they all boil down to using more energy than your energy intake, so that's what you should be focusing on. Do you really need five slices of bread for lunch? Maybe you could try having four? Maybe drink smaller glasses of milk? There are plenty of corners to cut if you don't want to completely change around your eating habits, all of which would help.

There's no miracle method for weight loss that I can give you, but I'll share one "trick" that's always helped me when I've felt like I've needed to shed a pound or three; after you wake up, drink two cups of coffee or the equivalent in caffeine on an empty stomach, then go for a run or ride your bike or walk to school/work. -Then- have breakfast.

Edit: Also, I'd curb your expectations a bit. While it's possible to build muscle and lose weight over a period of time, you can't do both at the exact same time. It just doesn't work. You need a calorie surplus to build muscle, which obviously doesn't work when trying to lose weight. To do both requires a highly, highly regimented nutrition schedule. Focus on one thing at a time, and be patient.

[Deleted]

Well how much you have to eat depends a lot on your body structure. Same height same weight dudes might have different calories need due to for example their bones thickness. If you are gaining fat then it's pretty much 100% due to too many calories. If you work out through out the whole year then what is the issue with eating bit less when you are feeling ill or you just take a 1-2 week break.

Thing is right, my stumach is like a botomless pitt into the nether... I cant eat 4000 calories and still not be satisfied, ofcourse that's not what I do but I could easily.
I'm the guy that says after a big lunch like "okay now for desert" and the rest is like DAFUQ?! HOW?!.
Now I learned to control that so I don't eat as much anymore, but cutting even more will be hard.

To sum up, I'm a guy, 19 years old, about 188cm, workout 1.5 hours a day with 40 minutes of cycling.
Desk job
Don't smoke, don't drink alcohol, don't drink soda.

[Deleted]

3k calories is good WHEN you workout or a miner or something else equally hardworking.

1k is more than enough if you just sit around.

1k calories? Maybe if you are a 150cm long skinny girl.

[Deleted]

Like the others have said, 2850 kcal is a lot to be eating each day if you have a desk job and trying to lose weight. There are many ways to lose weight, but they all boil down to using more energy than your energy intake, so that's what you should be focusing on. Do you really need five slices of bread for lunch? Maybe you could try having four? Maybe drink smaller glasses of milk? There are plenty of corners to cut if you don't want to completely change around your eating habits, all of which would help.

There's no miracle method for weight loss that I can give you, but I'll share one "trick" that's always helped me when I've felt like I've needed to shed a pound or three; after you wake up, drink two cups of coffee or the equivalent in caffeine on an empty stomach, then go for a run or ride your bike or walk to school/work. -Then- have breakfast.

I try to avoid coffee to be honest, as far as I am aware, cafine also slows down metabolism in general?
Or doesn't do it much good.

I eat 1 or 2 slices at 10:00, then 2 at 12:15 and the remaining at 14:15 ish, cutting on that will be harsh I guess.
Then the milk, alot of protëin, but also carbs, yes, but how could I compensate those Protëin as I do not want to drop too much on them because I want to build muscle too.

---------- Post added 2013-05-14 at 02:11 PM ----------

1k calories? Maybe if you are a 150cm long skinny girl.

Exactly what I thought, he lives on raw crackers only O.O?

[Underverse]

Eat more fat, fewer starches. While fat has more calories per molecule, you have to consider how each is being metabolized.

Could also look into eating fewer calories overall.

[Deleted]

Eat more fat, fewer starches. While fat has more calories per molecule, you have to consider how each is being metabolized.

Could also look into eating fewer calories overall.

Starches = carbs?

---------- Post added 2013-05-14 at 02:13 PM ----------

Okay so generally the same feedback, try cutting on Calories.
Decrease the slices of bread and maybe drink less milk.
But where and how can I compensate the Protëin that I lose on that?

[Selestarius]

takes 5 minutes to make an omelette, take a salad with you into work... just make it the night before if your running out of time and put it in a tubaware container with you to take to work. And I said the 1k to 1.5k calories is what I do when im trying to loose weight, that wasn't a personal recommendation for you -- if you're trying to gain muscle make that 2k calories but make the extra 5k protein. Cut out the yoghurt. Try going two weeks without fruit aswell, fruit is incredibly high in natural sugars and whilst healthy for you, you can kick a lot more weight in the short term by cutting them out for a short period of time

A diet I find works well (and yes im going to advocate a specific diet... it worked for me and whoever else tried it, so why not) is the South beach diet --

---------- Post added 2013-05-14 at 01:14 PM ----------

Starches = carbs?

---------- Post added 2013-05-14 at 02:13 PM ----------

Okay so generally the same feedback, try cutting on Calories.
Decrease the slices of bread and maybe drink less milk.
But where and how can I compensate the Protëin that I lose on that?

get your protein from the meat.

[Aliessil]

I can sympathise OP, I experience something similar - especially when I'm stuck in an overseas hotel for a week and can't prepare my own food.

A 3kg gain in a week is quite a lot - that's the equivalent to a 23k calories. Pretty sure you didn't over-eat by that much!!

What you're seeing can be caused by a variety of things. For me, I can balloon up again if I eat cereal (wheat / corn) or refined sugars - it doesn't even have to be much! I've heard similar effects can come from a dairy intolerance. It could be that the exercise you normally do is enough to counteract the negative effects.

Something you may want to give a go is eliminating different parts of your diet and see how it makes you feel. e.g. Give up dairy for a month, see how your body reacts. If you don't notice any changes, reintroduce the dairy and give up cereal for a month, and so on.

I should warn you though, giving up cereal / refined sugar is *hard*, you really have to pay attention to what you're eating! They get added in different forms to all kinds of stuff.

[Underverse]

Omelette and salad from the above poser are great suggestions. You could even put some meat, peppers, and cheese into the omelette to get more protein.

Starches are indeed carbohydrates, but are worse than simple sugars (which are found in things like fruit) to a point. Eating 1-3 pieces of fruit will spike your blood sugar for much less time and will be metabolized more rapidly because of the extra vitamins in the fruit, and so insulin won't be released as much or as fast. Starches (bread, pasta, potatoes), on the other hand, have a more sustained effect, which will result in more of the energy being stored by insulin as fat.

[ripponesan]

Dude, slowly, and reading carefully

I didnt want to tell you that 2,850 calories are bad or too much.
It is fine if you workout hard. Maybe a bit much if you just workout medicore.

BUT my intention was following:
If you can NOT workout due to any reason, then cut your calories to like 1,5k. Yeah thats dinner and breakfeast, depending on WHAT you eat maybe only breakfeast.
Like a car. When you drive 500 miles a day you got to fill the tank fully every day.
If you then start driving just 100 miles a day and still fill in the same amount of gasoline every day, one day your tank will spill. Almost same with calories, they just dont get spilled but stored. Which is good, but not good looking

[Shrouded]

I try to avoid coffee to be honest, as far as I am aware, cafine also slows down metabolism in general?
Or doesn't do it much good.

No, the reverse is actually true. I'm not an expert so I can't walk you through the exact process, but caffeine basically jumpstarts lipolysis. Mornings are an excellent time to work out and burn fat, and caffeine on an empty stomach triggers lipolysis and acts as a general stimulant.

I also edited my previous reply to you - something important, I feel.

[Deleted]

takes 5 minutes to make an omelette, take a salad with you into work... just make it the night before if your running out of time and put it in a tubaware container with you to take to work. And I said the 1k to 1.5k calories is what I do when im trying to loose weight, that wasn't a personal recommendation for you -- if you're trying to gain muscle make that 2k calories but make the extra 5k protein. Cut out the yoghurt. Try going two weeks without fruit aswell, fruit is incredibly high in natural sugars and whilst healthy for you, you can kick a lot more weight in the short term by cutting them out for a short period of time

A diet I find works well (and yes im going to advocate a specific diet... it worked for me and whoever else tried it, so why not) is the South beach diet --

---------- Post added 2013-05-14 at 01:14 PM ----------



get your protein from the meat.

Why cut out the yoghurt? its not actual yoghurt, I can't find the name for it.
Per 100g its like 22g of Protein
0,5 fat
and 2g of carbs or something, its like non existent.
Dont see why I would cut it out.

Also, on these forums I see alot of people saying "cut out fruit" and then mods replying don't because its healthy, gives you the right vitamins and everything.
I will atleast stick to 1 fruit a day, its healthy, full of vitamins and its great to fill up if you are edging on snacking.

Salad, with what? Its basicly another meal if you make a proper big salad....

As for Aliessil, no I din't eat alot :S I actually din't, I seem to gain fat really easily, also lose it somewhat easyer but still have to work out really hard to do so.