Losing weight but also getting it back? Why?

[Drunkenfinn]

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.

Whut?

I usually eat around 1500kcal on days I dont work out and around 2,2-2,5k on days I do work out. Mostly high proteins and VERY little carbs.
And I'm 196cm (6'5) and 114kg (251lbs).

Just for the record I was 136kg (300lbs) in January :P

IMO you are just eating too much on your off-days.

I know I'm eating quite a little but my aim is to lose weight and not gain muscle-mass, though I've done a bit of both. Lost a lot of fat and my strenght-levels at the gym have gone up a lot. Just eat enough of dat protein and less carbs.

EDIT: I take the bike to work as well :P

Once I hit around 100-105 kg with low enough fat % I'll start eating more again, probably around 2800-3000 kcal a day on training-days.

[hanketsu]

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.

It could be partly, as others have said, to do with your diet.
May want to see a doctor too, have him do some blood work to see if you are okay as well. Some people close to me have had thyroid issues, and that could attribute to it. Can't say anything for sure on that, which is why I would recommend seeing a doctor just in case it is something else.

[Deleted]

I apologize in advance for using this thread but since i'm a new registered guy, it seemed better for me to participate rather than opening a new thread.

First things first, hello.

These last few days, i've found this thread interesting enough for me to finally register to ask some questions.
I guess you'd need a bit of history to councel efficiently so here i go.

3 years ago mid 2010, i was sitting around 125 Kg ( 275 lbs) for a 1m85 28 year old male.
I started to diet and got to 78 kg in June 2012.
Due to a new work and a heavy comute (5h / days), i started to stop the healthy / controlled eating and started to eat almost anything i could get my teeth on. (Candys, Junk Food, etc. ) and finally eating way too much too. I got back to 87 kg in january and i started all over again with great difficulties.

I finally found a place to live nearby my workplace (moved in last week) and having more time for myself, i started to run since then.
I started with a "little" run of around 4 km in 40 minutes last Tuesday and Yesterday i got to 8 km in 40 min.
I'm starting to "worry" about the fact of eating "enough" to avoid damaging anything.

Finally, here is my "menu" :

Breakfast :

Cereals : 40 gr + 150 ml of milk.
One fruit (usually one orange)
Cup of coffee with 2 teaspoons of sugar

10 am : Fruit, apple usually.

Diner :

Work Food. I just cut 1/3 of the sandwiches to reserve in the afternoon.
So bread : Around 80 gr, with cheese (50 - 60 gr), lot of vegetables.
Water.

4 pm - 5 pm : I just eat the 1/3 of the sandwich i didn't eat.
5:30 pm : One banana 20 min before going for the run.

7 pm :

Usually rice or noodle 60-70 gr.
Chicken or beef : 130 gr.
Vegetables : Lots. 150 - 200gr min.

In the evening : One fruit.

I usually drink around 2 to 3 l. of water.

Should i change some things in all that menu ?

Thanks in advance, sorry for my approximative english.

Have a nice day.

Maybe make yourself a thread instead of in another topic

---------- Post added 2013-05-16 at 09:03 AM ----------

It could be partly, as others have said, to do with your diet.
May want to see a doctor too, have him do some blood work to see if you are okay as well. Some people close to me have had thyroid issues, and that could attribute to it. Can't say anything for sure on that, which is why I would recommend seeing a doctor just in case it is something else.

Its been like thgis for all of my life, have no allergies, no problems with health, broke my arm once, that's all I ever had.
So I doubt its anythying.
Or you have to clarify what Thyriod would mean

[Tapaj]

Its rather simple for anyone really. Figure out your needed cals, which the standardized need is 1900ish for a male for maintaining weight; that is without any rigorous activities.

Work out 3 times a week, your caloric needs go up some, to about 2500ish.

You intake 2800ish, that 300 per day = 2100 more per week. ( or adding 1.2kg a week to your weight )

You would need to work out another day to be in the negative for the week, and a small negative at best ( 400ish cals ) which would be about 3 oz of weight loss a week ( just a guess )

Reduce your intake of cals to 2300 a day, 3500 a week total, and you will safely shed a 1/2 kg a week.

Reduce you intake of cals to 2100 a day, 4900 a week total, and you will safely shed 3/4 kg a week. ( these are rough estimates, I remember 1lb = 2.2kg )

Don't have to eat shitty or anything of the like, but you are already 6'2'' and 187 lbs, that is already pretty skinny, but if you are looking for a cut physique then you must adjust your diet accordingly.

The last 10-15% to show definition is the hardest for a lot to get passed ( there are some genetically able, but most of us are not, with out a lot of work )

I'd say take a bit more Niacin ( chromium polynicotinate) daily; thermogenic, and reduce your cals by 400 a day, and be done with it. (simplified)

[Beavis]

Always cut calories if your goal is to lose weight.

Done in one, son.

[Deleted]

Its rather simple for anyone really. Figure out your needed cals, which the standardized need is 1900ish for a male for maintaining weight; that is without any rigorous activities.

Work out 3 times a week, your caloric needs go up some, to about 2500ish.

You intake 2800ish, that 300 per day = 2100 more per week. ( or adding 1.2kg a week to your weight )

You would need to work out another day to be in the negative for the week, and a small negative at best ( 400ish cals ) which would be about 3 oz of weight loss a week ( just a guess )

Reduce your intake of cals to 2300 a day, 3500 a week total, and you will safely shed a 1/2 kg a week.

Reduce you intake of cals to 2100 a day, 4900 a week total, and you will safely shed 3/4 kg a week. ( these are rough estimates, I remember 1lb = 2.2kg )

Don't have to eat shitty or anything of the like, but you are already 6'2'' and 187 lbs, that is already pretty skinny, but if you are looking for a cut physique then you must adjust your diet accordingly.

The last 10-15% to show definition is the hardest for a lot to get passed ( there are some genetically able, but most of us are not, with out a lot of work )

I'd say take a bit more Niacin ( chromium polynicotinate) daily; thermogenic, and reduce your cals by 400 a day, and be done with it. (simplified)

LOL I am by no means skinny, 20% body fat aint skinny bro... I'm on 19-20% atm...
Thing is I dont really have to "loose" weight, I have to turn fat into muscle.

[geewhiz80]

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.

Even 2400 is a lot depending on different factors. My dad was 5'10" and weighed around 165-170lbs, his dr had him on a 1800 calorie intake and he maintained his weight just fine.

Edit: Granted that is without any heavy exercise also.

[Drunkenfinn]

LOL I am by no means skinny, 20% body fat aint skinny bro... I'm on 19-20% atm...
Thing is I dont really have to "loose" weight, I have to turn fat into muscle.

Fat burns at a faster rate than you can gain muscle :P

Just cut a good 500kcal from your "off-days" and you should be fine. Maybe cut some carbs overall while you're at it.

You WILL lose weight while burning fat even if you are gaining muscle at the same time as muscle takes more time to build. Though eventually you'll be the same weight you are now with less fat and more muscle. But it'll take time and your weight will dip lower in-between.

[Beavis]

I dont really have to "loose" weight, I have to turn fat into muscle.

If you want to hit 10-12% body fat, that should be your focus. If you're 187lbs at 20% body fat, your lean mass is about 149lbs. Without any gains in lean mass, you need to drop to around 168lbs to reach your goal. 19lbs is not an insignificant amount of weight. If you want to lose that, you should focus on calorie cutting, not muscle gains.

And you can't "turn fat into muscle." I don't know if you actually mean that, but anabolic and catabolic processes generally don't occur at the same time without, ahem, chemical intervention.

[Deleted]

Fat burns at a faster rate than you can gain muscle :P

Just cut a good 500kcal from your "off-days" and you should be fine. Maybe cut some carbs overall while you're at it.

You WILL lose weight while burning fat even if you are gaining muscle at the same time as muscle takes more time to build. Though eventually you'll be the same weight you are now with less fat and more muscle. But it'll take time and your weight will dip lower in-between.

Yes, indeed I am aware of that, fat burning can go fast where building muscle is a slower process.
But I'm talking about the end indeed where my weight will proberbly (my guess) linger around 82-83kg but more muscle and less fat

---------- Post added 2013-05-16 at 10:54 AM ----------

If you want to hit 10-12% body fat, that should be your focus. If you're 187lbs at 20% body fat, your lean mass is about 149lbs. Without any gains in lean mass, you need to drop to around 168lbs to reach your goal. 19lbs is not an insignificant amount of weight. If you want to lose that, you should focus on calorie cutting, not muscle gains.

And you can't "turn fat into muscle." I don't know if you actually mean that, but anabolic and catabolic processes generally don't occur at the same time without, ahem, chemical intervention.

I mean to say I need to burn fat and will eventually gain muscle after I reached my %.
I dint mean fat actually turns into fat, would be quite amazing if that would be possible.

As for %, with the amount of muscle I have atm, and fat I have to lose I"ll be around 76kg with 14% or something from what I calculated.
Maybe my 187lbs is around 18-19, not sure.
1% is about 1% of your weight or something? Dunno how I checked it, was more of a estimation I think.

[Beavis]

As for %, with the amount of muscle I have atm, and fat I have to lose I"ll be around 76kg with 14% or something from what I calculated.
Maybe my 187lbs is around 18-19, not sure.
1% is about 1% of your weight or something? Dunno how I checked it, was more of a estimation I think.

Really depends on your body type and LBM. I assumed you had it measured. You can generally get an idea by looking at images of people at different BF%. Anything over 20% is usually visibly overweight without a shirt. 20% is usually doughy but not fat. 15% starts seeing pretty clear muscle definition. 12% and below there's obvious definition.

[Deleted]

Can you post images here?
I'll just try, if its not allowed it'll be taken down, the link that is.
This is a good guess ish?'
http://imgur.com/XZTJxgH

This is where I take my estimate from, I think I'm just below the 20, 18-19, still roundings in the side, bit of belly fat and some fat on the chest area but slimmed down alot from when I started.