[Closed] Changes to metabolism - what next?

3kg in 2 days - really?

I think it would take me months to gain 3kg, even eating mostly carbs.

Sounds like the silly fad diet has screwed you up.

I am pretty certain that it is retained water, but between 1.6 and 2.4kg seems to be the norm after a weekend off instead of a day off. (ok I exaggerated, but now I have checked my figures)

I haven't actually lost any weight since July last year and no it isn't because I am gaining muscle.

3kg has got to be mainly water

Yeah - you sure you're not dehydtrated the rest of the week?

I drink gallons of water and pee (almost) constantly 😳

broken scales ?

I can see weight steps of 2+kg over a weekend, easily, if I've been at the beer and chocolate. Takes the whole month to get shut again.

I think the problem is that your mixing metric and imperial measures.

Sorry, I drink litres of water (I would guess about 3-4 per day)

To be honest, I have no idea what a gallon looks like 😳

Gallon is 4.54 litres.

I wasn't that far off then

I think it's a bucket.

Anyway, thank god you went metric... your weight gain would look even worse!

I was reading somewhere about the adaptations that the body makes to eating certain diets, sustaining certain exercise levels, the impact on metabolism etc.

Can't remmeber where HTH.

Perhaps it's time to go to a clean carbs only diet then!

or maybe raw fruit and veg only....

or not

how about just the fabled ' a balanced diet'?

a bit of everything but nothing to excess?

Three to four litres of water a day? Why?

The swings in weight you are seeing are related to fluid; one litre weighs one kilogramme.

Although to be honest you sound like you have erm... a rather deeper issue than what you eat. If we were at school I would suggest that your mum has curly hair, but in sign language...

no thanks wwaswas, that's what got me fat in the first place. I'm happy with what i eat now and how i feel in terms of hunger and energy. The weight is not really a big problem but I am just curious about how your body adapts to your diet and what was once enough to lose weight, no longer works.

If we were at school I would suggest that your mum has curly hair, but in sign language

Seriously? I just drink water during the day!

I have about half a litre at breakfast, another during the morning, another with lunch, another during the afternoon, another with dinner, andother after dinner and maybe another before bed

I have maybe 4 cups of coffee or black tea alondside that

That's it, is that really so strange.

surely what got you fat was eating more calories than you burned off, the source of the calories is largely irrelevant?

you need to eat a diet that you can comfortably live with talkign about 'going off the wagon' makes it sound like yo have an unhealthy relationship with food.

I can see that losing weight might need a dramatic change but you need to find a way you can maintain a certain weight without feeling like it's a chore the whole time.

Maybe being 16/17% fat is just 'how you are' - it's not that bad is it?

oddjob - are you eating enough? I lose weight by eating more.

Am I permanently stuck in this cycle of diminished returns and requiring ever more extreme eating habits in order to get to where I want to be? (12% fat and in good enough shape to race on the road

Depends on what your natural metabolism is like. If you struggled to get to 15% then getting to 10-12% ain't going to be easy. Don't expect to be able to keep loosing fat by adjusting diet alone and not upping the amount of exercise.

I don't think I have an eating disorder. I would ideally like to eat cake and biscuits all the time, but that's not possible so I had to find some way of managing my food intake that doesn't involve careful monitoring of portion control or sometimes eating a bit of whatever but sometimes saying no. I have proven to myself time and time again that I don't have the self control to required regulate that.

This way of eating has helped because I don't have to think about it any more. I know what to eat and what to leave (grains, sugar etc), then one day a week I just eat whatever I want. That doesn't mean I go completely insane, I just eat bread, cake, biscuits, whatever I want and that works for me.

It's strange to me. That's more water than I put in my bath!

You just sound a bit odd with regard to food and to that amount of water. Your constant weighing of yourself is a bit of a give away; put the bloody scales away for a while.

The weight changes you are seeing are what happens when you eat a low carb diet then add in lots of carbs and water; it's a bit like carbo-loading but you are doing it often...

surely what got you fat was eating more calories than you burned off, the source of the calories is largely irrelevant?

Not at all, the source of the energy has a huge effect on what your body does with them.

I've noticed my body has adapted since the original couple of months on the diet. It seems to be fighting tooth and nail to hang onto fat reserves. iDiet meals hardly have any effect on me now - I can eat a big meal and still be starving hungry. I've also found that if I exercise hard I get achey legs that continue until I have a large helping of fast carbs. That could be several days later. Even if I take carbs after and during as per the instructions. to avoid the achey legs (and associated poor performance) I need quite a large helping of carbs.

Not sure if I should mtfu and force my body into submission or keep feeding it fast carbs in the quantities that will let me ride how I want. After all I don't think I've ever had a full week when I didn't have any fast carbs at all - apart from the first couple, where I felt like crap and ended up being unable to do anything other than trundle slowly.

are you eating enough? I lose weight by eating more.

Me too, if I do lots of exercise. I started having two or three choccy bars a day and lost 2kg in a couple of weeks, back when I was commuting 18 miles each way. The extra carbs allowed me to ride a lot harder and the adaption made me both faster and lighter.

I may well not be eating enough.

I tend to miss beans lentils out of laziness and then find that I compensate by eating proportionally too much meat rather than veges. I have also found that I can easily miss breakfast these days as well.

So then how's your riding?

molgrips - have you had problems with cramps after exercising?

I find that it helps a lot if I eat fast carbs about 30 minutes before exercising. Afterwards seems less important, but I don't think idave agrees.

Oh no!

Molgrips mum has definitely, most assuredly, got curly hair on this subject.

The weight is not really a big problem but I am just curious about how your body adapts to your diet and what was once enough to lose weight, no longer works.

I think (though could be completely wrong) that your base metabolic rate is related to your weight, So let's say you used to weigh 100Kg, the basal rate for that might be 2200kcals. If you're only consuming say 1800Kcals, then you've got a defict and you'll lose weight.
However lets say you weigh 75Kg, the basal rate for that might be 1800Kcal. Same diet - no weight loss.

Probably lots of other stuff matters too 🙂

not riding much at the moment as I am finishing some refurbishment work on the house during the winter to allow for more riding when the spring comes around.

I went from 104kg to 90kg and now at 93kg

oddjob - are you eating enough? I lose weight by eating more

You eating your limbs?

Your constant weighing of yourself is a bit of a give away; put the bloody scales away for a while.

Rubbish - plenty of people weigh themselves everyday... I weigh myself pre and post the loo most days.

I have about half a litre at breakfast, another during the morning, another with lunch, another during the afternoon, another with dinner, andother after dinner and maybe another before bed

I have maybe 4 cups of coffee or black tea alondside that

Not surprised you spend most of the day peeing, that's a huge amount of water! Despite their reputation, [url= http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/50514.php ]coffee and tea also hydrate you[/url]. Try cutting down to a glass of water instead of "half a litre".

[i]Rubbish - plenty of people weigh themselves everyday[/i] and all their mums have curly hair.

FIFY

[i]and all their mums have curly hair[/i] and brush their teeth?

Cramps = not fit enough. 🙂

That's a lot of water, oddjob, and you're in denial about it not bothering you 😉

I tend to miss beans lentils out of laziness and then find that I compensate by eating proportionally too much meat rather than veges. I have also found that I can easily miss breakfast these days as well.

My 2p:

Skipping meals = bad
You're not getting enough carbs.

Cramps = not fit enough.

Not strictly true...

[i]and all their mums have curly hair and brush their teeth?[/i]

...is exactly the phrase I was looking for.

I'm not actually suggesting that y'all are loonies, but this conversation is uncannily like the kind of things I listen to on a daily basis, as ladies who are almost obsessive about their weight sit and talk incessantly about this diet and that gym and some other toning regime while [u]eating too much[/u].

Then they look at me and say 'It's easy for you, you never put any weight on'.

Um, except I do put weight on, and it's not 'easy'.

..and yes, that is still a lot of water.

Um, except I do put weight on, and it's not 'easy'.

You would say that.

...seeing are you never put weight on.

High 5 Crikey, life ain't easy sister, you're just not in touch with your metrosexual side.... yet

You might be right yeti, but I'm fitter ( running wise) than I've ever been I think and I get less cramp these days, and my ( poor) eating habits haven't changed

Oi guys! Less of the comments about curly haired mothers. 🙄

Auntie C_G - you saying you ain't a little bit crazy? x

(how are you btw?)

Ooooh, just a wee bit. 🙂 I'm enjoying my pootling, how about you? Normal service resumed?

Still surprised that you think 1 pint of water or half a litre of water six times a day is too much. Will try to up my bean intake and see if that makes any difference.
And you are right emsz

Right! (big strop occurence is occuring...)

I do put weight on but I try not to sit and eat chocolates or cake or any other crap and I do 6-12 hours excercise a week and only eat when I'm hungry, and don't drink sweet soft drinks, and make a bloody effort instead of sitting there moaning about it and getting fatter year by year by doing the same stupid shitty diets or going to gyms and expecting to get thin by sweating because you are doing something in a big warm room and when I go out on my bike I have no bloody choice when I get tired; I have to carry on, instead of stopping and going to sit in the bloody hot tub for half an hour. I've had 20 odd years ofthis crap, of people moaning about the weather when all they do is walk from their car to the door of work and then from their car to the door of their house, buying sodding goretex jackets to walk around the supermarket in, just stop eating so bloody much and do some ****ing exercise you big fat bloody lumps of simpleness.

Ahem.

I try to eat my lunch at work alone these days; it aids my digestion.

Crikey - this female work environment seems to be really affecting you 😉

Yep... I'm in overdrive C_G... 2 to 3 sessions a day, smallest waist size since I started buying trousers that were sized by age, and I'm eating a full sized cake every week whilst still losing weight 🙂
Why is it though that it's only other blokes that comment on my physique?

crikey - you buying take-a-break yet?

Have a donut crikey, sounds like you need one 😆

i need to add in another hour of exercise a day....

*plans some kinda on-the-way-home type exercise in my mind that i'll never bother to do*

i understand where you're coming from crikey, get moaned at by fatter people (normally wimminz and sizeable older men) saying i wouldn't understand cos i'm thin. whereas i'm not thin, just thinner than them, cos i've struggled with a yo-yoing body weight since i was a kid. i have an unhealthy relationship with food, first to admit it... but at least i put effort into keeping it under relative control.

I agree with everything you said crikey I just think we have different methods

2 to 3 sessions a day

Sessions of what? Possible danger of overtraining?

overtraining isnt in yeti's dictionary.

i'm on the fence as to whether the exercise is a healthier replacement than the crack habit he swapped it for in the first place.

its ok though in the end as he's easily tempted back into his whorish crack taking ways 8)

AAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGHGHGHHGHGHGHGHJG!"!"!!!!!!!11111!!!1

I just sit and quietly fume. Over a 4 night stretch I will eat 2 sandwiches and a yoghurt each night. The other folk will get through a full 12 inch pizza each, plus Coke/Dandelion and Burdock 3 litres between 6 of them. Then the next night will be a take-away curry, plus rice, poppadums, more Coke. When they bring their own food in it's a huge plate of food; enough to feed three people, then they'll have crumpets before going home.

At Christmas they will slowly trough through a full tin of Roses or Quality Street and a packet or two of biscuits over a 12 hour shift.

I have watched people come to work here and seen them put 2-3-4 stone on in as many years, all the while being on the latest simpletons diet, and yet none of them seem to make the connection between the amount they eat and their weight.

4 people this year have had to get bigger uniforms; WE WEAR SCRUBS< WHICH ARE NOT EXACTLY FORM FITTING!!!!!£"121221z

breathe crikey, remember you have to breathe!

although having said that, you're warming up nicely and your next post should rate a 9/10 on the rant-o-meter, I reckon.

Seems like someone is jealous of the donut munchers...

...just let yourself go, Crikey 😀

[img] [/img]

Crikey - just play this in your head...

Phil - I still smoke **** for rock, tis true.

[i]I agree with everything you said crikey I just think we have different methods[/i]

I think you are right, and I'm sure I've overstated the curliness of your mums hair. My concern is always that for a way of eating to be sustainable, it has to be part of your mental furniture, and by concentrating on food and on weight, it becomes too visible, too much of a central thing and therefore occupies too much of your attention.

When I want to lose weight I simply eat less of the same stuff, but continue to ride and walk as much as before.

it has to be part of your mental [s]furniture[/s]sofa

My last word before I go and not-eat, a number of years ago I tried to get really thin; associated with racing. I did it, but it scared the bloody life out of me; I know how the feeling of control can be addictive, and it gave me a small insight into the way anorexia must affect people.

It actually changed my view overnight with regard to anorexics; scary place to be in...

So eat less do more and don't obsess..

So eat less do more and don't [s]obsess[/s] obese..

Crikey, scrubs? Medical staff?

You would hope they would know better!!

crikey - get someone to check your blood pressure! Have you talked to your colleagues about your racing snake days? Perhaps it would give them something to contemplate ie their relationship with food?

TSY - definitely normal service then! Do you have a challenge planned for this year?

molgrips - have you had problems with cramps after exercising?

No, I never get cramp except at the end of an extremely long hard and hungry ride.

'Simply eat less' does not work well enough for me. Because when you exercise a lot I MUST eat more to compensate, otherwise I lose the ability to exercise. So then I moderate WHAT I eat according to what effect different foods have on my body. That's the iDiet.

but this conversation is uncannily like the kind of things I listen to on a daily basis, as ladies who are almost obsessive about their weight sit and talk incessantly about this diet and that gym and some other toning regime while eating too much

I don't agree. This conversation is about people who want to understand exactly what's going on in their bodies. We are not just jumping on the latest fad expecting wonders. If you are a pizza eating couch potato then yes you just need to cut the junk food and move around - you'll get thinner. If on the other hand you've been very active for your whole adult life, you routinely do lots of long hard rides, you eat in moderation and you still find yourself 10kg over what you want - then it's time to investigate. That's what this is.

It's absolutely NOT as simple as eat less move more. As we've discussed at length on here.

When I want to lose weight I simply eat less of the same stuff, but continue to ride and walk as much as before

So what happens when you get so hungry you can't think at work, and you find your ability to ride hard disappears? Does this not happen to you? Cos it happened to me.

I read that its eating your crusts that gives you curly hair, and its nothing to do with your mom ( although YOUR mom obviously eats her crusts)
🙂

C_G - triathlons 🙂 Possibly some road racing. Nothing too epic really. Would like to do 200 miles in a day.

I weigh myself pre and post the loo most days

Crikey would you like a hug?

Do some people think that paying a gym membership helps them get fit without actually breaking a sweat?

P.S. I drink a lot of water too, occasionally to the point that I start to think I'm diabetic except I don't have any other symptoms, but I seem to struggle to keep it and get dehydrated really easily too. Just can't seem to find the balance point...

mustard, calcium and thyroid levels can influence how thirsty you are, might be worth asking the GP for a check next time you're there?

I lost 6oz by having a wee this morning Mustard.

[i]mustard, calcium and thyroid levels[/i]

How can I tell if I've got a mustard deficiency? OR conversely, a bit of a mustard surplus?

There's a ham fisted approach wwaswas...

How can I tell if I've got a mustard deficiency?

Get your seed tested.

[i]Get your seed tested. [/i]

it's all grainy 😉

it's all grainy

All I can deduce from that, is that you might be French.

calcium and thyroid levels can influence how thirsty you are, might be worth asking the GP for a check next time you're there?

Also it's not so much thirst as dehydration ie pee that looks like i've just had a berocca (which coincidentally I've been taking since my I got a right kicking by a cold just before christmas).

TSY do you keep your scales by the urinal so you can see your weight drop?

TSY do you keep your scales by the urinal so you can see your weight drop?

I was assuming he was standing on them as he urinated.