Changes to metabolism – what next?

So I changed the way I eat around March last year to basically follow the idave/4 hour body diet. I lost weight and felt good and got down to around 14/15% body fat within about 6 months. My body seems to be happy with this way of eating and I have no real problems sticking to this way of eating.

So far so good.

However, as the off season dragged on and my exercise levels have been lower than during the summer, I have actually gained a bit of weight (as fat) and become completely intolerant of simple carbs and all the bad stuff that we love to eat. As soon as I fall off the wagon for 2 days instead of the planned single day, then I find I am 3kg up and don’t seem to be able to drop them again.

I will be able to shed the fat when some more structured training starts (or any training at all if I am honest) but what concerns me the most is that I even slight digressions from the diet seem to have quite significant consequences and I have to concentrate quite hard on my diet just to maintain my weight despite it being far from lean (16/17% fat at the moment)

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)

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, coffee and tea also hydrate you. Try cutting down to a glass of water instead of “half a litre”.

Rubbish – plenty of people weigh themselves everyday and all their mums have curly hair.

FIFY

and all their mums have curly hair 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.