Sport New here..can someone explain this dilemma?

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Roadrunner52

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This is my first post and I've joined this forum to get some input on what my real issue is, why it's happened, how it happened, and how to fix it. Here's the thing, up until about a 3 years ago I ate very unhealthy and pretty much whatever I wanted whenever I wanted, including fast food, fried food, restaurants, as much bread as I could get my hands on, desserts, and whatever else. I always had a balanced lunch and dinner, but it was accompanied by other bad things or was bad in itself, just incorporating protein/carbs/fat at the same time. When I started dieting a few years ago I didn't work out. All I did was change my eating habits, which resulted in the loss of about 20 lbs or so. However, I think that the reason I lost so much weight without exercise is because I was actually undereating, though I'm not sure (it's hard to remember that far back and I never calculated any calories or anything at that time).

About a year and a half ago I really got into working out and nutrition and started doing things the right way. From the point I started my diet initially until now, I have a net loss of about 40 lbs. My problem is now I weigh about 145-148 normally and if I eat more than about 2100 calories a day I start to gain weight, and it's not muscle. I have to eat very healthy all the time, which I do, and keep the calories to a minimum in order to stay this way. I run 3-4 times a week and workout 4 times a week and I've been told by a dietician that I should be eating 2600-2800 calories a day, which is actually what I thought for my active lifestyle also. I just can't seem to eat that much without gaining fat. And every once in a while if I chose to cheat on my regular eating habits and eat whatever I want for a day, I'll gain a lot of weight. Even if I eat just how I used to, before I started dieting - or like the average person nowadays, I'll gain weight and mainly in my stomach. Sometimes if I eat whatever I want for a few days, I can gain as much as 10-15 lbs (in just 3-6 days). I want to just be able to eat my normal caloric amount, which should be somewhere in the 2500-2800 range I think, without having to gain the fat and still being able to eat something bad once in a while.

Can anyone tell me what the problem is and what I can/should do about it to fix it?

ps: sorry for the extremely long post, and I thank you all very much for taking the time to help me out
 
how old are you?
male/female?
how tall are you?

what is your workout routine like? (list both your cardio/aerobic routines and your weight training routine)
 
malkore said:
how old are you?
male/female?
how tall are you?

what is your workout routine like? (list both your cardio/aerobic routines and your weight training routine)
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Male, 19, about 5'9"

workout routine:
mon - chest/weighted abs/cardio
tues - back/legs/non-weighted lower abs/cardio
wed - off
thurs - shoulders/traps/non-weighted abs/optional cardio
friday - bis/tris/cardio
sat - off (maybe cardio if didn't do thurs) or make-up day if missed something
sun - off

my cardio is a run pretty much every time, usually 4-5 miles, sometimes more sometimes less, but never less than 3.5 really
 
Take advantage of it. Eat 2600 cals, and step up your weight training routine. lift heavy and pack on muscle mass, that will let you eat more.
 
Phate89 said:
Take advantage of it. Eat 2600 cals, and step up your weight training routine. lift heavy and pack on muscle mass, that will let you eat more.
Click to expand...

well do you have any input on that whole dilemma I described? I mean I WANT to eat 2600 BADLY, but I've never done it without gaining fat. How can I do that

ps: what do you mean by steph up my weight training and lift heavy? I try to work hard now already...I have a very low resting heart rate, so I don't sweat much, but I don't think that has any bearing on how difficult the work is
 
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Your problem is very simple: weight. You are basing failure and success on your weight rather than your health. Ask yourself this very question: What is the value of your current weight? Why is it so important that you must keep it at that number? If it goes up, what will happen?

You base success on days where the scale remains constant, but you base failure on days where the scale goes up. I say throw the dang thing away! Weight scales are nothing more than tools for the obese. Only people with serious obesity problems care about what the scale says.

Let's look at what you done so far. You threw away your bad eating habit. You stopped eating fast food or kept it to a minimum. Good job! Pat yourself on the back. You decided to eat healthy and balance a meal. Good job, again! You decided to exercise, lift weights, and live an active lifestyle. More goodies! Great job. It sounds like you're doing a fantastic job.

Now the bad. You kept weight as a measurement of your success or failures rather than your healthy lifestyle. You listened to the scale rather than your inner self.

Being healthy simply means listening to yourself. Listen to what you have to say rather than what the scale has to say. If you want to eat, then freaking eat! Why sit there and tell yourself, "Uh-oh, if I eat this I'll become fat again." Heck no you won't! You're exercising, you're eating a balanced meal, you probably developed muscles, and you're young! Why rob your youth? At this point in your life you can do a lot of things: you can enjoy a wide range of exercise, and on top of that you can enjoy a wide range of food. Enjoy it while you can and take advantage of it. Do you ever hear those old folks saying, "Man, I wish I can eat like a teenager again and not worry about becoming fat." Learn from that.

Note: I'm not saying go crazy and eat every thing in sight. I'm simply saying that you should eat what you want, when you want but keep in mind of moderation, balance, and variety. Following simple rules - the rule of yourself - will be far more effective at keeping the weight off than standing on the scale every morning worrying about silly weight. Ask yourself, why is it so important that your weight is at the number it is? Has it given you any value? Will someone come up to you and shock you with a zapper if you don't keep it at some number? Will you be doomed to a life under the caves only to come out in the dark to feed because of your hideous weight? I doubt it.
 
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Also, I very much doubt you gained 10-15 pounds in 3 days. It's simply not possible. You probably increased sodium intake, so water weight is probably a factor in there. You're probably sensitive to sodium. Also, you might have gained muscle mass due to increased food intake - albeit a very small amount in those days.

Also, just keep up the good work.

PS. I'm always a sweaty guy, so me doing squats and deadlifts, I'll be sweating like crazy.
 
Dallen said:
Your problem is very simple: weight. You are basing failure and success on your weight rather than your health. Ask yourself this very question: What is the value of your current weight? Why is it so important that you must keep it at that number? If it goes up, what will happen?

You base success on days where the scale remains constant, but you base failure on days where the scale goes up. I say throw the dang thing away! Weight scales are nothing more than tools for the obese. Only people with serious obesity problems care about what the scale says.

Let's look at what you done so far. You threw away your bad eating habit. You stopped eating fast food or kept it to a minimum. Good job! Pat yourself on the back. You decided to eat healthy and balance a meal. Good job, again! You decided to exercise, lift weights, and live an active lifestyle. More goodies! Great job. It sounds like you're doing a fantastic job.

Now the bad. You kept weight as a measurement of your success or failures rather than your healthy lifestyle. You listened to the scale rather than your inner self.

Being healthy simply means listening to yourself. Listen to what you have to say rather than what the scale has to say. If you want to eat, then freaking eat! Why sit there and tell yourself, "Uh-oh, if I eat this I'll become fat again." Heck no you won't! You're exercising, you're eating a balanced meal, you probably developed muscles, and you're young! Why rob your youth? At this point in your life you can do a lot of things: you can enjoy a wide range of exercise, and on top of that you can enjoy a wide range of food. Enjoy it while you can and take advantage of it. Do you ever hear those old folks saying, "Man, I wish I can eat like a teenager again and not worry about becoming fat." Learn from that.

Note: I'm not saying go crazy and eat every thing in sight. I'm simply saying that you should eat what you want, when you want but keep in mind of moderation, balance, and variety. Following simple rules - the rule of yourself - will be far more effective at keeping the weight off than standing on the scale every morning worrying about silly weight. Ask yourself, why is it so important that your weight is at the number it is? Has it given you any value? Will someone come up to you and shock you with a zapper if you don't keep it at some number? Will you be doomed to a life under the caves only to come out in the dark to feed because of your hideous weight? I doubt it.
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Thanks, but the problem is not the scale. the problem is how I look after I eat that way. It takes me back to how I looked over a year ago, way before I got into shape. I don't really care at all how much I weigh just as long as I'm healthy and look the way I want to. I just used the weight to portray how drastic it can be when it happens to me. And yes I literally gained 15 lbs in that amount of time. Granted, of course, a lot of water weight, but nonetheless it was weight.

And thanks for the praise on the good things :). As for eating whatever I want whenever I want, I think that's the reason we have an obese country. You can't just eat whatever you want unless you're gifted with a very fast metabolism, which I'm not. I know moderation is the key, but even with moderation, you can't eat anything you want. And I do have to worry about the way my body handles food. Just because I'm young doesn't mean that I have nothing to worry about. I'm sure you know that everyone is different and in a case where one person can eat as much as they want and not gain an ounce, another person (apparently I'm in this category) must constantly make sure not to eat unhealthily or overeat to prevent gaining fat
 
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