Why am I putting on weight - Help
Discussion
I find this thread interesting.
I was (at my fattest - and I was fat) 15.5 stone.
But the key is I knew the reason which was eating out 4 times a week. I made big changes to my diet but also importantly I think, at the same time we moved offices and I changed to walking to and from work which adds up to just shy of a marathon a week (yes its a fair old march). The weight fell off and I am now 4 stone lighter.
OP your diet seems pretty clean to me (thought thats a lot of chicken!) and many eat FAR worse and appear not to suffer for it so it seems odd that your body is changing shape.
As ever though other posters are right - if cals in is greater than cals out then you will gain weight - after all - you didn't see fat people on the Russian front in WW2 documentaries.
That said it seems odd that you are doing far more than the average person in terms of diet and excersize yet its just not working? I wonder though - in fairness we have just have the christmas period which is far more sedentary and calorific than other months - I'm not blaming that in itself - but it wont have helped unless you are ultra disciplined!
So in sum I've added nothing - but I also am curious as to what the answer is...
I was (at my fattest - and I was fat) 15.5 stone.
But the key is I knew the reason which was eating out 4 times a week. I made big changes to my diet but also importantly I think, at the same time we moved offices and I changed to walking to and from work which adds up to just shy of a marathon a week (yes its a fair old march). The weight fell off and I am now 4 stone lighter.
OP your diet seems pretty clean to me (thought thats a lot of chicken!) and many eat FAR worse and appear not to suffer for it so it seems odd that your body is changing shape.
As ever though other posters are right - if cals in is greater than cals out then you will gain weight - after all - you didn't see fat people on the Russian front in WW2 documentaries.
That said it seems odd that you are doing far more than the average person in terms of diet and excersize yet its just not working? I wonder though - in fairness we have just have the christmas period which is far more sedentary and calorific than other months - I'm not blaming that in itself - but it wont have helped unless you are ultra disciplined!
So in sum I've added nothing - but I also am curious as to what the answer is...
Joey Ramone said:
Thanks for the advice all.
The whole 'You're obviously eating too much because you're 4 stone overweight and people of your height shouldn't weigh that much' isn't particularly useful analysis. I'm just chunky. 17.5-18 inch neck, corresponding sized chest etc. Not saying I couldn't weigh significantly less of course, which is why I aimed for 13.5 stone. But 10-11 stone? Not a chance, unless you actually starved me. And although I'm sure you look lovely, I simply wouldn't want to be that size. And neither would my wife want it either.
The other made points about food are closer to the truth in some respects. I undoubtedly eat too much in some respects but I'm always famished. I mean constantly hungry. I could usually eat dinner twice over if i let myself. I did give up diet coke for about 6 weeks and it appeared to make absolutely zero difference. i will cut back on the spirits though. But as I said, I was eating the same amount when I was a lot lighter.
The weights? I suppose I'm just trying to stop my ageing body from turning to blancmange. Cycling was great for the legs but everything else, particularly my arms, was getting soft. Hence only once a week but quite heavy. And I'm not a complete novice when it comes to lifting some tin - I used to do weights when I was in my 20s for about 6 or 7 years, and a fair amount of bulk was left over. But i stopped to drop weight.
As stated, the thing that's puzzling me is why I have suddenly put on weight over the last few months after a few years at bang on 14 stone, even though I'm not ingesting more calories than I used to when I was that weight. In fact I'm probably more disciplined now than I was then. I don't know whether the sudden weight gain is a physiological response to a change of training regime, a matter of getting old, or a combination of both.
On your last point, yes, I agree, one's metabolism does slow down as we get older. I eat a lot less than I did when I was younger. I weigh myself regularly and just keep an eye on things.The whole 'You're obviously eating too much because you're 4 stone overweight and people of your height shouldn't weigh that much' isn't particularly useful analysis. I'm just chunky. 17.5-18 inch neck, corresponding sized chest etc. Not saying I couldn't weigh significantly less of course, which is why I aimed for 13.5 stone. But 10-11 stone? Not a chance, unless you actually starved me. And although I'm sure you look lovely, I simply wouldn't want to be that size. And neither would my wife want it either.
The other made points about food are closer to the truth in some respects. I undoubtedly eat too much in some respects but I'm always famished. I mean constantly hungry. I could usually eat dinner twice over if i let myself. I did give up diet coke for about 6 weeks and it appeared to make absolutely zero difference. i will cut back on the spirits though. But as I said, I was eating the same amount when I was a lot lighter.
The weights? I suppose I'm just trying to stop my ageing body from turning to blancmange. Cycling was great for the legs but everything else, particularly my arms, was getting soft. Hence only once a week but quite heavy. And I'm not a complete novice when it comes to lifting some tin - I used to do weights when I was in my 20s for about 6 or 7 years, and a fair amount of bulk was left over. But i stopped to drop weight.
As stated, the thing that's puzzling me is why I have suddenly put on weight over the last few months after a few years at bang on 14 stone, even though I'm not ingesting more calories than I used to when I was that weight. In fact I'm probably more disciplined now than I was then. I don't know whether the sudden weight gain is a physiological response to a change of training regime, a matter of getting old, or a combination of both.
We weren't saying you were eating too much because of your weight - it's the other way round - it's because of the amount you're eating. Your weight is simply the result of that. As I said above, just do the maths: find out the calories, fat and protein etc in your food and work it all out, I think you'll be surprised. I'd say it's worth it if this interests you enough to post on PH. For example, to take one of those figures, protein: I did the maths recently on this for me and I eat slightly more protein than is recommended for someone with my level of activity (similar to your activity level in fact), but I eat a tiny fraction of the protein rich foods that you do. Even on a protein heavy day for me that might be one chicken breast, one egg and a tin of sardines and raw spinach in sandwiches for lunch, to compare with your 3 chicken breasts and 3 eggs on a normal day, and 6 eggs on a heavy day!
Joey Ramone said:
10-11 stone? Not a chance, unless you actually starved me.
I must disagree with this I'm afraid. That weight is a BMI of 20-22 at your height, which even if you carry a fair bit of muscle is ok, if a bit lean, but with an hour of intense CV a day lean is what I would expect. If you do have quite a bit of muscle though, then call it 12 stone (BMI 24) for the weights you quoted and the muscle I'm guessing that has generated and maintains. I think it's extremely likely that if you ate the recommended amounts of calories, fat, protein etc then you'd be about 11-12 stone, maybe 13 at a push. If you had a similar level of muscle to me then I suspect you'd be about 10-11 stone, yes. I weigh that and I'm far from starving myself - for a start I drink 20 units of alcohol a week and I'm addicted to flapjack and chilli doritos 
. To get down to your target of 13.5 stone from 15 though you are going to have to shift the balance the other way and eat less than average for your height and activity level. To do that you'll need to do the maths on the calories you're eating - your exercise is fine, although you may wish to back of the weights a bit, or perhaps lift lighter weights for more reps?Edited by RobM77 on Friday 5th February 17:29
Joey Ramone said:
As stated, the thing that's puzzling me is why I have suddenly put on weight over the last few months after a few years at bang on 14 stone, even though I'm not ingesting more calories than I used to when I was that weight. In fact I'm probably more disciplined now than I was then. I don't know whether the sudden weight gain is a physiological response to a change of training regime, a matter of getting old, or a combination of both.
Welcome to middle age! Seriously, you don't need to starve yourself but you do need to curtail some of your food as your metabolism does slow down. No need to starve yourself - just be sensible. Things like restricting eggs to 2 a day, or just having one chicken breast etc. Eat lots of fruit and veg to fill you up, drink more water etc.It's not easy but it's the only way if you want to lose a few pounds.
First off you need to be more disciplined with your diet in terms of portion size and treats. Cardio - you're doing four sessions a week but it appears only one with high intensity - this should be up to at least three or four, even if it's only twenty minutes of hill sprints running. Seven hours walking a week is much better than taking the car, obviously, but minimal effect on fat burn I would think. I think your age has very little bearing on how your body is changing - 42 is absolutely no age. Distance yourself from people who say it is - negativity is like a contagious disease. 
OP - you think you're eating healthily, but actually you're eating too much. Your exercise levels are fine. As we age not only does our metabolism start to slow but we begin to lose lean tissue (muscle atrophy). As muscle burns calories just to maintain homeostasis, then it follows that you will need less food as you age.
You can eat too much healthy food. It makes you get fat.
Monty Python said:
I must be one of the fortunate ones - fast approaching the half-century, eat pretty much what I like and do a hour of exercise a week and I've been around 80kg for a couple of years now.
Active lifestyle/job...The thing with eating is that you seem (or I do at least) to very quickly get used to over eating to the point where it becomes normal.
It doesn't take much of a reduction in food intake to feel hungry, and I suspect that it's simply that your body is accustomed to the quantity of food you eat.
A suggestion might be to eat a small amount less each meal until you get used to it (a week or two probably) then cut a little more out and repeat until you're down to the amount you need to eat, rather than the amount you want to eat.
It doesn't take much of a reduction in food intake to feel hungry, and I suspect that it's simply that your body is accustomed to the quantity of food you eat.
A suggestion might be to eat a small amount less each meal until you get used to it (a week or two probably) then cut a little more out and repeat until you're down to the amount you need to eat, rather than the amount you want to eat.
hstewie said:
If you like eating, and find it difficult to cut down (even though most of the food is very good, nutrition-wise), you could try adding more weight training, perhaps three times per week. The good thing about resistance exercises is that the calories are still being burnt way after you have finished your workouts.
Monty Python said:
I must be one of the fortunate ones - fast approaching the half-century, eat pretty much what I like and do a hour of exercise a week and I've been around 80kg for a couple of years now.
Lol...80kg of what? Weight means absolutely nothing. One hour of exercise a week - you must be pretty unfit then. What's your body fat measurements? mcelliott said:
One hour of exercise a week - you must be pretty unfit then.
In fairness to him, without having a criteria for fitness levels, it's irrelevant. If he can carry shopping across the car park to his car, that may be all he needs.For my activities, it would mean the difference between winning and losing a game so I try to keep my fitness levels up.
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