Why am I putting on weight - Help
Discussion
So. 42 year old male. 5'10, quite a big frame but carry weight around the middle. Presently 15 stone, or thereabouts. Would like to be 13.5 stone ideally, but 14 would be ok realistically. Until a few months ago I was 14 stone and had been so for a few years.
Here's my problem. I'm eating healthily, I'm eating no more than I have ever done, on the other hand I'm exercising as much or even more than I have ever done, but my weight is slowly creeping upward.
Activity levels:
1) I walk for 1 hour each day, without fail. 5 days a week to and from work, and on the weekend I take a circuitous route to buy the papers. So that's 7 hours walking each week, before I factor in anything else (walking around at work, and at home).
2) 4 cardio sessions a week. One is a hard 57 min interval session on a wattbike or similar (on a Monday), the other three (Wed/Thur/Fri) are a combination of cross-trainer and incline walking (15% gradient on the treadmill at 5kmh)
3) One fairly robust 90-120 mins weights session on a Saturday. Mainly deadlifts, squats, bench and standing military press and/or shrugs. Not heavy by people's standards here, so lets say about 170kg max for deadlift, 140kg reps (maybe 4) for squats, 130kg max for bench (weakness in left arm due to previous trapped nerve), 75 kg for military press and 120kg for shrugs. Only been doing these sessions for about 4 months now. Hadn't touched weights for about 15 years previously.
Diet
Breakfast: Either two slices of brown toast with butter, or a bowl of cereal. Occasionally I'll have 3 eggs scrambled
Lunch: Three chicken breasts. Seasoned with spices. Nothing else. very occasionally I'll have a sandwich from work, but that's rare (x2 a month, maybe)
Dinner: Around 1/3 cupful brown rice, three eggs scrambled into it, and handful of prawns. That's typical. Or maybe a big bowl of homemade veg soup.
Snacks - I don't. The odd dry cracker here and there maybe, or the odd slice of ham. Don't really eat chocolate or sweets/crisps. Used to eat lots of cheese, don't anymore
Soft Drinks - 1 diet coke a day, maybe 2. Always drunk this amount for years. Probably don't drink enough water.
Alcohol: Past couple of months I've been having one large measure of spirits of an evening. No beer/cider at all.
The above is honest. I know exactly how much I eat because I stick to a routine during the week at least. And on the weekend I usually only eat twice a day - one big breakfast late morning, and a dinner.
So, what's going on? Those weights sessions aren't enough to account for the stone of extra weight that I've put on in the last 3 or four months. Water retention? Any ideas? It may be that changing my exercise from only ever cycling to suddenly incorporating both weights and other forms of cardio might have something to do with it but I would have thought the hours of walking would have compensated to some extent.
Here's my problem. I'm eating healthily, I'm eating no more than I have ever done, on the other hand I'm exercising as much or even more than I have ever done, but my weight is slowly creeping upward.
Activity levels:
1) I walk for 1 hour each day, without fail. 5 days a week to and from work, and on the weekend I take a circuitous route to buy the papers. So that's 7 hours walking each week, before I factor in anything else (walking around at work, and at home).
2) 4 cardio sessions a week. One is a hard 57 min interval session on a wattbike or similar (on a Monday), the other three (Wed/Thur/Fri) are a combination of cross-trainer and incline walking (15% gradient on the treadmill at 5kmh)
3) One fairly robust 90-120 mins weights session on a Saturday. Mainly deadlifts, squats, bench and standing military press and/or shrugs. Not heavy by people's standards here, so lets say about 170kg max for deadlift, 140kg reps (maybe 4) for squats, 130kg max for bench (weakness in left arm due to previous trapped nerve), 75 kg for military press and 120kg for shrugs. Only been doing these sessions for about 4 months now. Hadn't touched weights for about 15 years previously.
Diet
Breakfast: Either two slices of brown toast with butter, or a bowl of cereal. Occasionally I'll have 3 eggs scrambled
Lunch: Three chicken breasts. Seasoned with spices. Nothing else. very occasionally I'll have a sandwich from work, but that's rare (x2 a month, maybe)
Dinner: Around 1/3 cupful brown rice, three eggs scrambled into it, and handful of prawns. That's typical. Or maybe a big bowl of homemade veg soup.
Snacks - I don't. The odd dry cracker here and there maybe, or the odd slice of ham. Don't really eat chocolate or sweets/crisps. Used to eat lots of cheese, don't anymore
Soft Drinks - 1 diet coke a day, maybe 2. Always drunk this amount for years. Probably don't drink enough water.
Alcohol: Past couple of months I've been having one large measure of spirits of an evening. No beer/cider at all.
The above is honest. I know exactly how much I eat because I stick to a routine during the week at least. And on the weekend I usually only eat twice a day - one big breakfast late morning, and a dinner.
So, what's going on? Those weights sessions aren't enough to account for the stone of extra weight that I've put on in the last 3 or four months. Water retention? Any ideas? It may be that changing my exercise from only ever cycling to suddenly incorporating both weights and other forms of cardio might have something to do with it but I would have thought the hours of walking would have compensated to some extent.
Foliage said:
your eating to much
also weight is a terrible metric, are your clothes getting tighter? whats the shape of your body like? egg shape or something else?
Body shape is essentially thickset around the neck, shoulders and chest but with an increasing tendency to run to fat around the waist. Trousers are not tighter but they sit round my hips, so the increase in waist size is less noticeable in terms of comfort. Definitely tighter round the midriff when wearing my wedding suit (3 years old) although I can still button it up without sucking my stomach in (just about). A tight black shirt that used to make me look quite slim now just sees the buttons straining to keep bits of me in.also weight is a terrible metric, are your clothes getting tighter? whats the shape of your body like? egg shape or something else?
Edited by Foliage on Friday 5th February 13:56
I take the points about the volume of food but I've always eaten loads. That's an entirely normal amount for me and representative of the amounts I've always eaten. And yet the weight has suddenly shot up in the past few months, despite no real change in calorific expenditure over the week. In fact I probably burn more now than I ever did due to the simple fact of walking everywhere.
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.
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.
Thanks for all the input
Just to clarify, I don't eat 6 eggs every day. I usually do have three eggs for dinner during the week but not at weekends. The chicken breasts, yeah it sounds like a lot and I suppose it is in terms of protein amounts. In terms of volume though it doesn't seem remarkably excessive to me, particularly as I have absolutely nothing else on the plate. I suppose my problem is that I am not used to knowing what a normal amount of food is anymore. Always eaten a lot and maybe it's beginning to catch up on me
Someone nailed it above - the point of concern is the reason for sudden weight gain when my intake of food hasn't changed at all. In fact i would say that I probably eat less now than i have in the past (marginally). So must it therefore be something to do with my change in regime - from cycling for 6-7 hrs a week, and nothing else, to suddenly stepping away from the bike, doing different types of cardio at differing intensities and introducing quite heavy weights. But here's the thing - the weight came on quickly over the course of a month or so, between September and October last year. That was before I even started lifting. When I did start lifting at the back end of October then I did it 3 days a week initially, and split the sessions between legs, chest and arms but saw that my weight had peaked at nearly 100 kg by Christmas and cut it back to once a week in the new year in an effort to stop bulking up too much.
I will certainly cut back on the protein. It's obviously too much. But I'm struggling to find foods that are easy to prepare, economical enough to buy in quantity, that I can eat enough of to make me feel full, which taste nice, and which don't send me to sleep in my office an hour after ingestion.
Cheers all.
Just to clarify, I don't eat 6 eggs every day. I usually do have three eggs for dinner during the week but not at weekends. The chicken breasts, yeah it sounds like a lot and I suppose it is in terms of protein amounts. In terms of volume though it doesn't seem remarkably excessive to me, particularly as I have absolutely nothing else on the plate. I suppose my problem is that I am not used to knowing what a normal amount of food is anymore. Always eaten a lot and maybe it's beginning to catch up on me
Someone nailed it above - the point of concern is the reason for sudden weight gain when my intake of food hasn't changed at all. In fact i would say that I probably eat less now than i have in the past (marginally). So must it therefore be something to do with my change in regime - from cycling for 6-7 hrs a week, and nothing else, to suddenly stepping away from the bike, doing different types of cardio at differing intensities and introducing quite heavy weights. But here's the thing - the weight came on quickly over the course of a month or so, between September and October last year. That was before I even started lifting. When I did start lifting at the back end of October then I did it 3 days a week initially, and split the sessions between legs, chest and arms but saw that my weight had peaked at nearly 100 kg by Christmas and cut it back to once a week in the new year in an effort to stop bulking up too much.
I will certainly cut back on the protein. It's obviously too much. But I'm struggling to find foods that are easy to prepare, economical enough to buy in quantity, that I can eat enough of to make me feel full, which taste nice, and which don't send me to sleep in my office an hour after ingestion.
Cheers all.
b
hstewie said:
hstewie said: I guess consumption is relative in that a fat kid today probably thinks the amount they consume is alright.
It's interesting I'll grant you because whilst I'm know next to nothing about nutrition and diets I do struggle a little thinking that anyone could consider three chicken breasts for lunch normal.
All I mean by that is that if you go anywhere that sells food, be it McDonalds, Greggs, M&S, wherever, you don't generally see people buying two packs of sandwiches or two Big Macs, I would suspect that if people have an evening meal and there are two of them they probably have a chicken breast, singular.
Sorry, can't get over what sounds to me like a pretty basic "You're eating too much".
Sure. But that person's chicken breast singular will probably be slathered in a calorific sauce of some sort, and there will be other calorific elements on that plateIt's interesting I'll grant you because whilst I'm know next to nothing about nutrition and diets I do struggle a little thinking that anyone could consider three chicken breasts for lunch normal.
All I mean by that is that if you go anywhere that sells food, be it McDonalds, Greggs, M&S, wherever, you don't generally see people buying two packs of sandwiches or two Big Macs, I would suspect that if people have an evening meal and there are two of them they probably have a chicken breast, singular.
Sorry, can't get over what sounds to me like a pretty basic "You're eating too much".
My lunch is just chicken. Nothing else. Even if each chicken breast is a generous 300 cals (I think that's more than generally quoted) then that is 900 cals total for lunch. Sounds within the bounds of normality to me if exercise is taken into account?
Edited by Joey Ramone on Saturday 6th February 19:37
Edited by Joey Ramone on Saturday 6th February 19:38
Dunno. When I was 17 all I did was cycle everywhere, eat the same amount as any normal teenager, play loads of rugby, and never touched weights once, and I weighed in at about 13.5 stone. And I know I ate the same as everyone else because I was at boarding school and my diet was decided for me. I therefore had no control over how much was on my plate, or how many meals I ate.
Again, my query is not 'why do I not weigh 11 stone?' or 'why do I not have the physique of a Formula 1 driver?' That much is obvious. My query was simply why, if my diet HAS NOT CHANGED from that which I have consumed for many years, my weight should suddenly rise by over a stone in a few weeks. That's the bit that is puzzling me. And it came on so quickly, I simply can't attribute it to doing weights, no matter how heavy or not they are.
Again, my query is not 'why do I not weigh 11 stone?' or 'why do I not have the physique of a Formula 1 driver?' That much is obvious. My query was simply why, if my diet HAS NOT CHANGED from that which I have consumed for many years, my weight should suddenly rise by over a stone in a few weeks. That's the bit that is puzzling me. And it came on so quickly, I simply can't attribute it to doing weights, no matter how heavy or not they are.
Edited by Joey Ramone on Sunday 7th February 09:21
Edited by Joey Ramone on Sunday 7th February 09:22
What's not so simple is that I exercise far, far more now than I did in my 30's, and eat more healthily.
Look, I'm not trying to be obtuse. I understand that there are a range of factors at play. Age is one, amounts of food is another, types\frequency of exercise is another, and then there is general lifestyle and so forth. Just trying to pinpoint the reason for going from 13st 12lbs (my weight at the end of September) to 15st 6lbs (weight by end of December) with the only real change in my life being the introduction of a weights session into my routine. And at my age, that is certainly not concerted muscle growth.
It's odd. There have been times in the past when my weight has ballooned but there have been very identifiable factors at play. I wrote a book a few years ago - did zero exercise for months and sat at a desk all day. The other time was when I just lifted weights for a few years in my 20s but on a st student diet of bread and pasta and with no cardio routines at all. That saw my weight rocket upward and not in a good way. But in each case the weight has gone onto my face quite noticeably. You can easily tell in photo's when I've been going through a fat stage. This time however the weight has stayed off my face and just gathered around my trunk. I don't feel noticeably fatter but the scales do not lie.
Look, I'm not trying to be obtuse. I understand that there are a range of factors at play. Age is one, amounts of food is another, types\frequency of exercise is another, and then there is general lifestyle and so forth. Just trying to pinpoint the reason for going from 13st 12lbs (my weight at the end of September) to 15st 6lbs (weight by end of December) with the only real change in my life being the introduction of a weights session into my routine. And at my age, that is certainly not concerted muscle growth.
It's odd. There have been times in the past when my weight has ballooned but there have been very identifiable factors at play. I wrote a book a few years ago - did zero exercise for months and sat at a desk all day. The other time was when I just lifted weights for a few years in my 20s but on a s
t student diet of bread and pasta and with no cardio routines at all. That saw my weight rocket upward and not in a good way. But in each case the weight has gone onto my face quite noticeably. You can easily tell in photo's when I've been going through a fat stage. This time however the weight has stayed off my face and just gathered around my trunk. I don't feel noticeably fatter but the scales do not lie.Eating a lot less protein now. 1 chicken breast at a time. More brown rice to compensate. Although the last few days have been spent in Sicily so all semblance of a healthy diet went right out of the window.
Something occurred to me. Last March I was prescribed SSRI antidepressants. I was on 40 mg a day (Fluoxetine). I tapered that down to 20 mg a day before Christmas, and now weaning myself off. I have a feeling that the medication could have had a significant effect on my weight and/or metabolism. It may explain the sudden weight gain. I had initially lost weight during the early stages of the depression but that came back on after a few months, and then onward and upward.
Might be something, might be nothing.
Something occurred to me. Last March I was prescribed SSRI antidepressants. I was on 40 mg a day (Fluoxetine). I tapered that down to 20 mg a day before Christmas, and now weaning myself off. I have a feeling that the medication could have had a significant effect on my weight and/or metabolism. It may explain the sudden weight gain. I had initially lost weight during the early stages of the depression but that came back on after a few months, and then onward and upward.
Might be something, might be nothing.
Silver993tt said:
Some of the healthiest and tastiest food in Europe is found in southern Italy, in particular Sicily. It's called the Mediterranean diet. I've lived in this region, not far from Sicily for more than 10 years.
Yes, but when you're on a work trip, operating on a strict timetable have spent 14 hours battling Sicilian traffic and insane country roads, you haven't had any lunch, you're exhausted and you just want some filling food before you hit the sack to do it all again the next day, you order a pizza and two large beers. Well, I did. Update
Quick recap. I posted asking for advice after seeing my weight increase from 14 stone to about 15.5 stone over the period of a couple of months late last autumn. Simply couldn't work out what was happening as my diet hadn't changed, and my exercise levels were high.
As of about a month ago I had got it down to about 15 stone.
Weighed myself yesterday and a shade under 14 stone.
Again, nothing has changed, really. I don't walk to and from work anymore, but i am cycling more. Dropped the once weekly weights sessions completely though. Still eating the same.
Odd
Quick recap. I posted asking for advice after seeing my weight increase from 14 stone to about 15.5 stone over the period of a couple of months late last autumn. Simply couldn't work out what was happening as my diet hadn't changed, and my exercise levels were high.
As of about a month ago I had got it down to about 15 stone.
Weighed myself yesterday and a shade under 14 stone.
Again, nothing has changed, really. I don't walk to and from work anymore, but i am cycling more. Dropped the once weekly weights sessions completely though. Still eating the same.
Odd
Hoofy said:
1 stone of lean muscle mass lost? 
No, obviously not. But a significant amount of mass has shiftedOddly, this time round that increased mass had confined itself to my torso - I really felt it around my lats, and at that point across your stomach where you button up your suit, rather than round the waist - trousers didn't feel any different, just shirts and jackets. And it didn't show on my face either, which is where traditionally I would really notice it (noticeably rounder face).
Also getting my protein from dairy, eggs and veg rather than meat, although I do still eat meat if given the chance.
Anyway, back somewhere approaching normal (for me) thank-God.
Edited by Joey Ramone on Wednesday 3rd August 16:12
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