A) sorry if we’re not allowed to ask our questions here. I can delete.
B) if we are allowed to ask questions then I’m just here to ask any thoughts on why walking 10k+ steps a day - including lots of stairs - and eating mostly meat, veggies, and rice for the last three weeks resulted in a gain of three pounds?
Weightloss happens in the kitchen, look at how much you are eating and estimate if the calorie intake is less then the calories spent.
Also just because you gained weight doesn’t mean you gained fat, muscle is ~3x heavier than fat so it is possible you lost some fat and gained muscle mass.
Thanks for taking the time to answer. I was just worried it was a tumor but I like the idea of muscle instead.
A body composition scale (I own a Withings unit) could be a good investment.
Thank you for the good suggestion.
Walking doesn’t really burn all that much calories, you likely overestimated how many calories you burnt and underestimated how many calories you took in.
You’re probably right. Thank you!
Three pounds is not a lot of weight. That could just be water and turds
I do poop a lot…
Here’s my suggestion:
Start by taking a picture of every single thing that you eat or drink for a week, other than pure water. Don’t try to count the calories or worry about your macros. Just take a photo. And yes, that means if you have a cup of coffee - take a photo of the cup of coffee.
Once you’ve gotten used to doing that, start weighing and measuring everything before you eat it. If you have cereal in the morning, measure out how many cups of cereal, and how many cups of milk. How many ounces of coffee do you have, and how much sugar or cream/creamer? If you go out to eat, the information is usually pretty readily available; chain restaurants have their portion sizes down cold. Don’t worry about looking at the calories at this point.
Once you’ve gotten used to that, it’s time to start looking at your macros: how many grams of carbohydrates, fat, and protein are you eating? For that you need to not only be measuring things, but have a rough idea of the breakdown of that thing. (This is why people that are training seriously tend to eat very simple things with only one ingredient; it makes it a lot easier to figure out.)
Now take those numbers and add them up. How many calories did you eat each day? Where are those calories coming from?
The overwhelming majority of people are eating far more calories than they think they are. You total daily energy expenditure (TDEE), depending on your activity level, can be between 1000cal and up to 10,000cal (although if you’re close to the latter, then you’re going to know it; that’s “Michael Phelps Training For the Olympics” level energy expenditure). To really dial your diet in, you need to know what your base metabolic rate is, how many calories you burn just existing; your local gym should be able to point you in the correct direction, although rlatively few gyms have the ability to do that kind of testing on-site… Once you know your TDEE, you need to consume modestly less than your expenditure.
Odds are good that you’re eating too much, even if it’s food that’s “healthy”.
Oh, and your priority should be lifting weights–particularly free weights, and basic, compound lifts–rather than cardio. Cardio makes you more efficient; you want to be less efficient if you really want to burn through calories.
Thank you!!! I’m going to do this. At least for the next two weeks. You’re right. I should get it down on visible numbers. I’m actually not upset about the weight. I’m not overweight really. It’s just not normal for what I’m used to. I’m also getting older too so things are changing.
Getting older is a right bastard. Recovery starts slowing down, you hurt more, and start getting more prone to certain injuries. And most people just start going easy on themselves as they get older; it’s easier to sleep in than it is to get up at 5am so you can go for a 3mi run.
If you are cis-male and have insurance, get a blood panel to check your hormonal levels. Sometimes some of the effects that men feel as they age can be caused by a sharp drop in testosterone levels, and that’s a very easily treatable issue. That’s most often the case once you hit mid-40s or older though.
Weightloss is purely clories burnt - clories eaten.
Since working out (even more intense workouts) is not as calorie burning as most people think, weightloss is mostly about what you eat and how much of it.
You can gain weight and be obese even on a salad diet if you eat a lot of it and put a lot of sauce in it.
While you don’t have to count calories everyday to really be on it, a good look at your daily/weekly meals from a calorie perspective plus a generic estimate for your daily calorie burning can give you an idea if you should eat less or modify some of your high clorie density meals.
Also, gaining weight can be muscle, not just fat. Do you feel more fit? Do you look more toned? Maybe you are doing great but mostly gaining muscle (which can be fast) but losing fat slowly
Thank you for taking the time to answer. I went to Angkor Wat for the last two weeks and climbed temple stairs. I guess I do feel more fit. Good point.
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Thank you @friend_of_satan. You guys are honestly probably right.