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Why am I gaining fat all of a sudden?

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Mash

Member
Ok woah. This thread is going to lead this guy into some sort of body image disorder here.

As you get older you do start to store more fat, it's just a fact. You say you've been skinny for a long time, well, in that case now you're getting older any slight changes in metabolism that occurs naturally will be even more obvious.

Your diet is not bad, for a sixteen year old it's fine. You can live an ascetic lifestyle if you want and banish the foods you enjoy and burn off every calorie you intake, or you can just be realistic about it and use it to your advantage by working out. Honestly, I think you'll find your weight will pleateu even if you decided to do neither. At sixteen I gained a bit of weight probably hit ten stone which made me feel fat considering how skinny I'd been, but the truth is I was probably at a healther weight than before.
 

Vrk

Member
I think your taenia died :(

200px-Tenia_solium_scolex.jpg
 

teh_pwn

"Saturated fat causes heart disease as much as Brawndo is what plants crave."
Mash said:
Ok woah. This thread is going to lead this guy into some sort of body image disorder here.

As you get older you do start to store more fat, it's just a fact. You say you've been skinny for a long time, well, in that case now you're getting older any slight changes in metabolism that occurs naturally will be even more obvious.

Your diet is not bad, for a sixteen year old it's fine. You can live an ascetic lifestyle if you want and banish the foods you enjoy and burn off every calorie you intake, or you can just be realistic about it and use it to your advantage by working out. Honestly, I think you'll find your weight will pleateu even if you decided to do neither. At sixteen I gained a bit of weight probably hit ten stone which made me feel fat considering how skinny I'd been, but the truth is I was probably at a healther weight than before.

Metabolism doesn't drastically change to a point that someone should expect to gain fat until elderly parts of life.

The guy already said he was boney, and that he doesn't have any muscle. That's why his metabolism is slowing, not because of a "fact."

Building muscle and doing some cardio will get him into much better shape. More support for internal organs, higher quality of life, longer life expectancy. Just accepting it as "fact" and becoming obese = early death, lower quality of life.


Yeah, his diet isn't perfect. But I wouldn't start there, because focusing on weights and cardio will boost his metabolism so much that he'll eventually have to start eating significantly more. I'd recommend eggs, meat, fish, fruits, vegetables on top of what he's eating.
 

Mash

Member
teh_pwn said:
Metabolism doesn't drastically change to a point that someone should expect to gain fat until elderly parts of life.

The guy already said he was boney, and that he doesn't have any muscle. That's why his metabolism is slowing, not because of a "fact."

Building muscle and doing some cardio will get him into much better shape. More support for internal organs, higher quality of life, longer life expectancy. Just accepting it as "fact" and becoming obese = early death, lower quality of life.


Yeah, his diet isn't perfect. But I wouldn't start there, because focusing on weights and cardio will boost his metabolism so much that he'll eventually have to start eating significantly more. I'd recommend eggs, meat, fish, fruits, vegetables on top of what he's eating.

He's 16, his metabolism changing subtlely due to other physical changes that occur at that age is going to be the main reason for any change in weight. Of course keeping healthy is beneficial but scaremongering teenagers into thinking gaining a little weight is going to lead to an early death is pathetic. What he classes as being "fat" is probably not so.
 

teh_pwn

"Saturated fat causes heart disease as much as Brawndo is what plants crave."
Mash said:
He's 16, his metabolism changing subtlely due to other physical changes that occur at that age is going to be the main reason for any change in weight. Of course keeping healthy is beneficial but scaremongering teenagers into thinking gaining a little weight is going to lead to an early death is pathetic. What he classes as being "fat" is probably not so.

I'm not telling him to go on some anorexia diet. I'm recommending that he lift weights, do cardio, and eat MORE.

Kids or anyone of any age should be given accurate information, even if it isn't convenient. Having no muscle tissue, and gaining body fat will lead to various health complications and a sucky life. By treating him as an adult, I'm not intending for him to react unusually and become anorexic.


If you're not liking:

"Just accepting it as "fact" and becoming obese = early death, lower quality of life."

I'm a long term thinker. If you endorse the mentality of "it just happens, you can't do anything about it" he will become obese. Without a strong resting metabolic rate, and a concern for weight, he will cyclically go on diets and lose even more muscle and thereby reduce metabolism further and gain more fat.
 

YYZ

Junior Member
iamblades said:
Color of the bread makes no difference at all as to the actual nutritional content of the bread. I've seen 'white' bread thats about as nutritious as that grocery store 'whole wheat' loaf, and I've seen fancy multigrain shit that had the nutritional content of wonderbread.

No carbs after 1 is a stupid rule unless you are not physically active at all. If you actually, you know, do stuff during the day and night, carbs will be stored as glycogen, not fat. Fat is a much longer term storage, and it takes more energy to do the conversion, so if your body knows you are gonna be needing that energy tonight or tomorrow, it will go into glycogen, not fat.

Nothing wrong with juice also. Theres a reason people like sweet things, because we have evolved to digest and burn sugars very easily with very little overhead. It is the body's preferred fuel.

Your suggested diet is boring as hell (any diet with skim milk I automatically ignore, whole milk all the way, even that 2% shit is weaksauce, I don't need milk thats almost the consistency of water), but then again, I don't buy into the whole calorie restriction thing. I say you should be able to eat whatever you want, my stomach says it wants something, it gets it, I just make sure I burn all that fuel. If your muscles aren't beat at the end of the day ready to go to sleep and suck up all that food you ate for repairs and refueling, then you're doing it wrong.
Ignore this guy's post except the carbs timing thing. The carbs thing is true for very strict diets, but if you work out heavily in the afternoon/evening then you need more carbs then you'd get from breakfast alone. Everything else in the above quote is garbage.
 
Diets aren't supposed to be rigid time-based, number-crunching soul sucking bullshit. Stop with all of this bloated, ridiculous advice.

If your post is longer than 20 sentences, you're thinking about this too much. All he has to do is cut out the sugar and enjoy life. Stop turning people into robots by diet.
 
Definitely change your diet. I haven't had the best luck in losing weight, but lots of sugar = bad. Lots of water = good btw. Not only does it keep you skinnier than drinking juice, but it helps stop kidney stones, which is always good.
 
I was gonna say that if you enter the 20s you're full grown and can gain quite some wheight if you do nothing active, while in your teenage years you could keep weight/get skinnier by doing absolutely nothing.

But seeing you're 16...
 

JimiNutz

Banned
Liu Kang Baking A Pie said:
Diets aren't supposed to be rigid time-based, number-crunching soul sucking bullshit. Stop with all of this bloated, ridiculous advice.

If your post is longer than 20 sentences, you're thinking about this too much. All he has to do is cut out the sugar and enjoy life. Stop turning people into robots by diet.

Agreed. I think some people get a little carried away with the whole nutrition thing and deny themselves a number of foods that probably would have little or no negative impact if eaten sensibly.
I look at the strict regimes that some guys follow and wonder how they get any enjoyment out of eating at all. The funny thing is there are quite a few guys like this at my local boxing gym and none of them are especially leaner or stronger than the rest of us. As with many things in life some people simply take it too far.
 

Escape Goat

Member
Souldriver said:
I was gonna say that if you enter the 20s you're full grown and can gain quite some wheight if you do nothing active, while in your teenage years you could keep weight/get skinnier by doing absolutely nothing.

But seeing you're 16...


yeah, around 23-24 i started to gain weight. :(
 
NutJobJim said:
Agreed. I think some people get a little carried away with the whole nutrition thing and deny themselves a number of foods that probably would have little or no negative impact if eaten sensibly.
I look at the strict regimes that some guys follow and wonder how they get any enjoyment out of eating at all. The funny thing is there are quite a few guys like this at my local boxing gym and none of them are especially leaner or stronger than the rest of us. As with many things in life some people simply take it too far.
Why should pleasure be a primary concern with eating? Explain please.
 

YagizY

Member
Breakfast:
Small bowl of cheerios - Carbs and Sugar
8 oz Cup of skim milk
Banana - Carbs and Sugar

Lunch:
Buffalo Chicken Sandwich - Carbs, especially if on white bread
Apple - Carbs and Sugar
1 carton of chocolate milk (from school) - Lots of sugar
1 carton of gatorade - Lots of carbs and sugar

Dinner:
3 slices of pepperoni pizza. On days other than fridays, I usually eat dinners that are much more healthy... but fridays are basically lazy ass take out food days for my family >_> ... not that I mind. - Pizza? Yeah, Carbs.

Other:
about 3 8 oz cups of apple juice (I'm just estimating for this... it might've been 2 or something) - Just pure sugar, eat an apple instead if you really want something apple-y
Yoplait "99% fat free yogurt" - Sugar
Another 8 oz cup of skim milk


So basically you eat a lot of sugar and carbs while living a sedentary life style. I wonder how you could possibly be gaining weight.
 

SyNapSe

Member
Teh Hamburglar said:
yeah, around 23-24 i started to gain weight. :(

Same here around the 25 age, you've basically got to totally reinvent your eating habits at that age for most people. :(
 

JDSN

Banned
iamblades said:
Color of the bread makes no difference at all as to the actual nutritional content of the bread. I've seen 'white' bread thats about as nutritious as that grocery store 'whole wheat' loaf, and I've seen fancy multigrain shit that had the nutritional content of wonderbread.

No carbs after 1 is a stupid rule unless you are not physically active at all. If you actually, you know, do stuff during the day and night, carbs will be stored as glycogen, not fat. Fat is a much longer term storage, and it takes more energy to do the conversion, so if your body knows you are gonna be needing that energy tonight or tomorrow, it will go into glycogen, not fat.

Nothing wrong with juice also. Theres a reason people like sweet things, because we have evolved to digest and burn sugars very easily with very little overhead. It is the body's preferred fuel.

Your suggested diet is boring as hell (any diet with skim milk I automatically ignore, whole milk all the way, even that 2% shit is weaksauce, I don't need milk thats almost the consistency of water), but then again, I don't buy into the whole calorie restriction thing. I say you should be able to eat whatever you want, my stomach says it wants something, it gets it, I just make sure I burn all that fuel. If your muscles aren't beat at the end of the day ready to go to sleep and suck up all that food you ate for repairs and refueling, then you're doing it wrong.

I implore to anyone that is open to suggestions about being more healthy to ignore this post.
 
I actually recommend that a 16 year old should stop weight lifting, as they're still growing. Stick with body weight exercies like push ups, squats, and jumping jacks.

You can make a big improvement in physique with just these, with little risk of stunting growth.

I remember in Grade 10 where I could only do about 30 lame pushups in two minutes. Lame being I couldn't bend my elbows to right angles without collapsing.

Now in my thrid year of uni, I can do 30 clean incline pushups, with my feet resting on a chair. And after that, my body isn't wiped out, and I actually feel more invigorated afterwards.

As for your diet, I agree with others that it has too much simple sugars. Stop eating 99% fat free yogurt and try cottage cheese, and mix in real frozen fruit. Loads of protein, and you get all the healthiness in fruit. Unlike the yogurt where the vast majority is corn syrup based, with a pittance of dairy.

I wouldn't worry about the pizza once a week. If you only have 3 unhealthy meals a week, and 18 good meals full of vegtables, protein, and complex carbs, there won't be a problem.
 
iamblades said:
Color of the bread makes no difference at all as to the actual nutritional content of the bread. I've seen 'white' bread thats about as nutritious as that grocery store 'whole wheat' loaf, and I've seen fancy multigrain shit that had the nutritional content of wonderbread.

No carbs after 1 is a stupid rule unless you are not physically active at all. If you actually, you know, do stuff during the day and night, carbs will be stored as glycogen, not fat. Fat is a much longer term storage, and it takes more energy to do the conversion, so if your body knows you are gonna be needing that energy tonight or tomorrow, it will go into glycogen, not fat.

Nothing wrong with juice also. Theres a reason people like sweet things, because we have evolved to digest and burn sugars very easily with very little overhead. It is the body's preferred fuel.

Your suggested diet is boring as hell (any diet with skim milk I automatically ignore, whole milk all the way, even that 2% shit is weaksauce, I don't need milk thats almost the consistency of water), but then again, I don't buy into the whole calorie restriction thing. I say you should be able to eat whatever you want, my stomach says it wants something, it gets it, I just make sure I burn all that fuel. If your muscles aren't beat at the end of the day ready to go to sleep and suck up all that food you ate for repairs and refueling, then you're doing it wrong.

Head-In-Hands-3.jpg

Thanks to Slo and JDSN for already replying, but this needed some extra attention.
 

JimiNutz

Banned
Captain Glanton said:
Why should pleasure be a primary concern with eating? Explain please.

It doesn't have to be a primary concern, but you know, it's nice to be able to enjoy doing something if you have to do it a minimum of three times a day for 365 days a year :lol

Maybe some people don't care if they don't enjoy eating food, but to suggest that you have to follow the very strictest of diets to be physically fit and healthy is IMO incorrect. I'm not suggesting people eat any old crap, I'm just suggesting a balanced approach. As I said earlier I'm of the opinion that some people simply take it too far, and since I know such people personally, I think I'm entitled to that opinion.
 

Ace 8095

Member
There is an unhealthy level of bullshit in this thread. You need to start lifting weights. I guarantee after one month of following Rippetoes you will need at least 2500 calories a day to gain weight. If you really want to increase fitness read this thread http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=998224. It will outline the BEST novice weight lifting program, how to perform all lifts, why you should lift, and tips on getting the necessary amount of food to gain muscle.


Also be sure to post in Captain Glanton's thread. People in that thread actually know how the body works.
 

Zeed

Banned
Binge and purge my friend.

Alternatively try eating paper towel bits. They won't kill you and they fill you up so you don't want to eat anything that gets you fat.
 

Innotech

Banned
definitely drink alot of cold water. I usually store 10-20 bottles of water in the fridge and empty that regularly. Tastes really good to me.
 

Zeed

Banned
Innotech said:
definitely drink alot of cold water.
Don't listen to him. Water accounts for a huge amount of your body weight. A lot of the winners on The Biggest Loser won because they deprived themselves of water.

Dehydrating yourself is a quick and easy way to lose weight.
 

Slo

Member
Zeed said:
Don't listen to him. Water accounts for a huge amount of your body weight. A lot of the winners on The Biggest Loser won because they deprived themselves of water.

Dehydrating yourself is a quick and easy way to lose weight.

WTF dude? It doesn't matter what you weigh. You should not be trying to lose weight, you should be trying to lose fat.
 
Weight lifting = Gain Muscle , Shapes your body and you burn more fat ( with muscle )

Combine cardio one day and weight lifting the next day = Success
 

Zeed

Banned
Slo said:
WTF dude? It doesn't matter what you weigh. You should not be trying to lose weight, you should be trying to lose fat.
It all makes him look slimmer in the end, which is the point.

But if you want to be picky that brings us back to the "paper towel trick".

If all else fails you may want to consider gastric bypass surgery. Go under the knife once and bam, problem solved. Worked wonders for Al Roker.
 

whitehawk

Banned
bigmakstudios said:
Lunch:
Buffalo Chicken Sandwich
Apple
1 carton of chocolate milk (from school)
1 carton of gatorade
I don't know if this has to do with your fat, but don't drink Gatorade if your not exercising. It has something in it (I forget what its called) that you are low on when active. It's not healthy to drink it when your not moving much.
 
NutJobJim said:
It doesn't have to be a primary concern, but you know, it's nice to be able to enjoy doing something if you have to do it a minimum of three times a day for 365 days a year :lol

Maybe some people don't care if they don't enjoy eating food, but to suggest that you have to follow the very strictest of diets to be physically fit and healthy is IMO incorrect. I'm not suggesting people eat any old crap, I'm just suggesting a balanced approach. As I said earlier I'm of the opinion that some people simply take it too far, and since I know such people personally, I think I'm entitled to that opinion.
I don't believe that people should make themselves miserable by undernourishing their bodies. But, you have to realize that the purpose of food is to give you fuel, not pleasure. That's it. Until you realize that, you will never really be in control of your eating and your weight/body.
 

Zeed

Banned
whitehawk said:
It has something in it (I forget what its called) that you are low on when active.
Electrolytes. Very good cure for dehydration. If you're worried about being a fatty, though, they aren't what you want to worry about with Gatorade. The sugar and carbs are more the problem.

But again it's safest to just not drink.

Captain Glanton said:
I don't believe that people should make themselves miserable by undernourishing their bodies.
Undernourishing their bodies can make them thin, and making them thin can make them happy. They just want to change their bodies by any means necessary to make themselves feel better. Who are you to judge?
 

whitehawk

Banned
Zeed said:
Electrolytes. Very good cure for dehydration. If you're worried about being a fatty, though, they aren't what you want to worry about with Gatorade. The sugar and carbs are more the problem.

But again it's safest to just not drink.
Ah yes, that's the one.
 

pCeSlAyEr

Member
sugar is a carb...

your intake of HFCS is too much.. cut back on anything with HFCS and sugar and you'll lose some weight.

oh and Electrolytes is just a fancy name for dissolved Salt.
 

iamblades

Member
OK, maybe I went overboard with the whole 'eat whatever you want'. thing.

But I hate restrictive diets, and being more of an endurance type athlete, I don't really have to worry about what I eat. Never weighed more than 160 in my life, never much more than 10% or so body fat. Probably down around 6-8% atm, haven't had it checked in a while cause I don't really care.

I just tend to overreact when I see someone advocating strict diets for someone who doesn't really need it, and I absolutely hate when people act like specific foods are so evil that if you eat them at all you'll become an instant lardass. The first step for pretty much everyone other than the truly obese should be to increase activity levels, not start micromanaging your diet. It is much easier to work on the activity side than the eating side, takes much less discipline and is far more enjoyable IMO.
 

JimiNutz

Banned
Captain Glanton said:
I don't believe that people should make themselves miserable by undernourishing their bodies. But, you have to realize that the purpose of food is to give you fuel, not pleasure. That's it. Until you realize that, you will never really be in control of your eating and your weight/body.

Well this is where we disagree then. The purpose of working is to earn money but if somebody offered you a job where you earned 60, 000 a year, but you hated the job and it made you miserable, while another man offered you a job where you earned 50, 000 a year, and you enjoyed this job, which one would you pick? One provides you with a little more money, but you hate it, while the other provides you with slightly less, but you enjoy it. I sure as hell would pick the second one because it provides me with more than enough to live on and I'd rather enjoy something that I spend a lot of time doing, but if you believe the sole purpose of a job is making money then I suppose you'd pick the second?

You might think this is a useless analogy, but really it isn't. I never once said people should eat any old crap (which would be the equivalent of taking a job where you earn 15 000 a year.) I said you can lead a perfectly healthy life if you eat a balanced diet. A balanced diet does not mean that you have to cut out all carbs, or all sugars, or even all 'junk' food like some others have suggested. I believe that some people take nutrition too far (the type of people that eat a plain grilled chicken breast with steamed broccoli and plain wholemeal pasta every night for dinner.) Would it really hurt that much to chuck a little sauce over that chicken and pasta? Maybe melt a little cheese over it? I know some guys that would flat out refuse to do this because they worry about the extra sugar in the sauce or the fat in the cheese, but if you're sensible with your portions you can easily lead a healthy lifestyle and enjoy your food at the same time.

I enjoy my food AND I don't under nourish my body by enjoying a balanced diet. Balanced for me means that I can eat a chocolate bar if I fancy it, I can pour creamy carbonara sauce over my pasta, and I can marinate my steak in BBQ sauce and fry it in a pan, so long as I make sure I watch my portions, do enough exercise, and stick within about 2500-3000 calories a day. I might not have the physique of a bodybuilder, but I'm lean and reasonably muscular-I box a little so a leaner physique is preferred. (I've posted pics of it before on GAF if you want to check I'm not bullshitting.) Sure it's not a perfect body, I could certainly bulk up a bit and maybe cut a little, but it's certainly good enough IMO and it means I can enjoy every meal that I eat. I laugh at some of the guys down the gym that excessively follow strict obsessive diet regimes, especially when we get in the ring and they're not much fitter than the rest of us.

I’m sure your diet works for you and your aims, but you need to understand that being healthy does not necessarily equal having the physique of a bodybuilder. You can be lean and muscular and still be considered fit and healthy. Some of the replies in this thread are the type of replies you’d expect to find if somebody wanted to gain 40lb of muscle. The OP simply said that he wanted to lose a little body fat, not start bodybuilding.
 

Mason

Member
I'm fairly skinny but have a bit of fat on my lower stomach, which I hate. So I'm torn between trying to build muscle by eating a ton but being afraid it's going to make the fat situation around the abs worse. When trying to build muscle, should I focus on eating a ton of stuff such as nuts which are not exactly low in fat content but high in protein?
 

Zeed

Banned
Mason said:
When trying to build muscle, should I focus on eating a ton of stuff such as nuts which are not exactly low in fat content but high in protein?
Subsist on protein shakes and nothing else.
 

Sol..

I am Wayne Brady.
Wow, you guys might want to consider toning down the crazy just a tad. This sounds like a "problem" that could be solved with some good lifting. I spose he started it bringing up his diet though. We all know how gaf goes crazy when you mention food.



lotta hungry people round here. whole lotta hungry people.
 
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