gaining water or is it really fat....?
maltipink
Posts: 147 Member
Hi.. I am confused about something and was wondering if anyone could provide some insight. We are told time and again in this group that when suddenly eating at TDEE after VLCD, you may gain weight and that we should not worry because it is just "water". However, when someone talks about their friend being on an extremely low calorie fad diet that is losing loads of weight, we are told not to be jealous because that person will gain all their weight back (fat) , when they start eating normally again. This would lead me to believe that if we started EMTLW and gained a bunch of weight after being VLC, it would be fat as well? Is it really water or are we actually gaining fat because we are not used to eating at our TDEE? I might be really confused but I feel like there is a contradiction in things I have read.
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if its like 5 pounds, i assume its water0
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There are group members reporting more than 5 pound gains yet we are continually being told it is water? I would think that if our bodies had adapted to eating VLC, therefore decreasing our BMR, then when we start eating what our TDEE should be, the calories would get stored as fat. I am going through this process because I want to reset my metabolism and eat at higher calorie intake and still lose weight. However, I would like to know if it really is fat I am gaining untill my body adjusts.0
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Its going to be water weight.
1. When you are on a VLCD diet, your protein and carb intake are usually low as well. This restricts the amount of Glycogen your muscles store.
2. When you add back in food, protein and carbs (even in moderate amounts), you are INSTANTlY giving your body more Glycogen. Your muscles store this Glycogen. however, Glycogen also requires water. 1g of Glycogen in your muscles requires 3-4g of water. It adds up fast.
If you have been at a VLCD diet for a very long time, you muscles will swell up with the increased storage witch leads to increased water storage and increase weight.
Also. 1lb of fat is 3500 calories. To gain 1lb of pure fat you need to eat 3500 calories on TOP of your normal TDEE. So if your normal TDEE is 2000 calories, to gain 1lb of pure body fat you need to eat 5500 calories.
If someone said to you "I gained 3 weeks" that means they would have had to eat an additional 70,000 calories on top of their normal intake in that 3 week period.
Using the same TDEE of 2000, the total amount of calories in 3 weeks needed to gain 20lbs of pure fat would be.....
112,000 calories.
or
5333.00 calories per day.0 -
I started out eating 1600 but netting 500-900, that was my version of VLC dieting. When I joined EM2LM I overestimated my activity level plus once I started eating/netting more I got hungrier by the day and there were days I'd net around 2500-3000, lol. Considering my reduced metabolism from the VLC days, the fact that my BMR is only 1320 and that my ACTUAL activity level should have been ”light” not ”moderate” like I originally assumed....I'm pretty certain I packed on some true fat, but the other half was water because it went away pretty quickly, faster than fat would.
So maybe, for some of us it's more like 50/50 lol.0 -
Its going to be water weight.
1. When you are on a VLCD diet, your protein and carb intake are usually low as well. This restricts the amount of Glycogen your muscles store.
2. When you add back in food, protein and carbs (even in moderate amounts), you are INSTANTlY giving your body more Glycogen. Your muscles store this Glycogen. however, Glycogen also requires water. 1g of Glycogen in your muscles requires 3-4g of water. It adds up fast.
If you have been at a VLCD diet for a very long time, you muscles will swell up with the increased storage witch leads to increased water storage and increase weight.
Also. 1lb of fat is 3500 calories. To gain 1lb of pure fat you need to eat 3500 calories on TOP of your normal TDEE. So if your normal TDEE is 2000 calories, to gain 1lb of pure body fat you need to eat 5500 calories.
If someone said to you "I gained 3 weeks" that means they would have had to eat an additional 70,000 calories on top of their normal intake in that 3 week period.
Using the same TDEE of 2000, the total amount of calories in 3 weeks needed to gain 20lbs of pure fat would be.....
112,000 calories.
or
5333.00 calories per day.
Is it possible though, that when you are on a VLCD, you have reduced your TDEE from where it should be? Therefore eating an additional 3500 calories on top of that reduced TDEE will cause you to gain fat? Even though your TDEE according to scooby says for example.. "2100" but because you have slowed your metabolism, your actual TDEE is more like 1600-1700?If the metabolism has slowed, our BMR and TDEE goes down as well? Thank you for being patient in explaining this:)0 -
Its going to be water weight.
1. When you are on a VLCD diet, your protein and carb intake are usually low as well. This restricts the amount of Glycogen your muscles store.
2. When you add back in food, protein and carbs (even in moderate amounts), you are INSTANTlY giving your body more Glycogen. Your muscles store this Glycogen. however, Glycogen also requires water. 1g of Glycogen in your muscles requires 3-4g of water. It adds up fast.
If you have been at a VLCD diet for a very long time, you muscles will swell up with the increased storage witch leads to increased water storage and increase weight.
Also. 1lb of fat is 3500 calories. To gain 1lb of pure fat you need to eat 3500 calories on TOP of your normal TDEE. So if your normal TDEE is 2000 calories, to gain 1lb of pure body fat you need to eat 5500 calories.
If someone said to you "I gained 3 weeks" that means they would have had to eat an additional 70,000 calories on top of their normal intake in that 3 week period.
Using the same TDEE of 2000, the total amount of calories in 3 weeks needed to gain 20lbs of pure fat would be.....
112,000 calories.
or
5333.00 calories per day.
Is it possible though, that when you are on a VLCD, you have reduced your TDEE from where it should be? Therefore eating an additional 3500 calories on top of that reduced TDEE will cause you to gain fat? Even though your TDEE according to scooby says for example.. "2100" but because you have slowed your metabolism, your actual TDEE is more like 1600-1700?If the metabolism has slowed, our BMR and TDEE goes down as well? Thank you for being patient in explaining this:)
That is always a possibility. But your talking a difference of 5333.33 to (lets say 700 calorie difference). to 4633.33 a day to hit the same number.0 -
This is kind of what I am thinking too. Our bodies may not necessarily see the "scooby" number as our actual TDEE. In reality, some individuals might have done so much damamge to their metabolisms, that their TDEE is actually quite lower. Therefore, eating at the "scooby" TDEE would cause you to gain fat , at least until your body adjusts and starts functioning correctly.0
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I guess what I am saying, barring a medical condition, and eating jack in the box 3 times a day for 3 months, its almost impossible to put on 20lbs of PURE fat
If you are watching what you eat, and exercising, its not fat 0 -
This is kind of what I am thinking too. Our bodies may not necessarily see the "scooby" number as our actual TDEE. In reality, some individuals might have done so much damamge to their metabolisms, that their TDEE is actually quite lower. Therefore, eating at the "scooby" TDEE would cause you to gain fat , at least until your body adjusts and starts functioning correctly.
Also thats what I figured and why I bought a BMF. remember the calculators are just that. They get you in the "ballpark: and a good place to start. You can learn how your body responds, although it takes time. Changing after 3 short weeks is not scientific and will not show you anything. Taking 8-12 weeks. You can find out your own TDEE number from that, and use it.
However, back to the BMF, it calculates me at about 350 calories lower (3986 compared to 3650). however with everyone else its pretty much spot on.0 -
OOOHH... that makes sense! I think in the past, when I have not been on a VLCD, I have been binging and gaining a bunch of weight in a matter of weeks as opposed to months or years. I must have been consuming mega calories. Now that I think about it, the last time a major gain happend it was do to a vacation to Boston that involved tons of drinking, TGI Fridays and copius amounts of junk food. I am sure waaaaaaayyyy more than 4600 calories a day!0
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I have a BMF too.. I have been wearing it for about a month and I find it is giving me a slightly smaller burn every day! Like this morning for example, I took an extra 10 min walk after my elliptical session. I am registering at 40 calories less than monday when I did the exact same eliptical workout and did not take the walk. Also, I checked my burn during the elliptical and it was slightly higher today than the day with no walk. Weird!0
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This is kind of what I am thinking too. Our bodies may not necessarily see the "scooby" number as our actual TDEE. In reality, some individuals might have done so much damamge to their metabolisms, that their TDEE is actually quite lower. Therefore, eating at the "scooby" TDEE would cause you to gain fat , at least until your body adjusts and starts functioning correctly.
Daysflyby....I meant to quote you and respond to you with the above post...0
