Could My Metabolism Be Broken?

Alluminati · January 2015

christinev297 wrote: »

No offence OP, but men aren't supposed to be skinny and scrawny

Wow. Seriously?

_Ben · January 2015

OP, you may want to increase your calorie intake to maybe around 2200-2500 calories or so, to get you up to closer to 145lbs or 150. If you want some 'better' options, try goign for protein powder/protein bars. A good goal for gaining for you would probably be 150g of protein a day.

However you may want to talk to your doctor, just to make sure everything is ok. I dont want to scare you or anything, but weight loss like that, and being underweight, could be a sign of an underlying condition

kyta32 · January 2015

Pizza can have a lot of sodium. You don't need to be sensitive to sodium to have water weight gain from eating out. Fortunately water weight is temporary.

Sometimes people do develop food sensitivities as adults. This doesn`t necessarily come from dieting. Pay attention to how you feel when you try different foods. It may be you can still enjoy pizza or ice cream, if you use a gluten-free crust, or low-lactose milk/cream. Avoiding some foods may help prevent bloating, and discomfort. Good luck

EvgeniZyntx · January 2015

RoadieKill104 wrote: »

Hey guys and gals!

So I have a concern:

I have been struggling to get on the right track with my fitness for a bit now. I've been experimenting with my diet and exercise regimen's, and I'm beginning to get worried that I may have done some damage, or am at least at risk of damaging something.

Stats: 27 y/o male, 128 lbs, 5' 9"

I work a desk job and do 30 minute HIIT sessions 5 x per week. (INSANITY: MAX 30) I really enjoy HIIT, as I've never really been a fan of lifting.

I'm happy being a small guy, but lately I feel very sensitive to anything but whole foods. i.e. if I do have a couple slices of pizza, ice cream occasionally, etc. I feel like I feel it immediately on the scale and around my stomach.

At this point I feel like I'm basically MAINTAINING on ~1800 calories per day. I get that I'm a small guy but I feel like this seems low? Even for a desk job worker, I feel like being a man, and working out 5 x a week should drive my maintenance up a bit.

Just as a side note I have lost about 30 lbs over the past 10-11 months, but I'm just starting to get concerned that I may be losing weight and eating in the wrong ways.

Any thoughts?

It is highly unlikely you have a broken metabolism, it is more likely, given your low weight, that you don't need much calories at current state of lean body mass.

Given that you feel sensitive about certain foods, seek a professional to discuss these feelings, that will not help in gaining mass.

Why did you decide to lose 30 lbs - 128 is pretty low for 5'9"?

What are your goals?

Unknown · January 2015

This content has been removed.

ForecasterJason · January 2015

RoadieKill104 wrote: »

New question haha : is it possible to kind of bulk and gain lbm while staying semi lean? I don't like the idea of packing on weight with the whole to yo bulk cut routines, as I understand they simply involve cycles of eating lots and lifting to just basically gain weight, followed by basically cutting the way I already have and shrinking down? (Genery speaking of course, and I know I'm not tuly "cutting)

Thoughts or suggestions?

This would depend on how lean you are as it is. The lower your body fat when starting a bulk, the easier time you would have of doing this.

Unknown · January 2015

This content has been removed.

RoadieKill104 · January 2015

Maybe the biggest problem I have is that I'm realizing I don't really have any goals, up until now I suppose my goal has been to simply stay fit and maintain. I wouldn't even know where to start to decide to gain weight or mass. What would be realistic? 10-15 lbs? 20 lbs and maintain low body fat? And how would that even be done?

Would I try and put on 25 and then cut down to a 15 lb gain to try and preserve the muscle I created?

It's all very confusing haha

kyta32 · January 2015

RoadieKill104 wrote: »

Maybe the biggest problem I have is that I'm realizing I don't really have any goals, up until now I suppose my goal has been to simply stay fit and maintain. I wouldn't even know where to start to decide to gain weight or mass. What would be realistic? 10-15 lbs? 20 lbs and maintain low body fat? And how would that even be done?

Would I try and put on 25 and then cut down to a 15 lb gain to try and preserve the muscle I created?

It's all very confusing haha

There's a lot of resources out there. If you want to change how your body looks you could look into programs like stronglifts, or youtube vids like feeding fitness. I would suggest posting a thread or search for existing threads under fitness asking for recommendations for a beginning lifting program. I forget, did you say you have access to a gym? If you do, the trainers there can set you up on a program, advise you on form, and give some tips. After newbie gains, gaining up to one pound of muscle a month is what some aim for (bulks are slower than cuts?). Lift weight, body fat %, and how you look in the mirror are possible ways to track goals. Good luck

heybales · January 2015

RoadieKill104 wrote: »

New question haha : is it possible to kind of bulk and gain lbm while staying semi lean? I don't like the idea of packing on weight with the whole to yo bulk cut routines, as I understand they simply involve cycles of eating lots and lifting to just basically gain weight, followed by basically cutting the way I already have and shrinking down? (Genery speaking of course, and I know I'm not tuly "cutting)

Thoughts or suggestions?

Eat 250 extra calories in the 24 hrs post lifting workout.

Would take 14 of such days to see a 1 lb gain, and if workout is good enough, shouldn't be much fat at all.

But you'd need to log your workouts and eat more on those days too - you are attempting to eat above maintenance by a little bit.
- Progress will be slow.

Mr_Knight · January 2015

heybales wrote: »

RoadieKill104 wrote: »

New question haha : is it possible to kind of bulk and gain lbm while staying semi lean? I don't like the idea of packing on weight with the whole to yo bulk cut routines, as I understand they simply involve cycles of eating lots and lifting to just basically gain weight, followed by basically cutting the way I already have and shrinking down? (Genery speaking of course, and I know I'm not tuly "cutting)

Thoughts or suggestions?

Eat 250 extra calories in the 24 hrs post lifting workout.

Would take 14 of such days to see a 1 lb gain, and if workout is good enough, shouldn't be much fat at all.

But you'd need to log your workouts and eat more on those days too - you are attempting to eat above maintenance by a little bit.
- Progress will be slow.

To put that in calendar perspective, if you do as heybales suggests, with three meaningful workouts a week, you're looking at adding somewhere close to a pound of lean body mass every five weeks. Keep it up for a year, and it'll be around 10 new pounds of prime beef.

RoadieKill104 · January 2015

So what I'm hearing here is the slower I take the bulking the lower amount of fat I'll accumulate while doing so?

That's what I'm kind of getting from this, almost like you're trying to build the muscle slowly by creating as small a surplus as possible so your body can repair and grow, but doesn't have a whole lot of energy left above that to store as fat.

Am I correct in this? And if I am correct does it stand to reason that one could bulk slowly and then say do a mini cut every few months to shave off the small amounts of additional fat they're gaining to sort of get lean and then continue to bulk again?

heybales · January 2015

Yes to slow bulk. And that is so slow, I doubt you'll have any fat to trim off every so often.

Just watch waist measurements. If it goes up to much, then a small cut could be in order, 2 weeks, 2 lbs. 2 lbs of fat takes up a lot of volume, especially where it's added first.
Beer belly!

RoadieKill104 · January 2015

Awesome advice everyone and thank you so much! All this is very interesting/ exciting and I can't wait to start tryin some of these tactics!

RoadieKill104 · January 2015

So my next question would be (and thank you all so much for all the great help so far!) can I continue to do my programs while attempting to slow bulk like this?

I really do prefer this form of exercise (insanity and insanity max 30, cardio and body weight resistance traing) and for some added perspective I skate (board) maybe once a week as well.

My experiment I think will be as follows:

Continue with my program (s) and start at 2250 per day that I work out.

Off days or lighter days drop to 2000.

Monitor weight and adjust intake as weight starts to come up.

Any issues with this type of system?

Again the only thing I really fear is getting back that skinny-fat appearance and just feeling like crap. The other thing I fear is losing appetite again, as it makes it very hard to judge my progress or whether I should be eating or not if I'm not hingry no matter what the calls say.

And side note: are there any that think that 2250 will not be a surplus or that it will be too much of a surplus based off my stats? 27 y/o male 127 lbs 5 x week workout with insanity (30 mins each) with some skating sprinkled in (job is a desk job)

Thanks!
Chuck

heybales · January 2015

Insanity is, as self-described, intervals upside down.
That means because the rest is so brief and the hard is so long, you can't even push as hard, compared to if it was brief.
(Compare, could you do squats with 150 lbs as long as you could with body weight?)

That means it is intense cardio, with a strength component. It will use what muscle you got sure.

But that's not the kind of overload required for the body to see a need to actually increase muscle. You'll get it as strong as it can be for intense cardio workouts.

Certainly not body weight exercise after a while, perhaps at first. If you can do more than 15 reps of whatever with good form, it's not asking the body to build more muscle.

That type of program will not result in lean bulk.

girlviernes · January 2015

Several things you posted make me think you would really benefit from talking to a therapist who focused on treating eating disorders. Please consider it. Think about what percent of the day you are thinking about weight and food. Is it taking over your mind space?

Could My Metabolism Be Broken?

Replies

Categories