Confusion with food habits combined with fast metabolism

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allabouthegains
allabouthegains Posts: 46 Member
in Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
many people say different things. Some tell me to eat anything I can get my hands on cause calories are calories and you need so many each day.
Others say strict healthy diet not too much of this or that and you should be progressing in your gains....

My metabolism is so fast along with burning numerous calories working.

What do you guys think ?
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Replies

  • AJ_G
    AJ_G Posts: 4,158 Member
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    It's somewhere in the middle honestly. You definitely want to get whole foods in as the base of your diet(beef, chicken, vegetables, fruit, etc.). Once you've hit your micronutrient and fiber and hopefully have gotten close to hitting your protein goal, this is where you work in some more calorie dense foods just to get the calories in (full fat milk, fruit juice, butter, cheese, peanut butter, pop tarts, brownies, soda, etc.)
  • allabouthegains
    allabouthegains Posts: 46 Member
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    I feel like I can never get enough of all of it each day no matter how I prep each day
  • AJ_G
    AJ_G Posts: 4,158 Member
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    Are you trying to maintain your weight or gain weight? How many calories do you have to eat to maintain your weight? What are your macro goals set at?
  • allabouthegains
    allabouthegains Posts: 46 Member
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    Im at 160 trying to get to 175lb. My calories are at 3570. People are saying to up the calories. Honestly though sometimes I can't even reach them. Or I just simply ain't hungry.
  • AJ_G
    AJ_G Posts: 4,158 Member
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    How accurately are you tracking calorie intake. Are you measuring your food out with a food scale or is most of it estimation?
  • allabouthegains
    allabouthegains Posts: 46 Member
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    I search it most the time I find it but some times I can't find it so I check the bag and put in whatever is closest to the actual
  • allabouthegains
    allabouthegains Posts: 46 Member
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    I always have to eat cral to get my last bit of calories I don't think I should have to be doing that
  • AJ_G
    AJ_G Posts: 4,158 Member
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    allabouthegains wrote: »
    I always have to eat cral to get my last bit of calories I don't think I should have to be doing that

    Well I hope you're not literally eating crap. Other than that, it's not crap it's just food that's a part of your diet. It's not unhealthy as long as you get the base of your diet from meats, fruits, vegetables, grains, basically whole foods. It's completely healthy to eat processed foods and empty calories on top of that to reach a calorie goal. I suggest pop tarts.
  • AJ_G
    AJ_G Posts: 4,158 Member
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    allabouthegains wrote: »
    I search it most the time I find it but some times I can't find it so I check the bag and put in whatever is closest to the actual

    Sounds like there's a lot of estimation and guesswork happening. If you're not weighing everything, you need to get a food scale and start weighing things, it makes a world of difference. You could honestly estimate everything and think you're eating close to 4000 calories a day, but only be eating 3000 or even less. It happens to a lot of people.
  • allabouthegains
    allabouthegains Posts: 46 Member
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    So where would I get one of those weighing scales ?
  • William4MVP
    William4MVP Posts: 166 Member
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    ^ amazon
  • DaddieCat
    DaddieCat Posts: 3,646 Member
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    allabouthegains wrote: »
    So where would I get one of those weighing scales ?
    William4MVP wrote: »
    ^ amazon

    This... also, Wal-mart, target, most grocery stores that have a kitchen supplies section, the pharmacy, the post office. Pretty much anywhere.
  • stephxo1
    stephxo1 Posts: 191 Member
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    You really need to be weighing your food and logging it before you can honestly say that those calories are working or not for you. I'm on 2700cals at present and gradually gaining weight but I couldn't gauge it properly without my scales and food diary. Good luck!
  • Springfield1970
    Springfield1970 Posts: 1,945 Member
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    Also, are you doing cardio? You need to eat those calories back too, or cut down for a bit.

    Lucky lucky you. I'm netting 1600 at the moment and I'm MISERABLE.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,139 Member
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    stephxo1 wrote: »
    You really need to be weighing your food and logging it before you can honestly say that those calories are working or not for you. I'm on 2700cals at present and gradually gaining weight but I couldn't gauge it properly without my scales and food diary. Good luck!

    this...

    and you also need to realize that there is nothing wrong wiht calorie dense foods like ice cream, oreos, bagels, etc; just make sure that you are meeting micro and macro needs first and then fill in your remaining calories with calorie dense sources
  • Zmac34
    Zmac34 Posts: 32 Member
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    allabouthegains wrote: »
    many people say different things. Some tell me to eat anything I can get my hands on cause calories are calories and you need so many each day.
    Others say strict healthy diet not too much of this or that and you should be progressing in your gains....

    My metabolism is so fast along with burning numerous calories working.

    What do you guys think ?

    If you're using an online BMR calculator because it's different with every person despite putting in your age, weight, height, and activity level. At one point I would consume 10K cal a day and not gain a pound. I stayed at 145 lbs at 5'11" through high school and majority of college. It wasn't until continuous heavy weight lifting and high caloric consumption that I got to 165 lbs at 8% Body Fat by the age of 24 but I had the SAD diet and my blood pressure was terrible.

    I would say calories is #1, macros is #2 and nutrients is #3 for sustaining life. However you need a balanced combination of them all in order to make gains and improve health.

    If you haven't already done this track exactly how many calories you're burning, consuming, and your weight for one week and after this make the proper adjustments in order to gain weight. You should shoot for 100 calories over your daily BMR. Once this is completed focus in on nutrient dense foods like sweet potatoes, oatmeal, berries, avocados, cruciferous vegetables, and various legumes as your staple. This will ensure you're getting ample micro nutrients and antioxidants to promote muscle recovery. Maintain a macronutrient breakdown of high carbs medium fat and low to medium protein. Lastly cut out processed foods and try to stick to organic whole foods as much as possible.

    Good luck
  • Zmac34
    Zmac34 Posts: 32 Member
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    Springfield1970 wrote: »
    Also, are you doing cardio? You need to eat those calories back too, or cut down for a bit.

    Lucky lucky you. I'm netting 1600 at the moment and I'm MISERABLE.

    1600 wow, that's one meal for me. I could never go that low.
  • senecarr
    senecarr Posts: 5,377 Member
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    Lizzie Valasquez (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lizzie_Velásquez) has a "fast" metabolism. The results include she's blind in one eye and has myriad health conditions.

    For 96% of the population, your basal metabolic rate is going to be within +/- 200 calories (that's less than adding or subtracting one snickers bar from your diet to put you at the average). Most of what is different for people is how active they are, and how many calories they eat.

    If you want to gain weight, eat more calories or move less. If you haven't, try tracking your foods with a food scale and see if you're really eating as many calories as you think you are. Many people who have "fast metabolism" find out they're just someone who thinks they're eating more than they are the same as most overweight people under report what they're eating until they correctly track.

    For body composition, you're going to want to track and meet your macros, which is simple to do once already tracking food and calorie in take.

    For health, getting in veggies, fruits, lean meats or legumes, adequate fiber, low saturated fat, and many other things matter, to varying degrees, most a lot less than being at an appropriate body fat.
  • allabouthegains
    allabouthegains Posts: 46 Member
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    This is all really good stuff I need to do some more research cause obviously everyone's body is different but im extremely active my work is active plus im taking a lot of tests so I have to have good cardio and unfortunately im burning so much that I can't keep up with it along with my fast metabolism.

    The combo is terrible but there's not much I can do about it
  • Springfield1970
    Springfield1970 Posts: 1,945 Member
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    Zmac34 wrote: »
    Springfield1970 wrote: »
    Also, are you doing cardio? You need to eat those calories back too, or cut down for a bit.

    Lucky lucky you. I'm netting 1600 at the moment and I'm MISERABLE.

    1600 wow, that's one meal for me. I could never go that low.

    Yep. That's 150 cals under what I need before exercise. So I exercise a lot for treats!

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