Why do I gain weight when eating low calorie, high volume foods, but not small calorie dense food?
TurtleTop08
Posts: 25 Member
I weigh myself daily and have noticed a pattern along with experimenting. I've been cycling between a calorie deficit and 2 days per week of maintenance. Over the past few months I've gained around 15 pounds. Technically over 20 but I countered some of that through experimenting and now I'm at the point where I'm no longer hungry (since yesterday). I generally eat low calorie, high volume foods like plates of cooked veggies with a little bit of grains or chicken on the side, egg white omelets packed with greens, fish filets, fruit salads and the like. I've noticed on the mornings following days like this, my weight was consistently increasing daily in a linear pattern despite being in a deficit or maintenance. Eventually I was up by 10 pounds within a short amount of time. Ironically, I still fit into my clothes except my stomach was frequently distended. So I did an experiment by eating the same amount of calories except in small, calorie dense foods like nuts, seeds, clif bars, peanut butter, cheese, avocados, dried fruit, jerky and/or other stuff. My weight began going DOWN daily in a linear pattern until I was down 5 pounds (I only did this for a short amount of time). And my stomach went back to being somewhat flat, but not as flat as before the entire 10 pound weight gain because I went back to eating low-calorie high volume foods except decreased my calorie allowance even more and stopped the occasional maintenance for a couple weeks. My weight began going up daily again (except a little bit slower). Then I went back to small, calorie dense foods and the weight went back down again. Something weird is going on. I'm now up another 10 pounds which is a total of 15 from a few months ago from the start of this problem. I want to do the whole small, calorie dense thing again but it's harder to stay full on it despite the same calories. And it's weird how despite being 15 pounds heavier, I don't look it at all. My clothes fit exactly the same (with the exception of the front of my pants/button with the frequent stomach distention). What is going on with this "phantom weight?" Oh, another thing to add. My weight also went back down when I did a liquid diet for a week (same amount of calories)...until I went back to low, calorie high volume.
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Replies
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Are you weighing your food?
Have you been pmsing?
My weight watchers leader claimed that sometimes you need to eat more calories to lose weight because it gives the body more energy to burn calories. It made sense to me, but I'm pretty sure the people here would disagree.1 -
Plus, I tend to bloat or put on weight when I eat things like bread or certain amounts of sodium0
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healthypelican wrote: »Are you weighing your food?
Have you been pmsing?
My weight watchers leader claimed that sometimes you need to eat more calories to lose weight because it gives the body more energy to burn calories. It made sense to me, but I'm pretty sure the people here would disagree.
I've been eating enough. I was eating the same amounts throughout the entire time. Just in different volume and either solids or liquids. And yes I weigh my food.1 -
Because you are eating more calories overall when you eat the bigger meals.5
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Wondering if any of the people replying actually read what the OP wrote? Although I don't have an answer for you, I'm pretty intrigued with ur findings8
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I didn't read all that because it is one big paragraph and I haven't finished my coffee.
You know food as weight, right? I eat high volume. Very heavy vegetables. I can eat over a head of lettuce, a whole cucumber, a couple of tomatoes, and even more veg in a day. It's heavy.
When I needed to cut weight for a powerlifting weigh in, I did not eat high volume the day before. I ate higher fat and lighter foods (actually, like pretzels and stuff). I weighed in less than typical the next day.4 -
Also, have you been having regular BMs?4
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Just guessing here, but I would say the difference is water. High volume foods typically have a higher water content. If your body is holding on to that water, your weight goes up and your stomach appears distended due to bloating.3
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You need to tell us your height, weight, age, calories per day, activity, and I don't even know if you're trying to gain or lose.0
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Your plates of veggies, etc likely weighed more than your seeds, etc.
Other than that you've done way too much switching back and forth on things to make any sense of what you wrote. Try something consistently for a month before making changes.3 -
Because you are eating more calories overall when you eat the bigger meals.
I'm not. My bigger meals consists of mainly vegetables. Smaller ones consists of mainly peanut butter, nuts, and cheese. And again, I even furthered my experiment by going lower than a recommended 500 deficit. Weight loss/gain is not supposed to be linear for weeks in a row. And my weight gain didn't show physically except a bloated gut (and gas, constipation, etc). It's gotten to the point where my appetite is gone for some reason.
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Also, have you been having regular BMs?
No. Once a week
and idk why. I drink lots of water and get enough fiber from veggies. I didn't even eat today yet and it feels like I just ate a big meal. I'm STILL full from last night even though the meal was less than 300 calories and primarily vegetables steamed in broth. 0 -
http://m.wisegeek.com/what-does-200-calories-look-like.htm
Notice the grams listed for various foods.0 -
Your body weight fluctuates naturally...it's not a matter of I ate this and then this happened...body weight fluctuates throughout the day and from day to day...more/less waste in your system...fluctuations in water weight, etc.
Perhaps you shouldn't weigh in daily if you don't understand these things.2 -
TurtleTop08 wrote: »Also, have you been having regular BMs?
No. Once a week and idk why. I drink lots of water and get enough fiber from veggies. I didn't even eat today yet and it feels like I just ate a big meal. I'm STILL full from last night even though the meal was less than 300 calories and primarily vegetables steamed in broth.
Yeah. Take a look at your diet and see if you can fix it. I was only going once per week as well and it was horrible. Kids at school asked me if I was pregnant. Are you getting enough FAT to go along with that fiber? Minimum is .35 per pound of body weight. If you have a lot of fiber, you might need more.
Then look at something you may have added in the past 6 months or so.
You might need to take something if you don't feel well from not going. I needed to but didn't want to start depending on laxatives so went to the GI doc. I'm literally on medication so I can go to the bathroom now. Sucks.2 -
TurtleTop08 wrote: »Also, have you been having regular BMs?
No. Once a week and idk why. I drink lots of water and get enough fiber from veggies. I didn't even eat today yet and it feels like I just ate a big meal. I'm STILL full from last night even though the meal was less than 300 calories and primarily vegetables steamed in broth.
You should probably see a doctor about that...once per week isn't remotely normal.2 -
You didn't answer the question about regular BMs, but my first thought was plates of veggies = lots of fiber, not much fat. Butter, nuts and cheese = more fat not much fiber. If you're not used to lots of fiber that could stop you up and make you feel distended until you get used to it. Try upping your water to get things moving and having more balanced meals.2
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Sometimes food allergies do not necessarily present themselves as obvious stomach upset / pain. And, if you're eating something you've always eaten in the past, since you were a kid, you may not make the connection if, for whatever reason, you've become more sensitive to something now. An allergy can cause the symptoms you describe.
To share my experience: I always had belly fat and joint pain, since my 20s. After every doctor you could imagine and neurotically weighing and measuring food / counting calories with no results, I went to an acupuncturist in desperation. My entire body throbbed; I remember thinking I'd never make it to my 30s if I had to live like this. The acupuncturist told me to stop eating grains. This is 20 years ago when "healthy eating" was brown rice, whole wheat this, that, and whatever, and the idea of it sounded weird since I grew up on pasta. I never had the traditional symptoms of celiac, but when I stopped grains, breads my pain disappeared after a few weeks as did my belly. (And I replaced the grains with other foods; it wasn't a calorie deficit.)
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maybe it's a food allergy/intolerance ...is there a common food you are eating that makes you feel this way? I can't eat many raw veggies because i feel bloated and my intestines feel like they are all knotted up when I do. it can be really painful.0
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TurtleTop08 wrote: »Because you are eating more calories overall when you eat the bigger meals.
I'm not. My bigger meals consists of mainly vegetables. Smaller ones consists of mainly peanut butter, nuts, and cheese. And again, I even furthered my experiment by going lower than a recommended 500 deficit. Weight loss/gain is not supposed to be linear for weeks in a row. And my weight gain didn't show physically except a bloated gut (and gas, constipation, etc). It's gotten to the point where my appetite is gone for some reason.
Retained food waste sounds like the likely culprit here.
Edit: I see other people have also chimed in with this answer. Honestly, it's what I thought just from reading your initial post. You need fat and fiber to keep things moving.3 -
I agree with the retained food waste group but I would add the possibility that you spiking your blood sugar and sending a large amount of carbs into temp storage.
Even eating friendly carbs like rutabaga or sweet potatoes in volume will overwhelm your ability to process them in a 2 or 3 hour time frame. Your body dumps insulin and they get stored which moves them to the back of the cue.
I am not a excessive low carber or keto fanatic but if you bend your macros out of shape you will get skewed results.
You can eat a one pound sweet potato for 389 calories.... SWEET!
But of course the carbs are 92 which is NOT so sweet!
Half or more going to insulin wrapped fat storage after a short while.
I am not suggesting that you are diabetic but average healthly people have to follow the same rules for blood sugar as everyone else.
From your post I would understand you are in maintenance.
So the better question to ask is why are you still craving high volume foods?
If your carb loading to go and do some form of strenuous exercise there are better foods for that purpose.
One last thing, the carb macro is very important.
It maybe your cravings for high volume food maybe being generated by low blood sugar.
Eating cues come in two types, one is genuine hunger and the other is caused by low or unstable blood sugar.
So you eat a large meal of pasta or Chinese food and you aren't really hungry yet you crave something sweet or carb rich shortly there after yet your stomach is full or neutral.
Your body has dumped insulin and removed way to many carbs and your blood sugar is now low even though your stomach is still processing the remnants of fat and proteins of the previous meal.
Hope this helps
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You didn't answer the question about regular BMs, but my first thought was plates of veggies = lots of fiber, not much fat. Butter, nuts and cheese = more fat not much fiber. If you're not used to lots of fiber that could stop you up and make you feel distended until you get used to it. Try upping your water to get things moving and having more balanced meals.
I generally don't have regular BM's. The ONLY time I had regular BM's was when I tried a low residue diet as an experiment. But the diet felt unsustainable and only lasted a week for me.0 -
TurtleTop08 wrote: »You didn't answer the question about regular BMs, but my first thought was plates of veggies = lots of fiber, not much fat. Butter, nuts and cheese = more fat not much fiber. If you're not used to lots of fiber that could stop you up and make you feel distended until you get used to it. Try upping your water to get things moving and having more balanced meals.
I generally don't have regular BM's. The ONLY time I had regular BM's was when I tried a low residue diet as an experiment. But the diet felt unsustainable and only lasted a week for me.
You should go to the doc! I got put on a med called linzess and it's changed my life. I can bend over to tie my shoe on Friday now. I was only going on Saturday and maybe once on Wednesday if I was lucky.1 -
TurtleTop08 wrote: »You didn't answer the question about regular BMs, but my first thought was plates of veggies = lots of fiber, not much fat. Butter, nuts and cheese = more fat not much fiber. If you're not used to lots of fiber that could stop you up and make you feel distended until you get used to it. Try upping your water to get things moving and having more balanced meals.
I generally don't have regular BM's. The ONLY time I had regular BM's was when I tried a low residue diet as an experiment. But the diet felt unsustainable and only lasted a week for me.
You should go to the doc! I got put on a med called linzess and it's changed my life. I can bend over to tie my shoe on Friday now. I was only going on Saturday and maybe once on Wednesday if I was lucky.
Yeah you're right. I just was hoping someone would have a good idea of what's going on. According to these answers it could be a list of things. Might as well get checked. By the way, I just tried eating a late breakfast and it did not stay down
*sigh* 0 -
TurtleTop08 wrote: »TurtleTop08 wrote: »You didn't answer the question about regular BMs, but my first thought was plates of veggies = lots of fiber, not much fat. Butter, nuts and cheese = more fat not much fiber. If you're not used to lots of fiber that could stop you up and make you feel distended until you get used to it. Try upping your water to get things moving and having more balanced meals.
I generally don't have regular BM's. The ONLY time I had regular BM's was when I tried a low residue diet as an experiment. But the diet felt unsustainable and only lasted a week for me.
You should go to the doc! I got put on a med called linzess and it's changed my life. I can bend over to tie my shoe on Friday now. I was only going on Saturday and maybe once on Wednesday if I was lucky.
Yeah you're right. I just was hoping someone would have a good idea of what's going on. According to these answers it could be a list of things. Might as well get checked. By the way, I just tried eating breakfast and it did not stay down *sigh*
Yeah the GI doc can run tests for allergies too. No reason you have to go your whole life with one BM per week. It's uncomfortable.1 -
The same happens to me. I can eat low volume and weight is mostly consistent, but when I eat high volume of same calories the next day I'm up point .6 pounds. It's always .6. I think it's just retained food and water. Also constipation is adding to your scale weight.0
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TurtleTop08 wrote: »TurtleTop08 wrote: »You didn't answer the question about regular BMs, but my first thought was plates of veggies = lots of fiber, not much fat. Butter, nuts and cheese = more fat not much fiber. If you're not used to lots of fiber that could stop you up and make you feel distended until you get used to it. Try upping your water to get things moving and having more balanced meals.
I generally don't have regular BM's. The ONLY time I had regular BM's was when I tried a low residue diet as an experiment. But the diet felt unsustainable and only lasted a week for me.
You should go to the doc! I got put on a med called linzess and it's changed my life. I can bend over to tie my shoe on Friday now. I was only going on Saturday and maybe once on Wednesday if I was lucky.
Yeah you're right. I just was hoping someone would have a good idea of what's going on. According to these answers it could be a list of things. Might as well get checked. By the way, I just tried eating a late breakfast and it did not stay down *sigh*
I think most people on here had a good idea what was going on. You're constipated, and you need to see a doctor. Best of luck with that.1 -
Fiber is actually constipating for some people. Someone did a study where they put a group of chronically constipated people on a zero-fiber diet. Every one of them improved. The ones that thereafter went back to reduced or high fiber after the initial period regressed--the more fiber, the fewer BMs.
Also, you're switching back and forth between a high-carb, low-fat diet, and moderate-carb, higher-fat diet. If you feel better and lose/don't gain weight on the lower-carb diet, you might try moving farther in that direction. Increase the fat (whole-egg omelets instead of egg whites, fatty fish, butter on the veg, etc.), cut down the grains and fruit salads, go for lower-fiber vegetables. You did say you had regular BMs on the low-residue diet, compared to the high-fiber diet.
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I'm curious to what your macros are averaging out too.
Carbs
fat
Protein
Fibre0
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