Eating enough calories makes me super bloated?

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yournewpal233
yournewpal233 Posts: 1 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I'm a male, 26. I'm 6ft/183cm tall, I weigh á 189,6lbs/86 kg. I used to have not that great habits in terms of eating and working out, but over the past couple of years I've gotten better with it and I currently have a balanced diet and I work out at the gym lifting heavy for 3 times per week. My job is quite active - I walk around 10 000 steps every work day, so 5 times a week. Bad habits: I smoke and I do use alcohol about once or twice a week, sometimes just a couple of beers, sometimes party-mode full on. I used to drink a lot more but I've cut that down over the past few years as well.

I've always been one of those people who can literally forget to eat. When I was younger, I could go the whole day without eating, and then the evening comes and I ate more at once. I've never been obese, but when I moved in with my girlfriend, we both gained weight. I was 242.5 lbs / 110kg at my heaviest, so I've lost over 50 lbs / 24 kg in the past á 2 years. I've never had any allergies diagnosed. I've had blood work done a year ago, but everything came back okay, just a little bit too much fat in my blood and slightly higher cholesterol than needed.

The problem is that when I eat even 2000 calories per day, I feel incredibly bloated, by stomach goes wacky and I just don't feel good. While I've been losing weight I have been eating healthy stuff but not counting calories, just as much as I felt I needed to feel good and have enough energy, but when I calculated the amount of calories I was getting, it was only around 1300 calories. We discussed this with my gf and decided she would add more calories to my meals (she does most of the cooking) because of course I want to be able to get results at the gym and 1300 does sound very little for a grown man with my activity level. I got to around 2000 calories per day and I feel awful. I tried to increase my calories one time before as well and I kept at it for weeks, but it didn't get any easier. This time I increased calorie dense stuff, so that the volume of the food wouldn't go up too much, but still the same issues happen.

Symptoms: bloating, upset belly and my stomach feels full all the time

Here's a list of what I would eat on a typical day and the amounts:

Breakfast: Smoothie - 1 banana, 30g whey protein powder, 100 mixed berries, 1 tbsp peanut butter, á 300ml oat milk, 50g greens, 15 g chia seeds, 10g flax oil

Lunch: 1 chicken breast (á 140g), 250 g boiled potatoes, 150g zucchini and 50g onions cooked in á 1 tsp of olive oil

Snack: Pre-made protein shake, 177 calories, 11g carbs, 25g protein

Post-workout: 30g whey powder with water

Dinner: 200g salmon, about 100g rice (sushi rice, so flavored with vinegar and sugar), 150g cucumber, 50g kale, 1 tsp of olive oil, 1 tsp mayo, 1 tsp ketchup

From my parents side my mom has thyroid issues, vitiligo and on her side there is thyroid issues and celiacs disease etc. My thyroid results have always been normal though. My dad has acid reflux.

Does anyone have any idea? This all just seems odd - I'm active and I would of course hope to build muscle, but 1300 calories just isn't going to make that happen.

Thank you in advance, hopefully I gave enough information!

Replies

  • MargaretYakoda
    MargaretYakoda Posts: 2,293 Member
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    If you’re eating anything with gluten, try avoiding that for a month, just in case it’s gluten intolerance. It is something with a genetic component.

    I’m reasonably certain bloating wouldn’t be caused by thyroid issues, and if your energy level is good you can probably strike that one off the worry list. (I am not a doctor. Always go with your doctor’s advice)

    1300 calories is definitely low for an active adult male. I’m an extremely inactive disabled adult female and my daily target for a weight loss calorie deficit is 1300.

    Have you considered asking your Dr for a referral to a dietitian and/or a gastroenterologist? If this persists you may wish to do that.
  • Fuzzipeg
    Fuzzipeg Posts: 2,298 Member
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    I think I'd pick up on your dads, acid reflux, this can be associated with thyroid issues in the broadest possible terms. The linking factor is something can be amiss in digestion, could be low stomach acid could also be a depleted digestive microbiome and things I probably know nothing of too. Another predisposing factor to microbial disruptions can be having used antibiotics which eliminate infections but also take good microbes too. Antibiotics are really useful but like other useful things can have addressable down sides. The more frequent your use of antibiotics the greater your potential for disruption. I heard for years taking digestive microbe support while on antibiotics is good but the why was always missing.

    I have no idea about the health system you live under but if you can be tested for intolerances and allergies and anything else your medical adviser can think of could be more than helpful in identifying your issue. Possibly the input of an nutritionist could also help.

    Thinking thyroid, many medical systems use one set of numbers. These numbers seem to be set in stone as if everyone in what they call, normal range is actually in a good place for them, where as they, their body would like to be higher or lower within the ranges, it should be a personal thing not a one size fits all approach. (thinking your mum here) The oft quoted thyroid stimulating hormone, (tsh) says very little about the whole endocrine system. The thyroid tends to be a reflection of the input of other glands working in concert. If people knew of it the status of their t3 thyroid hormone could be of more interest, how the total number is composed, how much is in the reverse form.

    Those with thyroid issues can react to cruciferous veg, cabbage family. Dairy, everyone shouts Lactose but the proteins can be a more likely issue too, be it casein or whey. Changing to goat or sheep can overcome dairy issues for some, they are type 3 casein more digestible than the bovine type 4. Gluten as already mentioned is a possible issue. Then there is soy and the list of possible issue continues. I've wondered if salicylate intolerance could be applicable because of 100g assumed of berries, with peanut butter, greens etc; then there could be histamine intolerance, bananas fall on histamine lists.

    Please get some good advice applicable directly to you based on your personal test results.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,897 Member
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    middlehaitch wrote: »
    How long have you been having whey protein 3x a day?

    And, does the use of the protein drinks coincide with the bloating?

    I ask because these quite often use a sugar free sweetener and these can cause the symptoms you describe.

    No specific sweetener, different people react differently to different sweeteners.

    Try a few days without the whey protein drink, just drink the per-made, if it is a different sweetener.
    If it is the same sweetener in both stop drinking both for a few days.

    If you find this is the cause look at trialing different sweetness or plain unadulterated protein powder.

    This is going to take some experimenting but, because you do a protein drink 3 times a day, that is a constant that could account for the bloating. I am supposing the rest of your diet varies from the example you posted.

    Cheers, h.

    Yes, my immediate thought was the protein powder as well.

    @yournewpal233: the way you are eating sounds like someone who is trying to REDUCE calories. An easier way to get more calories is to increase fats - cheese, nuts, nut butter, bigger helpings of oil, butter, mayo, fattier cuts of meat, etc. I'd LOVE to have more than a measly teaspoon of mayo, lol.
  • JeffMatchett
    JeffMatchett Posts: 43 Member
    edited August 2021
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    kshama2001 wrote: »
    middlehaitch wrote: »
    How long have you been having whey protein 3x a day?

    And, does the use of the protein drinks coincide with the bloating?

    I ask because these quite often use a sugar free sweetener and these can cause the symptoms you describe.

    No specific sweetener, different people react differently to different sweeteners.

    Try a few days without the whey protein drink, just drink the per-made, if it is a different sweetener.
    If it is the same sweetener in both stop drinking both for a few days.

    If you find this is the cause look at trialing different sweetness or plain unadulterated protein powder.

    This is going to take some experimenting but, because you do a protein drink 3 times a day, that is a constant that could account for the bloating. I am supposing the rest of your diet varies from the example you posted.

    Cheers, h.

    Yes, my immediate thought was the protein powder as well.

    @yournewpal233: the way you are eating sounds like someone who is trying to REDUCE calories. An easier way to get more calories is to increase fats - cheese, nuts, nut butter, bigger helpings of oil, butter, mayo, fattier cuts of meat, etc. I'd LOVE to have more than a measly teaspoon of mayo, lol.

    Yeah not gonna lie that example looks like it has a criminally low amount of fat, but I'd be interested in knowing exactly. Extremely low fat intake is unhealthy and assuming you aren't pounding down saturated and trans fats etc there is no real reason to avoid it at all.

    Too many carbs -> more insulin -> more salt retention -> increased bloat. As well as being considerably less efficient in terms of stomach space. Take off a few hundred calories of carbs and replace with any healthy fat and I almost guarantee this will resolve immediately. I drink tablespoons of olive oil pretty often.

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