Fithealthyforlife Member

+1 Light intensity: log as "weight training" under cardio. Moderate intensity: log as "circuit training".

OP: I've read that our bodies, when faced with perceived starvation, can conserve calories by putting out less thyroid hormone. But the effect of this would be noticeable...you'd be tired/lethargic, hardly moving, cold, etc. Of course there are various degrees of this...but science has shown us that increasing calories…

9-11% on myself. 15-35% on a woman when push comes to shove. But honestly, any female ratio can look good.

It's great right now...I only went up an inch in the waist and a couple of bodyfat percent with 10 lbs of gain...but it does take a good amount of food! And I don't think it'll last as I get older...if my dad is any indication, fat gain gets easier after middle age.

I lose weight on 2000 and bulk on 3200+. But I'm also much younger (under 30).

Exactly. But those are the guys who call themselves hard gainers I've found. Also, gaining muscle is much easier for me than gaining fat, I think. Not sure how that can be, but that's my experience so far.

Right...assuming enough food and lifting, isn't muscle gain something like half the speed for women? That said, a female on a surplus will still have better gains than a poor hardgainer male who isn't tracking and only gets 2000 calories a day!

That's funny...I'm the opposite...I can gain muscle readily on a high enough surplus...but it's very hard for me to gain fat. Chalk it up to diffs between us in age and years lifting I guess.

Lol on your last comment, Sara! But that brings up a good point actually. I think this hardgainer syndrome is more of a guy thing, because men need a lot more calories. I don't see many posts from women saying they're having a hard time gaining weight. This was actually what spurred me to post. I have a lot of female MFP…

I don't hear "easy gainer" used ever. There must be a reason. The other thing is, sometimes "hardgainer" is inappropriately used to describe an average sized bodybuilder who has reached his predicted potential for maximum muscularity...because the point of comparison is those who have had a little "extra help" and gone…

That said, there are legit situations where someone could still have trouble... For example, clinical hyper or hypo thyroidism can both make muscle gains difficult. There are also adrenal conditions, etc. But I was assuming someone doesn't have such a condition, or if they do, it's being managed/treated properly.

It's basically broscience...don't you think? I mean, if one needs "x" amount of surplus to gain, and one hits that level every day and gains...who cares? As far as no progressive overload...that's as bad as undereating. Same for getting no sleep night after night. .

And if it is the volume of food or extent of cutting required that determines whether we consider someone one or the other, why? What's so hard about having to eat a certain amount to bulk or to cut fat later? You do what you need to do to gain the amount of muscle you want...

Your TSH is good. Your T4 (assuming it's total T4 and you made a mistake?) is at the high end of normal which is considered good. And your antibody level is high...this means that there is an immune response going on...something is either atacking your thyroid cells or blocking the TPO (thyroid peroxidase enzyme) from…

Yeah, it's because you're producing more thyroid hormone. After a few weeks the body adjusts. I've had this happen, too, every time I've increased calories. I've also sometimes had heart palpitations, nervousness, and increased warmth from consistently eating more for a few days or a week or two. It's just something you…

This is big stuff, and will help people with diabetes type II, and also those like myself who might be at increased risk for it because a grandparent, uncle, or whomever has it. The thing about muscle...I believe was due to the idea that the more muscle you have, the more metabolically active tissue you have that can use…

We have different takes on this topic, and we both feel it's an important one.. It's that simple. And it's a controversial topic, by nature...even at the level of cutting edge research. You know how many neuroscientists are studying stress? I don't have a number...but there are many, and for good reason. Finally: did I…

Excellent response! This proves it can be done. And it tells people how you're doing it effectively and safely. Thank you. It also seems that having type II itself decreases ability to gain muscle. This makes sense, because the insulin is not being used at would be in a person without type II due to decreased sensitivity.…

Ok, let me fix that... The scientific reason behind all this is that cortisol is a glucocorticoid hormone. Glucocorticoids, at least one major role of them, is to mobilize glycogen from storage and allow it to be broken down into glucose for energy. The physiological reason this happens under stress is that stress is a…

Honestly, this all is the last thing anyone should think/worry about. No one should stress over stress. Listen to this Ted Talk on the subject: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=RcGyVTAoXEU

No personal experience with this, but I've heard of people who are not new gaining a small amount of muscle and losing fat on a deficit. Honestly, I believe it's all about how much bodyfat one has, how well one trains and recovers, and the protein intake/nutrition. Honestly, you'd be better off at maintenance intake if you…

Thanks for the perspective! I have heard the same thing about gestational DM: increased risk for type II later, especially if things go out of whack. As far as a 5-lb gain in muscle per year...no, honestly that's extremely low for a guy who has just started and is at a low bodyweight and muscle mass level. It means the…

Well, I'm going by my own experience. I'm trying to find an optimal surplus, and it's north of 500 cal to gain half a pound a week. If I were diabetic, wouldn't that be dangerous? But you're right. I said "weight". And I should have said "fat". But you know what? everyone uses the word "weight". In fact, muscle gain that…

Wow, finally another person who has heard of intramyocellular lipids! I read about this when I did a research report for a class last year. It really is one of the leys to solving the type II diabetes puzzle. However...Many people are not fully seeing the question... The question is specifically about a person who has type…

Don't worry about it. Plus, if YOU feel you're too skinny when you're done cutting, you can always eat at a surplus later and bulk intentionally...to gain muscle.

So, what if (I'm assuming you're a medical doctor from your name) you had an adult patient (I know you're a pediatrician, but nonetheless) who was type II, and getting into hardcore lifting...and had to eat at least a 500-calorie surplus to bulk...? How would this person do it in a safe way? Would they just eat more of…

Yeah, but what's the probability of that?

I was actually just thinking about this while eating out today! I'd like to add: New York strip Lots of fat and gristle. When you have a cloth napkin, there's nowhere to hide, either...you either have to cut really carefully, be discreet about it, distract people, or just chew and swallow all the bad part.

Sure there's a reason...you dropped the drink!

Anyone with type I might be interested in this: http://diabeteshealth.com/read/2008/09/22/5079/scrawny-boy-with-type-1-diabetes-becomes-mr--universe/