MattW

Can anyone who understands body metabolism explain this?

A few weeks ago I had a bug which resulted in 2/3 days of....well lets just say I didn't eat too much.

As a result I lost 5-6 pounds and thought it would be a great start on a diet. Rather than a crash diet I have cut out snacking etc. So rather than buy a triple pack of sandwiches I get a double and so on. Eating after 9pm is a no on. My alcohol intake has dropped also as I have moved out of walking distance from my local.

The result is I can now get my jeans on and off without undoing the buttons, my belt is on the lowest hole (comfortably) and everyone is remarking how I have lost weight.

However the scales say different. Every morning I am the same weight, which naturally increases by a pound or two by bedtime. Again the next day back to the previous mronings weight?

WTF?

STi wanna Subaru

iTrader: (1)

anymore active? muscle on a bit and fat off.

MattW

Not especially. In fact I retired from weekly 5 a side although I have been out on the bike for a ride with my daughter once a week.

Lee247

You will be losing fat and gaining muscle. Sounds like you are doing good

MattW

Hmmm, but i'd actually like to see some scales progress

Lee247

Muscle is heavier than fat, so hang in there.
You can see it and so can everyone else, and you are doing some excercise.
Time for some new scales, methinks

sbk1972

Hi buddy,

For the 2/3 day illness, you probably lost a lot of water, digested food, a little muscle and a little fat. Your body goes into stravation mode, which can mean that when you start eating again, it stores everything in the event of a nother period where there's no food.

As you've now carried on, stopped eating crap, eating late, and taken up exercise, you've body has gained muscle, and dropped fat. The exercise your doing, sounds like its in your fat burning zone, and therefore stripping fat from you. i.e. the bike ride. IF your eating little and often, then your keeping your body's metabolism up, high, so not straving it, and preventing it storing food.

As for the scales, well those things are never too accurate. Best thing is to weight yourself weekly, at the same time, i.e. every sunday morning, bollock naked. The only accurate way is to measure your body fat.

The best diet, weight loss, is a total change in your life style, as diet never work. Sounds like your doing this, so well done.

SBK

MattW

Thanks guys.

IMO life is for living so a friday night blow out and the odd pint on a Sunday will always be on the agenda. However i have changed my habits, but it's been tough.

I went to London Friday with a few mates to see a concert. On the way we had a few beers and ended up in Camden. On the way, everyone feasted on KFC whereas I stopped in Camden Market and had some Chinese. At Paddington on the way home, I resisted the beer munchies and whilst everyone tucked into Big Mac and fries at 11:30 I didn't. On the flip side i had a lovely bacon and egg sandwich Saturday morning. So all in moderation

jaytc2003

iTrader: (1)

thats what it is Matt, just moderation, I have lost over 3 stone since June, through exercise and changing eating habits. I still eat bad at weekends and drink, but I know with the exercise I am doing I will drop it off. I also find my body has adjusted its metabolic rate so I can drop weight very quickly to my sort of weekday weight if you know what I mean.

[Davey]

In 2001 I lost 5 stone over the same number of months, it was pretty drastic! I was 17.5 stone and got down to 12.5 stone which was actually underweight for my height (6'2").. My metabolism was through the roof though, I could eat any old ****e and didnt put on weight, then it slowed back down again because I got comfy lol! Recently I've been active again and I'm doing 5-10miles an evening on the bike and keeping to a healthy diet.. I'm actually gaining weight now in muscle which is good

Scoobychick

iTrader: (1)

Matt what you're doing is by far the best and most sustainable way to lose weight. Muscle weighs more than fat and more muscle increases your metabolism. When I started at the gym last year I dropped a size but stayed the same weight.

I just continue to eat a well balanced, low fat diet without depriving myself of takeaways and meals out and am still slowly shrinking although my scales would convince me otherwise. Throw the scales away and just judge your size by how your clothes fit and what you see in the mirror

Changing the way I ate and my attitude to food instead of doing one faddy diet after the other has had far better results than any of the diets ever did!

Nigel H

Matt,

Nothing to add to the above, but when I changed my diet and started excercise I got hacked off when I stopped losing weight. So I did some reading and worked out that I was gaining muscle and loosing fat.

As an Engineer I wanted to measure this, so I went out and bought some scales

Tanita - weight watchers,losing weight,bodybuilding,weight loss

I can now measure my muscle gain, fat loss and overall weight

jaytc2003

iTrader: (1)

how much do they cost! can you get sky on them?

jaytc2003

iTrader: (1)

just looking, there is actually a shop called scales r us

www.scales-r-us.com

Ms Gooner 1

You'll find that if you weigh yourself EVERY morning - you'll get an OCD LMAO. Its a bit addictive to keep weighing and measuring. I think personnally, that if you wanted to lose weight and change shape - you have achived this. Your jeans you say are looser etc - but as has been said - muscle weighs more than fat - your weight may not change much, maybe a couple of pounds - but your shape and weight changes are visible - so I'd be chuffed with that!
Well done

MattW

Not so sure about the scales

j4ckos mate

i always thought atkins was the best for blokes,im of the opinion now that you really need to keep and eye on everthing you put in your mouth
and exercise regularly and you will be fine.

my missus is doing ww with her friends and has lost 1/2 stone, so im broadly following it as well, and have lost 4lb, i will start going back to the gym next week, when i get my head together at work.

MattW

But Atkins and WW are diets, once you return to lifestyle the weight goes back on.

j4ckos mate

well im not doing any exercise at the moment but eating sensibly seems to be working.

STi wanna Subaru

iTrader: (1)

whatever you eat is your 'diet'. It's just a case you're more concious of what you're eating. people often assume by diet that you're eating less which can be the case but a lot of people just consider the food types more with a view to what they want to achieve. If I'm at the gym and looking to bulk a bit then plenty of carbs will be part of the diet but if I'm trying to take some of that off then I'll cut a lot of carbs out. You don't have a natural diet it's just what you choose to eat.

MattW

I should have said Diet rather than diet.

Scoobychick

iTrader: (1)

I'm with Matt on this After my not inconsiderable experience of going on faddy diets all they do is cause you to lose lots of weight quickly which you then put back on very quickly once you start eating normally again.

The only real way to get smaller is to change the way you eat forever. I don't do any exercise other than walking at the moment and I'm still losing weight. I'm also still enjoying food, just different food to the junk I used to eat

FlyinbySTi

When I was diving (springboard) and swimming regularly and competing I decided to go Vegitarian for the most part. There are some advantages and some disadvantages to that though. You will loose weight quickly and be very lean, but you also loose alot of protien that is in the meat you would normally be eating. So I would put tuna and chicken into whatever salad I was eating at the time.

I have decided to do the same thing this winter. I have cut out all soda, all fast food (except the occasional something), all junk that i used to eat and have only been eating salads and veggie things. Drinking just water. Work out consists of situps, pushups, some basic freewieght lifts and some running/biking depending on the mood. I have been doing this for a week1/2 and down 4lbs already.