How do I know if I'm gaining weight from muscle and exercising a lot or system shock..

[RDKirk]

Muscle is very, very tough to build up, that is, to hypertrophy. Unless a person is on a very rigorously designed body building regimen, outside late adolescence for boys, weight gain is almost certainly fat.

That's particularly true for women and older men. It's extraordinarily difficult to gain muscle weight. I'm not talking about getting stronger--muscles normally get stronger without increasing size and weight.

Back in the day (early 80s) the top female bodybuilders--the women winning Miss Olympia--looked like "fitness models" today. In 1985, body builder Cory Everson won Miss Olympia with a body clearly built on steroids (as noted when comparing her 1984 body with her 1985 body--not even a an adolescent boy can build that much muscle that fast). But when she did it, the doors came off and female body builders either decided to use steroids or retired from competition.

Weight loss is primarily a matter of diet.

A 26-mile marathon burns about 2500 calories...that's a Big Mac with super-sized fries and a large Coke. The military prescribes 3,000 calories per day for soldiers who go on patrols every day carrying 90 pounds of gear in Afghanistan and Iraq.

I burn about 130 calories in 30 minutes on my elliptical--a single 12-ounce soda. It's a heck of a lot easier to skip the Coke rather than work out another half hour.

But you have to exercise while dieting to maintain muscle tone and mass.

 

[seventysevens]

eating smaller portions more often helps keep the metabolism turned on and burning calories , 4 -6 meals a day being smaller in portions keep the system burning calories - have something that contains protein as soon as you wake up , could be a handful of almonds

limit sugar products to zero if possible as the body will not make insulin as it should if much sugar is consumed

processed foods and many foods have much added sugar that is not needed and only hurts peoples health

 

[A_Thinker]

So it's probably fat then? I mean I was like 120 something last year and I'm like 150 something now. Are my clothes supposed to getting tight because, of the muscle built from it? I used to be a size 4-6 in pants for example.

Muscle does make you bigger. Just think of the champion muscle-builders like Arnold Schwarzenegger.

However, muscle is denser than fat, so you can carry more muscle at a smaller size.

Muscle tends to make you more shapely, ... fat tends to smooth everything out.

Your exercising definitely will have added some muscle to your frame, though probably not 30 pounds.

 

[The Bunny Rabbit]

Muscle is very, very tough to build up, that is, to hypertrophy. Unless a person is on a very rigorously designed body building regimen, outside late adolescence for boys, weight gain is almost certainly fat.

That's particularly true for women and older men. It's extraordinarily difficult to gain muscle weight. I'm not talking about getting stronger--muscles normally get stronger without increasing size and weight.

Back in the day (early 80s) the top female bodybuilders--the women winning Miss Olympia--looked like "fitness models" today. In 1985, body builder Cory Everson won Miss Olympia with a body clearly built on steroids (as noted when comparing her 1984 body with her 1985 body--not even a an adolescent boy can build that much muscle that fast). But when she did it, the doors came off and female body builders either decided to use steroids or retired from competition.

Weight loss is primarily a matter of diet.

A 26-mile marathon burns about 2500 calories...that's a Big Mac with super-sized fries and a large Coke. The military prescribes 3,000 calories per day for soldiers who go on patrols every day carrying 90 pounds of gear in Afghanistan and Iraq.


I burn about 130 calories in 30 minutes on my elliptical--a single 12-ounce soda. It's a heck of a lot easier to skip the Coke rather than work out another half hour.

But you have to exercise while dieting to maintain muscle tone and mass.

First of all I don't really care to gain muscle. So I haven't even been trying. I would think that trying for the muscle would be when you actually gain and my fiance keeps saying it's muscle, but I keep saying it can't be.

Also do you think that maybe I'm gaining weight from system shock? It's either that or I'm not eating right. Which do you think? I would be increasing exercise soon though.

 

[The Bunny Rabbit]

eating smaller portions more often helps keep the metabolism turned on and burning calories , 4 -6 meals a day being smaller in portions keep the system burning calories - have something that contains protein as soon as you wake up , could be a handful of almonds

limit sugar products to zero if possible as the body will not make insulin as it should if much sugar is consumed

processed foods and many foods have much added sugar that is not needed and only hurts peoples health

So what you're saying is to eat only organic then instead of processed?

 

[The Bunny Rabbit]

Muscle does make you bigger. Just think of the champion muscle-builders like Arnold Schwarzenegger.

However, muscle is denser than fat, so you can carry more muscle at a smaller size.

Muscle tends to make you more shapely, ... fat tends to smooth everything out.

Your exercising definitely will have added some muscle to your frame, though probably not 30 pounds.

So I should be able to fit into my smaller close if it were really muscle? Also does the loose skin I already have stack onto the muscle and is that why my clothes are tighter?

 

[seventysevens]

First of all I don't really care to gain muscle. So I haven't even been trying. I would think that trying for the muscle would be when you actually gain and my fiance keeps saying it's muscle, but I keep saying it can't be.

Also do you think that maybe I'm gaining weight from system shock? It's either that or I'm not eating right. Which do you think? I would be increasing exercise soon though.

Gaining muscle in the concept of bulging biceps is not what I refer to - muscle is very important to having good health and mainlining good health , and as you workout the amount of fat decreases and the muscle takes it place , your weight can vary as muscles weighs more than fat per given volume but you look leaner and thinner because you are leaner and thinner
and as a result your bodies immune system is better as well as working out and working to a sweat is causing the impurities in the body to be forced out , drinking lots of water helps replace the water loss due to sweating and aids in body temp regulation - it has been proven that people that have stronger muscularity have also a stronger ability to fend off illnesses and recover faster in both illness and injury

 

[seventysevens]

So what you're saying is to eat only organic then instead of processed?

Yea , not what I said but yea , there is some leeway but processed foods contain things that are bad for health and good for shelf life , what you should prefer is promoting your life and not the life of a product is is designed to make other people rich with cash

 

[*LILAC]

Do you eat alot of "non-fat and sugar-free" foods?

 

[The Bunny Rabbit]

Do you eat alot of "non-fat and sugar-free" foods?

Yes, I do.

 

[The Bunny Rabbit]

Okay, and guys how come the more I try and exercise the more I gain the weight, that has to be muscle, right?

 

[RDKirk]

Okay, and guys how come the more I try and exercise the more I gain the weight, that has to be muscle, right?

Keep a closer eye on your actual calories consumed.

As I said before, real muscle gain is very hard. For women and older men, it is very, very, very hard. The testosterone factor is the key.

The tip earlier given about processed foods is also important. Since the late 70s, additives in food processing have skyrocketed. Even confections like Moon Pies and Hostess Twinkies are by no means the same foods they were in the 60s. Processed bread is not the same bread it was in the 1930s.

These synthetic substances can dramatically affect how your body metabolizes what ought to be nutritional in strange ways.

Go organic as much as possible, go unprocessed as much as possible.

Also increase your water intake. I currently drink over 100 ounces a day (thirty ounces every six hours, including between midnight and six am), and that alone has cleared up some health issues, particularly what I thought was a case of psoriasis on my back. Interestingly, it has not increased the number of times I need to urinate, which means my body actually needed the extra water.

 

[*LILAC]

Yes, I do.

That's processed foods. They've taken out the whole fats and replaced them with harmful chemicals which can cause weight gain. Go with full fat and organic as much as possible.

 

[faroukfarouk]

That's processed foods. They've taken out the whole fats and replaced them with harmful chemicals which can cause weight gain. Go with full fat and organic as much as possible.

Salads are good!

 

[The Bunny Rabbit]

Keep a closer eye on your actual calories consumed.

As I said before, real muscle gain is very hard. For women and older men, it is very, very, very hard. The testosterone factor is the key.

The tip earlier given about processed foods is also important. Since the late 70s, additives in food processing have skyrocketed. Even confections like Moon Pies and Hostess Twinkies are by no means the same foods they were in the 60s. Processed bread is not the same bread it was in the 1930s.

These synthetic substances can dramatically affect how your body metabolizes what ought to be nutritional in strange ways.

Go organic as much as possible, go unprocessed as much as possible.

Also increase your water intake. I currently drink over 100 ounces a day (thirty ounces every six hours, including between midnight and six am), and that alone has cleared up some health issues, particularly what I thought was a case of psoriasis on my back. Interestingly, it has not increased the number of times I need to urinate, which means my body actually needed the extra water.

Well I'm only about 28 years old, but I guess to society that's pretty old. Even at first though when I started in taking a lot of water I was still gaining weight. I tried that last year when the weight gain started.

 

[The Bunny Rabbit]

That's processed foods. They've taken out the whole fats and replaced them with harmful chemicals which can cause weight gain. Go with full fat and organic as much as possible.

How come at first though those things were making me lose weight?

 

[RDKirk]

Well I'm only about 28 years old, but I guess to society that's pretty old. Even at first though when I started in taking a lot of water I was still gaining weight. I tried that last year when the weight gain started.

The human body is starting to get old by then, which is why you see male professional athletes peaking at age 30.

 

[The Bunny Rabbit]

The human body is starting to get old by then, which is why you see male professional athletes peaking at age 30.

Some people have said 25 and by then I was still losing weight, but I was 27 when I started gaining the weight back.

 

[A_Thinker]

So I should be able to fit into my smaller close if it were really muscle? Also does the loose skin I already have stack onto the muscle and is that why my clothes are tighter?

Everything counts.

We all have muscle, plus fat, plus skin. You're only 28, so your loose skin should eventually tighten back up.

The goal is to find the best balance for ourselves. Some people prefer (by lifestyle) more fat, ... some prefer (by lifestyle) more muscle.

Find a good combination of healthy eating, healthy exercise, and good sleep habits. Seven or more hours per night will keep you a bit leaner.

Other tips ...

• Eat less sugar and avoid sugar-sweetened drinks. ...
• Eat more protein as a great long-term strategy to reduce fat. ...
• Minimize carbs in your diet. ...
• Eat foods rich in fiber, especially viscous fiber. ...
• Exercise is very effective at reducing fat ...
• Begin to track exactly what and how much you eat ...

 

[The Bunny Rabbit]

Everything counts.

We all have muscle, plus fat, plus skin. You're only 28, so your loose skin should eventually tighten back up.

The goal is to find the best balance for ourselves. Some people prefer (by lifestyle) more fat, ... some prefer (by lifestyle) more muscle.

Find a good combination of healthy eating, healthy exercise, and good sleep habits. Seven or more hours per night will keep you a bit leaner.

Other tips ...

• Eat less sugar and avoid sugar-sweetened drinks. ...
• Eat more protein as a great long-term strategy to reduce fat. ...
• Minimize carbs in your diet. ...
• Eat foods rich in fiber, especially viscous fiber. ...
• Exercise is very effective at reducing fat ...
• Begin to track exactly what and how much you eat ...

I've done all of that in my diet. Except for when I still kept gaining weight afterwards then I kind of just let it go.