Help! I'm losing weight

EKE_38BPM

This might annoy some people on here, but I can't keep my weight up.

I worked out that I'm losing about 30 grams a day on average even though I'm on the See Food diet (if I ever see food, I eat it). The most I've ever weighed was about 83kg but I'm now down to about 78 dispite my best efforts to at least maintain my weight but preferably increase it.

My average daily grub intake:
Breakfast 1 (at home) - Porridge
Breakfast 2 (at word) - Fruit and porridge
Elevenses - Tea and biscuits
Lunch - Usually sandwiches/bagels, but the occasional bacon and sausage bagette
Post lunch snack - Fruit and/or biscuits
Pre commute fuelling - Crisps and/or chocolate bar(s)
Dinner - Something filling and healthy(ish). Very fond of lamb and mash potatoes with some veg and some sort of cake/pudding. Or pasta always works
Supper - Cheese on toast or something similarly snacky (I don't hold with the 'don't eat cheese before you sleep' nonsense)

Lots of water to wash everything down (but not as much as OddJob) and I'm also not afraid of a beer or five.

I've never been able to eat a lot at once, but I can, no, need to eat constantly. I've been told I'm like a baby in that I need feeding every couple of hours.

My commuting steed, The Vitamin, weighs a ton (well, about 13kg) and I carry some essentials when commuting (multi tool, p*ncture kit, pump) as well as a shirt, boxers and socks, but I'm only riding a lumpy (can't really call it hilly) 15 mile return trip.

Short of adopting a more sedentry lifestyle, has anyone got any advice on how to gain weight? What to eat, when to eat.

At this rate I will shrink down to nothing in less than three thousand days.

I'm hungry. Time for some grub before Mad Men

iPete

Its torture isn't it? I'm trying to bulk up with gym work but its like p*ssing in the wind. I'm sick of eating, it used to be one of my favourite things

I've just had a chicken pasta salad as my after dinner dinner, with two haddock fillets & chips for dinner. Had a donut to boot and a 3 banana and protein supplement smoothie & you know what, I'm still hungry.

We need a commuter new years weight gain thread.

NEED some cheese on toast now... :evil:

cycle monster

Annoy - no. frighten - yes! If I ate that rubbish in a week I would put on two stone! Bottle your secret, market it and retire young!

itboffin

dude that's WAYYYYY too healthy, you should try my diet, goes like this

breakfast 4-6 cups of Monmouth ground bean coffee :shock:
snack = fruit
1st lunch pizza and or pesto pasta
more fresh coffee 3-4 cups
2nd lunch whatever, all you can eat curry buffet or similar
snack = fruit
coffee 1-2 cups (fresh)
post work beers 2-4 pints
junk food snack ie crisps or nuts
beer on train 1-2
dinner = MASSHOOF double portion of almost always health freshly cooked locally sourced country fare with a G&T to start
followed with beer and or wine until i'm sleepy
rinse & repeat until Friday

losing about 0.5lb a week ATM :?

iPete

...if you wanted some actual tips, my draws at home and work and filled with Holland & Barrots Blackfriars flapjacks, they are about 450 calories each and work out about 50pence a hit with buy one get one half price.

green thing

You could try suet.....liver & dumplings, perhaps?

EKE_38BPM

Its funny that Cycle Monster says I'm eating loads of rubbish and ITB says its way too healthy.
I could increase my alcohol intake (purely medicinal you understand, its just for the calories) but I don't do coffee and only drink about 5 cups of tea a week (at work, where my colleagues have tea or coffee attached by IV).
ITB's 8 (conservative estimate) cups of coffee and 3 (again, conservative estimate) pints a day (+ G&Ts and/or wine) sounds just too much for me to do day to day.

Before I realised that I need to fuel myself properly if I'm commuting ~100+ miles a week (many years ago), I didn't eat as much as I do now and I realised that after my commute times beginning to drop (as you expect as you get fitter), they started to go up!

"EKE," I thought to myself, "time for a large dose of MTFU and ride harder."

So I did. I rode harder and harder and got slower and slower and I was in pain when I got to work and knackered when I got home.
Eventually I realised that I needed to look at my fuelling. I was riding without a proper breakfast and basically my body fat got lower and lower until there was no more fat to burn (boy, did I look toned) so my body started breaking muscle down to use as fuel (which was why I got slower). I needed to put a bit more fat and protein in my diet. Cue at least one burger a week and more stuff like nuts.

Balance was restored but I've never been able to 'bulk up'.
Now, I've got more fat and protein in my diet, as well as plenty of carbs, but my weight is still falling.

Fatties hate hearing me talk of my weight woes. I do get fed up of eating so much and so often. Its bloody expensive too!

Do I have to get all Roman and start sprinkling lead onto my food?

wyadvd

I use the calorie estimate on my endomondo to determine how many soreen malt cakes I should eat at each end of my commute (about 2 small loaves usually). and then eat the required portions of chips and gravy at the canteen to fill me up till im totally stuffed at lunch. (to the total incredulity of my obese female coleagues!) dont eat much breakfast (2 weetabix +lots of honey). whatever my wife eats for dinner + half a bag of couscous/rice equivalent. Lashings of butter. 6 fish oil tablets, 1000mmg vitc, multivits.

15 mile each way commute= 1700 calories+2700 estimated bmr(including calories burnt during my work)=4400 calories.

Im 71.5 kilos and stable

tx14

I think Mr porky scratchings would function pretty good for you.
if you look at the nutrition table, it's nearly 50%fat + 50% protein, high energy content and a good bit of salt. chug down 500ml of water after a pack and you're set.

meanredspider

This whole thing just illustrates for me why some of the training threads get so heated - everyone is different. Plenty of folk who struggle to put on muscle bulk - I seem to gain muscle very fast - my weight doesn't so much see-saw as my body composition if I exercise to lose weight rather than pure "dieting". I'm currently doing a very hilly commute (2100ft elevation gain over 30 miles) 3-4 (sometimes 5) days a week. My avg HR sits at around 80-85% - I work hard. I'm 6", currently 97kg but I wear 32" waist jeans - I do have wobbly excess fat on my torso though. My RHR is 57bpm. In a typical day I start with

Porridge (half cup oats, water, semi-s milk) + banana & a latte (semi-s)
Arriving at work I have a Mule megabite
Lunch typically a wholegrain roll with ham/chicken + salad
Mid-afternoon a Twix or something similar (I should stop this)
Black unsweetened tea throughout the day.
Can of Coke as an energy boost for trip home
Dinner as per wife (she's 8.5 St) usually healthy
Maybe a banana shake or something else sweet.
Rarely drink (2-3 units a week max)

BMR calculated at 2000 and multiplier of something like 1.55+

rjsterry

itboffin wrote:

dude that's WAYYYYY too healthy, you should try my diet, goes like this

breakfast 4-6 cups of Monmouth ground bean coffee :shock:
snack = fruit
1st lunch pizza and or pesto pasta
more fresh coffee 3-4 cups
2nd lunch whatever, all you can eat curry buffet or similar
snack = fruit
coffee 1-2 cups (fresh)
post work beers 2-4 pints
junk food snack ie crisps or nuts
beer on train 1-2
dinner = MASSHOOF double portion of almost always health freshly cooked locally sourced country fare with a G&T to start
followed with beer and or wine until i'm sleepy
rinse & repeat until Friday

losing about 0.5lb a week ATM :?

:shock:

So is the coffee to counteract the beers or vice versa? I'd be having some sort of out of body experience on that much caffeine.

Mind you, I seem to have developed a malt loaf dependency of late. :?

Zachariah

Rest more. You aren't giving your body enough time to use all that food for building work. This doesn't mean you have to be more sedentary as such, but designate a day or two per week where you do not do any exercise and see how that goes for you.

suzyb

I hate you all (and you're wife meanredspider). And the guy at work who is constantly stuffing his face with junk and stays the same weight :evil:

nich

What about weight lifting? Those guys seem to be bulky, so they must be doing something you can use

mudcow007

suzyb wrote:

I hate you all (and you're wife meanredspider). And the guy at work who is constantly stuffing his face with junk and stays the same weight :evil:

im with you on this one, im being made to eat *shudders* weight watchers meals at the moment an at my last calulation i was eating about 2000 calories a day, im currently 17 stone an the weight will not budge at all, although my legs are looking all toned and muscular now

damn you!!

Marcus_C

EKE_38BPM wrote:

My average daily grub intake:
Breakfast 1 (at home) - Porridge
Breakfast 2 (at word) - Fruit and porridge
Elevenses - Tea and biscuits
Lunch - Usually sandwiches/bagels, but the occasional bacon and sausage bagette
Post lunch snack - Fruit and/or biscuits
Pre commute fuelling - Crisps and/or chocolate bar(s)
Dinner - Something filling and healthy(ish). Very fond of lamb and mash potatoes with some veg and some sort of cake/pudding. Or pasta always works
Supper - Cheese on toast or something similarly snacky (I don't hold with the 'don't eat cheese before you sleep' nonsense)

Lots of water to wash everything down (but not as much as OddJob) and I'm also not afraid of a beer or five.

All I can say is that's rather more than I eat and I commute 4 days a week at the mo so have nothing to suggest other than it may be the times you're eating rather than the amounts maybe (i'm in no way a dietician)

How tall are you?

notsoblue

EKE, get a big bag of peanut M&M's and eat them at your desk while working. M&S are doing two packs of awesome cookies for £2.50. Get two packs of those a day, and eat a couple every time you have a cup of tea. Also, put lots of sugar in the tea. Leave the bike at work and get the tube home. Then order a takeaway to eat while you watch TV all evening. Make sure you stay hydrated with Pepsi. And treat yourself to a pot of Ben & Jerry's icecream before bed.

Welcome to your new weight gain lifestyle!

To be honest it doesn't sound like you eat a great deal at all. The fact that you say you struggle to even eat that says a lot, and the statement that you "need" to eat every couple of hours says it all. I would suspect that most people who are overweight (and aren't doing anything about it) eat out of habit or pleasure rather than because they're actually hungry and "need" to.

You're doing a lot of cycling, and you're lean anyway, given the amount you're eating its no real surprise you're losing weight! Personally I'm a massive glutton and will balloon in weight if I don't ride often and hard. I must have put on almost a stone since I stopped riding 25-30miles a day just before xmas. Can't wait to move back out west!

EKE_38BPM

I'm about 1.88m (6'2") and currently 78kg (12st 4lb). I don't think I can do much about the times I eat as I am eating constantly.
Generally, my feeding times are 7,9,11,1, 4, 6, 8 and 11
As I said, I can't eat a huge amount in one sitting, but my record is 3 'normal' sized dinners in about 3 hours. I go from stuffed to starving in about an hour.

Rest could be a factor. I only need about 5-6 hours sleep a night. At the moment I'm not doing much riding at the weekends (The Vitamin is no fun), so I'm pretty much off the bike all weekend.

The most I've ever weighed was after I was knocked off my bike and was pretty much bed ridden for a fortnight.

I blame Wiggle.

coopster_the_1st

notsoblue wrote:

EKE, get a big bag of peanut M&M's and eat them at your desk while working. M&S are doing two packs of awesome cookies for £2.50. Get two packs of those a day, and eat a couple every time you have a cup of tea. Also, put lots of sugar in the tea. Leave the bike at work and get the tube home. Then order a takeaway to eat while you watch TV all evening. Make sure you stay hydrated with Pepsi. And treat yourself to a pot of Ben & Jerry's icecream before bed.

Welcome to your new weight gain lifestyle!

Yep, this will work.

Replace 2or 3 main meals with Pizzas and add a big packet of M&M's every other day and I am sure you will see the weight gain

PresumingEd

I've been the same weight now for about 20 years. No matter how much I eat or how much I exercise it never shifts more than 3-4 pounds from 10.5 stone. Al that happens is that I get more/less toned depending on my level of exercise.

At one point I went in for a specific bulking up regime at the gym and eventually managed to get up to a mighty 11 stone but I put that mainly down to having a protein shake every day because the moment I stopped drinking them I went rapidly back down to 10.5 stone!

hatbeard

It would really depend on the pizzas.

I made pasta last night with a simple parmesan, olive oil and lemon juice dressing and that had much more fat and calories than a whole pepperoni pizza from a supermarket.

If you're talking takeaway pizzahut stuffed crust behemoths then yeah that would probably work.

antfly

So why do you want to put on weight anyway, you're not that skinny ?

EKE_38BPM

PresumingEd wrote:

I've been the same weight now for about 20 years. No matter how much I eat or how much I exercise it never shifts more than 3-4 pounds from 10.5 stone. Al that happens is that I get more/less toned depending on my level of exercise.

At one point I went in for a specific bulking up regime at the gym and eventually managed to get up to a mighty 11 stone but I put that mainly down to having a protein shake every day because the moment I stopped drinking them I went rapidly back down to 10.5 stone!

Hmmm. Thats the kind of idea I was after.

daviesee

Age?

I am guessing under 30 and certainly under 35.

Once you get to that stage you may look back on this longingly

antfly

Try riding hills then you'll wish you were lighter.

jzed

EKE_38BPM wrote:

PresumingEd wrote:

I've been the same weight now for about 20 years. No matter how much I eat or how much I exercise it never shifts more than 3-4 pounds from 10.5 stone. Al that happens is that I get more/less toned depending on my level of exercise.

At one point I went in for a specific bulking up regime at the gym and eventually managed to get up to a mighty 11 stone but I put that mainly down to having a protein shake every day because the moment I stopped drinking them I went rapidly back down to 10.5 stone!

Hmmm. Thats the kind of idea I was after.

Nah - just go to rugby on Saturdays - managed 15 pints of guinness, 3 burgers with chips, a hot dog, 2 Yorkies, and rounded off with a San Miguel and Ribeye steak and chips.

Usual daily routine is porridge, couple of croissants, some fruit, large pasta, chocolate bar, afternoon Pret Cookie, then some sort of healthy eating Sainsburys microwave job once home. Throw in an energy gel if I am going for a fast lap of the park.

EKE_38BPM

antfly wrote:

So why do you want to put on weight anyway, you're not that skinny ?

The numbers may be a little misleading. Maybe I'm dense (high muscle/fat ratio?) but I do look a bit like I've just finished the TdF.
Last time I visited a relative I don't see that often she punched me in the arm and told me to put on some weight.

EKE_38BPM

daviesee wrote:

Age?

I am guessing under 30 and certainly under 35.

Once you get to that stage you may look back on this longingly

I'm 35 and getting lighter as I get older.

Initialised

Do you have worms or maybe a cancer that you're inadvertently feeding?

EKE_38BPM

Initialised wrote:

Do you have worms or maybe a cancer that you're inadvertently feeding?

Hopefully no to both!!!!!!!!!

I have a hypothesis about why some people are fat and some thin:
Is it possible that fatties are more efficient at extracting the nutrients from their food than skinnies?
Maybe for a 1000 calorie food intake a fatty extracts 900 calories and a skinny extracts 700. That way two people of different builds can eat the same amount of food but have different uptakes and different builds?

I know that food doesn't hang around inside me for very long, whereas my sister (who knows her way around a cake or two) only goes for a dump about twice a week? Over the course of a day we both eat about the same amount, but whereas I eat little and often, she eats two big meals and snacks a bit.

notsoblue

EKE_38BPM wrote:

Initialised wrote:

Do you have worms or maybe a cancer that you're inadvertently feeding?

Hopefully no to both!!!!!!!!!

I have a hypothesis about why some people are fat and some thin:
Is it possible that fatties are more efficient at extracting the nutrients from their food than skinnies?
Maybe for a 1000 calorie food intake a fatty extracts 900 calories and a skinny extracts 700. That way two people of different builds can eat the same amount of food but have different uptakes and different builds?

I know that food doesn't hang around inside me for very long, whereas my sister (who knows her way around a cake or two) only goes for a dump about twice a week? Over the course of a day we both eat about the same amount, but whereas I eat little and often, she eats two big meals and snacks a bit.

She eats the same, and exercises exactly the same as you?