Scared Of Weight Lifting And Weight Gain

[cline]

I like Wolverine's post.

 

fyi, I'm pulling in well over 2000 cal a day, aiming for 2200 on non lifting days and 2500 or maybe more when I do hard strength training.  I ballpark this in my head.  Days of heavy strength - I am now supplementing so I get more stuff in me to build more muscle.  My weight hasn't changed.  My body has.  Oh yeah, and I'm a chick.

[This is Seth]

Oh yeah, and I'm a badass* chick.

 

fixed that for you

[WizardTrip]

As an aside, many people don't have to track their food forever.  When you've taken the time to do it for awhile, you start to get a really good handle on what things "cost" nutritionally and can stop being so anal about tracking it (unless you end up like me and start enjoying it!!!).

 

^This.

 

I tracked for several months about a year or more ago to get an idea of what my normal eating was. After that, I adjusted down by about 500/cal a day and tracked that to get an idea of me being on a deficit. I haven't tracked since because I now know what will cause me to gain and what will cause me to lose.

[I-Jo]

fyi, I'm pulling in well over 2000 cal a day, aiming for 2200 on non lifting days and 2500 or maybe more when I do hard strength training.

 

he he he he... I don't feel bad that that's about what I'm putting away at this point 2-2300... but I AM hungry- not constantly- just around this time- between 2/3 and 6 I'm usually always hungry.   

 

I eat like a motherLKKing horse.

[Elastigirl]

You have already been given lots of good advice. I  eat Paleo and don't tack calories. When I first started I did do a food log and carb count so that I would have a good picture in my mind of what each thing was. You could do a food log and maybe calorie count for just a few weeks, that will help you get a better picture of what your body is doing. Paleo foods that are on the approved list but are the first things to limit when you want to lose weight: nuts, nutbutters, fruit, safe starches like sweet potato. Cut back on those and see what happen. If you are doing Paleo key thing is to cut back on carbs but not on fat. Fat will keep you fuller longer.

 

I am thesame heighth as you. Yeah, short people! And my wasit is 30", I don't know my bodyweight percentage, but I have about 3 pack abs. I started at about 33' and 29" was my goal, though I'm pretty happy now at 30"

[cline]

fixed that for you

 

ha ha! you are the best Seth ever!!!  and I am a little BAMF.

[cline]

I will stress again - because food log is really the way to go to get this - be honest in your food log.  Most people aren't  or they leave things out or don't count things. 

 

It's hard to be honest with ourselves, but boy will you ever benefit. 

 

And, btw, I just ate two hard boiled eggs.  And yes, I ate an awesome breakfast, had a snack, at an awesome lunch, etc.  And yup, carbing tonight and eating dinner.  not hungry.  am well fueled for the beast mode I'll be entering in about 69 mins....

[Blueberries]

I will stress again - because food log is really the way to go to get this - be honest in your food log.  Most people aren't  or they leave things out or don't count things.

 

That is the truth.

 

Weight gain or loss is in the number of calories in/out, and body composition (fat vs. muscle) is mostly in the training. BMI is often not a useful measurement, and it irritates to no end when it's used as the measuring stick for all bodies.

[I-Jo]

how much of that is protein for you Cline at this point?  I'm curious

[reboundstudent]

Take the time to hear everyone out and don't hesitate to ask questions.

Check out myfitnesspal.com if you want a free way to add up what you eat through the day.

 

I did that last year, and I found it incredibly annoying. I spent a lot of time trying to break down my meals (did I use 1/2 or 1/3 cup of this specific brand of olive oil?), and I could never seem to enter the fitness calories correctly.

 

Again, the big draw for me with Paleo/Primal was I thought I didn't have to track. The obsessive need to weight and record everything I ate made me really rebel against it. 

[I-Jo]

<facepalm>

[kyo]

You could use another site or tool or whatever.

Point is, just start tracking and give it an honest shot.  Don't stress over getting an exact ounce or having it exactly half a cup.

 

Ate a bowl of cereal?  Add it.

Drank a cup of milk?  Add a cup of milk.

[reboundstudent]

You could use another site or tool or whatever.

Point is, just start tracking and give it an honest shot.  Don't stress over getting an exact ounce or having it exactly half a cup.

 

Ate a bowl of cereal?  Add it.

Drank a cup of milk?  Add a cup of milk.

 

How is that helpful if I'm not weighting the exact amount? I can tell you exactly what I ate today; I pay excruciating attention to food. It's the weighting and the amount that I hate tracking, because I never get it right. 

[kyo]

Because you're obsessing to the point where you hate it.

 

Here, use this and it should make it a bit easier rather than completely obsessing over the numbers:

http://www.fns.usda.gov/tn/healthy/portions_kit/serving_size.pdf

[reboundstudent]

Because you're obsessing to the point where you hate it.

 

Here, use this and it should make it a bit easier rather than completely obsessing over the numbers:

http://www.fns.usda.gov/tn/healthy/portions_kit/serving_size.pdf

But that's still tracking down to the weight. 

 

Is there any way to lose weight without me having to track not only my food, but the weight/amount of food, for months?

[catspaw]

But that's still tracking down to the weight. 

 

Is there any way to lose weight without me having to track not only my food, but the weight/amount of food, for months?

 

Yes.  Weigh and measure once and then eat the same thing in the same amount every day.

 

Not much fun, but it'd work.

[seed]

As much as you hate cardio maybe try to find a form of cardio you enjoy like an intense sport or maybe just do short sprints but nothing too intense like 5km runs etc... 

[seed]

Stop everything you're doing and read the NF article on Spezzy's transformation.

 

Wow! Thats amazing!

[Waldo]

reboundstudent, on 21 Mar 2013 - 15:57, said:

How is that helpful if I'm not weighting the exact amount? I can tell you exactly what I ate today; I pay excruciating attention to food. It's the weighting and the amount that I hate tracking, because I never get it right.

You don't have to get things exactly right, you just have to try to be right. In the end if you approach it without bias the results should be the same.

The secret to estimating extremely accurately is NOT to waste an inordinate amount of time making everything perfect, is to make sure you include everything, and give your best shot of getting everything RIGHT. This doesn't mean playing it safe ,or fudging numbers to fit under your goal. You should give a good faith effort to be as right with each number as you can.

When you do this, what ends up happening is that over time, overestimates cancel underestimtes. A meal might not be very accurate. But a day is more accurate. A week is more accurate than the day, the month more accurate than the week (won't see anything smaller than a week on the scale anyway). With a large dataset, you can actually estimate to freakish levels of accuracy doing nothing more than educated guessing.

When I'm estimating a big project for example, I'm not going to spend 3 hours counting how many bolts are on a project, then another 3 hours looking up the going rate for a particular type of bolt where the project is to be built. I make a good faith guess for both, spend 30 seconds on it, and move on. To spend too long on an individual item is a mistake and just a waste of time. Error just cancels out this way, in the end I can very close to the bottom line number unless I leave big things out.

Every now and then you can spot check sizes. But if the hangup is spending too much time trying to be perfect, it isn't something that you need to do at all. Just try to be right, and every now and then check yourself, over time your eye for it will get better.

If using an app for it, once past the first few weeks where you are going to be learning how to use it and building up all your frequently eaten foods, it shouldn't take but a minute or two a day to do.

[cline]

how much of that is protein for you Cline at this point?  I'm curious

 

good question.

 

I'll figure/guess by each meal so our original poster can get the gist of it:

 

Breakfast = paleo chilli made with buffalo meat, kale, onions, tomatoes, spices.  Probably more than 40g.  Buffalo = protein bomb!  & black coffee

Snack = banana (I'm lifting today and had PT this a.m for 1 hour), steve's paleo pack b/c I had one at home, needed protein.  Probably 25g there.  Plus I know

              Steve and well...  paleo kits happen.  ha ha   more black coffee.

Lunch = tons of veg with an entire can of tuna.  I'm guessing another 40g? 

Snack = two eggs what another 20-30g?

I'm on a plan to build muslce and lean out so I have a protein shake for after work (I know not paleo and massively stresses me out) that is 50+ g carb (I'm trying to forget that part so it might be wrong) and 20-50g protein I think.

Dinner is chicken and veg.

 

I'm trying to get in 150-200g protein a day.  More on heavy strength days.  Which... gotta run.  bbl

[cline]

oh and I'm 5'8" and weigh 145# consistently.  Just fyi for our original poster. 

[reboundstudent]

Ugh I just freaking give up. 

[Gainsdalf the Whey]

I think you should be taking up an appeal on the BMI rule for the health insurance.  Anyone that lifts weight and has any muscle will register high on the BMI scale despite the fact that they are healthier than those lower.

 

edit: Based on my estimates on being upper 20%'s for bodyfat percentage, my lean bodyweight is around 190 lb. this means that with 0% bodyfat I would still be overweight on the BMI scale. The scale is meant for population studies, not individual.  You should take issue with anything that uses it to assess you as an indiviual, especially if it is going to cost you money.

[guest439437484421]

Ugh I just freaking give up. 

 

 

Like i said, take a step back and breath, you're stressing out about this way too much.  Your journey starts today, forget about the past and focus on the present and future.  It sounds like you know what to do, how to eat and track.  Read Waldo's last post, it doesn't have to be perfect down to the last grain, just good enough.

[cline]

Ugh I just freaking give up.

Wait?! Why?! You are getting awesomely consistent advice from really smart, experienced people. And NOTE: it's all the same advice. We get it!!! I struggle with the number on the scale and the BMI number. Many of the folks here do -sheesh see the women's forum...whole thread.

We are being really honest w you because we get it and get where you are and we've all been frustrated, scared, worried, pissed, etc. and yeah, some of us have job related health requirements, or we are trying to pass basic fitness tests in the military, or we want to be able to pick up our kids, etc. We are a very sympathetic lot.

In the end, we want you to succeed and we know how to help.

So yup... Breathe. Take a step back. The insurance thing can't be driving this bc you need 4 out of 5 criteria. Fine. BMI is 5. You got the other 4. Own it, rule it! And really, just watch water, salt, etc before weigh in and we can get you through that too. Honestly.

So...it's something else. We don't want you to give up. This is a great place for support!! We want you to be extra awesome...in a nerdy way of course.

Eat. Eat real food. Eat enough food and on occasion, eat too much. Lift/cardio/etc. Run around, go play, do jumping jacks, push weights. Relax bc this is fun.

What is not helping here? Bc we want to help. What is frustrating you? Help us understand how to help.

What else is going on?