What makes us gain weight? Is it the amount we eat or what we eat?

[HappyGoGoLucky]

This is a silly Q I know. I just can't figure it out! When I followed SW, I was eating massive portions and lots of "free" foods and losing weight at the same time. However I've not stopped SW because it was getting too expensive so I've started using common sense, eating homemade foods and just cutting down on snacks. My weight has started to slowly creep back up again. What I've had to do now is cut down on my portion size significantly. So if I have made lasagna with full fat milk, oil, non-lean mince etc., I will only have 1/8th of it & bulk out the rest with salad. I feel like I'm having to eat a lot less than what I did on SW otherwise I will gain weight. Is it my portion sizes I'm going wrong? Calories? Carbs? I checked my metabolic rate and it says for my weight and height and lifestyle, I only need to consume 1700 calories a day to maintain and I was eating way more than that on SW.

[Siameasy]

I agree managedmis. Pasta/wheat makes me starving too. I’ve given it up for good along with rice and corn. I find these worse than sugar.

I did read that coeliac is more common in those of Irish heritage (possibly due to the dependence on potatoes? Sadly, despite being of that heritage myself, potatoes are a no no too) and lactose intolerance in Southeast Asians.

[managedmis]

I also think there's a lot of to be said for genetic coding (or something like that) or your ancestry when it comes down to food.

I just cannot eat bread, pasta, rice, white flour, sugar etc, it's totally toxic.

Meat and two veg, potatoes, thick lentil soups and loads of veg is best for me. Eggs, cheese, dairy, fruit, all fine.

Pasta actually makes me hungry!

[Oysterbabe]

Sorry, I posted that on the wrong thread.

[Oysterbabe]

I bought a dress and it arrived today. I absolutely love it but I reckon its a good 10lbs off fitting. I could have got the bigger size but I'm hoping that would be too big soon. So it'll hang in wardrobe taunting me until I can wear it.

[Crazzzycat]

I think it’s about 75% calories and 25% what you eat.

Many people report great losses on low-carb diets, so there’s probably something to be said for trying to avoid things that lead to huge fluctuations in blood sugar levels, especially as that tends to make you feel hungry!

I’m not a big fan of the idea of cutting out all carbs though. It wouldn’t work for me and I’ve lost a fair amount of weight just eating a healthy diet with whole grains, but without lots of sugary crap.

It’s also been found that full fat dairy can make a significant difference. There’s a study that compared two groups that ate the same amount of kcals, but one group ate a lot more dairy and they lost significantly more weight.

So clearly there is a bit more to weight loss than just calories. But cutting calories is still a great start

[BaitandSwitch]

I think you're in denial. If you wish to maintain or lose weight go back to the SW methods as they were clearly working before.

[Siameasy]

Nuts are so easy to over eat due to the way they’re presented. Salty, convenient, in packets. Ditto dried fruit - Nature’s candy.

But avocados aren’t a problem for me SoftBlocks because they’re fatty so quite filling and one is enough. I don’t find they trigger over eating, they’re low in carbs and dietary fat doesn’t make you fat.

I find with fat on its own my body naturally regulates itself-I can only eat so much fat and my body says “no frigging way stop now or you’ll puke”. But fat mixed with carbs is a different matter as doing this seems to over ride the “full up” signal. So nuts are a bit dodgy as they are fat plus carb. And carbs on their own, gosh I can eat forever

[SoftBlocks]

Both. Especially if healthy eating involves tons of nuts and dried fruit and avocados.

[Siameasy]

It was Acesulfame K dont doubt (which sounds extremely appetising doesn’t it🙈). It was 150mg/kg body weight and the rats were 300g. I guess that would have to be translated into human terms which I might have a look at over lunch!

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/2887500/

The way I look at sweeteners Drogos it’s not actually food is it? That puts me off. It’s a chemical made in a lab. I got awful mouth ulcers from drinking Diet Coke. They stopped when I gave it up. There are some studies I think that indicate that they may increase appetite

[RottnestFerry]

f raised insulin causes weight gain, which I believe it does, then we have a calorie-free product causing weight gain which flies in the face of conventional wisdom and suggests there is more to it.

Insulin converts sugar in blood to fat. More insulin = more fat. Raised insulin causes weight gain by converting sugar in blood to fat. It also blocks the signals to the brain signalling that our bodies have sufficient fat reserves so we keeping eating more food and the insulin, in turn converts that to fat. A vicious circle.

Stop eating the food and the insulin can't convert it to fat.

[cherrytree63]

It's not as simple as counting calories.
Digesting a calorie of fat burns more calories than burning a calorie of sugar.
Carbs convert to sugar/glucose.
Artificial sweeteners trigger insulin, your taste buds tell your body that sugar's on it's way!
Have a look on the LCHF threads on here, plenty of information.
My biggest hurdle to weight loss was recognising the feelings of hunger and being full. Not easy after a lifetime of overeating!

[dontdoubtyourself]

Siameasy how much sweetener?

Oh I know calories in calories out is only one fraction of a complex system. But given the example of full fat oil laden lasagne v low fat lasagne.. If things are eyeballed typically people underestimate calories in and overestimate cals out.

Tbh, I'm not really a scales person hence term fat gain not weight gain. Take pictures and measurements!

[Drogosnextwife]

I have always wondered that about artificial sweeteners. I have just switched from sugar as I'm trying to lose weight but sounds like I should just cut it out altogether.

[dontdoubtyourself]

And were you tracking your calories on mfp while doing sw? If not you might be surprised to find the quantity was all very low calorie. it's possible to eat loads but consume relatively few calories. Take a box of raisins and a bunch of grapes for example.

[Siameasy]

Calories in and out is not the full story
It may make sense in a lab but in the human body each macro nutrient follows a different metabolic pathway and has a different role.

For instance one artificial sweetener was found to trigger the release of insulin in rats. Other studies suggest some may do so in humans altho more work needs doing. If raised insulin causes weight gain, which I believe it does, then we have a calorie-free product causing weight gain which flies in the face of conventional wisdom and suggests there is more to it.
Skimmed milk also raises insulin and is apparently used to fatten pigs which again makes no sense on the surface of it.

[dontdoubtyourself]

Sw is basically low fat high carb diet. The sw version of lasagne would contain less cals and fat per 100g than your standard lasagne. Therefore, to maintain same level of weight loss you would need to have a smaller portion, else more calories than you need= fat gain

[Rhubarbisevil]

I blame Starbucks.

[Oblomov19]

I find this all fascinating. But not sure what I think is right. We've clearly hit something wrong.

Why is lasagne so bad? But bolognese with JP ok? I don't get that.

[RottnestFerry]

I've been looking into nutrition and the calories in Vs calories out is clearly too simplistic

Yet, unless the first theory of thermodynamics is wrong, unlikely, it must be true.

Other factors may be at work though. The weight may be retained water rather than fat, for example.

[Oysterbabe]

Read the Obesity Code, it really helped me understand and therefore address where I was going wrong.

[FiveShelties]

Where you actually calorie counting on SW?

[Decormad38]

Ive discovered from my fitbit that I burn less calories than I thought I did on an average day. It’s actually 1400 not 1750 so if I eat more than 1400 Im going to put on weight.

[GodolphianArabian]

I've been looking into nutrition and the calories in Vs calories out is clearly too simplistic. We have got fatter over the past 30/40 years and something is wrong but the changes are so significant and worldwide that I think there are likely to be some root causes which will be discovered in the future which will show that our current understanding of diets are flawed. I think fibre will be shown to be hugely important. Our diets show we are eating much less fibre. I think that this is part of the reason for weight gain for many people.

The free foods on swimming world seem to be mainly fruit and vegetables which are really good for you. If you do some research on your gut microbes you'll see why fibre is essential and probably key to losing weight and maintaining weight loss.

[SurgeHopper]

And I have to admit I agree with siameasy : different people handle glucose different. No way I'd lose weight on lasagne. Bolognese sauce and a JP instead, no cheese sauce.

[SurgeHopper]

. So if I have made lasagna with full fat milk, oil, non-lean mince etc., I will only have 1/8th of it & bulk out the rest with salad. I feel like I'm having to eat a lot less than what I did on SW otherwise I will gain weight

^^

OK, an 8th of a standard size lasagne I'd say is around 600/700 calories. Maybe more. Plus salad, it could be 800. That's too much for a main meal when on a diet.

I only need to consume 1700 calories a day to maintain and I was eating way more than that on SW.

^

You were eating more than 1700 per day whilst on SW? And still losing?