Things I don't understand about weight gain and loss...

[WeirdArchitecture]

I'm new to weight gain - lockdown gifted me with an increase of a stone - as was previously always same, low BMI.

Now I am wondering how it works as it seems stubborn to shift!

So, some say booze/wine is a culprit, but others say not. Some say it is nibbling/snacking but then others say 'little and often is good'.

I suppose it is different for all of us.
For me, the lockdown resulted in me barely moving at all for a year (WFH, no kiddies, etc), I have partaken of more red wine, and have possibly snacked more but on healthy stuff like cheese, nuts, wholegrains.

Now I am trying to get back to my previous weight and fitness, it is confusing me. I have cut out wine I the past week and quit the cheese and managed to lay on another 2lbs! WTF?

My other half says it is 'water weight' but what does that even mean?
I eat barely any sugar but do like occasional fats. Not much carb either apart from a rare panini.

Cold it be the wine? It does make me ravenous during and after drinking it. Any booze has this effect on me, it is like it sends a 'you are starving to death' signal to my brain. If I drink I will somehow munch on little crusts of bread (just mouthfuls) and nuts, seeds, etc.

From this description what would you say is likely to be putting it on?

Will add my average daily intake and type of food I eat:

Morning: one baby-bel, or else a crumpet with small amount of butter.

Don't lunch but might stick a few nuts in my gob if passing kitchen.

Dinner is usually lean chicken or fresh fish with greens, carrot, bell pepper, salad....luckily my fave foods which I love trying out with new tastes. A teaspoon measure of pesto or sauce.

Supper - couple of gluten free crackers or a cup-a-soup (I have no shame, I like them!)

Booze : sometimes about 3 large glasses every few nights

I don't think wine or exercise makes any difference to gain or loss. It's all about the food which you don't seem to eat much of. Plenty of skinny alcoholics around (and evidence to suggest your body burns off booze calories as heat rather than stores it) and plenty of fatties exercising.

However once you gain weight it is very hard to shift. Read up on 'weight set point'. Your body will make adjustments to your metabolism as your weight changes, so might burn fewer calories at your heavier weight than it did slimmer just to keep the pounds on. Maybe it's your age? Easier to put weight on as you get older I reckon.

Same! Im 13lbs up on March 2020. It seems so unfair, as if the last year hasn't been shit enough

Looking at your diet there's quite a few nuts/crackers/crumpets/cheese - lots of beige.

When you say a handful of nuts, how many? It's astounding the calories in nuts.

I'm like you - my issue is the wine. 3 large glasses a night could be 500 calories.

I've lost 3lb this week, mostly sticking to:

Breakfast: 2 scrambled eggs, half an avocado.

Lunch: big pot of soup or 3 ryvitas with cucumber and a tin of tuna.

Dinner: normal dinner but staying under 600 cals thanks to gousto boxes.

But I'm now not eating at all after dinner.

In theory if you're having wine/cheese/crackers you could be adding on 400-600 calories after dinner?

might stick a few nuts in my gob
.

I think it probably could be the alcohol making you gain weight.

That sounds like a tiny amount of food for a day. How many calories do you think that is?

How tall are you and how much do you weigh now?

I think ageing, inflammation and weight set point are all factors.

I put on weight on pitozifen. Most of it dropped off of its own accord after stopping it, but I’m left with a stubborn extra few pounds that are not shifting despite following exactly the same lifestyle and diet I have had all my life. I’m trying to avoid actually dieting as I don’t eat much anyway, I’m not an unhealthy weight (just more than I’d like) and I worry it could mess my metabolism up.

Not sure what the answer is!

I’d suggest 5:2 / intermittent fasting if you want a plan to follow. I suspect snacking is the culprit for you OP.

Thanks, some great thoughts here.

I have always been a small eater, so tend to nibble as opposed to eating larger meals. My main meals are always pretty healthy because I love that stuff, but I think I DO have a nibbling issue which might be fooling me into thinking I eat less than I do!

I'd say a handful of mixed nuts on average, twice a night, and about 100 cals in cheese. Perhaps more nibbles on bursts of bread if I am boozing.

My diet hasn't changed and I never eat much processed or junk food at all, and only occasionally like a bit of chocolate. Just more wine since lockdown and less exercise.

Im not overweight so feel sheepish complaining, but the difference is tangible to me. I am sluggish now and need to get back to more fitness.
I am 47 yrs old, 5"4 in height and 124lbs.
Perhaps I as previously underweight......but NHS says I was within healthy range and Dr never was concerned. I am a slight build and have stupidly small wrists and ankles.

What is water weight though?

ok sometimes ive put blobs of mayo on the cheese and crackers, and my partner says I have sometimes divested his loaves of crust and polished off half his cheese after a few vino's!

I do nibble a lot. But in my opinion I always have, so I can't understand why so much has piled on over lockdown.

A handful of nuts twice a night could be 600 calories. Or more.

As I get older I'm finding that exercise plays an increasingly important role in my weight loss / gain / maintenance. I'm only 35 but my lockdown weight gain was proving ridiculously slow to lose until I started exercising. I suppose I could have lost it through serious dieting, but I'd rather exercise a couple of times each week than give up cheese, wine etc entirely!

Water weight is when your body holds onto water... bloating, fluid retention. I seem to have the opposite problem to women and drop pounds just before my period but I think lots get it before so gain. Don't forget your livers glycogen stores can weight 7pounds. Honestly I wouldn't worry. Sounds like you might be getting to That Age where you just can't mindlessly snack. Sorry OP

A tablespoon of mayo is 100 calories. 50g cheddar is 200. These things add up

The thing is, if the calories you need to maintain your weight is x and you consume an extra 100 calories in any food, your weight will increase (obviously not as fast as it’d increase with an extra 500/1000/whatever calories, but still). It doesn’t matter hugely that it’s “just” a handful of nuts or cheese.

There is a strong correlation between muscle mass and metabolism, could you have lost muscle mass during lockdown? Apparently this is one reason we have to eat less to maintain the same weight as we age.

Metabolic syndrome and insulin resistance can also cause spiralling weight gain. It’s a viscous cycle that causes you to crave sugary/highly processed foods and then affects how those foods are processed in your body. Alcohol is particularly bad if you have this.

Bless you op, 124lbs! I'm not going to say how much I weigh, but it's a good chunk more than that.

Unfortunately age catches up with us. And as pp say, a handful of nuts can be big on calories.

It sounds like after dinner if you're having wine nuts cheese crackers bread then that's it.

I just do the wine, but I'd be a shitload heavier if I ate that after dinner.

Yeh, I had considered age, although I had been roughly same size most of my life with barely any variation so you get used to it, and when it changes it feels really odd. This particular gain has come since lockdown, ive seen it inching up per month!

I agree about the snacking. I don't want to 'diet' as my meals are already decent and small. I think I might need to be more aware of what I am nibbling and when.
Alcohol gives me IBS and bloat, but I have gained all over, quite symmetrically! My arms are twice what they were last year as are my legs, boobs, etc. I even have a new chin. I think weight shows on me easily as I am fairly scrawny and never had much muscle.

Maybe I ought to keep a little snack diary and take a good look at what im grazing on.

It sounds like you’ve be better actually eating a healthy lunch and breakfast, and eating more at dinner so you’re not snacking.

As I get older I'm finding that exercise plays an increasingly important role in my weight loss / gain / maintenance

This. Well for me it’s always been like this. I’ve got more sedentary as I’ve got older- as a child i spent all day walking round school, pe, after school activities. At uni I cycled everywhere, walked to lectures, walked to the library.

As jobs have increasing become computerised I’ve gone from getting up every 10 mins to fetch a book, speak to a colleague, nip to the library etc to all that being done online.

I’ve put on a stone in lockdown too. I eat the same, i don’t drink, but my daily steps have gone from 5000+ on a work day to under 1000. Little things like walking from the car to the car park, walking to the canteen, to the toilet, it all adds up.

The way my lifestyle is I really need to make an effort to burn calories through exercise.

I know people say losing weight is 99% diet, but I only need about 1200 for maintenance, and it’s too hard to eat less than that to lose. So I need to add in an hour or two of exercise to bring my calorie level to manageable.

Little pickers wear big knickers, as they say at diet clubs
It's ridiculous easy to go overboard snacking on nuts. And cheese.
Commit to tracking everything that enters your mouth for a week on my fitness pal or similar and you'll see where the calories are coming from.

@GoodnightOwl

Bless you op, 124lbs! I'm not going to say how much I weigh, but it's a good chunk more than that.

Unfortunately age catches up with us. And as pp say, a handful of nuts can be big on calories.

It sounds like after dinner if you're having wine nuts cheese crackers bread then that's it.

I just do the wine, but I'd be a shitload heavier if I ate that after dinner.

I know, it seems ridiculous to moan about being in a normal range, but a change is a change and it is something to get one's head around!

I think at my age I might need to concentrate on keeping up with the healthy stuff and increasing fitness. I feel eating less meals would be dangerous so might be better focusing on the snacking.

I know many woman who weigh a lot more than me but are very, very fit and slim. Some are larger, curvier, etc, but healthy. Ive never thought a low weight is the key to health, but more your general fitness and proportion. For me right now I look doughy and flabby even if still 'small'. I don't want to have to buy a new wardrobe though so something must be done!

@bluebluezoo

As I get older I'm finding that exercise plays an increasingly important role in my weight loss / gain / maintenance

This. Well for me it’s always been like this. I’ve got more sedentary as I’ve got older- as a child i spent all day walking round school, pe, after school activities. At uni I cycled everywhere, walked to lectures, walked to the library.

As jobs have increasing become computerised I’ve gone from getting up every 10 mins to fetch a book, speak to a colleague, nip to the library etc to all that being done online.

I’ve put on a stone in lockdown too. I eat the same, i don’t drink, but my daily steps have gone from 5000+ on a work day to under 1000. Little things like walking from the car to the car park, walking to the canteen, to the toilet, it all adds up.

The way my lifestyle is I really need to make an effort to burn calories through exercise.

I know people say losing weight is 99% diet, but I only need about 1200 for maintenance, and it’s too hard to eat less than that to lose. So I need to add in an hour or two of exercise to bring my calorie level to manageable.

I really get this! My diet has barely altered, apart from how much I move around. I always believed it was food only that caused weight increase but the lockdown has left me shocked.

I think I had a balance before that my body just got on with and everything evened out. I am amazed at how easily it has stacked up since being at home all the time. Ive always WFH but went out a lot, did a lot of walking and hiking, etc.

@Janaih

Little pickers wear big knickers, as they say at diet clubs It's ridiculous easy to go overboard snacking on nuts. And cheese. Commit to tracking everything that enters your mouth for a week on my fitness pal or similar and you'll see where the calories are coming from.

yes, will give this a go.

Reminds me of the weight watcher thing on old episodes of Little Britain - she was complaining of gaining by eating dust! DUST! Right now I feel like one speck of dust is enough to throw another pound on.

I always believed it was food only that caused weight increase but the lockdown has left me shocked.

The phrase "it is impossible to outrun a bad diet" is sort of true, in that if you eat terribly high fat food constantly it is nigh on impossible to do enough exercise to burn off all those calories. However, the phrase also leads to the misconception that dieting alone is enough to lose weight. If you don't move much the amount of calories you burn can be ridiculously low and it becomes almost impossible to get adequate nutrition (let alone live a normal life wrt socialising etc) on such low calories.

Similar to the PP, my "maintenance" calorie intake is around 1200 if I don't exercise. MyFitnessPal (and other apps) tell you off if you eat less calories than that because you generally don't get enough vitamins or essential fats if you consume so little. Therefore, for me, the only way to get enough of the right kind of food, have occasional indulgences and still lose weight is if I exercise.

As a bonus, since I started exercise I feel way healthier and when I took a week off over Easter I didn't gain much weight, possibly due to having built some muscle mass.

You eat very little for meals but snacks could be adding way more calories than you think.

12 almonds add up to about 100 calories.

A piece of cheese only the size of a matchbox is about 100 calories. Since when was something that small ever enough as a snack?

A slice of bread is around 100 calories.

A bottle of wine (those 3 large glasses) is around 600 calories.