The Fat Loss TroubleshootThis is your place to troubleshoot your fat loss problems from nutrition to training. This section is led by Leigh Peele, author of "The Fat Loss Troubleshoot," the ultimate fat loss manual. If your results have slowed or stalled this is the place to come for advice for all your fat loss needs.
I'm new here but I'm just going to dive right into what I've been trying to search for all over the internet: the truth!
I am a 19 year old college student of Asian decent, so I have a rather petite body at 5'4" and about 114lbs (it keeps fluctuating). I know that sounds terribly underweight, but keep in mind, for the first seventeen years of my life, I hovered around 100lbs. Up until college. In college, all of a sudden my metabolism has slowed down significantly and I gain weight much more easily. I entered the 08-09 school year at 108lbs. And already, I have gained five pounds, which for me, is disturbing because I used to never have to worry about my weight. And it's not like I think I'm obese or want to go back to being 100lbs or anything, I just want to be toned. And already, I'm seeing flab accumulating in places that it never used to be before.
Perhaps this change is with age, perhaps it's my lifestyle, I have no idea. But I noticed a significant change after I went on birth control for about three months last year. I gained about twelve pounds while on Yaz, but I stopped it in June and I feel like I still suffer its wrath. In my opinion, I live a relatively healthy lifestyle for a teen--I don't eat junk food or drink soda. I hardly ever eat at fast food restaurants. I probably should eat way more vegetables and fruit than I do now, but I am curbing my love for carbs (pastas and breads) for fresh produce now. I don't have a car so I bike about 2.8 miles to campus every day, making it about 6 miles per day for a roundtrip (and that's not counting biking IN campus). After feeling my body literally swell up the past month, I started going to the gym 4 times a week stressing mainly on about an hour of cardio and maybe about 15-30 min of lifting (I honestly still don't know how to strength train haha).
Last year, I noticed a similar trend. I went to the gym 3-4 times a week and only felt myself get fatter. In my attempt to have a healthier diet, I introduced much more salads and fruit to my palate and I probably have a smaller intake in calories everyday but I still feel like I'm getting bigger! I don't skip meals--I try to have at least three a day. I guess I really don't know how to balance my diet with my exercise so help me out here. I feel the fat accumulating in the same places it did last year when I was on birth control, starting from my thighs to my butt to my stomach to my arms and then to my face. Why is this happening to me?? How can I tone my figure??
just being asian doesn't give you permission to be tiny forever
Example: my mother's side is primarily Japanese, but they sure embraced the culinary habits of the Deep South early on. Needless to say, it's been a lifelong uphill battle for me.
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Usually this is simply people who do less and eat crappier. College life can do that to you. noone cooking for you and probably eating more calorically dense foods, meanwhile more time spent doing homework than in high school. not to mention in HS you only had 6 hours in school and often some PE class.
See that's the thing. I like to cook for myself, and I try to keep it pretty healthy. I do eat meat--primarily sticking to lean white meat. I had cut red meat out of my diet this past summer but now I occasionally eat it (like in spaghetti). Aside from biking to school, I joined the fencing club and go to two-hour practices twice a week. And like I said on top of that, I go to the gym now four times a week for at least an hour. Haha I don't really watch TV, so when I'm not on campus, if I'm idle, it's usually if I'm studying/surfing the web.
Last year as a freshman I did not track my foods, so I did gain the frehsman 15 (plus I was on birth control) but this year I have my own kitchen so I really like to cook/prepare foods like spring mix salads and seared fish filets and sauted vegetables and seasoned chicken breasts.
[snip] ... I probably have a smaller intake in calories everyday but I still feel like I'm getting bigger! I don't skip meals--I try to have at least three a day. I guess I really don't know how to balance my diet with my exercise so help me out here. I feel the fat accumulating in the same places it did last year when I was on birth control, starting from my thighs to my butt to my stomach to my arms and then to my face. Why is this happening to me?
you are in college - so you know you need to gather facts before you can draw any inferences or conclusions. If you really want to understand what's going on (and not just use generic "eat less" or "move more" advice):
1) Take your measurements and record them, including your weight and some landmark circumferential measures. You won't have to feel or guess if you are getting bigger or smaller.
2) Weigh your food and record it consistantly. Then you will know what your actual intake is and not have to guess if it is more or less than any other day.
3) Track and log your actual activity and look up the calories involved.
4) Google "BMR Calculator" or "Harris-Benedict" and try to get a value for your likely BMR and activity adjusted caloric burn.
Once you have all the information for a week or two you can make intelligent changes based on your actuals and your goals.
I'm a newbie here, so that that into consideration.
When you were in highschool did you: bike 6+ miles per day, and do 4 hours per week of fencing? My point is, are you now doing more or less physical activity than when you were in highschool? You say you're gaining weight but how do you look?
I'm trying to get to the same point that Avacado is. Your body composition is more important than scale weight. If you were sedentary in highschool and now doing activity it could be that you're adding muscle weight through increased activity. On the other hand, if you were an athlete in highschool and kept a pretty rigorous routine then perhaps you're gaining because your caloric needs have declined.
When most folks get to college they go through a pretty dramatic change in lifestyle. Most people (this may not be you) go from having a pretty regimented routine, to living a far less structured life. Look at how your routine has changed overall. Do you sleep less? Sleep at different times? Wake up at a different time each day? How do you feel? Are your stress levels high? Are you drinking alcohol? If so, how much....or how much more? Look at the whole picture.
This weight gain could be entirely healthy. Or it could be caused by stress and lack or sleep...or the addition of beer! Or it could be a million other things. But, get all the fact together!
Last edited by chaddukes : 03-30-2009 at 07:54 AM.
Rollingpandas, it seems like you're doing all the right things nutrition wise so far.
1) My question would be: do you do any type of strength training? If not, it will be a great way to rev up your metabolism.
2) I echo LisaS comments but I want to add to have your body fat composition checked as well. You can have a personal check it for free at your local gym or buy a caliper and have someone measure you.
3) For every meal, make sure you have lean meat, fruits, and veggies. Calorie counting will help you out a lot as far as estimating your calorie intake. I use Sparkpeople.com for this (it's free).
4) Besides biking etc., try incorporating high intensity interval training instead. These are alternating sprints and jogs on a treadmill or outdoors. These work great for fat loss especially if you're just doing them for the first time.
Your success will depend largely on your NUTRITION 90% of the time. So, when in doubt, this is the first one you should check.
I'm not anorexic, I swear.
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