question about muscle

Sara,

My situation is rather similar to yours. I gorged on an almost daily
basis while in college, but I have never been considered "overweight."
I got a little worried during my last year and started jogging a mile a
day, eventually working up to around five miles a day now.

I found it very helpful to exercise, and leg exercises were the
easiest. All you have to do is run. Can I also suggest yoga or pilates?
I find that stretching/resistance exercises like the aforementioned
really help to build muscle --and not bulky muscle-- rather lean and
long muscles.

I have never gone on any diet in my life until the last three months or
so. I was around 146 three months ago and have been eating about
1300-1600 calories a day (sometimes I'll binge and go around 2000-2500
once a week!) and am currently 5'9" and 135lbs (medium frame). I'm not
underweight by any means, but I am built a little like a beach
volleyball player. I just did not want to hit 150lbs so I figured a
sensible diet was the way to go.

I am also wondering if I've messed up my metabolism by drastically
reducing my caloric intake per day. I used to eat around 3000-4000
calories a day (yes, really) in college, and am now taking in less than
half of that nowadays. Would I gain more weight than I originally was
if I started eating that much and did not exercise (like I never did
during college?).

You sound like you're eating rather healthy, Sara, and I don't think
gaining 5-6lbs would kill you. Sign up for a resistance/stretch
exercise class in your neighbourhood. I think you'll be able to see
some lean muscle develop in two or so months, depending on the level of
ball-busting of your instructor.

Please keep us updated on how it goes.

HS

Sarandipidy wrote:
Did you lose the weight primarily by watching what you ate, or did
you
combine a low calorie diet with rigorous exercise?

unfortunately, primarily watching what i ate. the exercise i did was
not
rigorous-- just what i normally did. walking and some weight-less
squats/crunches/etc. in my house. and sometimes i did some jogging.
it was the
summer.

i really have never gone on any kind of diet in my life (i've always
been
skinny, and 135 is pretty slim anyway, i just got a little nervous
about it
because it was so foreign to me) and i ate too much during a
stressful semester
at college. i should have just cut out things more slowly. still, i
hope that
the 1200-1300 calories i ate a day can't be considered a "crash diet"
because i
wanted to reach 122-125 lbs (small-frame) from a relatively low
weight and it's
not like i was below 1000 or anything. i seem to have lost these
pounds at a
healthy rate-- about 1 lb per week. i'm wondering, though,if i lost
too much
muscle from not doing any muscle work.

i actually need help with this and i'm hoping that some of you here
know what
to do. i would not be adverse to gaining 5 lbs right now, because i
think that
my weight right now is probably not ideal. i've been slowly upping my
calorie
intake, and i'm at about 1400-1500 now, sometimes reaching 1600,
still walking
everywhere (at least 20 minutes per day, from class to dinner, etc.)
so getting
a small amount of exercise daily. overall, i think 1500-1800 is
probably my
ideal average. but am i going to gain all this weight back, even if i
add some
muscle training for a couple days a week and keep walking? or, if i
actually
*did* mess with my metabolism, would i eventually even out at a 5 or
6 lb gain,
instead of reaching something like 135?

i'm sorry-- i've checked google and the archives of this group and i
still
can't find much advice on what to do if you might have *already* made
dieting
mistakes and want to keep any damage minimal. i still don't
really know
where the calorie/nutrient line is drawn for "crash dieting" or
"yo-yo
dieting." i have not gone back to my old habits of eating too many
fried foods
and other junk, or just too much food in general, nor do i plan to; i
just want
to make sure that i can eat at some normal maintenance level.

sara

hello teacher tell me what's my lesson,
look right through me, look right through me.

Sarandipidy wrote in message
...
Did you lose the weight primarily by watching what you ate, or did you
combine a low calorie diet with rigorous exercise?

unfortunately, primarily watching what i ate. the exercise i did was not
rigorous-- just what i normally did. walking and some weight-less
squats/crunches/etc. in my house. and sometimes i did some jogging. it was
the
summer.

i really have never gone on any kind of diet in my life (i've always been
skinny, and 135 is pretty slim anyway, i just got a little nervous about
it
because it was so foreign to me) and i ate too much during a stressful
semester
at college. i should have just cut out things more slowly. still, i hope
that
the 1200-1300 calories i ate a day can't be considered a "crash diet"
because i
wanted to reach 122-125 lbs (small-frame) from a relatively low weight and
it's
not like i was below 1000 or anything. i seem to have lost these pounds at
a
healthy rate-- about 1 lb per week. i'm wondering, though,if i lost too
much
muscle from not doing any muscle work.

i actually need help with this and i'm hoping that some of you here know
what
to do. i would not be adverse to gaining 5 lbs right now, because i think
that
my weight right now is probably not ideal. i've been slowly upping my
calorie
intake, and i'm at about 1400-1500 now, sometimes reaching 1600, still
walking
everywhere (at least 20 minutes per day, from class to dinner, etc.) so
getting
a small amount of exercise daily. overall, i think 1500-1800 is probably
my
ideal average. but am i going to gain all this weight back, even if i add
some
muscle training for a couple days a week and keep walking? or, if i
actually
*did* mess with my metabolism, would i eventually even out at a 5 or 6 lb
gain,
instead of reaching something like 135?

i'm sorry-- i've checked google and the archives of this group and i still
can't find much advice on what to do if you might have *already* made
dieting
mistakes and want to keep any damage minimal. i still don't really
know
where the calorie/nutrient line is drawn for "crash dieting" or "yo-yo
dieting." i have not gone back to my old habits of eating too many fried
foods
and other junk, or just too much food in general, nor do i plan to; i just
want
to make sure that i can eat at some normal maintenance level.

I think you are a little too worried and I don't think you have made too
many mistakes. The unfortunate truth for someone your size is that it is
nearly impossible to simultaneously gain muscle and lose fat. At best,
strength training throughout a weight loss diet will maintain muscle or will
cause less muscle loss.

As you are attempting to gain muscle, you will need to eat more calories
than you have been. Perhaps 100-150 per day above maintenance. And you will
gain fat as you lose muscle. At some point you will decide you have gained
too much fat with the muscle and will need to reverse the process, reducing
calories to below maintenance while trying to preserve the muscle you gained
previously. It can get very involved. If you really want to get involved in
this way of living google for the Ultimate Diet by Lyle McDonald.

Sarandipidy wrote in message
...
Did you lose the weight primarily by watching what you ate, or did you
combine a low calorie diet with rigorous exercise?

unfortunately, primarily watching what i ate. the exercise i did was not
rigorous-- just what i normally did. walking and some weight-less
squats/crunches/etc. in my house. and sometimes i did some jogging. it was
the
summer.

i really have never gone on any kind of diet in my life (i've always been
skinny, and 135 is pretty slim anyway, i just got a little nervous about
it
because it was so foreign to me) and i ate too much during a stressful
semester
at college. i should have just cut out things more slowly. still, i hope
that
the 1200-1300 calories i ate a day can't be considered a "crash diet"
because i
wanted to reach 122-125 lbs (small-frame) from a relatively low weight and
it's
not like i was below 1000 or anything. i seem to have lost these pounds at
a
healthy rate-- about 1 lb per week. i'm wondering, though,if i lost too
much
muscle from not doing any muscle work.

i actually need help with this and i'm hoping that some of you here know
what
to do. i would not be adverse to gaining 5 lbs right now, because i think
that
my weight right now is probably not ideal. i've been slowly upping my
calorie
intake, and i'm at about 1400-1500 now, sometimes reaching 1600, still
walking
everywhere (at least 20 minutes per day, from class to dinner, etc.) so
getting
a small amount of exercise daily. overall, i think 1500-1800 is probably
my
ideal average. but am i going to gain all this weight back, even if i add
some
muscle training for a couple days a week and keep walking? or, if i
actually
*did* mess with my metabolism, would i eventually even out at a 5 or 6 lb
gain,
instead of reaching something like 135?

i'm sorry-- i've checked google and the archives of this group and i still
can't find much advice on what to do if you might have *already* made
dieting
mistakes and want to keep any damage minimal. i still don't really
know
where the calorie/nutrient line is drawn for "crash dieting" or "yo-yo
dieting." i have not gone back to my old habits of eating too many fried
foods
and other junk, or just too much food in general, nor do i plan to; i just
want
to make sure that i can eat at some normal maintenance level.

I think you are a little too worried and I don't think you have made too
many mistakes. The unfortunate truth for someone your size is that it is
nearly impossible to simultaneously gain muscle and lose fat. At best,
strength training throughout a weight loss diet will maintain muscle or will
cause less muscle loss.

As you are attempting to gain muscle, you will need to eat more calories
than you have been. Perhaps 100-150 per day above maintenance. And you will
gain fat as you lose muscle. At some point you will decide you have gained
too much fat with the muscle and will need to reverse the process, reducing
calories to below maintenance while trying to preserve the muscle you gained
previously. It can get very involved. If you really want to get involved in
this way of living google for the Ultimate Diet by Lyle McDonald.

Matthew Venhaus wrote in message
...


As you are attempting to gain muscle, you will need to eat more calories
than you have been. Perhaps 100-150 per day above maintenance. And you
will
gain fat as you lose muscle. At some point you will decide you have gained
^^^^
That should be gain muscle.

Matthew Venhaus wrote in message
...


As you are attempting to gain muscle, you will need to eat more calories
than you have been. Perhaps 100-150 per day above maintenance. And you
will
gain fat as you lose muscle. At some point you will decide you have gained
^^^^
That should be gain muscle.

On Tue, 14 Dec 2004 00:07:03 -0500, Dally wrote:

Yes. Another way to put it is that building muscle causes your basal
metabolic rate to rise.

Not necessarily. Highly variable, can reduce MR.

On 14 Dec 2004 00:43:23 -0800, Her Subj. wrote:

I found it very helpful to exercise, and leg exercises were the
easiest. All you have to do is run.

Distance running will train the legs for distance running. Strength gains
(ability to move mass/create force) requires different methodologies.

I find that stretching/resistance exercises like the aforementioned
really help to build muscle --and not bulky muscle-- rather lean and
long muscles.

No such animal.

On Tue, 14 Dec 2004 07:27:15 -0700, Matthew Venhaus wrote:

As you are attempting to gain muscle, you will need to eat more calories
than you have been. Perhaps 100-150 per day above maintenance.

No you don't. I have many who have severely cut cals and food volumes and
hypertrophied very well.

And you will
gain fat as you lose muscle.

Then why do it?

At some point you will decide you have gained
too much fat with the muscle and will need to reverse the process, reducing
calories to below maintenance while trying to preserve the muscle you gained
previously.

Ridiculous cycle.

It can get very involved.

No need for it to be.

On Tue, 14 Dec 2004 07:38:47 -0700, Matthew Venhaus wrote:

And you
will
gain fat as you lose muscle. At some point you will decide you have gained
^^^^
That should be gain muscle.

Ridiculous approach.

I used to eat around 3000-4000
calories a day (yes, really) in college,

actually, i probably was eating close to that amount, too. let's see, i'm
curious to find out: breakfast was either a bagel with cream cheese or brunch
at the dining hall, which was always great tasting and i probably ate a large
amount of food; lunch was maybe macaroni and cheese from the box, a bagel with
cream cheese (bagels were free at my co-op), or something at the dining hall,
which was maybe two hot dogs, a couple servings of pasta with sauce and cheese,
a custom-tossed salad with feta and a serving of oil-based dressing, creamy
soup and bread, grilled cheese/some other sandwich, or cheese quesadilla;
hmm...dinner was usually at the dining hall and meant a plate of various items,
or some custom made stir-fry (which would have been healthy if they didn't use
too much oil), and dessert, usually a cookie or cup of ice cream; and then
after staying up late we sometimes had a "dinner two" because we were pretty
starving by 2am, which probably consisted of either a buffalo chicken sandwich,
a slice or two of pizza, ramen noodle soup, french fries, hot pockets, or
chicken fingers (the only places that had food that late at night didn't have
much else). then, add on any random snacks and all the *alcohol* and you've got
10-15 lbs gained in 4-6 months.

is that how you ate, too? i mean, it wasn't every single day. sometimes i would
skip dessert, or make healthier choices at dinner because i felt like them. on
the whole, though, i was making bad choices and overeating. i always get hungry
late at night but i usually eat fruit or a container of f/f yogurt now instead.
two days ago i had a one-scoop ice cream cone with my boyfriend. it was
probably around 350 calories, but i had only eaten 1050-1150 calories by then
so why not? the problem is when you've eaten so much throughout the day and
then make your "snacks" into meals; it builds up like crazy.

thanks for the advice.

sara

hello teacher tell me what's my lesson,
look right through me, look right through me.