Would you expect someone to put on weight on this diet?

Chrissy

Hi there.

Quick question:-
I'm 27yr old 5'0" female.
Play sports 2ce per week.

My diet:-
7.30:- bowl of porridge (1/2 cup uncooked oats), skimmed milk
10:30:- small bowl branflakes
1:00:- tortilla wrap:- chicken, lettuce & tikka sauce
6:00:- 1 potato, sausage & bacon, beans, or beef & gravy, or breadcrumbed fish, or spaghetti, or chips (1ce per week)
2-3 litres of water per day.
Small treat normally each day.

Please don't get into the nutritional analysis of my diet, as this is NOT what this thread is about.

I'm just wondering if you'd expect a person to gain weight (fast) on this diet, as I am!!!
It's driving me mad.
My dinners ARE small, because I don't like potatoes much.
The spaghetti would be a large enough portion, but it's only 1ce per week.
I rarely have anything to eat after 6.

It just seems my body really doesn't agree with carbs, but most of what I eat are carbs.

What are your thoughts?
Could the treat really be doing SO much damage?
(as in a bar, or 2 biscuits)
Again, please avoid the cut them out, response, as obviously I know I should, but my question again is taking into account my above diet, should a treat like this make such a difference?

Thanks

EDIT:- just read in another thread someone talking about interruptions in sleep leading to weight gain.
Well, I am the WORST sleeper on the planet
Could this also be having an effect?
I'm very lucky if I can wake up two mornings in a week & say I had a restful sleep. Even with that, I have to get up once a night to go to the loo
(I drink V little after 6, so advice to cut down on evening fluids don't apply)

tribulus

You eat mainly carbs and a fair bit of saturated fat, so I'll say yes, over all your diet is making you gain fat.

The "treat" is again all crap carbs and saturated fat so it certainly doesn't help.

The damage is being done by your overall diet not just the treat.

What's the treat for?

ali.c

are the bar or two biscuits every day or once a week? A bit confused on that one. Nothing wrong with a treat once a week.

yes your diet is very carb heavy, and judging by the fact that you are gaining weight its above your maintenance calories, irregardless of what your portion size is.

My instinct would say that the problem with your diet is not the biscuits or chocolate once a week. Though if its daily then it may be causing an issue.

You dont want a nutrional criticism of your diet so i really cant say anymore than that.

Though i will say that usually its not just one thing that makes you gain weight quickly.

Edit: Damn my slow typing, trib got there first. also on the sleep issue i think it does affect your weight but then it is also a lifestyle issue. If you arent eating excess kcals its close to impossible to gain weigth

Chrissy

At the end of the day, the scientists will say weight gain = calorie intake > calorie output.
Regardless of calorie composition.

So, how many calories would you say are in my daily diet?
Treat is normally once per day.
It's for nothing, just I feel like it.
Again, please don't dwell on it.
Just add it to total daily calories.

PS:- I'm not being snotty with you, as in don't give me advice on how to lose weight, don't tell me to cut out choc etc.
It's just that's not what I'm looking for here.
I know how to lost the weight, & I'm doing that now.
I cut out carbs & hey presto, the weight comes off, so I'm good there.
BUT, just for my interest, I'm trying to see why the other diet would cause such a weight increase.

Thanks again

tribulus

No offence but that's a ridiculous question!

We'd need to know the weights/sizes of all the things.

How much bran flakes are in a small bowl? How much milk is in it etc.

You should go to fitday.com and work it out, it's easy to follow and quite handy to look back on.

ali.c

there are a number of things that can affect the way your body handles foods. But all that aside the reason in my view why people tend to gain more weight eating a carb heavy diet is that it is very easy to over eat. Its a lot harder to over eat on a protein and good fat based diet. Aside from the fact breaking down protein requires more cals than breaking down carbs.

Also a bar of chocolate as a treat daily, well thats probably 300-400kcal or so. Over the week thats 2100-2800kcals more than you would if you didnt which equate to around 1 pound of fat there or there abouts.

Not being snotty but how the hell are we meant to work out your kcals without your weight or the portion size of your meals.

With regard to calorie composition bottom line is the more nutrients you get for your kcals the better.

justsomebloke

would I expect someone to put on weight using this diet, well it depends on what there diet was like before hand

Dragan

Chrissy wrote:

It just seems my body really doesn't agree with carbs, but most of what I eat are carbs.

What are your thoughts?

Seems to me like you know yourself what to do.

Dragan

Chrissy wrote:

At the end of the day, the scientists will say weight gain = calorie intake > calorie output.
Regardless of calorie composition.

Cool, must find me a scientist. Calorie composition, nutrient timing and food combinations can all do a lot to add weight.

Lots of factors can lead to diet based weight gain.

rubadub

Chrissy wrote:

So, how many calories would you say are in my daily diet?

You just need a calculator & scales. You have to learn how to size portions. I imagine very few people estimate their calories correct, unless they are used to weighing. Most will underestimate calorie amounts in portions, this is because they want to eat more, and manufacturers are also to blame, they quote unreasonable small portion sizes on packs. e.g. - breakfast cereals, I have never seen a person pour out and eat the "average portion size" quoted on the pack.

rusalka

rubadub wrote:

e.g. - breakfast cereals, I have never seen a person pour out and eat the "average portion size" quoted on the pack.

So true - I bought my scales a couple of months ago, and was ABSOLUTELY GOBSMACKED to see how much the quoted portion of my "healthy" breakfast cereal actually was. :eek: It barely covered the bottom of the bowl. I'd been happily having about 3 or 4 times this amount, and it was only then I realised just how many calories my breakfast alone was accounting for! :eek:

Getting some scales was the biggest eye-opener I've ever had and has certainly re-educated me regarding portion size. I was struggling for years on "healthy" diets and wondering how come I wasn't loosing weight, when the diet content itself was pretty good, and I get plenty of excercise, but holy schmidt, when I started weighing things, I found out that my portions were not, in fact, human-sized at all.

NetHoster

That barely seems like enough to eat! I would not expect to gain weight on it. I've had great success with green tea (matcha) added to my diet. It aids digestion, and naturally speeds metabolism.

Hanley

tribulus wrote:

You eat mainly carbs and a fair bit of saturated fat, so I'll say yes, over all your diet is making you gain fat.

The "treat" is again all crap carbs and saturated fat so it certainly doesn't help.

The damage is being done by your overall diet not just the treat.

What's the treat for?

Fully agree.

As for "What scientists say"... In the weight training world it's often the case that science already confirms what is self-evident to thos who've being doing it for a long time.

I'll try eating 3000kcals of protein and fat per day or 3000kcals of sugary carbs per day. Both are below my weight gain ceiling. Guess which one will make me lose weight and guess which one will cause me to put on weigh.

A calorie is not just a calorie. And anyone who says otherwise is talking out of their ar$e.