Hey peeps I missed a meal on Friday (about 500cal) and yesterday worked out but dont think I had enough calories for the day. Man, looking on myself today in the mirror is making me depressed.
It looks like I lost about 5 pounds, my upper body looks like it has shrunken in half! My measurements are down by alot. Im an ectomorph and this happens to me anytime I miss my target calories each day. its like my body cannot hold on to any sort of mass for too long.
I take fish oils, my protein and multivitamin. I know that a caloric surplus will get the weight up back and stop my regression but c’mon this is ridiculous. In just a day or 2 of not eating enough I lose weight so easy. Any tips?
If you lose it that easily then you never really had it in the first place. Also you say it looks like you lost five pounds so that could very well be in your head. Weigh weekly and use that to gauge if you’re making progress. Daily weight fluctuations won’t tell you much at all.
[quote]mchron wrote:
If you lose it that easily then you never really had it in the first place. Also you say it looks like you lost five pounds so that could very well be in your head. Weigh weekly and use that to gauge if you’re making progress. Daily weight fluctuations won’t tell you much at all.[/quote]
Exactly. Don’t weigh yourself daily, don’t even weigh yourself. Just take biweekly measurements at this point. You gotta think about the long haul, not the day to day, to make this a lifestyle. There’s no letting one or two bad days fuck you.
Sometimes I feel the same way, OP. Skipping a meal once in awhile for an ecto (or during a bulk) is akin to eating a cheat meal once in awhile for an endo (or during a cut) … it really won’t kill you. Daily fluctuations are so common, its a mistake I think many of us make, especially when really trying to gain/lose weight.
You definitely did not lose non-water weight that quickly, unless you burned over 15,000 kcal in a day. Don’t let one slip up kick your ass. Injuries, family issues, work, and life in generation sometimes will dictate what/when you can and cannot train. Do your best to avoid the situations that you know will regress your training, this conscious effort will reap tremendous benefits.
[quote]pch2 wrote:
mchron wrote:
If you lose it that easily then you never really had it in the first place. Also you say it looks like you lost five pounds so that could very well be in your head. Weigh weekly and use that to gauge if you’re making progress. Daily weight fluctuations won’t tell you much at all.
Exactly. Don’t weigh yourself daily, don’t even weigh yourself. Just take biweekly measurements at this point. You gotta think about the long haul, not the day to day, to make this a lifestyle. There’s no letting one or two bad days fuck you.
[/quote]
Actually I am not going off of weighing myself daily but rather by tape measurement. My arms, chest, shoulders have lost some and they have remained that way even when getting back on track.
[quote]gunhawrtis wrote:
Actually I am not going off of weighing myself daily but rather by tape measurement. My arms, chest, shoulders have lost some and they have remained that way even when getting back on track. [/quote]
What are the measurements and what are you considering a lot?
[quote]pch2 wrote:
gunhawrtis wrote:
Actually I am not going off of weighing myself daily but rather by tape measurement. My arms, chest, shoulders have lost some and they have remained that way even when getting back on track.
What are the measurements and what are you considering a lot?[/quote]
Ok i lost about .2 inch off my arms and chest. Been speaking to one of the trainers at the gym and he is saying that what I lost could have been just glycogen and water, not real muscle. What he recommends is that I carb up for a day or two and should be back on track. Now I dont see how carbing up will miraculously help me put on back mass in a day or two. Anyone know of this?
[quote]gunhawrtis wrote:
Ok i lost about .2 inch off my arms and chest. Been speaking to one of the trainers at the gym and he is saying that what I lost could have been just glycogen and water, not real muscle. What he recommends is that I carb up for a day or two and should be back on track. Now I dont see how carbing up will miraculously help me put on back mass in a day or two. Anyone know of this?[/quote]
Glycogen and water are stored in your muscle tissue, so yes, carbing up from a carb depleted state will increase the size of your muscles. Your trainer is probably right. Eat and lift, and stop worrying about the little details. If the scale weight is going up, and your lifts are going up, you’re doing it right.
Missing a 1000 calories or so is not going to cause you to lose 5 pounds. If you are trying to gain weight, stay away from the mirrors. Pay attention to the scale and your lifts.
[quote]Eielson wrote:
Missing a 1000 calories or so is not going to cause you to lose 5 pounds. If you are trying to gain weight, stay away from the mirrors. Pay attention to the scale and your lifts.[/quote]
Actually just pay attention to your lifts and putting as much clean food as possible into your stomach. Do this for 6 months then come back and tell us what happens. In the mean time don’t weigh your self, don’t measure, just do.
[quote]pch2 wrote:
Eielson wrote:
Missing a 1000 calories or so is not going to cause you to lose 5 pounds. If you are trying to gain weight, stay away from the mirrors. Pay attention to the scale and your lifts.
Actually just pay attention to your lifts and putting as much clean food as possible into your stomach. Do this for 6 months then come back and tell us what happens. In the mean time don’t weigh your self, don’t measure, just do.[/quote]
I don’t understand why somebody would stay away from measuring how much weight they were putting on if their main goal was to put on weight. If you waited 6 months to weigh yourself that could easily cost you several pounds you would have had if you had noticed you weren’t gaining weight and needed to up the calories.
[quote]
I don’t understand why somebody would stay away from measuring how much weight they were putting on if their main goal was to put on weight. If you waited 6 months to weigh yourself that could easily cost you several pounds you would have had if you had noticed you weren’t gaining weight and needed to up the calories.[/quote]
Well, that’s why I told him/her to eat as much clean food as possible. The OP seems to be the type that gets overwhelmed by little details and needs to just power through the beginning. Once you have fundamentals down, then you tweak. I just think it’s what suits this personality type the best. If that’s not you then yeah tweak as you go, but if tweaking is stopping you from going, then just go. Make sense?