Ok guys I have 1 week left in my cutting phase. I’m on a rotating low carb diet(It’s a diet from infinityfitness) …where protein and fat intake changes every week. Most of my fats come from flax,olive,canola or fish oil. Protein sources are lean. Carbs have been under 30 grams a day for 3 weeks now. Last week called for me to have an extremely high protein intake(3g/lbm). I only brought myself to workout one day last week because i was working manual labor for 8 hours in the 100 degree heat. Friday through Sun I just bummed around though. Sunday night I did abs for the first time in about a week and a half(shoveling chopping and raking was enough ab work during the week) I broke out the ole ab(plus saxon side bends and full contact twists) wheel and after five sets of five slow brutal reps I was ripped apart. My problem is my abs are really clouded now and it feels like I have a little roll of fat on my lower abs…but it could be water. My question is…It’s not possible to put on what feels like 1-2lbs of fat in 2-3 days when eating clean and only at a surplus of say 500 cals a day. isn’t a lb of fat 3500 cals? Also my abs have been on fire …could they be holding water and glycogen for recovery? I know this is a goofy post but I’ve worked pretty hard to reach my goal of 6-6.5 percent and i’m getting very nervous… …I’m supposed to have one carb meal a day this week…but I’m worried it will make me hold even more water…Mike
Hey Mike
Glad you reached your goal. This is an interesting topic. As far as 1 lb of fat = 3500 calories under certain circumstances it does seem the body can make fat from a lot less calories then this. It would be nice to see the results of this in a laboratory but in my opinion after undergoing an extreme diet for any amount of time the body can turn just about any amount of excess food into a significant amount of fat. Besides, not many people realize this but our current standards for the caloric intake of foods are many decades old and by no means exact…they are simply estimates. They can also change depending on the medium and probably the state of the body… 100 calories of sugar mixed in water will make you fatter then 100 calories of hard sugar even though they both contain 100 calories…this is just something to think about.
Another thing that could be happening is having worked out in the hot sun for some time the last week you were probably somewhat dehydrated and have just recently begun to fill back up with water and are retaining some in your abdominal area. Personally on the weekends I like to get in the sauna and relax. Even though I drink a shitload of water and am definitely not dehydrated, I notice on Monday I start to retain a little subcataneous water due to that water being sweated out by the sauna.
Sounds pretty strange, I know that my abs look like shit while they’re sore. After a workout my abs smooth out and it takes a couple of days to slowely return to normal. Weight a couple days and see if they dont improve.
Chief out.
I definitely hear what you are saying about a calorie is not a calorie , kelly. The overeating was planned…and the excess was protein , not fat…like I said my fats were mostly poly and mono unsaturates. No more than 30 carbs still…Oh and about my goal…I’m still working hard…I was almost there hopefully I can drop this water and hit it up.I was thinking of adding cardio…but without adequate pwo nutrition and low carbs I’m worried about muscle wasting. Oh well I gotta just go and hope for good things. Thanks for your help. Mike
It is strange chief…least I know I’m not alone…thanks
I’m in Toronto. We just went through a brutal heat wave where we were at 100+ for almost two weeks. During that time, my water retention in my subcontaneous fat stores went up drastically. No change in diet except for a decrease in calories at one point. I think being in the extreme heat for short periods of time cause our bodies to retain water to avoid dehydration. After the heat wave broke, my abs returned.
you need 3500 cals to make a pound of fat, no way around that, for you to put on 2-3lbs in a couple of days with only a slight increase in cals in not possible (well I guess it would be possible if for some reason your body started breaking down muscle or pulling all the carbs out of them) its WATER and don’t worry. peace
Thanks for the replies guys…not much iimprovement yet …but hopefully everything 'll be normal by Sat…Thanks again…Mike