3 ms·

I've gained 20lbs over 3 months of Starting Strength. I wish it was all muscle but it wasn't.

by exfatloss 4y ago

throwaway22032 4y ago
Of course it's not, that's not how the body works. You ate in a surplus and gained some muscle and some fat.
- exfatloss 4y ago
  Just saying that what "everyone knows" isn't always true.
  - throwaway22032 4y ago
    Are you disappointed with the results of your eating and training, are you claiming that you gained weight despite reducing calorie intake, or is there some third option I'm missing? I also gain weight when I eat more and train, what's the confusing bit here?
    - exfatloss 4y ago
      The first. People said "eat less" and it didn't work. People said "train more" and it didn't work. Then people said "Duh, you gotta do both at the same time!" which is obviously not sustainably possible.
      - throwaway22032 4y ago
        Based on your other posts, you're saying "it didn't work" when you actually mean "I didn't do it". It's not sustainable to maintain a calorie deficit indefinitely. No-one claims that. That would be anorexia. What is sustainable is to eat in a calorie deficit for a period of time until you reach a weight you're happy with and then maintain.
        exfatloss 4y ago
        The problem for me was I was 300lbs. That's a really long time to run a deficit until I reach a weight I'm happy with. Took me nearly 2 years last time. I think what you're describing is probably accurate for reasonably lean people trying to cut 10lbs. But for the severely obese (I briefly hit morbidly, in my case) that strategy doesn't help very much. Getting from 300 to 290lbs isn't nothing, but it's not enough. I believe that you only get to severe obesity by something being seriously wrong with your metabolism. Therefore you need to identify that issue and fix it, probably with some pretty severe intervention, to get back to healthy.
        throwaway22032 4y ago
        So it took you two years to get to a weight that you were happy with by eating in a deficit. I assume you don't mean that it took two years to drop 10lbs. It sounds as if you identified the problem and fixed it! You lost the weight! What happened next? Having done that for two years, why was it unsustainable to eat at maintenance from then on? You felt hungry? Lost interest? I lose interest in goals all of the time. But what happened?
        exfatloss 4y ago
        Yea I dropped about 100lbs. Not exactly sure cause I never weighed myself at my heaviest. I was living abroad at the time and started keto and from then on the weight just melted off. I wasn't even doing anything - just eating keto to satiety every day. Then I moved back to the US and slowly began gaining it all back (also over about 2 years). I tried various things to slow down or reverse the gain, including lifting, other methods of working out, dieting more or harder.. nothing worked. Until this :) With the heavy cream. Down 45lbs again so far. Yay!
5636553454654 4y ago
> I've gained 20lbs over 3 months of Starting Strength. I wish it was all muscle but it wasn't. You gained fat following a program that is notorious for making people fat. Google images for "starting strength meme" and see for yourself.
- exfatloss 4y ago
  Interesting. It was recommended to me for losing weight lol. Are there other lifting protocols more designed for fat loss? I know Rippetoe's answer to everything is "eat moar fooood!" so yea I kinda see how that meme exists.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
  - 5636553454654 4y ago
    > It was recommended to me for losing weight lol. Are you serious? SS is notorious for making people fat, or even obese. Rippetoe has repeatedly said he doesn't care about your abs, and tells you not to run. This guy recently went viral as a another SS "success": https://old.reddit.com/r/StartingStrength/comments/y0ybtd/added_90lbs_to_my_deadlift_and_to_my_waistline/ https://old.reddit.com/r/StartingStrength/comments/y0ybtd/ad... > Are there other lifting protocols more designed for fat loss? Cardio is better for fatloss, tbh, and lifting in a deficit is best pursued as a way to preserve muscle mass and maximize the weight lost from fat. If you're a newb you can recomp somewhat, but it becomes harder the longer you train and leaner you get. SS is too low volume of a porgram to aid much in fat loss, and a higher volume (more reps per set, more sets) hypertrophy program would burn more calories, build more muscle (and increase your BMR) but you really should try to incorporate regular cardio, especially that you enjoy and can maintain. Your diet should be high protein (at least 1g per lb. of bw, but with the obese, height in cm. is used instead, so target 1g per cm. of height), again, to shift the balance towards fat vs. muscle loss, and high in carbohydrate (fruit, veg, whole grain) to fuel workouts, replenish glycogen, and spare muscle protein, and low in fat (especially low in saturated fat).
    - 4y ago

I've gained 20lbs over 3 months of Starting Strength. I wish it was all muscle but it wasn't.

throwaway22032 4y ago

Of course it's not, that's not how the body works. You ate in a surplus and gained some muscle and some fat.

exfatloss 4y ago
Just saying that what "everyone knows" isn't always true.
- throwaway22032 4y ago
  Are you disappointed with the results of your eating and training, are you claiming that you gained weight despite reducing calorie intake, or is there some third option I'm missing? I also gain weight when I eat more and train, what's the confusing bit here?
  - exfatloss 4y ago
    The first. People said "eat less" and it didn't work. People said "train more" and it didn't work. Then people said "Duh, you gotta do both at the same time!" which is obviously not sustainably possible.
    - throwaway22032 4y ago
      Based on your other posts, you're saying "it didn't work" when you actually mean "I didn't do it". It's not sustainable to maintain a calorie deficit indefinitely. No-one claims that. That would be anorexia. What is sustainable is to eat in a calorie deficit for a period of time until you reach a weight you're happy with and then maintain.
      - exfatloss 4y ago
        The problem for me was I was 300lbs. That's a really long time to run a deficit until I reach a weight I'm happy with. Took me nearly 2 years last time. I think what you're describing is probably accurate for reasonably lean people trying to cut 10lbs. But for the severely obese (I briefly hit morbidly, in my case) that strategy doesn't help very much. Getting from 300 to 290lbs isn't nothing, but it's not enough. I believe that you only get to severe obesity by something being seriously wrong with your metabolism. Therefore you need to identify that issue and fix it, probably with some pretty severe intervention, to get back to healthy.
        throwaway22032 4y ago
        So it took you two years to get to a weight that you were happy with by eating in a deficit. I assume you don't mean that it took two years to drop 10lbs. It sounds as if you identified the problem and fixed it! You lost the weight! What happened next? Having done that for two years, why was it unsustainable to eat at maintenance from then on? You felt hungry? Lost interest? I lose interest in goals all of the time. But what happened?
        exfatloss 4y ago
        Yea I dropped about 100lbs. Not exactly sure cause I never weighed myself at my heaviest. I was living abroad at the time and started keto and from then on the weight just melted off. I wasn't even doing anything - just eating keto to satiety every day. Then I moved back to the US and slowly began gaining it all back (also over about 2 years). I tried various things to slow down or reverse the gain, including lifting, other methods of working out, dieting more or harder.. nothing worked. Until this :) With the heavy cream. Down 45lbs again so far. Yay!

5636553454654 4y ago

> I've gained 20lbs over 3 months of Starting Strength. I wish it was all muscle but it wasn't. You gained fat following a program that is notorious for making people fat. Google images for "starting strength meme" and see for yourself.

exfatloss 4y ago
Interesting. It was recommended to me for losing weight lol. Are there other lifting protocols more designed for fat loss? I know Rippetoe's answer to everything is "eat moar fooood!" so yea I kinda see how that meme exists.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- 5636553454654 4y ago
  > It was recommended to me for losing weight lol. Are you serious? SS is notorious for making people fat, or even obese. Rippetoe has repeatedly said he doesn't care about your abs, and tells you not to run. This guy recently went viral as a another SS "success": https://old.reddit.com/r/StartingStrength/comments/y0ybtd/added_90lbs_to_my_deadlift_and_to_my_waistline/ https://old.reddit.com/r/StartingStrength/comments/y0ybtd/ad... > Are there other lifting protocols more designed for fat loss? Cardio is better for fatloss, tbh, and lifting in a deficit is best pursued as a way to preserve muscle mass and maximize the weight lost from fat. If you're a newb you can recomp somewhat, but it becomes harder the longer you train and leaner you get. SS is too low volume of a porgram to aid much in fat loss, and a higher volume (more reps per set, more sets) hypertrophy program would burn more calories, build more muscle (and increase your BMR) but you really should try to incorporate regular cardio, especially that you enjoy and can maintain. Your diet should be high protein (at least 1g per lb. of bw, but with the obese, height in cm. is used instead, so target 1g per cm. of height), again, to shift the balance towards fat vs. muscle loss, and high in carbohydrate (fruit, veg, whole grain) to fuel workouts, replenish glycogen, and spare muscle protein, and low in fat (especially low in saturated fat).
  - 4y ago