Afraid To Get Fat again. Should I Eat????

[Jrelated]

I recently lost 115 pounds this past year. 347lbs - 232 lbs.

I am now trying my hand at weight lifting [Used to weight lift a lot for football in HS and College].

My question is, Ive heard so much about eating tons of protein, carbs etc., that I am scared to do so because i dont want to gain any of the fat i already lost.

What advice can you guys give me with regrads to weight lifting and eating?

I am 6'0 232, 25 years old.

I have been working out three days a week M, W F, bench press, deadlift, squats and abs. I am going heavy, 3 sets, 10 reps, 8 reps, 6 reps. I want to get really muscular and am not aspiring to be the next arnold. However, I would like to get rid of some of the fat I still have a gain a lot of muscle.

I am looking forward to your insights.

Thanks,

[RipStone]

First of all, congrats on the weight loss....well done.

Your fear of gaining fat again is very common. A lot of FFB(former fat boys) deal with this. The thing is you have to realize that your body compososistion and work habitsis a lot different than it was 115lbs ago. That is when you were heavier you liklely had a slow metabolism that was very ineffective in burninf fat. Plus, you probabaly werent exercising/eating right. Now, you metabolism is much faster(burning more calories each day) which makes it very hard for you to gain fat. Moreover, you are working out(again, burning additonal calories) and eating right. As a result, you arent gonna get fat again.

Read this article. It should help...

http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do...ydra?id=696934

[Jrelated]

Thanks for your reply.

I kind of figured that I wouldnt be able to follow the "eat like an animal" plans for muscle building like naturally lean people.

That article was a great one. However, coming from a FFB, the diet plans he illustrates are the total opposite as to what Ive become acustomed to. I lost all my weight slowly, making sure not to crash diet and to follow a regimine that I could carry on for the rest of my life. Drinking soley protein shakes and taking supplements for all of my meals doesnt sound to promising.

Would you or anyone know of a diet to where I can get my proteins and carbs in with eating "FOOD" and minimal supplements?

Im looking to add maybe 10-20 pounds of muscle to what I have already and though id like to look like Coleman, thats not my realistic goal.

Thanks,

[coreyhalliwell]

Hey i guess i can call myself an FFB as well. Some guys at the gym didnt recognize me a while ago saying "are you that kid from before?" I went from about 290 to 218(5'10). Anyway ive always had the fear of gaining fat weight. However as ripstone said, your body is a food machine now. Its no longer a lazy heap of fat consumption. Your fitness program, coupled with your loss of weight has undoubtedly raised your metabolism alot.

I used to think i didnt have a faster metabolism but now my body handles cheat meals like a pro. I dunno if you can remember but think back to you eating a huge plate of your fav food when you were your heaviest. You probably felt sleepy, sick, and or tired after eating it. That was your body's slow ass metabolism. Now when i eat, mabye you feel it too, i feel fine, not run down at all. Thats the fast healthy metabolism speaking.

Now my biggest mental fear when i eat is that im eating too much or im gonna get fat again! All i can say is, NEVER ignore your hunger, your metabolism needs to be worked and despite your fears of weight gain, when your body is hungry EAT. Its as simple as scratching an itch. After a day of heavy lifting, your body WILL use that food, its like gas in a car .

[RipStone]

Thanks for your reply.

I kind of figured that I wouldnt be able to follow the "eat like an animal" plans for muscle building like naturally lean people.

That article was a great one. However, coming from a FFB, the diet plans he illustrates are the total opposite as to what Ive become acustomed to. I lost all my weight slowly, making sure not to crash diet and to follow a regimine that I could carry on for the rest of my life. Drinking soley protein shakes and taking supplements for all of my meals doesnt sound to promising.

Would you or anyone know of a diet to where I can get my proteins and carbs in with eating "FOOD" and minimal supplements?

Im looking to add maybe 10-20 pounds of muscle to what I have already and though id like to look like Coleman, thats not my realistic goal.

Thanks,

Yea man, you are right on with your hesititation with his diet plan. Whole foods > supplements.

There are a lot of good nutrition programs out there. One that a lot of people have had success with is Lyle McDonald's Utlimate Diet 2.0 (aka UD2.0). Run a search for it.