Help! Is my metabolism causing fat gain?

[Awg90]

Hey Everybody,

I could use some insight. I was eating about 1,000 calories (I am a male, 5'7" 150 for reference) a day for many years now...mainly due to depression issues and lack of motivation to eat. The depression is fixed, and I would like to get my nutrition on point now.

I have upped my calorie intake recently to 1800 calories or so to start, and my body has instantly packed on a ton of fat. Do you think this is due to my metabolism being out of whack? The diet is mostly clean, and I also work out lifting weights 3x a week. Why am I gaining weight and being chunky in my stomach now by only eating 1800 calories??

Thanks again for any advice!

[SuffolkPunch]

No way you could exist on 1000 calories a day - you must be miscounting. Perhaps it's possible with severe thyroid issues but you wouldn't even be able to drag yourself into the gym if that were the case.

I'm guessing you are miscounting - and if that continues to be the case and you add 80% to what is maintenance then you probably will be gaining fat...

[kenneyj889]

two things, one i doubt you really only ate 1000 calories a day,but whatever low number you ate for all those years probably caused your metabolism to slow down a lot, and even if you only added 800 calories(which is probably an underestimate) more than whatever amount of calories was maintaince is going to cause significant fat gain even to a newbie lifter, so reduce your calories by 600 and you will be in the ideal small surplus that limits fat gain.

[snailsrus]

two things, one i doubt you really only ate 1000 calories a day,but whatever low number you ate for all those years probably caused your metabolism to slow down a lot, and even if you only added 800 calories(which is probably an underestimate) more than whatever amount of calories was maintaince is going to cause significant fat gain even to a newbie lifter, so reduce your calories by 600 and you will be in the ideal small surplus that limits fat gain.

he wouldn’t weigh 150 on a thousand calories a day for years he’d be on deaths door step around 80lbs. Restricting does not slow metabolism in fact years of starvation can make you hyper metabolic when you start to eat again and just to gain weight you have to eat 3-4K calories

Op is counting calories wrong, if his thyroid was that slow 1. He wouldn’t have grown to 5’7, 2. He’d have so many other health issues

[AlexSays]

It's your life and far be it from me to tell you that you are wrong... but i SUSPECT you are:

1000 cal every day for years = severely underweight + likely malnourishment + eventual death

Not an apparently healthy 150lb person. You have added a large number of calories to a number of calories which was already most likely far greater than 1000 calories. You are now in a surplus. Track your food properly and work out how much you are actually eating and then adjust accordingly.

Your 'metabolism' doesn't cause you to gain weight, eating in excess of what you are burning does. If you have gained weight you are overeating.

[Lambo2579]

High metabolism = not eating enough

Low metabolism = eating surplus

Either eat less and move more or eat more and move less.

[hxcinkfc]

Hey Everybody,

I could use some insight. I was eating about 1,000 calories (I am a male, 5'7" 150 for reference) a day for many years now...mainly due to depression issues and lack of motivation to eat. The depression is fixed, and I would like to get my nutrition on point now.

I have upped my calorie intake recently to 1800 calories or so to start, and my body has instantly packed on a ton of fat. Do you think this is due to my metabolism being out of whack? The diet is mostly clean, and I also work out lifting weights 3x a week. Why am I gaining weight and being chunky in my stomach now by only eating 1800 calories??

Thanks again for any advice!

Can you please list to me what your daily/weekly diet looks like?

Cheers brah

[SuffolkPunch]

This is an old thread, I don't think OP is here anymore.