On gaining weight and losing weight

The subject of this post is random, but such is life.

Perhaps my body should be a temple, but it can also be a laboratory.

During two periods of my life thus far, I have gained noticeable weight - 10 to 15 pounds. After several years, both times, I lost the weight, approximately as quickly as I had gained it. One difference stands out between the weight gains, though. The first time, I gained mostly muscle. The second time, I gained mostly fat. How did this happen? And what conclusions can be drawn from the gains and losses?

This post will describe how I gained 10 to 15 pounds of muscle, and then proceeded to lose it. The post will then describe how I gained 10 to 15 pounds of fat at a later point, and then proceeded to shed that as well. I will point out before going forward, perhaps as no surprise, that each of these gains and losses was most likely caused by changing two factors: diet and exercise.

Muscle gain

After high school, I started work at an organization called the United States Marine Corps. I was skin and bones when I enlisted, so I had a lot of potential to gain weight. Through exercise and diet, I gained muscle. Though try as I did, I was never able to gain more than 15 pounds.

Diet during the period of weight gain (and weight maintenance) involved a lot of food. I ate at least three meals a day, eating high protein food like steak, eggs, roast beef, and chicken. After eating a normal mess hall portion, I often ate a peanut butter sandwich or two as well. I ate a decent amount of fatty food and drank soda, so I probably gained a little fat, too. The constant running likely kept it to a minimum. For several months, I drank creatine monohydrate shakes, a weight-gain formula.

Exercise was intense. During the 13 weeks of boot camp, we ran almost every day, and also did upper-body workouts such as pull-ups and crunches. After boot camp, we usually worked out at least three times per week, always running, often lifting weights.

Muscle loss

Upon leaving the Marine Corps, I reduced the amount of food I ate and the quality thereof. I also reduced - though didn't stop - my exercise. The type of exercise changed as well. This resulted in a return to "skin and bones" physique.

Daily diet during the period of weight loss involved less food than I had consumed during an average day in the Marines. I often ate only two meals. Additionally, the type of food was different. As I lost the weight (and kept it off) I ate significantly less beef, less protein in general, and less fat.

Exercise changed substantially. I stopped any sort of muscle-building exercises, such as pull-ups, crunches, or weight lifting. While I did get out and burn calories in the post-Marine Corps era, it was only aerobic workout: walking up a steep hill at least once a day, and then walking all over a college campus and to work. I bicycled as well. I worked at a coffee shop, standing up and walking around for hours.

Conclusions on muscle

It would be neat to be burly, but it would also require a lot of time and money. Just as with weight loss, there are no shortcuts (except steroids - see below). Eating a hell of a lot and weight-lifting religiously is the only way to gain a lot of muscle. I probably could have gotten more muscular if I would have lifted weights more and run less - though running wasn't optional when I was in the Marines. The death runs in desert heat probably burned off a lot of potential muscle. Also, if I would have stuck to the creatine or another weight-gain formula, perhaps I would have gained more muscle.

Truthfully though, most of the Marines I knew who experienced dramatic muscle gain were using steroids. That's one way to do it, but these guys also freaked out from "'roid rage" and likely had other health issues. Steroids are gross.

That said, it certainly is possible to gain some muscle. With a high protein diet and targeted exercise, it will happen. But not overnight.

Fat gain

Blame it on the cubicle. When I started a sedentary job that payed me well and was only reachable by car, I gained weight - mostly in my anterior midsection. The fact that I began this job in winter, shortly before the holidays, probably contributed to weight gain.

Diet during this period involved an increase in food, and the food I ate was often unhealthy. More money and more time - combined with a belief that I was physically unable to gain fat - led to more consumption. At the office, (generous) co-workers often brought in doughnuts and other fatty foods, which I enjoyed. I ate at least three meals per day, often snacking on candy, and visited an ice cream shop a few times each week. Sometimes at lunch I ate fast food. I bought the "more healthy" fast food like chicken, but it's still garbage. During the holidays, I spent a week with my parents, eating large quantities, which included foods I don't normally eat, such as pork.

Exercise ceased to occur during this time frame. I drove a car to and from work, I worked sitting down, and then I came home and sat down on the couch. It's embarassing to admit that the most I walked during this period was probably at the grocery store. The winter weather, and its propensity for discouraging exercise, did not help. The job started in November, and by January, the paunch had arrived.

Fat loss

When I realized the weight gain was not temporary, and seemed likely to increase, I changed my diet and exercise habits. After a few months, the pot belly was gone.

Diet during the period of weight loss was a bit regulated, but not much. I cut back on sweets at work, and also on the ice cream. I stopped eating fast food. I didn't gorge myself. I've been fairly health-conscious for years, trying to get a lot of whole grains, vegetables and fruits, and rarely eating fried food. So continuing to eat in this manner, but with slightly smaller portions and cutting out the junk on the side, was all I really did. (Note: My father, who has a build similar to mine, gradually gained approximately 30 pounds a few years ago. He lost it all in three months. The only cause of the weight gain, he says, was gradually eating more and more food, and more and more dessert. When he reduced his portion size and ate less dessert, he lost the weight.)

I started exercising again. I began riding my bicycle or walking several times each week, for several miles each time. Sometimes I rode my bike as much as 10 miles on a trip. The terrain in my neighborhood is quite hilly, so I had some good workouts.

Conclusions on fat

Sitting around + eat sugar and fat = get fat!

Sure, there are genetic issues, pituitary issues, etc., but I truly believe that for most people, it's a matter of exercise and diet. Another caveat is that metabolisms slow down with age. My sedentary job coincided with entering the mid-20s: a time when many people's metabolisms slow down. But age is no excuse.

Conclusions on health in general

During periods of my life when I've eaten decent food and exercised, I've felt better overall. When you're in the habit of exercising, you have more energy all the time. When you're in the habit of eating high-simple carb (sugar) foods, you get short bursts of energy, followed by depressing lethargy. Proper exercise and diet are pretty important, I think.

While I'm certainly no personal health expert, I do know a thing or two about fitness, particularly from my time in the Marines. The apparently simple solution to many aspects of poor health - proper diet and exercise - isn't so simple to many people. And, of course, willpower plays a role. Even if one is educated, discipline and desire are required.

I realize this is getting preachy, and there are certainly better health sources online than a (mostly) international relations blog, I will continue. My site tracker tells me many people have Googled their way to my GRE scores post, so perhaps that's good information to have on the internet. This, too, is good information.

As simple as it seems, here is what has worked for me:

1. Exercise. There is no substitute for a few hours of cardiovascular workout (running, walking at a good pace for at least 30 minutes, swimming, biking) each week.

2. Don't eat garbage; eat a lot of things in moderation; cook for yourself when possible.

For more specifics about diet, this is what I follow:

2A) Whole grains instead of simple carbohydrates whenever possible. Simple carbs (white bread and white rice) have the nutritional value of sugar. That bun at McDonalds: sugar.

Whole wheat bread instead of white bread. Note that "wheat bread" (without "whole wheat") can technically be white bread with brown food coloring. If they don't say "whole wheat," they're trying to trick you. White bread is what you get at the vast majority of restaurants, and certainly most fast food restaurants. Brown rice is better than white rice. Other good whole grain options include oats, whole grain breakfast cereal, and whole wheat pasta. Whole wheat pasta tastes about the same as regular and is more filling. If you have a good sauce, you won't notice the pasta anyway.

It's worth repeating that food labels are intentionally sneaky about whole grains. "With whole grains" can mean it has 10 percent whole grains. Look at the ingredients. Don't get hoodwinked.

There's no need to go Atkins-crazy here by avoiding all carbs. The USDA recommends 6-11 servings of grains and pasta each day. Just try to have the good carbs.

2B) Fresh vegetables and fruits. Note that vegetables come first. Ask someone who has been through cancer what his or her doctor recommends to eat, to avoid remission, and one of the first things to come up is green, leafy vegetables. Spinach, kale, dark-green lettuce. Other good veggies include broccoli and carrots. And the lycopene in cooked tomatoes is a powerful antioxidant, fighting against cancer. Pasta can be good for you, if it has a good marinara sauce.

Fruit is good, too - but it's no substitute for vegetables. In fact, lots of folks drink fruit juice all day, thinking it's healthy, when in fact it's about as sugary as Coke. It's just unrefined sugar. Doctors believe that's part of why kids are so fat - apple juice all day. But in moderation, sure. The bag I usually carry with me often has a banana or apple. Portable and delicious.

2C) The right meat and dairy products, in moderation. I'm not a vegetarian, although that certainly can be a healthy diet. If you're eating baked or grilled chicken and fish, or low-fat cheese and yogurt, you can be quite healthy. Note that neither beef nor anything fried is in the list above.

Basically I try to think about how human beings lived before fast food existed. It's how folks have lived for thousands of years, and it's worked out. Exercise - in the form of a lot of walking - used to be basically required. If you combine the pre-fast food mindset with the advice of modern doctors and nutritionists, and take advantage of the the access we have to lots of fresh, delicious food, you can be quite healthy.