Workout Question: I've gotten doughy all of a sudden: what should I do?

[Indus18]

I've never been much of an athlete, but I've always been pretty damn skinny-- a lot of people would say too skinny.

In the last 8 months, my appetite has increased a lot, and I've gained 15 lbs (I'm 5'9" and I went from 129 to 144) and I'm pretty sure almost none of it is muscle.

I was in a VERY active musical for which I had almost 40 hours a week of rehearsals involving dancing, and very physical warm-ups for the first months of the last 8 months, and I think that's what caused my increased appetite, but for some reason the appetite stayed after the exercise stopped.

As someone who has almost NO stamina (although it increased due to the musical), decent upper-body strength (I used to be able to do 20 good-form chin-ups, or 15 good-form pull-ups, now I can do about 15 and 11, respectively), and very little leg strength, what would you suggest for me to quickly lose the weight? Also, is there anything I can do to decrease the appetite again? I find myself starving every night these days!

Do you think I'm analyzing this all wrong and maybe the change has something to do with age and natural metabolism changes?

[IndiReloaded]

Try a fast to reset your appetite?

I like the Lemonade Cleanse. I do that one 2x a year.

You should also be exercising 2-3x a week at least. Running is simplest. Some like to cycle or swim as an alternative.

[caveman]

Diet and amount of food intake is very important.

Starve in the night? Eat something very light and wholesome food if you must.

Have a good work out at least 3 to 5 times weekly. You feel fitter.

A good work out consist of working the whole body for at least 20 to 30 minutes. During work out, you should feel your body getting "warmed" and perspire too. Perspired releases the toxins within.

[Gigabitch]

Stop smoking so much pot and eating dinner out of a KFC bucket.

j/k I know you're not doing that. You're just getting old and shit.

[1averagejoe]

Running or cycling...

You'll lose a fair share just running or cycling consistency. Give it 6 months and you'll lose a fair amount of weight, have a lot more stamina, and feel better about yourself.

Diet is just as important. Start eating healthier.

[smartbabe]

How old are you anyway?

[ransom_nite]

Eat 5-6 meals a day, roughly 2 1/2 to 3 hours apart. That will keep your mebatobolism at a healthy rate and just start doing some cardio, preferably when you wake up so your body uses your so called fat for energy. Should see some good results in 5 or 6 weeks I wouldn't mind suggesting doing some strength training, even if it just be push ups, sit ups, dips and squats, will all be good for you.

[Charlie Boy II]

put your fingers down your throat after each meal

[ransom_nite]

put your fingers down your throat after each meal

No he doesn't want to kill his organs, just lose weight.

[Indus18]

lol, thanks all for the helpful advice. I'm doing Cardio 4 days a week, and basic strength training (push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups, and squats) 3 days a week, and it's seriously helping my insomnia, and just the way I feel, but we'll see if it helps the weight. Ideally, I'd like to be 150, but with a very low body fat percentage, and I think I'm on the right track.

Also, I usually eat incredibly healthily, which is why I was worried about the weight gain, but I had been eating a lot of junk food at night. (reduced fat doritos, cheez-itz, etc despite their label, are largely responsible for this, i'm sure)

To answer smartbabe's question, I just turned 22, but I suddenly feel ancient. I used to have faintly visible abs without ever working out. *sighs* Thanks for the support guys! I hope to be able to report good news!

[Tbrowne]

Diet/Work out plan...you can mix it up a little but roughly here it is:

{plain oatmeal/egg white breakfast

Fruit, Vegies, Nutritional bar lunch

chicken breast, vegie, protein shake dinner}

Nothing but water to drink and working out about 3 or 4 times a week. You will get dramatic results if you do not cheat..my gf went from 115 to 104 in about 4 or 5 weeks for a pagent..dont be scared, shes not anerexic or anything, shes 5' 2".

[Cbrider]

Its probably your age man, I'm almost 22 also and I fit the same profile you do...sort of. 6'5" and I weigh around 200 lbs give or take 5. I wouldn't starve yourself, its counter productive and unhealthy. As I understand it, when you starve yourself your body will consume muscle to maintain itself, as its a far more potent source of energy than muscle. The key to to eat less and eat healthy.

Your body has been dormant for an extended period of time and you just threw it into hard exercise that it hasn't done in a while. It speeds up your metabolism to compensate and replace lost nutrients.

An increase in your water intake can really offset your hunger also and water weight can be dropped in like 24 hours if you want to. I can change my weight by 5 or 6 pounds over 24 hours if I really want to, but its really hard on your body.

Cardio exercise is really good for your body and burns a tremendous amount of calories when compared to other forms of exercise. I was doing running, cycling and elliptical regularly with my ex girlfriend regularly until we split. I unfortunately stopped doing it because I hated the memories and the feeling when I went in by myself. I wish I would stick with it, it does wonders for your physical health...everything from sleeping well to just feeling more energetic.

Something you need to remember with your new found weight is that exercising wont necessarily cause you to lose any weight. Your body has a balance point so to speak where is at its "average." Drop below it and your body will gain weight through just about anything, go above it and you will lose weight exercising. In your case, your probably at the lower end of the average, and muscle has higher density than fat, so you might not lose any weight, rather convert the fat to muscle. I wouldn't be surprised if you actually gained some weight with hard exercise.

I would advise against starving yourself, its hard on your body and will actually slow down your weight loss when compared to moderate, intelligent eating.