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About a year ago I started trying to “live healthier.” Gave myself a bunch of “healthy” food rules, stopped eating candy , and exercise more. I lost some weight and was encouraged by that, so from there it derailed and I started skipping meals and exclude more and more types of food.
Before I lost weight , I had have weighed about 155 lbs for quite some time (At least I think so, never really weighed myself in those days). At my lowest this spring, I was down to 134 lbs on a height of 6.0, I’m 26 years, male . So I was never underweight, nor had I any extreme low levels of bodyfat. No visible abs etc. It was mainly the muscles on my arms as the body decided to completely devour.
I hovered around 137-138 pounds during a few months this spring . But I often felt cold and received testosterone-gel prescribed by the doctor after a blood test where I had a value of 1.9 something (normal value usually hover around 20). Had enough of all this during the summer and decided to begin eating differently and go back to my previous weight again, maybe that could make me feel better. I Decided to start doing strength training in the meantime. And so I began to eat butter on sandwiches, eat at restaurants and drink beer again . I now weigh about 148 pounds.
So I have gained a few pounds since last summer. I Haven’t gotten back the muscles on my arms yet, my arms still look very stick-thin, and are full of veins.
But now to the point: I hardly recognize my face in the mirror anymore. There has accumulated so much fat on the chin and cheeks that I look really bloated. It’s like excess skin in the cheeks, like a damn bloodhound!Nowadays my facial structure appears to fluctuate on a more or less daily basis . Before this whole circus started , I was often out partying , almost every weekend. Then I often drank a bunch of beers, went to bed and woke up a little hung over, then took a cold shower and there was nothing more to it . Now, if I take a couple of beers and maybe eat some crisps, I wake up and look like a porcelain doll in the face the next day. What’s this silly “carbface”-carousel I got into?? I’ve never been allergic to any kind of foods before , not lactoseintolerant or gluten or something like that.
Sure, it’s genetically where to store fat and so on. But , before all this started , I was well out of shape and a little soggy, but my face and cheeks looked completely different . Not at all the same fat accumulation that now. I actually get startled when I see myself in the mirror . Have I gained weight too quickly and ” triggered off ” a bunch of other new receptors in the body / face?I get the urge to start cutting down to 137 lbs again , just to avoid this swollen look. But it seems a bit counterproductive, since I weigh about 148 lbs right now, and want to “restore” my body to how it was and felt before I started tampering with my diet.
Is there anyone who has experienced something similar? I.e to have lost weight , and then when you regain weight, it appears fat-deposits in places that you did not have before ? Is it a defense mechanism set in motion by the body, deranged hormones, the testosterone treatment or something? Does anyone know what it could be due to? Can it redistribute more evenly if I maintain the weight for a while now , or do I need to “cut” again to get rid of it?
Well, you certainly don’t need to cut.
I’m a woman so it may be a bit different, but re-gaining after anorexic weight loss typically results in weird initial distribution. From what I’ve read here and on other forums, redistribution happens naturally over time IF you continue eating enough to allow your body to rebuild and repair from the damage of heavy restriction. Given your stats, you definitely were heavily restricting. I am surprised to hear you say you weren’t really that underweight; 130’s on 6 feet sounds pretty emaciated to me and your current weight still sounds really low. But that isn’t my call and honestly I don’t know what’s normal for guys.
Anyway, my gains over my years of cycling between anorexia and brief attempts at recovery have always been pretty erratic in terms of where the swelling goes and where the actual body mass ultimately ends up. But what you are describing is normal. If you go back to restricting not only are you headed back to misery, but ultimately you will again need to gain because that weight is not sustainable for you, so you’ll have to go through funky distribution again and again. I highly suggest you do it for real now. Make every effort to be that fun guy you described, because honestly he sounds much more interesting and content in life than rigid boring Mr. Healthy (no offense).
I think I’ll contact my doctor and check up on wether this changes in my face can be a side effect of testosterone treatment .
Something that really bothers me still, is the fluctuation from almost day to day basis. Feel as an indication that the body is out of balance in any way.Sure, there is probably no direct health-bomb eating greasy/sweet food and drinking beer , but the body should surely be able to handle most of the nutrients I feed it without changing drastically and quickly? If you do not have a pronounced allergy that is. It has worked out fine before my weight fluctuation-journey . I have been able to ingest both sugar and alcohol without any significant change in my body composition.
I’m wondering too if it’s a bad move to struggle to build muscle in the gym right now , have read a lotabout the body wanting to ” repair ” itself after being on a low weight , and to rush it through training can bring started mechanisms by which the body ” fighting against” and not re- build muscle , but uses caloric surplus to store the fat reserves due to changing hormone levels after weight loss. But I also have a hard time believing my tiny little arm-muscles will re-appear if I dont stimulate them by training.
It’s easy to become paranoid and start playing “the little chemist ” with the body when it is changed in this way, I think . But it’s also hard to just ignore it, as I do not recognize the body that I have now, even though my weight is now almost “restored”.
Thanks for wise and kind words!
Best regards!I’d second what tennosea says, to stick with the refeeding, with time and patience weight distribution evens out.
I wouldn’t worry about exercise, you may find that just refeeding helps build back your muscles without much exercise. You have two things going for your in this regard, you are young and male!
If you really want to exercise, perhaps something light like a minimal kettlebell workout. I have found kettlebells to be the ultimate less is more workout. Just one short session a week can be enough for me (and I’m a girl so don’t build muscle easily!).
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