Too much weight loss

[BVOLF]

I completed the whole 30 a few months and have been very hysterical about the food that I continue to eat, although I occasionally CHEAT.  And it really is cheating, the only thing that have semi-regularly is pop corn, and only white pop corn as that doesnt hurt my gut.  

 

Anyways, I am 6'4  I started a paleo lifestyle at 300+ pounds, about 2012 years ago, that through that time have declined gradually to my current weight, which I do monitor, to 186.  In the last 12=14 months I went from 269 to my current weight.  I also, while on the whole thirty and strict diet dropped my cholesterol from 479 to 180 and raised my good cholesterol from 30 to 70.  Im not sure if the good cholesterol is a triumph, but its ok.

 

Anyways--I feel that I am too thin.  I have started cardio, as I lost all of that weight with no activity, and that is causing more weight gain but muscle strength.  I AM TRYING TO FIGURE OUT, how to put on more muscle.  I don't know what to eat to actually gain a little weight back to turn into muscle and still stay on the hysterical food diet.

[Tom Denham]

I am 6'2 and weigh 184 pounds, so I can appreciate that you might be a bit thin at 6'4 and 186 pounds. 

 

Your body grows muscle when you challenge it with heavy lifting or other demanding exercise. Exercise is good for your brain too! People who exercise learn faster and remember better than people who do not exercise. I like kettlebells and sandbags and bodyweight work, but all kinds of exercise can work. Pick something you like and practice regularly. 

 

If you need to gain weight, all you have to do is eat Whole30-compliant foods according to the meal planning template. Some people think they are following the meal planning template, when they are not. The most common mistake is eating lots of salad and thinking you are eating enough veggies. Salads don't amount to much after being chewed. The meal planning template is best understood as filling a plate with cooked veggies, not raw veggies.

 

Almost everyone needs to eat a fist-size serving of starchy veggies every day. If you are exercising, you may need to eat 2-4 servings of starchy veggies per day. 

 

Pre- and post-workout meals are important. It is always a mistake to combine a post-workout meal with another meal. Doing so means that you are missing a meal. 

 

Don't be afraid of eating fat. Don't count cooking fat as a serving of fat with most meals. The fat stays in the pan and does you little good. Add a serving of avocado or olives to meals to increase the fat content. Use homemade mayo on meats and veggies. Make your food taste good with fat. 

 

How much to eat

http://whole30.com/downloads/whole30-meal-planning.pdf

[BVOLF]

I just want to clarify that you recommend cooked vegetables vs. raw, or did I read into that incorrectly. 

[Tom Denham]

Yes. Cooked veggies digest more easily than raw and we do a better job of eating enough veggies when they are cooked than when they are raw. 

[praxisproject]

Essentials for building or rebuilding muscle: enough protein (don't be stingy!), enough of your supporting nutrients like magnesium, sodium, potassium and zinc, enough fat, enough sleep and enough exercise for the muscle to be active. Unused muscle is the first to be discarded by the body, if there's insufficient nutrition (in ratio to requirements), you also can't build new muscle. If you've lost a lot of weight, you may find your hunger "feelings" are a bit out as there's been a lot of changes, your blood work can be a bit off too after a lot of weight loss, but it will recover.

 

Liver (like chicken livers and beef liver) is full of lots of supporting nutrition for muscles). Bone broth, gelatin, bone marrow and good fats are great too. Fatty fish often isn't looked at for muscle building but it contains a lot of great nutrients, as does seafood.

 

Cardio is great for other things, but it's not the best for building muscle.

Strength training doesn't have to be Crossfit or Olympic level and time wise, you'll get more bang for your buck each week.