Help! What happened to my dream metabolism?

[M B]

Hi guys, just like to tell you a little (true) story of mine...

I was honestly the skinniest guy Id ever seen. 23 years old, 5'8 and 65kgs (143 lbs) which was very heavy considering how skinny I was. I seemed to be heavy considering bulkier guys were lighter. I was very muscular and I guess "cut" is the word. My girlfriend could hardly grab the skin off my stomach, it was that extreme. All my life up until about age 24 I could not gain even the slightest bit of fat. I ate anything & everything and junk food was at the top of the list. I always wanted to be "abit more solid" and tried many times to gain weight. I spent lots of money on weight gainers but no change. It was so fustrating! I even asked my Doctor and he just said to eat everything "bad for you" but I had been doing that all my life?
I finally came to realize that all this bad food musnt be doing my insides anygood and decided to try and get healthy. I went to see an alternative Dr because I had seen & heard of him doing some amazing things. I asked him to help me get healthy and told him Id also love to put on a little weight. He analized my urine and told me what foods to eat, which were mainly vegetables. He said I may have found it impossible to put on weight cause my body was not healthy enough? Which I dont really know if I understand that properly?
Anyway I followed the food program very strictly for about 5-6 months in which at the start I felt very hungry especially since I was going from 1 extreme to another. I now had people saying that I looked even skinnier! I eventually went back to my old ways of eating and over about 7 months gained approximately 7 kgs (15.5 lbs) which I thought was great! Only trouble is if I keep eating like I use to I keep getting heavier, so 7 kgs eventually doubled! Because I had so much room to spare 30 lbs just made me look normal or a little solid.
I am now VERY passionate with 2 sports and other things in which being like I use to (no body fat) would be a dream come true! Im always greatful for my life & health but Id love to know what happened and if I could ever be that way again. Im thinking maybe it was like when someone starves themselve a little on diets that when they eventually go back to their old eating habits they gain weight? I dunno?
Ive always done quite physical activities but never done any extra training. My exercise was just the activities I enjoyed which was probably quite abit more than your average cardio workout. However there was a period when I cut out alot of the more cardio stuff and done more of the short intense stuff. And I did put on more weight during that time.

Id love to hear some replies and will gratefully provide any furthur info that maybe needed to help with an answer.

Thanks...

[LC Sponge]

I can't give you all the answers, but a couple of things you wrote hit a nerve:
Originally posted by M B
I was honestly the skinniest guy Id ever seen. 23 years old, 5'8 and 65kgs (143 lbs)

He said I may have found it impossible to put on weight cause my body was not healthy enough?

Because I had so much room to spare 30 lbs just made me look normal or a little solid.

Im always greatful for my life & health but Id love to know what happened and if I could ever be that way again

Thanks...

I don't know how old you are now, but nobody goes back to what they weighted when they were 23. Especially if they were considered 'underweight' at the time, which it seems you were. I am approx the same height as you, I'm not sure we should almost weight the same and I'm female. What is your bone structure like?

If you were the "skinniest guy" around at 143 lbs, your goal weight of 147 might be a bit drastic. What sports are you in that no body fat is a good thing? Can't be body building at that weight and height can it?

If you had "room to spare" and the extra weight made you look "normal" or "a little solid", I'd rethink what I was doing. My extra weight made me FAT and unhealthy. If it made me look normal and solid, I 'd still weight 184 pounds. :)

When I was 23 I weighed 124 pounds. I was considered the "skinniest thing around" and many people thought I was too thin. In my wildest dreams I wouldn't want to go back to that weight.

Your body KNOWS what healthy is for your age - your mind doesn't. As your metabolism changes, your body is prepared to make the necessary changes in keeping with time, but your mind is still stuffing the same food in.

I can understand your dr saying you couldn't put on weight because "you weren't healthy enough" - that's why so many of us can't lose it on low-fat dieting. Our bodies are so unhealthy that it can't take us to the ideal weight. A low carb regime, which essentially is removing all the artificial junk from our intake, makes us healthy and frees the body up to 'find' it's ideal weight.

[M B]

Cool. Thanks for your reply.
I’ve just recently turned 27, sorry I missed that out. The weight I want to achieve is purely for my sporting and financial goals. The extra weight actually made other people happy for me. For some reason I did not get “fat”? In actual fact people thought I was going to the gym & working out?!?. I have seen a skinny guy put on a third of what I did and yes he did look fat but of course we are all different. I actually dreamed of being that size & look but it just happened that at the time of finally gaining weight my interests needed me to be skinny & light! Trust me!
Being small is obviously what my entire system remembers the most. After all I spent 24 out of 27 years that way! I say this because what I do requires very precise movements of the body and I know my body is so use to moving in a little body. That is just another little reason.
I will get where I need to be because that’s the type of person I am and I do realize that I am waaay better off now because of the new approach to health etc...

[LCer in NW]

One thing you might consider is that Atkins and others caution against losing weight at a high rate if you are anywhere near your ideal weight (determined by frame size, bone structure, % of body fat). You do not get to just select what you'd like to be without considering the effects on muscle mass, etc.

Ketogenic eating can help you arrive at rather low % body fat, and is fine for achieving that goal. But it should be done slowly. Also your body may actually have more muscle mass than before. You may be the special person who may want to stimulate a reduction in lean body mass as well. If so, you should be very careful and do alot of reading and consulting, perhaps with others in your field.

Good luck.