Trying to counteract med induced weight gain - Help please

[Middleway]

I am on Nardil (MAOI) and it has made me pile on heaps of weight.

I started training about 10 days ago and taking my diet seriously and I am still putting on weight.

I am hoping someone can tell me where I am going wrong.

I was hitting the gym doing cardio and then weights 3 sets 10 split routine.
I wasusing active rest (jogging between sets) to keep my heart rate up around 140bpm for a whole hour.
I would finish the routine and eat a bowl of pasta or cerial with protein powder.

I have started doing martial arts and it is so strenious that I am going to need to modify my routine.
I am doing an hour of martial arts training 3 times per week, how should I fit weights and/or other cardio in?

My diet is
One cut of oats with low fat soy milk and blueberries for breakfast
half a cup of nuts for a snack
2 cups cooked vegies 50g of tuna and 6 rice cakes for lunch
Dinner is 2 cups of pasta with pesto or cerial with protein powder.

I drink heaps of black coffee and green tea, when I work out I use an energy drink, minimal fruit.

Also everything is the wrong way around as I work night shifts. I do martial arts in the evening 2 hours after waking. Work all night in a sedintary job. Train in the gym in the morning.

I take cromium, some fish oil, vitamin a, use nicotine sublingual tablets.

I can usually get results quick and have been quite built and fit in the past, this is just so frustrating.
Any advice greatly appreciated.

 

[Middleway]

Oh yeah, I added up my kj and I am using 10600 per day.
I am a 32yo guy, 6ft, 86kg. I am also getting a lot of bloating, not sure why.

 

[nordic_aloha]

I am not sure how to direct you on the weight loss part, since I am not familiar with the actual effects of the medication your on (plus there are many here who are much more qualilfied to give you advice). But as far as your bloating goes, that is normal for what you are eating. You are eating blueberries, oats & wheat, then your washing it down with soy milk, coffee, and energy drinks. You are not eating a lot of bulk calories obviously, but you are speeding up your GI with caffiene, oats, and cereal. This will cause a bloated feeling and Im surprised that you don't come down with diareha after taking the energy drinks. Try cutting the coffee if you are going to stay on that diet.

 

[VictorZ06]

This thread is in not related to AAS and I'll think you will get better answers in the HL section. Thread moved.

/V

 

[graugeist]

When you say that your diet consists of what you listed do you mean that you eat foods like that for your meals every day, or is this what you are eating every day? You need to vary your diet. Eating the same things every day does not seem like a very good idea. Also, energy drinks are very unhealthy and tend to be high calorie. If anything just stick with moderate intake of coffee or tea. If you absolutely insist on energy drinks at least get the sugar free ones. You may want to snack more throughout the day and have more varied snacks. More fruit would be beneficial for you as well. You need to come up with a way to keep a healthy diet for the rest of your life in order to maintain a healthy lifestyle and not gain all of your weight back when your diet is "done".

Have you spoken to your prescribing doctor to find out if it is OK to exercise while taking this medication at the level you are aiming for? You could also probably get some good feedback on keeping a healthy diet from your doctor. I would suggest going to the library or book store and getting some books on nutrition to read as well. Also, keep in mind that it is going to take much longer than just 10 days to see results from a healthy diet and regular exercise.

 

[belarki]

From your diet I'd cut out the pasta/ceral for dinner and focus on a higher protein + fibre meal like lean meat + steamed veges instead? As nordic said the bloating could be from all of the cereal/wheat/ricecakes/oats etc? Maybe eat smaller servings of higher calorie foods (I know it sounds counter intuitive) but a smaller serving of something higher in protein & healthy fats wil leave you feeling fuller than a larger meal with low fat/protein and high carbs.

You could also try some short, intensive cardio before breakfast on the days you're not doing martial arts like running/cycling/swimming? From memory the best time for fat-loss cardio is on an empty stomach?

Other than that I'm not sure. Drink tons of water? I'm assuming that as you've refined your die and exercise patterns this much already that you're using artificial sweetners or stevia or somesuch in your tea and coffee?

I feel for you though, I was on remeron (avanza) for a while, cut back my diet a heap, and still put on 5kg in a couple of months.... damned meds hey?