Navigating the complex journey of weight gain, especially in the fitness community where the scale often dictates success, can feel like traversing a minefield. Join me, Tina, as we sip some truth tea and unravel the tangled web of weight fluctuation, particularly as it pertains to fitness influencers who once touted the virtues of extreme dieting and exercise. In this candid conversation, I lay bare my own struggles and the insights gained from chatting with fitness experts, shedding light on the need for a sustainable approach to managing our bodies through life's inevitable ebbs and flows. From the significance of reverse dieting to the transparency required when fitness figures share their personal narratives, this episode promises a hearty blend of personal reflection and professional wisdom.
The landscape of health is ever-changing, and with it, our perceptions of what it means to be fit. In a world where fitness influencers wield considerable influence, it's crucial that their stories of weight gain and the journeys that lead there are presented with honesty and educational value. Together, we scrutinize these shared experiences, discussing the potentially irresponsible management of weight changes following extreme fitness regimens and the impact these stories have on their audience. My aim? To foster a dialogue that promotes a balanced, informed, and above all, healthy relationship with our bodies and the fitness goals we set for ourselves. So, refill your cup and prepare to challenge the status quo with this thought-provoking episode.
Navigating the complex journey of weight gain, especially in the fitness community where the scale often dictates success, can feel like traversing a minefield. Join me, Tina, as we sip some truth tea and unravel the tangled web of weight fluctuation, particularly as it pertains to fitness influencers who once touted the virtues of extreme dieting and exercise. In this candid conversation, I lay bare my own struggles and the insights gained from chatting with fitness experts, shedding light on the need for a sustainable approach to managing our bodies through life's inevitable ebbs and flows. From the significance of reverse dieting to the transparency required when fitness figures share their personal narratives, this episode promises a hearty blend of personal reflection and professional wisdom.
The landscape of health is ever-changing, and with it, our perceptions of what it means to be fit. In a world where fitness influencers wield considerable influence, it's crucial that their stories of weight gain and the journeys that lead there are presented with honesty and educational value. Together, we scrutinize these shared experiences, discussing the potentially irresponsible management of weight changes following extreme fitness regimens and the impact these stories have on their audience. My aim? To foster a dialogue that promotes a balanced, informed, and above all, healthy relationship with our bodies and the fitness goals we set for ourselves. So, refill your cup and prepare to challenge the status quo with this thought-provoking episode.
Welcome back to another episode of the Tea with Tina podcast. On today's episode, we are talking about weight gain Maybe not weight gain in the way that you think. I am going to be talking about it in the sense of fitness influencers who promote weight gain as being healthy, and, as with everything, it is dependent on context. So I am not necessarily saying weight gain isn't healthy for people. It is the way that they present it that bothers me. Alright, so let's just dive in.
Speaker 2:
Welcome to the Tea with Tina, your favorite podcast, where we talk all things health, fitness, lifestyle and maybe a little bit of tea gets spilled.
Speaker 1:
We chat all about this in a super casual environment, so grab your beverage of choice, sit back, relax and enjoy.
Speaker 1:
Okay so I was scrolling Instagram the other day and two pretty big fitness people were talking about how they gained weight. Okay, so they talked about how they gained weight anywhere from like 20 to 50 pounds, and you know, this is their bodies, they're proud of it. Gaining weight is healthy, this is the best that they've ever felt, etc. Etc. Okay, and I kind of was like ick for a second. Okay, and again, I do want to preface this is context, because this is this can definitely be a sensitive subject. This is not a black and white label, all or nothing label, because there are many instances that I think we need to gain weight, but that's kind of my whole point is the reason these people gain weight. They did these fitness influencers. They didn't set out to gain weight. They're not like you know what? I look great, I'm just I'm looking to gain like 20 to 30 pounds. No, no, that's not what happened. They gain weight because, for whatever reason and I see this happen so much in the fitness industry and it's kind of happened to me too is you go to extreme with your routine, your fitness routine, and it becomes unsustainable and you know your body's dieted down and tired, so when you do, inevitably eat more and move less maybe not as a controlled environment. You put on weight and it is healthy in the aspect that your body needed that and that's why so many times these fitness influencers say this is the best they've ever felt. And I've even made posts like this. I said that I'm 20 pounds heavier than my high school weight. You know, everybody always wants to get down to their high school weight. But it's like your body changes. Maybe you had kids. Your shape changes. You know, hormones change. So many things change. So like, obviously, weight fluctuations are okay, but when you kind of gain that bigger amount of weight, like we're saying that, 20 to 50 pounds over a couple months, maybe a year, because you would just decided to not work out as much and maybe eat more, because you're feeling a little bit run down, just do, like I said, from more of an unsustainable fitness routine. And that is what bothered me. It bothered me that these fitness influencers often do very extreme workout routines. They're working out like six, sometimes seven days a week, two plus hours, they're eating very little and they're like look, guys, you can look like me. This is so sustainable and balanced, and then one day they just can't do it anymore. You know they get older, they want to settle down, they want to have a family, they move on and every fitness influencer I've seen this has been the case. You know they might have kids. They.
Speaker 1:
The one girl who did gain weight. She used to be a class instructor, which can also be very, very taxing. Let me tell you this is why I rarely teach or I rarely do the classes that I teach, I am just the instructor because these people sometimes can teach up to five plus classes a day and they're doing the classes with the people. That's insane. They are working out five, six hours a day. They're not fueling properly, they're not resting properly. This is very toxic. Their body super stressed out and usually they don't sustain it very long. And this is what happened to that girl as soon as she stopped doing it. I don't know what she's doing now, but she gained the weight and I'm like, wow, that's no freaking surprise, because you were, you know, really taxing your body, doing too much, you weren't recovering enough, you weren't fueling properly, and then you just stopped all the sudden and you wonder why you gain weight.
Speaker 1:
It's kind of like with bodybuilders they're very strict with their diets, obviously, and it's an extreme, and they diet down for their show and then usually after their show, if they don't have a good coach or if they just don't have the willpower and they go against what their coach says, you're supposed to reverse diet, which we'll get into in a second but they'll just kind of like go all in and eat everything because they haven't been able to eat certain things and they'll usually go out and eat these crazy meals for a couple days and they will actually gain like crazy amounts of weight in a short period of time because their metabolism is so down Regulated that when they finally eat food, their body stores everything they're eating is fat so, and that can really mess them up, okay, but their body needs it because it feels like it's in a starved state. Now, these, these are some extreme examples, but just to illustrate what happens. This is what happens and I think I Think we. The problem is is we can avoid that Weight gain to some extent, that more extreme weight gain, if we did things properly right. So, like these people that all the sudden stopped working out as much and we're eating Like not a lot of food and maybe one day they like screw it, I'm eating more.
Speaker 1:
You know there's a way to do it and I think reverse dieting is the answer, and it's in a controlled environment. And this is where it gets tricky, because sometimes our bodies and our minds are so deprived that it's kind of like we go crazy and we're like, no, I just need food, I can't handle this anymore. And that's when, like binge eating comes in. And this is why we shouldn't even diet ourselves down that extremely in the first place. If you're under a good coach, when you go in a calorie deficit, they should be very conservative. I know I am. I keep calories as high as possible for as long as possible and then, once they stop working, then we look at lowering the calories From there. But you know, I'm not like slashing calories like crazy from the beginning and having you get starved. That's not the right way to do it because the long-term effects these are some of the things that can happen right, but if we are in a healthy place and you know, for reference, I got a hip injury a little over a year ago and I literally like abruptly stopped working out for a year, like I walked a little bit.
Speaker 1:
I couldn't walk very far depending on my hip. I did some yoga, but it wasn't crazy and I was like, oh shit, I am doing way less movement than what I was like. I was really on a roll five to six days a week. I was killing it. I was feeling good and then I just abruptly stopped and I made sure to really Be mindful of my diet and I did not gain any weight. If anything, I lost a couple pounds. I mean, some of it was probably muscle. I did lose some muscle in my house, but like I didn't gain any weight. Why? Why didn't I gain weight? Because I was mindful. I was mindful and I do have hypothyroidism, so you can't come at me and go well, you're just somebody who doesn't gain weight, like no, I literally have a slower metabolism and all these hormonal issues, and I was just, I was very mindful.
Speaker 1:
So I guess what I'm getting at is the people which we'll touch on reverse dieting in a second. I know I keep saying about it, but the people that promote the weight gain in the way of it's kind of like it's like they're covering up their issue and just being like it's fine that I gained weight, you know it's, you know, I feel the best I ever have, and what they're saying is is I'm finally eating enough food and I'm not training as crazy and now my body actually feels energized and good. The weight gain is kind of just a byproduct of what happens, and even in a reverse diet you'll gain a little bit of weight. Everybody's different. Some people won't gain weight, some people will gain a couple pounds, but it shouldn't be anything significant.
Speaker 1:
But reverse dieting is essentially, you know, getting your body to like slowly increase calories. So this has to be very monitored with macro tracking. You know you usually add on like I want to say like 10 grams of carbs every two weeks, so very gradual, but over time, you know this can build up like over six months. You're looking at like you know it could be like 500 calories that you're adding on If you're consistent with it. I just have a friend of mine who she's doing bodybuilding and she has a really good coach and she's short, okay, and she was eating like 1500, 1600, 1700 calories. She reversed dieted up to 2300 and she looks great Like she hasn't gained any weight. You can see her ablines like she looks good and it's because she was really doing it under the focus of a coach and that there's a way to do that.
Speaker 1:
You can reverse diet yourself to gradually add calories. It's because you're so gradually adding that food in that your metabolism has enough time to adapt to that higher intake without storing fat. It adjusts as you're gradually adding it. So then that way you can eat more food without necessarily gaining all this weight. And then the point behind that is is when you know, let's say, your new maintenance is up to 2300, like this girl, when you do go into a deficit, let's say you want to shave off 500 calories or whatever, you're only dieting at 1800 calories, which maybe before you were 1500 calories. Okay, so it gives you more room, it gives you flexibility, because obviously we can't diet down forever. You can't be like, oh well, I'm not losing at 1200 calories, so I guess I got to go to 1000. You know you have to reverse diet out of it and of course there's a lot of factors that come into play. It's a lot of staying the path, making sure you're consistent with everything, but that is the way to avoid that weight gain.
Speaker 1:
Okay, and I do want to touch because I mentioned about me personally talking about weight gain I want to explain where my weight gain came from. I was someone who was pretty skinny in high school. You know I had some extra weight at one point but then I was working out a lot and then I lost a lot of it. So I think at my lowest I was maybe like 130. I sit around 145, 150 right now. That seems to be my like good set point. If I'm a little bit leaner, I'm closer to the 140, 145. And really, what happened over the years? I remember my first training job. He asked me if I was a runner because I was so like skinny and I was like what?
Speaker 1:
And I was like no, just my body. So I didn't have any muscle on me. So I was lifting more and when I lifted more I inevitably gained more weight, but it wasn't like fat. You know, you gain a little bit of fat when you put on muscle. It's just a part of the process, but it wasn't anything crazy. So, um, I put on muscle, my body shape changed. I didn't change like clothing sizes or anything, it's just I put on more muscle and you know, you go through different phases where you do build a little bit of muscle and then you kind of cut and you build some muscle and you cut. And that's kind of what happened over the years.
Speaker 1:
I think I do maybe have a little bit of extra fat on me, but it's like a good fat, if that makes sense. Like I don't feel like I gained all this weight and I'm like super, you know, uncomfortable with my body, like I think all the weight that I gained is pretty healthy. So that's where it came from. For me I don't think it was ever even with all my hormonal issues and stuff I don't think it was ever like oh, I stopped working out and I ate all this food and I gained all this like extra weight back. Right, I did have some issues with water retention and things and weight fluctuations in that aspect, but I've always been trying to try to be mindful of my routine and that's something with you guys. If you're mindful of your routine and you don't take it to the extremes in the first place, you won't even have to worry about that, right? If you can, you know, ease your way out of things, you you can manage those binge cycles and how you gain 30 pounds so fast even though you lost like 20. So slow and steady wins the race, as always.
Speaker 1:
But I hope this episode made sense.
Speaker 1:
Like I said, anytime I stumble upon something I write it down because I'm like, oh, this would make a good podcast episode. So if you ever see the fitness influencers, you know, praising their weight gain, um, you know I don't discredit anybody for that but, like I said, just know that it usually comes from a place. As someone who is a trainer in the industry, I've actually talked with a couple other coaches about this it's usually because they like just took it way too extreme and they just kind of gave up and they didn't properly like ease out of it and then they gained weight. You know, they kind of relax a little bit, laid off the S, which again isn't a problem, but I think you know, as a fitness well, some of them aren't even fitness professionals, they're just fitness influencers. But whatever, somebody who's in fitness and should be semi-knowledgeable, I think they could probably do that a little bit better, but or at least explain it a little bit better as well. So yeah, that's just my thoughts on it.
Speaker 1:
I hope you have a great rest of your day and we will chat soon, guys. Bye.