Messed Up Metabolism, Help

I was in Thailand for 5 weeks training Muay Thai. I was 215lbs when I left and am 195lbs now at 6ft tall. I lost about 20lbs in those 5 weeks. Which I kinda don’t mind, but I’m having problems eating enough to workout hard while maintaining this weight. (I was 260lbs 1.5 years ago and gain weight very easy.)

Here is what I did in Thailand:

I trained 2.5 hours (running at least a 5k, pads, bags, clinching, ect) in the morning on an empty stomach.

Right when training finished I had one scoop of Surge in a liter of water.

About an hour later I would eat about 2 cups papaya salad with a cup of sticky rice and about 4 oz of chicken on a stick.

I would take 3 grams of fish oil and take a nap. Around 3pm I would wake up and train another 2.5 hours.

Again right after training I would drink scoop of Surge in a liter of water.

About an hour later I would eat green curry with about 4 oz of chicken and 1.5 cups of white rice.

Right before bed I would take 3 grams of fish oil and drink a Metabolic Drive shake in water.

According to FitDay, that is only about 1850 calories a day, 130 grams of protein, 190 grams carbs, and 53 grams fat.

Not very smart, I know. No wonder I lost so much weight. But I felt great during training, I didn’t feel like I was running on empty.

Now here is my problem. I want to stay below 200lbs. I am running 5k every morning on an empty stomach, I train at least 2 hours of BJJ a day and 1 hour of Muay Thai 3 times a week. I do a circuit of incline bench, pull ups, and body weight squats twice a week.

I am only eating about 2500 calories a day, fairly close to the John Berardi’s no nonsense nutrition plan…just having a hard time getting all of the meals in. When I do get all of the meal in I feel great, but start gaining weight…when I skip a few of the meals I bonk out during training and feel like crap, but stay the same weight.

I need help finding a balance between training and diet.

training seems like it should take priority. and weigh yourself once weekly to see if it is REAL WEIGHT GAIN not just food and water

jesus man, you trained 5 hours a day on 1800 calories? That’s crazy!

[quote]Matt- wrote:
Here is what I did in Thailand:

I trained 2.5 hours (running at least a 5k, pads, bags, clinching, ect) in the morning on an empty stomach.

[/quote]

This seems slightly excessive. And by slightly, I mean like “What the hell is wrong with you?”

A little cardio on an emprty stomach might be a good idea, but 2.5 hours? That’s overkill, IMO.

Yeah I know. It was just hard to eat enough and still have my stomach empty enough to train hard.

Have you tried bumping up the Surge? 1 scoop per liter of water isn’t much; try at least two, maybe even three. Surge is digested pretty easily, so it should add more calories and keep your stomach empty enough for you to train hard.

You might also ask yourself if your training plan is getting you where you want to be. I gotta agree with The Greek that 2.5 hours of cardio seems a little excessive. It might even be counter productive depending on what your physique goals are.

What are your physique goals anyway? Are you working for endurance? Trying for UFC? Low BF? Strength?

I only brought one container of Surge with me to Thailand, so I wanted to make it last. I on;y had one serving left at the end of 5 weeks.

I think it really helped me recover from the workouts. I could literaly feel the difference 30 mniutes after training. I would be tired as hell right after training and then feel fine 30 minutes after drinking the Surge.

Thats far to much work in the morning before you have ate anything…
Maybe do some light cardio before you eat for 30mins then wait an hour after you have ate then do another 30mins of intense stuff… Assuming cooking your food takes 30mins at the max then you are still using up 2 and a half hours of your time.

I’m not in Thailand anymore and not doing 2.5 hours of training in the morning.

I’m still running 5k on an empty stomach, but that only takes about 25 minutes and it’s not that taxing.

I think it would be a good idea to at LEAST get some BCAAs in before running a 5k

That’s a good idea. I’ll give that a try.

Thanks