"Listen To Your Body"

[Legion Kreinak2]

Why is it listening to one's body in terms of knowing when to eat would be bad? Is it because the body considers excess muscle to be useless and therefore doesn't send signals to you that you need to eat more to grow..?

 

[casualbb]

Is it because the body considers excess muscle to be useless and therefore doesn't send signals to you that you need to eat more to grow..?

Yup. The body's always seeking to maintain homeostasis, which is a fancy way of saying that it wants to keep everything the same.

Building muscle from the body's perspective is really really expensive -- considered a drastic measure to address drastic demands (frequent, muscle-damaging work). The body only wants to allow hypertrophy in periods of extreme food availability, and it doesn't due to drive an organism nuts making it crave food that it shouldn't really need. Face it: bodybuilding isn't natural

 

[Legion Kreinak2]

Hah, I figured as much. Thanks for the reply Casual.

 

[Exodus]

eat on a set schedule......... but train depending on what your body says.

X

 

[BodyByFinaplix]

Definately eat on a schedule, not by instinct. Actually, I'm a believer in the set point theory. Whenever your body has a set point for a given weight (the set point can change, though the body is resistant to do so) your general feeling of hunger will be stronger the farther under that weight you are. Once you get to the weight, your sense of hunger will be greatly deminished. Once you get above it, you will not feel an urge to eat much at all. It becomes critical to eat on a schedule once one reaches or surpasses this set point in order to put on or even maintain muscle mass.

 

[Legion Kreinak2]

Hey, I've always wondered actually - let's say you added a good amount of muscle mass (15 lbs. LBM) and cut down and all, and then you happened to go on vacation and miss a couple days of heavy eating (let's just assume it was inevitable). Well, how long would it take to actually start losing muscle mass.

I assume this depends on how much protein you're having, and if you're training or not.

Let's say not training, and getting about half your bodyweight in protein (for this example let's say 100 lbs. - therefore the individual is 200). Would it take a descent amount of time at least? I ask this because it would suck to build such mass, and then screw it up so easily if you accidentally miss a day.

I know some might say "don't miss a day" then (of eating or training, whichever) but I'm just thinking ahead and at one of the worse scenarios that could occur.

And also, if you happen to lose that muscle mass over whatever period (some of it, at least) - is it easier to put back on than it was to achieve initially?

 

[BodyByFinaplix]

You will not gain any muscle during that 2 day period, however, yoru body will not shed it that fast. You might loos some, but not enough to measure. It will not be 1/2 a ibs. In fact, periodic short periods of low calorie eating can be beneficial while bulking. It can help optimize anabolic hormones. I've heard of several effective variations of this stratigy. I do it periodically (take half a day of almost no calories while bulking), but it probably works best on the last day of my low carb days, just before a carbup (I bulk using a high cal ckd).

 

[Legion Kreinak2]

Heh, well I didn't think you would gain any.

And could you "restore" the muscle tissue lost easier the second time around? I don't know about that entire "muscle memory" thing so...