#1 ·
Hey everyone.
I have a question regarding digestion, so I was hoping someone could help me make sense of a few things.
To give you some context on why things have shifted lately.
Up until two months ago, I was eating twice a day. Coffee in the morning—not counting that—then around noon, just a light snack, maybe half a sandwich with some deli meat and cheese. Lunch would be around 6 PM, and that was pretty much it, though I might grab a couple of cookies late at night.
Since starting this seasonal gig while I'm in school, my eating habits have gone completely off the rails. In the morning around 7 AM, I’ll grab two or three pastries—strudels, donuts, the works. Around 9:30, I’ll have a probiotic drink, then another snack around 11, usually something sweet. At 1:30 PM, I sit down for lunch and knock back four sandwiches loaded with about half a pound of deli meat, half a pound of cheese, and a can of tuna. Then, right before my shift ends around 3:30, someone always brings in ice cream, or maybe fruit salad or watermelon depending on what my coworkers bring. And of course, I’m constantly grabbing whatever candy is within reach—Mars bars, Twix, Kinder, Jaffa cakes, you name it.
In the afternoons, I head to the beach, and when I get home, I eat a cooked meal. I’m definitely not lacking in calories. What worries me is that I'm hitting the bathroom about four times a day. Even weirder is that for the last four years, I’ve stayed stuck at exactly 140 pounds (I'm 21, 5'9"). Back when I was eating at the campus dining hall—and we all know how greasy that food is—I managed to bump up to 143, but since I stopped eating there, I fell back to 140. Now, over the last two months due to this job, I feel like I've bulked up a bit. I've never had a gut, but now my midsection feels flat but firm right under the skin, and my arms seem wider, yet the scale still says 140. Is that even possible? It feels like I'm eating way too much without actually gaining weight. As for drinks, it's a mix of Gatorade, various iced teas, and plenty of water—about 3 liters a day.
Once this season is over, I'll obviously cut back on the junk, especially since my employer is basically footing the bill for all this food right now. I work at a grocery store, mostly manual labor—stocking shelves, hauling crates, moving pallets... the typical seasonal student grind.
So, to wrap this up: should I be concerned about my weight staying stagnant despite the calories, or is this rapid digestion just normal for me?
I have a question regarding digestion, so I was hoping someone could help me make sense of a few things.
To give you some context on why things have shifted lately.
Up until two months ago, I was eating twice a day. Coffee in the morning—not counting that—then around noon, just a light snack, maybe half a sandwich with some deli meat and cheese. Lunch would be around 6 PM, and that was pretty much it, though I might grab a couple of cookies late at night.
Since starting this seasonal gig while I'm in school, my eating habits have gone completely off the rails. In the morning around 7 AM, I’ll grab two or three pastries—strudels, donuts, the works. Around 9:30, I’ll have a probiotic drink, then another snack around 11, usually something sweet. At 1:30 PM, I sit down for lunch and knock back four sandwiches loaded with about half a pound of deli meat, half a pound of cheese, and a can of tuna. Then, right before my shift ends around 3:30, someone always brings in ice cream, or maybe fruit salad or watermelon depending on what my coworkers bring. And of course, I’m constantly grabbing whatever candy is within reach—Mars bars, Twix, Kinder, Jaffa cakes, you name it.
In the afternoons, I head to the beach, and when I get home, I eat a cooked meal. I’m definitely not lacking in calories. What worries me is that I'm hitting the bathroom about four times a day. Even weirder is that for the last four years, I’ve stayed stuck at exactly 140 pounds (I'm 21, 5'9"). Back when I was eating at the campus dining hall—and we all know how greasy that food is—I managed to bump up to 143, but since I stopped eating there, I fell back to 140. Now, over the last two months due to this job, I feel like I've bulked up a bit. I've never had a gut, but now my midsection feels flat but firm right under the skin, and my arms seem wider, yet the scale still says 140. Is that even possible? It feels like I'm eating way too much without actually gaining weight. As for drinks, it's a mix of Gatorade, various iced teas, and plenty of water—about 3 liters a day.
Once this season is over, I'll obviously cut back on the junk, especially since my employer is basically footing the bill for all this food right now. I work at a grocery store, mostly manual labor—stocking shelves, hauling crates, moving pallets... the typical seasonal student grind.
So, to wrap this up: should I be concerned about my weight staying stagnant despite the calories, or is this rapid digestion just normal for me?