When gaining weight, does the body MAKE new fat cells?

[iCookie]

I have been reading around lately, and heard some stuff that if you gain weight VERY FAST (like with GOMAD) the body will make extra fat cells to cope. These extra fat cells will make it harder for your body to lose weight and easier for it to become fat again later...Any truth to this?

[thefinalsql]

Looks like you found something very good to research

[Danfront]

Outside of youth it isn't about speed, it is about quanity. So fast isn't the issue it is how much. You can make new fat cells but it would be at a very high weight.

[iCookie]

I'm just thinking since I'm about to start GOMAD, GOMAD causes rapid weight gain and I heard that when you gain weight "too fast" your body makes new fat cells.

The problem with fat cells is that the body makes more, but you don't lose them later on because the body thinks you might need them again sometime. And that's probably why people who have been fat before, gain weight much easier than people who've always been skinny.

[Rockfella]

I kinda gree.. i was very lean... took milk based supplimenst that made me fat and it is hard for me to loose that weight now....

I'm just thinking since I'm about to start GOMAD, GOMAD causes rapid weight gain and I heard that when you gain weight "too fast" your body makes new fat cells.

The problem with fat cells is that the body makes more, but you don't lose them later on because the body thinks you might need them again sometime. And that's probably why people who have been fat before, gain weight much easier than people who've always been skinny.

[TomStrong]

Well I have no scientific facts, but I do have a personal observation about this. I have always been very, very skinny (5 feet, 11 inches tall, 155 pounds). then about 8 years ago or so I saw a movie called "American History X" with an actor named Edward Norton. Ok, so he is a pretty skinny actor and then in this movie he is some big buff badass. So I do some research and found out that he gained 30 pounds of muscle in 3 months by working out and eating everything. Well that's what he said in the interview anyway.

Well, not knowing anything about weightlifting, I decided to do that. But I didn't really work out much or even very well. I started to eat a LOT. Like 4 peanut butter/banana sandwiches a day, milkshakes, ice cream in addition to regular meals. I would even nuke a pint of ice cream in the microwave and then drink it when it got soft. hehe, not one of my more healthy ideas... Actually it sorta messed me up. My hair started to turn gray and I kid you not--my eyes changed from green to light blue. Could have been a coincedence, but my older brother still doesn't have gray hair and mine is all gray and my eyes stayed light blue. Odd, but I swear it's true. Of course now I'm 40, so it's supposed to be gray, but I was only 32 at this the time it turned. And it only took 3 months to turn gray. But other than that, I survived!

I ended up gaining 35 pounds in two and a half months. All of it fat because I was barely working out. I was just watching the scale.

Needless to say, it wasn't a good 35 pounds. I looked pasty and bloated and even got some minor stretch marks on my stomach. Well then I found out that the actor probably used steroids to get that big (unless he used the GOMAD diet! But I doubt it...) because even Arnold called him to ask him if he was juicing. And one month after shooting the movie, he was back to his usual skinny self. I can't honestly say that he used steroids, but when you have Arnold questioning your results, then I would have to say it's a strong suspicion. But I am no expert, so I can't say. And Norton is an excellent actor regardless...

Anyway, I stopped eating that much and I lost all of the weight very, very quickly. And within a month or two got back down to 155 or so. And here I am years later, and doing the GOMAD and it's just as hard to gain weight as before. The weight is just very hard-earned for me.

Of course, this time I am doing the 5 x 5 program this time around, so I hope it will work better. But I do know I am capable of gaining the weight, capable of losing it really quickly and it is still pretty hard to gain back.

So for me, the theory of the new fat cells doesn't work. But as always, your milage may vary. And I've only been doing GOMAD for a week, so I'll have to wait and see if my weight gain this time around will look better. And I have my before pics all ready to compare to after pics...yay!

[JasonLB]

Gaining fat period can lead to new fat cell production, speed doesn't really have anything to do with it. Fat cells can expand to something like 1000x their normal size (they store liquid too); when fat cells reach their size limit they release hormones to the surrounding tissue which leads to new fat cell production (called adipogenesis). The problem, aside from the obvious, is that fat cells produce hormones that reduce insulin sensitivity, which is why obesity has a positive correlation with diabetes. Insulin is the most powerful metabolic regulator the human body produces and insulin resistance makes it much easier to gain fat (especially if one is eating a high carb diet), so it can become a vicious cycle: adipogenesis leads to increased insulin resistance which leads to more adipogenesis and so on. And once a new fat cell is born, it can only be shrunk, not destroyed (outside of liposuction).

Now, with respect to GOMAD, milk, despite its low glycemic index, causes a huge insulin response -- makes sense given milks actual purpose vis-a-vis newborns -- which makes it an ideal bodybuilding supplement given the right environment. Someone with high insulin sensitivity (individuals with very little fat and the physically active), if they work their ass off in the gym, can take advantage of that insulin response and put on shit loads of muscle very fast. Take someone who doesn't have the best insulin sensitivity -- which is much more likely in the overweight and formally overweight -- give them a gallon of milk a day, and you have a recipe for trouble, especially if they aren't working their ass off in the gym (which is usually the case during the first few weeks of starting a program like Stronglifts with and an empty bar). Insulin sensitivity can of course be increased through exercise (more muscle) and diet (which is why low carb diets work so well for fat loss), but once you have a bunch of new fat cells, it makes keeping the weight off more difficult.

BTW, I'm not saying a little fat gain leads to all these problems -- getting a little soft and losing sight of your abs isn't what I'm talking about here.

[Rockfella]

Very informative post... i'd stay away from Milk now. I am not skinny! Thanks.

Gaining fat period can lead to new fat cell production, speed doesn't really have anything to do with it. Fat cells can expand to something like 1000x their normal size (they store liquid too); when fat cells reach their size limit they release hormones to the surrounding tissue which leads to new fat cell production (called adipogenesis). The problem, aside from the obvious, is that fat cells produce hormones that reduce insulin sensitivity, which is why obesity has a positive correlation with diabetes. Insulin is the most powerful metabolic regulator the human body produces and insulin resistance makes it much easier to gain fat (especially if one is eating a high carb diet), so it can become a vicious cycle: adipogenesis leads to increased insulin resistance which leads to more adipogenesis and so on. And once a new fat cell is born, it can only be shrunk, not destroyed (outside of liposuction).

Now, with respect to GOMAD, milk, despite its low glycemic index, causes a huge insulin response -- makes sense given milks actual purpose vis-a-vis newborns -- which makes it an ideal bodybuilding supplement given the right environment. Someone with high insulin sensitivity (individuals with very little fat and the physically active), if they work their ass off in the gym, can take advantage of that insulin response and put on shit loads of muscle very fast. Take someone who doesn't have the best insulin sensitivity -- which is much more likely in the overweight and formally overweight -- give them a gallon of milk a day, and you have a recipe for trouble, especially if they aren't working their ass off in the gym (which is usually the case during the first few weeks of starting a program like Stronglifts with and an empty bar). Insulin sensitivity can of course be increased through exercise (more muscle) and diet (which is why low carb diets work so well for fat loss), but once you have a bunch of new fat cells, it makes keeping the weight off more difficult.

BTW, I'm not saying a little fat gain leads to all these problems -- getting a little soft and losing sight of your abs isn't what I'm talking about here.

[iCookie]

Hm, makes me wonder if I really want to do Gomad. According to tape measurements I'm circus 19,4% body fat already. But I'm the skinny fat type and it's really frustrating, cause I look weak, but still have lots of fat, so I dont know wheter to lose fat first or build muscle (gaining even more fat) first...

[Rugger]

Hm, makes me wonder if I really want to do Gomad. According to tape measurements I'm circus 19,4% body fat already. But I'm the skinny fat type and it's really frustrating, cause I look weak, but still have lots of fat, so I dont know wheter to lose fat first or build muscle (gaining even more fat) first...

You want to get strong first, and you will need a reasonable caloric excess as well as a fair amount of protein to do this. You need to consider GOMAD in the context of your entire diet, and if drinking a gallon of milk a day is something that makes it easier for you to get your nutritional requirements (which it is), then you should do it. Get your squat to double bodyweight and you won't look skinny fat anymore.

[iCookie]

According to measurements I'm approx 20-24% bodyfay, but still look weak...lol, if I eat calorie excess I'll get my body fat up to an unhealthy level

[JasonLB]

If I were you, iCookie, I'd start the Stronglifts program and implement Mehdi's 8 nutrition rules. Don't even count calories. Just follow those 8 rules, eat plenty (don't worry about gaining fat), and concentrate on getting stronger. If you bust your ass in the gym and eat plenty of quality foods, you'll lose fat and gain muscle at the same time, especially as a beginner. And after a few months of that, you'll be in a better position to make decisions about how to proceed going forward (GOMAD, etc.).

[iCookie]

Well I don't know about that....Gaining muscle and losing fat at the same time can be hard if you don't pay attention to calories etc...

Anyways I've decided, and already begun, to eat a calorie excess of about 1500 a day. This includes the GOMAD. I need 3500 a day but I eat 5000 approx...

And all the food is good food. No fast food .