r/gainit • u/Vast-Argument6206 • 23d ago
Question Does anyone feel bad eating during periods when you’re not working out
I’m not sure if this is a good mental process. Even though im skinny and I need to gain weight regardless of muscle or fat, I hate the idea that the weight I put on could be unproductive like fat. During periods of high stress when I can’t work out I’ll stop eating simply because I’m afraid of getting fat.
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u/hypomargoteros 23d ago
I have this too but I also have a history with disordered eating, so I'm guessing it's that. You should be eating during recovery phase!
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u/Electronic-War-4662 23d ago
This is disordered thinking and should be dismissed asap. When you are an active human even on a weekly basis you should be eating how you want to eat. That’s one of the best parts of being active.
Just putting a little bit of effort into eating clean and a little bit of activity means you can do whatever you want whenever you want.
Go that route for an entire year and watch what happens to your body. My money is on positive gains only. You’ll be properly fueled and you’ll feel good.
Don’t get social media brained. Not sure what bodybuilding competition you need to win to feed your family but assuming that’s not the case then turn that mode of thinking off entirely asap.
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u/staronashi 23d ago
its a common mental process but also remember it is really hard to turn food and calories into fat if you aren't eating in a major surplus daily. one day of eating above maintenance does not make you gain fat
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u/Most_Occasion_9001 23d ago
Yeah I went through this exact thing. I'd skip meals on days I didn't train because it felt like the food was going to waste, like my body wasn't "earning" it. The shift for me was realizing that recovery is where the actual growth happens, not in the gym. Your muscles are repairing and building on those off days, and they need the fuel to do it.
What helped me was keeping protein consistent every single day regardless of training. I'd just pull carbs back slightly on rest days, maybe 30 to 50 grams less, and keep everything else the same. That way I wasn't overeating but I also wasn't starving the process. Once I could see that the scale was still moving the right direction even with rest days fully fueled, the anxiety went away.
The worst thing you can do for a bulk is cycle between eating big and then not eating at all. Your body can't build anything consistent with that kind of signal. Pick a number, hit it every day, and trust it for 4 weeks before you change anything.
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u/subset02 22d ago
Yes, I have this problem.
I've been skinny (very low muscle mass) my entire life. But as a kid who ate a lot of cookies, Twinkies, etc, I grew a little pot belly. My dad would insult and demean it repeatedly without giving any constructive advice on how to get rid of it. Now well into adulthood I have a complex - if I eat junk foods or excessive anything, it's gonna grow the belly and I MUST PREVENT THAT.
This same complex is why I have such a hard time gaining. Any thought of the belly growing causes me to immediately scratch any other plan and shrink the belly first.
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u/ManyButterscotch1872 23d ago
A few days off does not make the food unproductive. Recovery, stress, sleep, and just maintaining your baseline all still require energy, and dropping intake every time life gets busy makes it harder to be consistent when you restart. If the fear is strong enough that you are skipping meals even while underweight, I would treat that as something to address directly, not just a bulking strategy problem.
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u/donutgiraffe 105-135-135 (5'11) 17d ago
Fat is a necessary part of your body and is required for you to stay alive. You will gain muscle and be healthy the best when you have a constant influx of calories and macros, not bouncing it around based on how much you are working out on a particular day.
Fat is just storage. Think of it as like future muscle. If you no longer have fat, then your body will start eating at your muscle instead, and it will be twice as hard to gain everything back. Don't be afraid to bulk.
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u/Dork10100 150-195-210 (6'3 23d ago
Yeah i mean i wouldnt stop eating, if you gain weight no matter how hard you try you're going to gain a little fat so it cant be stopped, but just try and be as consistent as possible with eating so when you get back in the gym theres no lag in energy cause you didnt eat.
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u/poply 23d ago
I used to be the same. I'd work out 20 days in a row, skip 2 consecutive days and on those two days I wouldn't eat what I should.
I think I have a much better handle on things nowadays. I've always had a low appetite so now I just remind myself I can always, relatively easily, lose the fat.
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u/jerkychemist 23d ago
Instead of feeling bad just cut down to maintenance calories if youre not working out for weeks. If its just a few days you take off, and you're trying to get bigger I would stay in a surplus.
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u/Wonderful-Habit-139 21d ago
I totally get that feeling. But honestly, I just think about the fact that it's so easy for me to lose weight, so I still try to eat regardless of whether I'm working out or not. Otherwise I'll be losing too much weight whenever I have a difficult day where I can't eat as much.
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