dubkitty wrote:is it overly presumptuous to say that maybe you're trying to force your body to do something that it really doesn't want to do?
Not presumptuous at all. It is possible. I know though that when I put on more weight I get muscular very easily. When I am light I have to struggle for every bit of definition. I am always hungry though so it doesn't really seem like forcing myself to do anything - it's more a matter of being able to or not. I figure when I don't need more food, my body won't be hungry. When I used to fight I'd eat as much as 10,000 calories a day without gaining any weight. Right now I don't need nearly as much since what I'm doing now isn't incredibly intense. Still though, I feel like a weakling compared to what I was a couple years ago and it bothers me. Even just a few months ago I was much stronger, before I slipped up in my diet and exercise.
It's important to do it in a healthy way though, so I try to make sure everything I eat is low sodium, low fat, organic, multigrain, etc. Whatever the best kind of a particular food is. And I go by the general rule that every time I eat at least 50% of it should be colour (fruit and vegetables). Even though it would be easier to put on weight eating junk, it wouldn't be the right kind of weight.