When I worked a physical job outside in cold weather (sub-freezing temps) it was closer to 7-8,000 calories per day and I would still lose 5-10 lbs in 3 months.
I put it back on in the spring.
Then lost it again in the summer as the heat suppressed my appetite.
Then gained it back in the fall as the temperatures were more pleasant.
What kind of work? 8k calories is fucking insane. I can’t even visualize that. That’s like 8 big mac meals or something. how do you even fit that in you?
Mix of different physically demanding jobs while I was building up money to pay for college. Farmwork, construction etc during the day. Unloading package trucks for UPS was probably the most energy intensive in the evening. Hand unloading 2,100 packages per hour an emptying 3-4 trailers in 4-5 hours was one hell of an aerobic workout. On a normal day I was burning 4-4500K calories in the spring and fall from the high level of activity working 12-14 hours per day. I had strongly defined abs and built a lot of muscle mass.
Winter however was something else. It was a very cold, -10F to 10 for most of the winter. It takes a lot of food to just keep warm when you are in those temps all day. I was outside enough I had to keep my house cooler (50-55F) as my metabolism shifted into high gear.
Eating 4,500-5,000 calories is pretty easy. Larger portions at meals plus a few calorie dense snacks easily gets you there.
That extra 2000-3000 calories is hard. Half a package of oreos or a dozen donuts when I woke up starving at 2am was what I resorted too. Lots of carbs and fat.
When I worked a physical job outside in cold weather (sub-freezing temps) it was closer to 7-8,000 calories per day and I would still lose 5-10 lbs in 3 months.
I put it back on in the spring.
Then lost it again in the summer as the heat suppressed my appetite.
Then gained it back in the fall as the temperatures were more pleasant.
And repeat…
What kind of work? 8k calories is fucking insane. I can’t even visualize that. That’s like 8 big mac meals or something. how do you even fit that in you?
Mix of different physically demanding jobs while I was building up money to pay for college. Farmwork, construction etc during the day. Unloading package trucks for UPS was probably the most energy intensive in the evening. Hand unloading 2,100 packages per hour an emptying 3-4 trailers in 4-5 hours was one hell of an aerobic workout. On a normal day I was burning 4-4500K calories in the spring and fall from the high level of activity working 12-14 hours per day. I had strongly defined abs and built a lot of muscle mass.
Winter however was something else. It was a very cold, -10F to 10 for most of the winter. It takes a lot of food to just keep warm when you are in those temps all day. I was outside enough I had to keep my house cooler (50-55F) as my metabolism shifted into high gear.
Eating 4,500-5,000 calories is pretty easy. Larger portions at meals plus a few calorie dense snacks easily gets you there.
That extra 2000-3000 calories is hard. Half a package of oreos or a dozen donuts when I woke up starving at 2am was what I resorted too. Lots of carbs and fat.