Milk therapy and a rather sudden pot belly

[Christopher Button]

Hi Jordan et al.,

After a bout of the flu, I've once again started taking in half a gallon of milk a day ("milk therapy" as my co-worker calls it), and within two days of recommencing the milk intake, I've started noticing potbelly-like symptoms reappear - a jiggling in my gut - whereas if I cut the milk out, it diminishes quite a bit. It's not a huge bulge, but it is noticeable.

A number of my family members have commented on my stomach, and given that I'm not doing full-blown GOMAD, nor taking in more than 3500 calories (yet), the jiggling, bouncing, blubber-gut situation is quite baffling and concerning to me. I make an extra effort to "hold" everything in when I walk.

I did a search before posting and there are people claiming to have stomach distension and bloating from a myriad of different foods and diets, although nothing seems to be clear-cut in terms of cause. I did read that milk and the sodium content can cause water retention. Is this therefore a relatively normal occurrence? I just can't imagine I'm storing so much intra-abdominal fat as to look like some Gollum hybrid, and in such a short amount of time. I am actually training...

Stats:
26
5'11"
175 (working on this, started at 108)

(By the way, Jordan, congratulations on the 705 deadlift - that was craaazy!!)

[Jordan Feigenbaum]

Any other GI symptoms like gas/diarrhea etc.?

[Christopher Button]

Not at all; I handle milk remarkably well. Just the paunch.

[Jordan Feigenbaum]

Well it doesn't sound like you're having GI issues, but rather just overeating. Depending on how rapidly your weight is changing and how hard you're training, this may be appropriate (or not).

Overall, yea when you overfeed for a long time with Milk (or other foods) your belly is going to grow. If you don't train like a madman (or woman) while doing this, you're probably just going to get fat.

[Jordan Feigenbaum]

Well it doesn't sound like you're having GI issues, but rather just overeating. Depending on how rapidly your weight is changing and how hard you're training, this may be appropriate (or not).

Overall, yea when you overfeed for a long time with Milk (or other foods) your belly is going to grow. If you don't train like a madman (or woman) while doing this, you're probably just going to get fat.

[Christopher Button]

Thanks. It's odd, though - according to Rip I'm undereating at 175 pounds, because I'm only taking in 3200-odd calories a day*. These are largely from "clean" sources - lean proteins, nuts...and milk.

I assumed it was water-weight, due to the speed at which my stomach shrinks within a few days of cutting it out. Perhaps I am overeating like you said, though. At this stage it's a little hard to tell, as my lifts are so low.

(Thinking of what he said: "You cannot get big and strong on 3000 calories a day")

Thanks for your thoughts on this one.

[Jordan Feigenbaum]

If you're gaining weight- even slowly- on 3200cal/day you're NOT undereating (by definition). It'd be odd to see water weight fluctuate so markedly WITHOUT a huge swing in cals with and without milk. Here's an experiment, hit the same cals and macros you're hitting now, but do it without milk. See if your bloating/abdominal girth is any different. If it is, maybe you're actually reporting symptoms of a lactose intolerance (and some lactase pills will help, perhaps).