Think, for a minute, about what you said...
My MO says it's just simple math too. Calories in - calories out. If positive, weight goes up. If negative, weight goes down. Just that simple, really.
If it were that simple -- that our weight is just arithmetic --the accidental summation of the calories we choose to consume, mostly without thinking about
it -- then it would be a perfectly astounding coincidence for anyone to maintain their weight within, say, fifty pounds for a whole year. An extra snack-size bag of chips a day would provide plenty of calories to gain that 50 in a year and if they
opened a Taco Bell across the street from your place of work... Oh. My. God!
Everybody says that "calories in - calories out" thing but nobody ever thinks about
it. In point of fact our weight is regulated by a number of homeostatic processes that control appetite, energy expenditure, fat storage and activity level. It is true that it takes calories to put on fat but it also takes calories for a teenage boy to put on height. We don't say to our sons "
Get out of that refrigerator! Can't you see how tall you are getting?" Trying to stay thin by staying hungry seems obvious in theory but it seldom works in practice, thus the cure rate for obesity which is lower than for heroin addiction.
ADT throws those homeostatic processes out of whack and it is hard to compensate.
My best advice for maintaining one's weight during ADT (something which I freely admit to largely having failed to do) is to try to stay active and to eat colorful foods and good fats and avoid white foods. Exercise is important but less for maintaining ones weight than for maintaining bone density and muscle mass. Eat green leafies, peppers, olive oil, cruciferous veggies, cold-water fish, poultry and nuts. Avoid sugar and starch and if you must count something, count carbohydrates, not calories. At the gym crank up the weights but keep your cardio steady and sensible.