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zfitgal
Posts: 478 Member
Hi everyone,
I have been going through ALOT of stress. I've been battling a narcasisit in court and it really has taken a toll on me.
My eating is the exact same as it has always been, same with exercise and I have been getting puffy looking and thick. I believe my body is holding onto the food I used to eat and not utilizing it for energy. I read different article about high cortisol levels and I believe I fall into that category. I want to lose the weight that I put on because this weight is stressing me out too. I measure everything down to the piece of gum I put in my mouth.
Has anyone ever experienced this? Do you think I should lower my calories and see what happens? I was maintaining a lean body eating 1700 calories a day. I am now 5 pounds up due to no change in habits. Please let me know your thoughts...I'm desperate here
I have been going through ALOT of stress. I've been battling a narcasisit in court and it really has taken a toll on me.
My eating is the exact same as it has always been, same with exercise and I have been getting puffy looking and thick. I believe my body is holding onto the food I used to eat and not utilizing it for energy. I read different article about high cortisol levels and I believe I fall into that category. I want to lose the weight that I put on because this weight is stressing me out too. I measure everything down to the piece of gum I put in my mouth.
Has anyone ever experienced this? Do you think I should lower my calories and see what happens? I was maintaining a lean body eating 1700 calories a day. I am now 5 pounds up due to no change in habits. Please let me know your thoughts...I'm desperate here
1
Replies
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You use a food scale to weigh and track everything, no skipping, cheating, or forgetting?1
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quiksylver296 wrote: »You use a food scale to weigh and track everything, no skipping, cheating, or forgetting?
I measure everything by the gram including lettuce0 -
Stress is one of many causes of water retention. If you can manage your stress, you should lose some of the water weight.3
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Hi everyone,
I have been going through ALOT of stress. I've been battling a narcasisit in court and it really has taken a toll on me.
My eating is the exact same as it has always been, same with exercise and I have been getting puffy looking and thick. I believe my body is holding onto the food I used to eat and not utilizing it for energy. I read different article about high cortisol levels and I believe I fall into that category. I want to lose the weight that I put on because this weight is stressing me out too. I measure everything down to the piece of gum I put in my mouth.
Has anyone ever experienced this? Do you think I should lower my calories and see what happens? I was maintaining a lean body eating 1700 calories a day. I am now 5 pounds up due to no change in habits. Please let me know your thoughts...I'm desperate here
How long are we talking about?
It's possible the extra stress has caused some hormonal water retention. It also could be causing fatigue that is making you subtly less active during the day, lowering your NEAT a little bit.7 -
Your body requires energy for you to be alive. The food you eat will be digested and used for energy. It can not be otherwise unless there is a significant medical problem.
Under a high stress situation your cortisol can increase and it will make you retain water. I would start looking at things to help you manage your stress right now until this court battle situation is resolved.
4 -
Your body requires energy for you to be alive. The food you eat will be digested and used for energy. It can not be otherwise unless there is a significant medical problem.
Under a high stress situation your cortisol can increase and it will make you retain water. I would start looking at things to help you manage your stress right now until this court battle situation is resolved.
I'm sure it is water weight but it is still weight...is there anything that I can do to make it go away? Tbis is the one area in life I felt on control and good about myself. Now it's slipping away and it's the worst feeling0 -
Lower your stress. Meditation. Yoga. Quiet time. Walk the dog. Read. Aromatherapy.
If you try to unnecessarily tweak your calories due to water weight, you might just up your stress level.5 -
Your body requires energy for you to be alive. The food you eat will be digested and used for energy. It can not be otherwise unless there is a significant medical problem.
Under a high stress situation your cortisol can increase and it will make you retain water. I would start looking at things to help you manage your stress right now until this court battle situation is resolved.
I'm sure it is water weight but it is still weight...is there anything that I can do to make it go away? Tbis is the one area in life I felt on control and good about myself. Now it's slipping away and it's the worst feeling
First, you need to acknowledge that stressing out about water weight caused by stress is obviously counter productive.
Trying to force out water weight that your body is retaining for a reason will continue to exacerbate the cycle.
Try to find ways to alleviate the stress you are carrying around, and in the meantime accept that until you figure it out you might see a few extra lbs on the scale. That's real life, sometimes we retain water or have digestive troubles or hit the ice cream a little too hard one week, and we get a little puffy.
5 -
Your body requires energy for you to be alive. The food you eat will be digested and used for energy. It can not be otherwise unless there is a significant medical problem.
Under a high stress situation your cortisol can increase and it will make you retain water. I would start looking at things to help you manage your stress right now until this court battle situation is resolved.
I'm sure it is water weight but it is still weight...is there anything that I can do to make it go away? Tbis is the one area in life I felt on control and good about myself. Now it's slipping away and it's the worst feeling
First, you need to acknowledge that stressing out about water weight caused by stress is obviously counter productive.
Trying to force out water weight that your body is retaining for a reason will continue to exacerbate the cycle.
Try to find ways to alleviate the stress you are carrying around, and in the meantime accept that until you figure it out you might see a few extra lbs on the scale. That's real life, sometimes we retain water or have digestive troubles or hit the ice cream a little too hard one week, and we get a little puffy.
I know...I'd rather get puffy from me eating the ice cream and not tracking then from doing everything right and just being scared all the time...I feel like crying...5 -
Have you considered speaking with a therapist? Seeing a therapist doesn't mean there's anything wrong with you; it just means you're going through some tough times and a professional can help you handle them. It sounds like the other things going on in your life are already causing a huge amount of stress, which may lead to water retention, when then makes you even more stressed. A therapist can help you manage that stress at the center of the cycle.7
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Have you considered speaking with a therapist? Seeing a therapist doesn't mean there's anything wrong with you; it just means you're going through some tough times and a professional can help you handle them. It sounds like the other things going on in your life are already causing a huge amount of stress, which may lead to water retention, when then makes you even more stressed. A therapist can help you manage that stress at the center of the cycle.
I'm seeing one..I have been fighting all year to avoid the point am at right now...Ever since I faced the fact that my daughter might have to meet her father, who is in and out of jail, an alcoholic and drug user, who left her when she was 6 months and she is now 6 I started getting heavey anxiety and that's when the pounds started coming on.
I've been dragging this out for so long on hopes that he goes away and he hasnt...I am now preparing my daughter through a therapist to meet this monster who will leaelve her again.
I don't want to do what I'm doing but the court is making me
.
I have a court date september 13th where the judge will be informed how the reunification is going...I just want this motion to be dropped so i can breathe again.8 -
https://www.doyouyoga.com/maitri-practices-for-developing-loving-kindness-for-oneself/
I spend many moments of the day focusing on love and compassion for myself and others. I say: "I love myself. I have compassion for myself. I love this person. I have compassion for this person, etc." Until I run out of people. Be well!2 -
Have you considered speaking with a therapist? Seeing a therapist doesn't mean there's anything wrong with you; it just means you're going through some tough times and a professional can help you handle them. It sounds like the other things going on in your life are already causing a huge amount of stress, which may lead to water retention, when then makes you even more stressed. A therapist can help you manage that stress at the center of the cycle.
I'm seeing one..I have been fighting all year to avoid the point am at right now...Ever since I faced the fact that my daughter might have to meet her father, who is in and out of jail, an alcoholic and drug user, who left her when she was 6 months and she is now 6 I started getting heavey anxiety and that's when the pounds started coming on.
I've been dragging this out for so long on hopes that he goes away and he hasnt...I am now preparing my daughter through a therapist to meet this monster who will leaelve her again.
I don't want to do what I'm doing but the court is making me.
I have a court date september 13th where the judge will be informed how the reunification is going...I just want this motion to be dropped so i can breathe again.
Honestly, and this may not be what you want to hear, I would just focus on eating at a reasonable deficit and ignoring the bathroom scale for now. As long as you are in a deficit, you will lose fat. If the scale goes up yet you are certain that you're in a deficit, then you can safely assume it's just water weight. It also sounds like we know what's causing the water weight, so there probably isn't any need to worry about it. Water weight will go away in its own time. Stepping on the scale seems to make the stress worse, so maybe put the scale away for a while.2 -
Have you considered speaking with a therapist? Seeing a therapist doesn't mean there's anything wrong with you; it just means you're going through some tough times and a professional can help you handle them. It sounds like the other things going on in your life are already causing a huge amount of stress, which may lead to water retention, when then makes you even more stressed. A therapist can help you manage that stress at the center of the cycle.
I'm seeing one..I have been fighting all year to avoid the point am at right now...Ever since I faced the fact that my daughter might have to meet her father, who is in and out of jail, an alcoholic and drug user, who left her when she was 6 months and she is now 6 I started getting heavey anxiety and that's when the pounds started coming on.
I've been dragging this out for so long on hopes that he goes away and he hasnt...I am now preparing my daughter through a therapist to meet this monster who will leaelve her again.
I don't want to do what I'm doing but the court is making me.
I have a court date september 13th where the judge will be informed how the reunification is going...I just want this motion to be dropped so i can breathe again.
Do you have a lawyer? It's much easier to accomplish things in court with a lawyer. My brother is mentally ill and would probably still be in jail if my mother hadn't sprung for a good lawyer.
If you don't have a lawyer because of cost, perhaps family can help with this?
I know that ideally there would be no visits at all, but because of his criminal history can the visits at least be supervised?0 -
kshama2001 wrote: »Have you considered speaking with a therapist? Seeing a therapist doesn't mean there's anything wrong with you; it just means you're going through some tough times and a professional can help you handle them. It sounds like the other things going on in your life are already causing a huge amount of stress, which may lead to water retention, when then makes you even more stressed. A therapist can help you manage that stress at the center of the cycle.
I'm seeing one..I have been fighting all year to avoid the point am at right now...Ever since I faced the fact that my daughter might have to meet her father, who is in and out of jail, an alcoholic and drug user, who left her when she was 6 months and she is now 6 I started getting heavey anxiety and that's when the pounds started coming on.
I've been dragging this out for so long on hopes that he goes away and he hasnt...I am now preparing my daughter through a therapist to meet this monster who will leaelve her again.
I don't want to do what I'm doing but the court is making me.
I have a court date september 13th where the judge will be informed how the reunification is going...I just want this motion to be dropped so i can breathe again.
Do you have a lawyer? It's much easier to accomplish things in court with a lawyer. My brother is mentally ill and would probably still be in jail if my mother hadn't sprung for a good lawyer.
If you don't have a lawyer because of cost, perhaps family can help with this?
I know that ideally there would be no visits at all, but because of his criminal history can the visits at least be supervised?
I have a great lawyer and yes visits will be supervised initially...but I didn't want this meeting to even happen.
It's so strange because my stomach which used to be washboard flat now looks puffy as if I ate a huge meal. Hips and thighs are 1 inch thicker then they normally are.
I can't believe stress can do this to a person...0 -
Have you considered speaking with a therapist? Seeing a therapist doesn't mean there's anything wrong with you; it just means you're going through some tough times and a professional can help you handle them. It sounds like the other things going on in your life are already causing a huge amount of stress, which may lead to water retention, when then makes you even more stressed. A therapist can help you manage that stress at the center of the cycle.
I'm seeing one..I have been fighting all year to avoid the point am at right now...Ever since I faced the fact that my daughter might have to meet her father, who is in and out of jail, an alcoholic and drug user, who left her when she was 6 months and she is now 6 I started getting heavey anxiety and that's when the pounds started coming on.
I've been dragging this out for so long on hopes that he goes away and he hasnt...I am now preparing my daughter through a therapist to meet this monster who will leaelve her again.
I don't want to do what I'm doing but the court is making me.
I have a court date september 13th where the judge will be informed how the reunification is going...I just want this motion to be dropped so i can breathe again.
Honestly, and this may not be what you want to hear, I would just focus on eating at a reasonable deficit and ignoring the bathroom scale for now. As long as you are in a deficit, you will lose fat. If the scale goes up yet you are certain that you're in a deficit, then you can safely assume it's just water weight. It also sounds like we know what's causing the water weight, so there probably isn't any need to worry about it. Water weight will go away in its own time. Stepping on the scale seems to make the stress worse, so maybe put the scale away for a while.
I was maintaining a very lean body at 1700 calories a day. Then all of this started to happen. Should I eat lower than 1,700 or eat at 1700 the way I was eating before? Because part of me just wants to say screw it and just not do anything anymore. But I know that will make things worse0 -
kshama2001 wrote: »Have you considered speaking with a therapist? Seeing a therapist doesn't mean there's anything wrong with you; it just means you're going through some tough times and a professional can help you handle them. It sounds like the other things going on in your life are already causing a huge amount of stress, which may lead to water retention, when then makes you even more stressed. A therapist can help you manage that stress at the center of the cycle.
I'm seeing one..I have been fighting all year to avoid the point am at right now...Ever since I faced the fact that my daughter might have to meet her father, who is in and out of jail, an alcoholic and drug user, who left her when she was 6 months and she is now 6 I started getting heavey anxiety and that's when the pounds started coming on.
I've been dragging this out for so long on hopes that he goes away and he hasnt...I am now preparing my daughter through a therapist to meet this monster who will leaelve her again.
I don't want to do what I'm doing but the court is making me.
I have a court date september 13th where the judge will be informed how the reunification is going...I just want this motion to be dropped so i can breathe again.
Do you have a lawyer? It's much easier to accomplish things in court with a lawyer. My brother is mentally ill and would probably still be in jail if my mother hadn't sprung for a good lawyer.
If you don't have a lawyer because of cost, perhaps family can help with this?
I know that ideally there would be no visits at all, but because of his criminal history can the visits at least be supervised?
I have a great lawyer and yes visits will be supervised initially...but I didn't want this meeting to even happen.
It's so strange because my stomach which used to be washboard flat now looks puffy as if I ate a huge meal. Hips and thighs are 1 inch thicker then they normally are.
I can't believe stress can do this to a person...
I'm so sorry you're going through all of this and for so long.
I think I read a study somewhere the high levels of stress for prolonged periods of time can cause up to 20 lbs of water retention...I'll have to go look for it.
If you know it's water stay off the scale and keep doing what you're doing. Weighing yourself is just adding to the stress and is counterproductive.
You know what you're doing in regards to your body and weight loss. Keep logging, but step away from the scale.1 -
Try not to imagine the worst. You can fight the good fight but if you lose and he gets to see her it may just end up being a bump in the road for her. Trust in yourself to parent her through this regardless.3
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kshama2001 wrote: »Have you considered speaking with a therapist? Seeing a therapist doesn't mean there's anything wrong with you; it just means you're going through some tough times and a professional can help you handle them. It sounds like the other things going on in your life are already causing a huge amount of stress, which may lead to water retention, when then makes you even more stressed. A therapist can help you manage that stress at the center of the cycle.
I'm seeing one..I have been fighting all year to avoid the point am at right now...Ever since I faced the fact that my daughter might have to meet her father, who is in and out of jail, an alcoholic and drug user, who left her when she was 6 months and she is now 6 I started getting heavey anxiety and that's when the pounds started coming on.
I've been dragging this out for so long on hopes that he goes away and he hasnt...I am now preparing my daughter through a therapist to meet this monster who will leaelve her again.
I don't want to do what I'm doing but the court is making me.
I have a court date september 13th where the judge will be informed how the reunification is going...I just want this motion to be dropped so i can breathe again.
Do you have a lawyer? It's much easier to accomplish things in court with a lawyer. My brother is mentally ill and would probably still be in jail if my mother hadn't sprung for a good lawyer.
If you don't have a lawyer because of cost, perhaps family can help with this?
I know that ideally there would be no visits at all, but because of his criminal history can the visits at least be supervised?
I have a great lawyer and yes visits will be supervised initially...but I didn't want this meeting to even happen.
It's so strange because my stomach which used to be washboard flat now looks puffy as if I ate a huge meal. Hips and thighs are 1 inch thicker then they normally are.
I can't believe stress can do this to a person...
I'm so sorry you're going through all of this and for so long.
I think I read a study somewhere the high levels of stress for prolonged periods of time can cause up to 20 lbs of water retention...I'll have to go look for it.
If you know it's water stay off the scale and keep doing what you're doing. Weighing yourself is just adding to the stress and is counterproductive.
You know what you're doing in regards to your body and weight loss. Keep logging, but step away from the scale.
Can you let me know where you read this because I feel so puffy it's insane0 -
Have you considered speaking with a therapist? Seeing a therapist doesn't mean there's anything wrong with you; it just means you're going through some tough times and a professional can help you handle them. It sounds like the other things going on in your life are already causing a huge amount of stress, which may lead to water retention, when then makes you even more stressed. A therapist can help you manage that stress at the center of the cycle.
I'm seeing one..I have been fighting all year to avoid the point am at right now...Ever since I faced the fact that my daughter might have to meet her father, who is in and out of jail, an alcoholic and drug user, who left her when she was 6 months and she is now 6 I started getting heavey anxiety and that's when the pounds started coming on.
I've been dragging this out for so long on hopes that he goes away and he hasnt...I am now preparing my daughter through a therapist to meet this monster who will leaelve her again.
I don't want to do what I'm doing but the court is making me.
I have a court date september 13th where the judge will be informed how the reunification is going...I just want this motion to be dropped so i can breathe again.
Honestly, and this may not be what you want to hear, I would just focus on eating at a reasonable deficit and ignoring the bathroom scale for now. As long as you are in a deficit, you will lose fat. If the scale goes up yet you are certain that you're in a deficit, then you can safely assume it's just water weight. It also sounds like we know what's causing the water weight, so there probably isn't any need to worry about it. Water weight will go away in its own time. Stepping on the scale seems to make the stress worse, so maybe put the scale away for a while.
I was maintaining a very lean body at 1700 calories a day. Then all of this started to happen. Should I eat lower than 1,700 or eat at 1700 the way I was eating before? Because part of me just wants to say screw it and just not do anything anymore. But I know that will make things worse
It’s water. Don’t change your calorie goal due to water weight.3
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