Weight gain..help!

sdowdle1
sdowdle1 Posts: 9
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi all!

I am new to MFP, and I have a concern. Recently, I've been increasing my caloric intake gradually in order to maintain my weight after almost two years of diet and exercise, and 60 something pounds lost. In addition, I am a vegan, which means any extra calories I am tacking onto my diet is in the form of fruit, veggies, mock-meats, etc. In the two weeks that I have been eating more, I have not only gained 3+ pounds back, I also have been craving things I do not normally crave, leading to small "binges" that throw off my entire day. Tonight, for example, I found myself eating countless servings of Dry Honey Roasted Peanuts, two bowls of Multi-Grain Cheerios with Almond Milk - I stopped the binge there, luckily, but I am afraid that this kind of unhealthy "binging" will become a habit. Tomorrow is a new day, and I plan to start fresh with lots of water and proteins to flush the carb hangover from my system, but will this binge (including a similar one about four days ago) be detrimental to my weight maintenance efforts, and should I revert back to my intake from weight-loss in order to regain my "goal" weight, then attempt maintenance again? I do not want to gain back any more, and I would appreciate any advice or tips on "damage control" and perhaps what I can do in the future to make this whole maintenance shift less anxiety-ridden!

Thanks!

Replies

  • D_squareG
    D_squareG Posts: 361 Member
    I think generally you don't want to gain more than 2 pounds before you go back to restricting calories. I've been there too many times where a temporary three pounds turned into a long term 30.
  • sdowdle1
    sdowdle1 Posts: 9
    Well my other issue is I don't eat a lot of carbs; they're just not what I normally crave. I usually will crave proteins (hence the peanut-overload). And I am very small, so the bloating and the symptoms of overeating carbs - especially since I rarely eat starch carbs - hit me extremely hard. Any thoughts on how I can recover my weight loss efforts as quickly and effectively as possible?
  • aronao
    aronao Posts: 112 Member
    Congrats on your achievement with weight loss and don't beat yourself over a couple of pounds - you're still sorting yourself out .

    Couple of thoughts.

    1. Maybe your weight gain is related to what you are now eating that you had cut out whilst you were in weight loss mode i.e. more salt = water retention
    2. Have you worked out what your daily energy requirements are at your new weight?
    3. Don't eat foods that are likely to trigger a binge - i.e. just stay away from them completely.

Categories