Gaining when when trying to lose - HELP please

N7iconoclast

I gained from 120 to 170 pounds in 2009, but started starving myself to get it off for my wedding in 2010. I got down to 140 pounds and then decided I wanted to get lower. I started trying to diet (I've always exercised), but I had no idea what I was doing and ended up gaining 20 pounds over the next year. The year after that I lost access to being able to work out, as I didn't even have enough room on my floor to sit let alone that, and I couldn't leave the house without abuse. I gained 10 pounds up to 170, and when I started trying to diet again (this time with the RIGHT idea about what I was doing), I started to gain slowly over the year up to 180, when I had actually maintained 170 before on a small diet of crap. I was eating healthy stuff but suddenly gaining weight??? I didn't pay attention to calories, I just ate fruits and vegetables and lean meats, except on weekends, where I would relax a little on it.

I gave up and maintained at 180 by returning to my old diet of crap, but decided that enough was enough and I wanted to lose the weight again. I started trying to lose weight about 3 weeks ago, switching my diet again to fruits, vegetables, lean meats, etc, but I have since gained 10 pounds to 190. What am I doing wrong here???

Phoenix_Warrior

Firstly, I'm sorry you've haf such a struggle. A quick look at your diary tells me you arent logging. The most important thing in weight loss is to create a calorie deficit. If you're not logging, it's hard to give you meaningful advice other than to start logging in every day. Today's diary, I see an avacado at 160 calories for the whole thing. Unless this is a crazy tiny avacado, that many calories is about half of the ones I eat. Weighing your food on a digital scale and measuring liquids will give you a much clearer picture of how much you're eating than eyeballing or even trusting the serving sizes on packages. I wish you the best!

Mokey41

Fill in your information here and set a calorie goal. Weigh and measure all your food and log it. Stay within that calorie goal.

Just eating "healthy" food doesn't make you lose weight. I can totally gain on healthy food because quantity is the problem. You have to be eating at a calorie deficit to lose weight and unless you track your calories you'll never know if you are.

I_Will_End_You

If you're gaining weight, you're eating too much. It's as simple as that. You can eat all healthy foods, but if you eat too much of it, you'll gain weight. Weigh & measure your food, don't eyeball portions, and don't over estimate your calorie burns if you work out & eat back calories.

Stage14

Set a calorie goal, log everything you eat, and stay below that goal. It doesn't matter if you're eating fruit or fruit loops, too many calories will make you gain weight.

N7iconoclast

I struggle to make 1400 calories most days. I don't log on here but I do log in a personal journal.