Gained 3 lbs...

juggalotus

OK, so I gained 3 lbs pretty much overnight....I thought it was water weight but I have been a lot of water lately to try to get rid of the water weight....Not working...I did have an idea as to what it might be....Up until about a week ago...i NEVER ate all my calories....i would usually net about 1200 or 1000 calories per day....I just wasn't hungry.....didn't do it on purpose....But I find that within this past week....I am SO hungry all the time and I have been eating all of my 1430 calories. I only went over by 30 calories once....So i haven't gone over calories really....Could i be gaining because all of the sudden I am eating all my calories instead of 1000-1200. By the way, i was losing great when i was eating the 1200 or less.....someone please help before i freak out. I feel fat and bloated too My TOM may be coming but then again, it's different each month...i technically didn't even get one last month it came September first...i had pms in Aug but it came sept. 1st.... so who knows what it is....

Marquettedominos

What is your sodium intake on a daily basis. If you consume too much you may retain water that way also. Another thing is if you dont eat enough you body may go into starvation mode....

gailashton

Just so you know, you can weigh yourself in the morning then again in the afternoon and sometimes it will even show as much as 5 pounds, just depends on the day, time of the month, stress, etc. My trainer told me it's perfectly normal. Sometimes it's also not the calories, it's what the calories are made up of. 1,200 calories has seemed to be the magic number for me too!. Hope this helps...Don't be so hard on yourself.

acciomuscles

Just checked out your diary -- the only thing that really pops out at me is that your sodium intake is waaay high! You should try not to go over 2,500 daily (ideally, 1,500, but that's difficult). Frozen/packaged meals like Healthy Choice & SmartOnes are packed with sodium, fyi.

tcpowell25

I went through the same thing about 2 months ago. Come to find out, my body went into starvation mode and was holding on to the weight. Also watch your sodium intake. Keep drinking the water and be sure to watch your sodium. This worked for me. Hope this helps.

Marquettedominos

I sent you a friend request. I would really look at dropping some of the quick meal/snacks that are pre-packaged. Feel free to take a look at my diary the last few days. I have gone %80 raw no meat watsoever. I have never fealt better in my life.

juggalotus

I know I have to resuce my sodium...I have a really hard time with this. I do not have time to cook for myself and the healthy choice meals are so much easier....I go to school and work full time so I do find it hard to cook for myself....I don't have a lot of money either so I am unable to buy weekly groceries on my own without my mothers assistance....but I know that's no excuse....isodium is in EVERYTHING and its really hard to find something without sodium....

chedges9090

I know that the packaged meals are much easier. See if you can find something that you can make ahead of time.. at least once a week. A healthy life bun, 2 oz of jenni-o pastrami, 1/2 piece of 2% cheese, pickle and mustard. Pretty filling sandwich. With some carrots and a 60-80 calorie pudding. All pretty easy to take.. and easy to have ready a couple of days in advance. Not sure if you like any of those things.. but, you get the picture. Lots cheaper too

Sodium may be making all of the difference. But, I also have to agree with watching the scale at different times of the day/month..
It can really throw you sometimes. Don't panic. Stay on track.. as I think you are

Have a great day

rileysowner

To reduce the sodium, it would be helpful to cook large meals yourself that you can divide into single servings and freeze. One stretch of cooking and you could probably get all your meals done for the week. I know books are written about doing this.

As for the weight gain, 3-5 pounds variation that has nothing to do with putting on fat are common. It is very likely water weight being held because of all the sodium. Drink lots of water, and I mean water, not other beverages. I suggest you take your body weight divide it in half and that is how many ounces you should drink in the day. Since you are eating so much sodium, you might even want to try drinking more than that. Warning, you will be going to the washroom a lot, this is good as it is getting rid of the sodium. If you have recently changed you workouts either by a big increase in intensity or a different program, it will cause water retention as well as you muscles hold onto that water to help in the recovery process.

olivia3263

If you missed a period, that's something to look at. Your metabolism isn't the only thing that shuts down when you don't eat enough, so do your hormones. That happened to me, and a lot of seemingly convenient things happened when my metabolism slowed down (I don't say 'starvation mode' because I don't like that term) - lighter periods, leg hair grew slower if not at all, skin was drier (i.e. - no acne) - but even though I didn't have to shave as often, didn't have to deal with heavy periods, etc - those weren't good signs hormonally speaking. When I upped my calories my hunger returned, and so did the leg hair, the oily skin, the heavy periods - but I welcomed it with open arms because it meant my body was working. I did kind of spend some time bouncing between my lowest weight and a weight that was about 2 pounds higher - which was scary - but I stuck with it and now I'm losing again.

If it's helpful, try to figure out what your maintenance calories would be - including exercise - (number of calories needed to maintain your weight) - so you know that if you go over that than you could gain weight, but I'm guessing you haven't gone over that number. Granted, if your metabolism slowed down, so did your bmr, so you could've gained the three pounds by eating more, but the fact that your hungry is a GREAT sign, and if you stick with it it will come off in no time

geekymom57

Just so you know, you can weigh yourself in the morning then again in the afternoon and sometimes it will even show as much as 5 pounds, just depends on the day, time of the month, stress, etc.

Definitely this. If you want to see how this is true, try weighing yourself a couple of times a day for a week. You're probably going to find your weight is all over the place. The way I deal with this is that I weigh myself several times a week in the morning before I get dressed. As long as I am being honest with my logging, I know there is no way I can be gaining, so I only enter record my weight in MFP when it shows a loss.

Boston01810

My trainer awhile back told me not to eat any food item that had more than 250 mg of sodium in it. If you really look at the sodium content- canned soups are too high, as are processed meats. Go to clean cooking, make your own soups with fresh vegetables (no canned soup stock). It will make a difference.

juggalotus

Just so you know, you can weigh yourself in the morning then again in the afternoon and sometimes it will even show as much as 5 pounds, just depends on the day, time of the month, stress, etc.

Definitely this. If you want to see how this is true, try weighing yourself a couple of times a day for a week. You're probably going to find your weight is all over the place. The way I deal with this is that I weigh myself several times a week in the morning before I get dressed. As long as I am being honest with my logging, I know there is no way I can be gaining, so I only enter record my weight in MFP when it shows a loss.

That is when I weigh myself. ALWAYS. My weigh-in days are on Tuesdays. The scale said 258.4 this morning and last weigh in day it was 255. I tried so hard with sodium today. I have like 500g of sodium left over. I cooked my own dinner and everything...i guess it really does make a difference. I still need to work on it but small changes are good i guess.