Eating healthy and working out, but gaining weight?

lolwutshannon

I started eating better and working out around the end of November after putting on 20 pounds. I was on birth control which made me feel like I was starving to death non-stop and caused me to binge eat total garbage food; On top of that it made me an emotional train wreck, so I would also eat for comfort. My diet consisted of cookies, chips, and other processed crap high in sugars and calories, all I craved were sweets. After having my daughter the end of February, I lost the baby weight within a week or two and was down to 130 pounds. I went on the NuvaRing in June, and all hell broke loose after that. My weight went from 130 to 150 in no time. I'm 5'6 so 150 is "normal" but I don't feel normal at all. I'm too uncomfortable and miserable in this body. My UGW is 120 pounds, but I'd settle for 130 for awhile if I could tighten up my stomach and keep the rest of my body toned. I've been working with my friend who is a trainer, and she's been kicking my *kitten* since December. I lost 3 pounds within the first 2 weeks of us working out, and then it shot back up to 150. She told me it's because I'm gaining muscle, and since muscle is dense it can make you gain a little weight. I stepped on the scale this morning and I went from 150 two weeks ago to 154 this morning. I feel horrible, I want to lose 4 pounds not gain it. My husband keeps telling me that I look fine, but I feel like a beached whale.

I do 30-40 minutes of cardio everyday, and resistance 4-6 days a week.

For breakfast I have a bowl of steel cut oats with fresh fruit; Today it was oatmeal with a cup of blueberries. My snack will be a raspberry flavored Greek yogurt today. Lunch will either be a romaine lettuce and spinach salad with half of an avocado, quinoa, and tomatoes with a light drizzle of ranch dressing (I don't like any other dressings, and I don't like to drown my salads in dressings anyway). Or for another option I'll make a tuna sandwich on baugette bread because I think "sandwich bread" is disgusting, and my grocery store makes AWESOME baugette! The tuna will have diced celery and onions, and instead of mayonnaise I'll use plain Greek yogurt. My afternoon snack will be a rice cake with almond or soy nut butter (I'm allergic to peanuts) and a few sliced bananas on top of the rice cake to give me a sweet fix. I still have no idea what's on the dinner menu tonight, but usually I have chicken breast with another salad (no dressing if I already had a salad for lunch) and roasted red potatoes or brown rice instead of potatoes. I'll make a taco salad with ground turkey, black beans, avocado slices, diced tomatoes and onions, cilantro, and topped with plain Greek yogurt as a sour cream substitute. There's a bunch of other dinners I eat, but I'm already writing a novel here.


Am I doing something wrong here? Or am I gaining more muscle weight?

neverstray

How many calories are you eating per day? Are you logging exercise and eating back those calories?

stfuriada

How do your clothes fit? Are they looser?

lolwutshannon

On average I take in between 1500 and 1800 calories a day, it depends on what I'm doing at the gym that night. Some nights I work out and burn close to 1,000 calories so on those days I try to take in closer to 2,000. I'll go home after a workout and have a shake. My favorite that I make a lot is chocolate whey protein power, almond butter, and half of a banana with skim milk. Or I'll have mixed berries with spinach, yogurt, and skim milk. I try not to eat too much after I get home from the gym because I work out at night, so by the time I get home I just want to shower and go to sleep.

neverstray

Hmmmm. Are you taking other measurements? The scale might go up a little because you're working out so hard, but you might be losing inches around the waist and hips. The scale is really a bad tool for measurement. Also, check your body fat and measure periodically. Sounds like you're doing all the right things. The only other things is lower calories a little for a while and see if that moves the needle.

lolwutshannon

I'm not, I've been meaning to go buy a measuring tape and do measurements but every time I'm at the store it slips my mind. I do however have a body fat caliper handy, but I honestly have no idea how to use it. I see a little bit of a physical difference on me, my biceps and my calves especially are becoming muscular, and the rest of my arms and legs seem tighter with less jiggle.

neverstray

Google is your friend on using calipers, and YouTube. I do the simple method and just check one spot, but since you have an SO in the house, he can help you with a 7 point measurement, which is more accurate, again, google it. It's not hard. Then measure monthly. Keep weighing too because it is an indicator. But, just don't put too much credence into it. You can go up in weight, but lose inches on your waist.

dantrick

when you first start lifting is is very common for people to gain a few pounds. our body weight fluctuates daily with water retention. The good thing about gaining muscle is it will help burn fat faster. Start taking measurements instead of just relying on the scale. also remember to take pictures. All of these combined will help determine if your doing it right. Nothing is going to change over night.

VorJoshigan

I'll further recommend relying on measurements over weight.

Also, it's unlikely (though not impossible) that you're burning 1000 calories in any given workout - machines and MFP estimates are notoriously unreliable.

Finally, based on personal experience, I recommend ditching any pre-sweetened foods. Specifically the sweetened yogurt. They load those things up with a ridiculous amount of sugar & sugar is the quickest way for me to sabotage my weight-loss.