Why am I gaining weight???

annAsami

Hello. I am 5'5" medium frame and I have been at 150 (give or take 1 or 2 pounds) for about the last 2 - 3 years no matter what I have done. For about 3 months I was in the gym for 2-3 hours a day every other day (it was easy since the machines had their own tvs....miss that gym) and I didn't lose weight. I used to drink Dr. Pepper all the time, total addict (I dont like coffee). I worked retail and was on my feet all day. At one point I quit drinking soda for 2 months and didn't lose weight (went back to soda cause I got grumpy due to no caff). My husband and I moved so I havent worked since June 2012. I still stayed at 150, still exercised (did the Jillian Michaels Killer Buns and Thighs video for 2 months plus jogging and lots of walking, didn't lose weight than either). Nothing I ever tried worked.
On Feb 4 I decided to change the way I eat; cut out soda, cut down on sugar (what girl can really cut it out!), bumped up the protien, fruit and veggies, started drinking a lot more water, and bumped up the exercise (I walk my dog every day for 1-2 hours depending on the weather, I am constantly going up and down the stairs, cleaning the whole house, lunges, squats, push ups, leg raises, crunches, jumping jacks, etc, I also spend around 6 hours or more a week out shopping, lots of walking, and I squeeze in the JM video now and then). I was on a 1200 calorie diet but I did the calculations and relized it was not enough so I upped it to 1500 on Feb 28. I was 150 - 149 on Feb 4. I am now 154! I have not lost anything (I did lose about 1/2 inch around knees and hips), I actually gained 4 pounds and it is so frustrating and just brings me down. As you can see nothing I ever do works (I have even tried green tea pills since I dont like tea). Last thing I would like to add I found out on March 1 I have slightly high cholesterol (runs in the family) so I have already started cutting down on red meat and eating a lot more chicken, turkey, pork, and tuna.
Please help if you can!

emarific

Has your doctor checked you for a thyroid condition? My sister was eating under 1200 calories and working out for months without losing weight- turned out that was the result of thyroid problems.

annAsami

I just got a new doctor and forgot to ask her about it since she kinda rushed me. I plan on going back sometime next month and I will ask her then. My mom keeps telling me to get it checked. This time I will have to write it down so I dont forget!

Mia_RagazzaTosta

Anytime you change up what you're doing you have to give it longer than a month before you change it up again. I would keep doing what you're doing, be super-anal about logging, get a food scale and use it.

jess6741

If you make your diary public then everyone can give you better advice. 1) If you are really only eating 1500 calories that is not enough for that amount of exercise 2) You may be eating more calories than what you think if you are not using a scale 3) Your body can fluctuate more than 5 pounds throughout the day. Losing inches means you're losing fat which is the goal. Don't stress too much about the scale.

Also you are putting your poor body through so much. You are overworking it and starving it. Eat the proper amount of calories (find the in place of road map thread) and don't over exercise. You don't want to hurt your health just lose a few pounds.

annAsami

This is the first time I have actually been on the website, I mainly just use the app. I am working on my profile now and I will make my food log open in a little bit. I do measure everything and I log almost everything, I do forget sometimes if I am out or if its late at night.

MikeT407

I agree with jess6741. It is possible that you are "underestimating your caloric intake" and you may not be burning as many calories as you think. Make your diet public and we can attempt to analyze. Purchase a food scale if you do not have one. You may need to reset your metabolism. Take a week or two and eat a lot more calories than you normally do in order to figure out your maintenance level (eat clean!). Slowly skim away calories, bu do not create a huge deficit through your diet right from the start. You need room to make a adjustments.

annAsami

I just made it public.

annAsami

Also I know I shoulnt eat cereal and I know, today was the last day of cereal. I was told I should eat oatmeal to help with my slightly high cholesterol so from now on it will be oatmeal.

Mia_RagazzaTosta

Also I know I shoulnt eat cereal and I know, today was the last day of cereal. I was told I should eat oatmeal to help with my slightly high cholesterol so from now on it will be oatmeal.

You don't have to skip out on any food unless medically directed to do so.

After taking a look at your diary I notice that you don't log every day and you probably are eating more than you think. Trust me, eyeballing portion sizes got me nowhere. A food scale is your friend!

onyxgirl17

Hi there! I'm your same height and currently running around 138 pounds. I've went from 174-->138 over this past year by watching what I eat and religiously logging. If you wanna be friends and share some ideas, I'd love to have you on my friends list.

So I've been looking through your food diary and I have a few questions. One of the things I notice is that you don't really log every day completely. You need to complete your food logs if you want to get a good idea of why you are not losing weight. When I read this topic you said you raised your calories up to ~1500 calories a day but I see many days between 1800-2100 calories. So are you doing 1500 net calories?

Another question I have is: What is your body fat percentage? If you have a healthy body fat percentage and because you are within a healthy weight range, it just becomes that much harder to lose weight.

A lot of people watch their sodium intake because it can cause water retention. However, if you drink a lot of water it should be okay.

One more thing: On Wednesday, March 20th you logged pasta and italian sausage for dinner. You didn't have any seasonings with it? No olive oil or butter? I'm just wondering because condiments add a decent amount of calories.


I hope you are able to find what works for you. If you have the time you might want to look up the thread "in place of a road map" if you haven't already to learn more about the right level of calories to eat.

annAsami

I was not feeling good yesterday so I am putting in yesterdays stuff, had it writen down just didnt put it in.

annAsami

Yes I would love to add you as a friend! Congrats on losing weight! I did skip a few days, I got really busy doing a bunch of stuff around the house (around 2 hours of gardening, errands, steam cleaned the carpets, helping my sister in law with her daughter and so on it slipped my mind). Also, Saturday was a bad day for a diet, my husband and I had to drive about 1 1/2 hours both ways to go to a memorial service so we didn't eat very healthy. I do know I need to focus on putting everything in. Yes I net ~1500, I noticed the website keeps food and exercise separate, so weird, did make both public. I do drink a lot of water now. My doc, last time I saw him, he said I had a healthy BFP I just cant remember what it was. Yea I forgot about the seasoning, I made the sauce from scratch. I know I really need to focus more on calories and that is something I am going to change starting today.

DanaDark

Well, you've upped your eating and your exercise.

Before, your eating probably too low, depleting energy stores throughout your body (non-fat energy stores such as in the muscle). As you've eaten more, these stores are being replenished. This will require extra water, and thus some weight gain.

The extra exercise will cause muscle damage. The repairs will require more water as well, as water is the main way every cell in our body moves.

So, to answer your question, you have probably gained a good amount of water weight due to the changes. Even processing extra food requires more water, as the intestines use LOTS of it in order to digest (ever hear/feel your stomach being full of water?).

You've lost dimensions as you've mentioned, so fat is going away. No if's and's or but's about that.

Water weight is FRUSTRATING. I've lost 5 pounds going pee and taking a hot bath.

annAsami

You have a good insight. How do you make water weight go away?

BillRicks1

Well, here you go (since you asked).......
Here's what you have: weight (154Lbs) and height (5,5), resting metabolic rate is~1636 kcals.

Here's what you need:

77 ounces of water a day every day! Seems like a lot but divide that by the hours you're awake (16) and it's only ~5 oz per hour.
120 grams of lean protein a day. Divide that by 6 (3 meals - 3 snacks) is about 20g per meal/snack.
More fruits and veggies and lean protein sources.

I'd shoot for about 1500 kcals per day.
Try that for a week and see where you are.

dubird

You have a good insight. How do you make water weight go away?

You don't, really. It flucuates over the course of the day. One that that might make you feel better is ONLY weigh yourself at a certian time of day. Like, for me, I usually only step on the scale a couple times a week, and only in morning at the same time. Because your body weight will go up and down over the day, consistantly measuring at the same time will give you a better idea of where you're at.

annAsami

So that is about 9-10 cups a day. It is only 11:20 and I have already had about 4 cups so I think I might be on the right track!! I should try to up my protein, any suggestions? Thank you for the info, I will have to try it out and see how it goes!
I do only weigh myself at a certain time of day, when I wake up I weigh myself. Not every day, but maybe once a week.

shmoony

Not to beat a dead horse, but a skipped meal here a skipped meal there, forgetting to log condiments or a glass of wine, missing an occasional day, etc. can and will add up to the difference between maintaining and losing. Log everything you plan on eating the night before. Then eat that and only that. No exceptions. If you stick to this 100%, you will lose. I bet that a very small percentage of the people on here actually log all of there calories accurately, which is why there are so many posts just like yours.

annAsami

Yes, and I already said I will be better at inputting everything...And I will just say that on a day like sunday when I was crazy busy and forgot to put things in I was still watching what I was eating and making sure I didn't eat to much. I was just so busy I did not even get to sit down for about 5 hours.