Hello, Im new and Im at a loss why Im gaining....

Please get help. Making yourself sick is not the answer. Clearly you've been through a traumatic event and therapy will do you a lot more good than a weight loss plan.

As above, I don't think your gain has anything to do with eating and activity.
Stress can makes your body to gain.
Maybe have a talk with your therapist about what your real needs are, might not be your weight.

Im in therapy. and Im not making myself physically sick, just sickened by the constant weight gain even though I changed my eating habits.

I also had my hormones checked at my gyno because i was in the beginning stages of getting "fixed" and then was fixed a bit after the attack.

Is it normal for ones body to gain weight after you start eating healthy?

I agree with everyone above that your body's reaction to a traumatic event may be having an effect on your weight. It could, additionally, be that you're eating more calories despite eating "healthier" foods, and that is resulting in weight gain.

Good posts all around. Kim the human body is a complicated machine and different things affect us differently. I'm glad you are getting help for this most recent tragic event so that is a good start.

My advice make sure that you are accurately measuring your food, and if you don't already own a food scale get one for at home and for at work. While stress is certainly a factor that can cause you to gain weight, misrepresentation of the calories you are consuming can sabotage any diet. Also be super honest about the calories you are burning at the gym and consider the idea of purchasing a good heart rate monitor to accurately measure your intensity. Cross fit is great but you can be fooled into writing off more calories than you are actually burning. A heart rate monitor and a good scale will keep you honest.

Kuddos for eliminating fatty foods that are fried and consuming more water. This will help keep you full longer without adding empty calories. I can't say for sure, but maybe you are gaining water weight. Consider measuring your BMR instead of just using the scale, that's the best indicator of true weight loss.

I'm so sorry you went through such a trauma. Many years ago I was attacked by a crazy boyfriend, and it required doing EMDR Trauma Therapy for PTSD. EMDR really works.

Gaining is from eating more than one burns. Having had chronic PTSD, I can tell you that for me, even with terrible coritsol issues, I kept my weight under control, so don't think that you're cursed from being stressed. It doesn't have to be all that.

I would just ask you how you're feeling when you do cardio? Do you feel good from it? When I was suffering from PTSD, any cardio made me feel sick. My cortisol was already too high, so the additional cortisol high that cardio does to the body just made it worse.
If that's the case for you, too, cardio may not be right for you, for now.

If you're gaining, you have two options. Tighten up on your calories, or exercise more. It's really that simple....and that hard.

That's awesome Kim keep up the good work. There's a lot of good people here, we have a great community.

just wanted to echo what chani said. i've been under a huge amount of stress lately and thought that might have been the cause for my stall...but i decided to check out my calories and lower them by 250 and see what happened. the next two days that i ate lowered calories...i lost weight both days. I won't say hormones aren't ever the cause but when all else fails try lowering your calories and see what happens.

Hello! I'm new to the discussion board myself. You mentioned that you were or used to be a junk food junkie. What junk foods do or are you still consuming and how often in a day? This could be part of the problem. Just a suggestion.

Don't be so concerned with the scale. It could be water weight, it could be your body adjusting to not having its junk food and sugar.

Also HOW much weight have you gained? And how often do you weigh?

I would suggest to stop looking at the scale- are your clothes fitting tighter? How's your fitness levels? Do you have good energy? Can you exercise like you used to?

How is your sleep? If I went through an experience like that I'm not sure I would sleep again- and poor sleep can lead to weight gain, as well as stress.

Im in therapy. and Im not making myself physically sick, just sickened by the constant weight gain even though I changed my eating habits.

I also had my hormones checked at my gyno because i was in the beginning stages of getting "fixed" and then was fixed a bit after the attack.

Is it normal for ones body to gain weight after you start eating healthy?

"eating healthy" is a meaningless phrase.

you can get fat eating nothing but fruits and vegetables if you eat too many of them and are always in a calorie surplus.

you can lose weight eating nothing by french fries and potato chips if you are always in a calorie deficit.

what you eat doesn't matter for weight loss/gain. only how much. what you eat matters for nutrition.

if you're gaining weight that can't be explained by normal daily fluctuations due to water weight (and excluding any medical condition that might cause you to retain excessive amounts of fluid), it's because you are eating (consistently!) more than your TDEE and are not in a calorie deficit.

focus on accurate and honest food logging and err on the side of caution with your exercise logging (i.e. MFP's exercise numbers are often too high) and stick to your calorie goal and you'll lose weight. you can start with the BMR numbers you get from an online calculator, but you'll need a couple of months worth of data and may also need to adjust those numbers based on your results in case your true BMR is higher or lower than your predicted BMR.

if your BMR and activity levels are not completely accurate, your TDEE will not be completely accurate. this is why some people need to collect data and refine their results over the course of a couple of months to get "dialed in" on their correct numbers. most people will be close enough not to need to do much of that though.