HELP!!!! Weight gain from inflamation!!!?

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I have been doing my best filling out the journal every day as truthfully as possible (really!), tried to stay away from foods that my body is sensitive to, drink enough or more water, been going to the gym 3 - 4 times/ week and really ramping up my work outs, and I gained 4 pounds over the past month! By the evening of any given day, I'm 3 -4 pounds heavier than in the morning, bloated and disgusted. IF I cut back too much I'll gain even more! I eat small balanced food groups every 2 - 4 hours.
I feel full in the morning but I eat breakfast and move through the day sitting on a balance fitness ball at work for hours sometimes and going to the gym after that. My circumference inches are about the same or a bit smaller but that depends on what time of the day I take the measurements (of course!). I feel great before inflammation kicks in. My heart rate is good, BP is good with low level meds, I take supplements and even protein powder after a work out....
OK! That's enough about me!
Does anybody else have something like this and what have you done that works?????? HELP!!!! What tests did yo have that identified the problem or what strategy worked?

Replies

  • MJKC9397
    MJKC9397 Posts: 15
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    I have had the same problem and it drives me crazy! I have no clue what to do about it and had started to think I was the only one...
  • Coyla
    Coyla Posts: 444 Member
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    If anyone has any ideas, I'd like to hear them. I've been struggling to lose weight while counting calories and exercising. I've cut more calories and have started to exercise harder but to no avail. If I lose, it's a small amount, about 1/2 lb a month, but all that work can be erased in a day when I suddenly gain 5 lbs that takes forever to disappear.
  • Cmccracken1
    Cmccracken1 Posts: 326 Member
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    looking at your pic you are itty bitty.. i would guess that being active and toning up is going to make you weigh more. muscle is healthy and heavier than fat and heavier the healtier it is, if that makes sense.. I get very concerned sometimes when i see slim people on here that want to loose 10-15 lbs i think that is dangerous. If this is your pic you look incredibly and 60 i dont believe that.. i can only hope to look like that at 40 much less 60.. you are doing what is right,, maybe you need to use measurements more that weight.. just a thought... not judging at all...
  • ssawchenko
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    I am also usually a few pounds heavier in the evening - simply due to water and food that I have eaten during the day. Your weight will fluctuate each day and even multiple times a day.

    Although, if you are noticing inflammation...

    A friend of mine has been seeing a massage therapist lately to help work through the inflammation in her ankles, calves and thighs. I know that after her sessions she drops a massive amount of that water weight as things started to move. Perhaps this could help you too.
  • dwarfer22
    dwarfer22 Posts: 358 Member
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    Everybody is heavier at night than in the morning. Gravity pushes water down to your feet so it doesn't get absorbed until you sleep at night. If you have ramped up excercises it might be that you are putting on muscle.
  • purpl3sox
    purpl3sox Posts: 38
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    First, don't weight yourself more than once a week. Your weight can fluctuate throughout the day because of water/food intake, exercise, how much salt you ate and just because of other metabolic reasons. Weighing yourself so often is going to increase your stress because of the crazy fluctuations and can actually be counter productive by producing stress hormones that make it more difficult to lose weight.

    Secondly, if you are doing everything that you claim and intake fewer calories than you burn, then you have to lose weight, no if's, and's or but's about it. The law of thermo-dynamics states that energy cannot be created or destroyed, simply transfered or transformed. Weight loss is based entirely on this concept, energy in versus energy out.

    I was having a similar issue recently and talked to my boot camp instructor about it. What he said to do was this,
    First, stagger your calories throughout the week. For example if you want to average 1400 calories a day eat 1500 monday, 1200 tuesday, 1800 wednesday, 1200 thursday, 1500 friday, 1600 saturday and 1000 on sunday. On days when your calorie intake is 1200 or lower, avoid starch eating veggies and fruit for your carbs rather than breads and rice.
    Second, plan and pack all of your food in a cooler the night before. Everything you eat the next day comes out of the cooler, no exceptions. If you eat all of your food by noon, enjoy water for the rest of the day, but don't add food.
    Third, cut out processed foods, processed and refined sugars and eat as many whole foods or single ingredient foods as possible
    Fourth, write down when you eat. What times of the day, and how much water you drink with each meal.
    Fifth, make your food simple. Things easy to measure and weigh. Don't guess at portion sizes, no rounded cups when a serving is a flat cup. If you are not losing weight then you are eating more than you realize, so you need to be very strict about your food.

    If you follow these steps for two weeks without fail, you exercise and you burn more calories than you take in you cannot fail to lose weight. If you do then you didn't follow the rules. There are no exceptions to scientific laws. If you don't lose weight then you cheated. I followed these steps and realized how much more I was eating that I didn't realize, and I found that within two weeks I had lost 4 lbs. Don't weigh yourself until the two weeks is over, don't measure yourself, don't worry about what your body is doing, just follow the rules and you will lose weight.
  • purpl3sox
    purpl3sox Posts: 38
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    You cannot gain muscle that quickly. Muscle is hard to build, and it is crazy to think anyone can build muscle as quickly as they lose fat. Weight gain from muscle building only happens when there is little to no fat left to lose. Otherwise your weight will go down. Saying muscle weighs more than fat is also incorrect. A pound of muscle and a pound of fat both weigh a pound. The density of fat however, is less than the density of muscle so a cubic inch of muscle will weigh more than a cubic inch of fat.

    The likelihood is that you are eating more than you realize or working out less than you think you are.
  • annemomof3
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    They're are many diseases and disorders that are aggravated by inflammation. Diabetes,MS,any autoimmune disorders(Evan's syndrome, which I have, Lupus, Fibromyalgia etc). Refined (enriched, white) flour, highly refined sugar (HFCS) not only cause inflammation but also block your body's ability to deal with it. Including as many whole (natural) foods as possible while eliminating as many highly processed foods, refined flour and highly refined sugars as possible will reduce the amount of inflamation in your body. I asked a Dr years ago why steroids always seemed to be the only meds that help my disorder and she explained they have very strong anti inflammatory power. If anyone has ever taken prednisone or decadron in high doses for an extended period of time, they know it's a walk through Hell I'd prefer not to take ever again. So I started reading everything I could find about antiinflamatory diets and figured it wouldn't hurt to give it a try. That was 7 years ago and I've been in remission ever since. I also read up about vitamin and supplements and found that fish, flax and borage oil also have antiinflammatory qualities. There is one book in particular that I believe to be the best source of information and easiest to understand by a Dr and his wife, who is a trainer who was diagnosed with MS and didn't care for the side effects of her meds either. I love this book as the emphasis isn't on weight loss but on improving health, the weight loss is just one of many positive side effects. They researched a Dr Swank's antiinflammatory diet ( from the late '40's-early '50's is when Swank reserched and tested his diet, I believe) and improved upon it and found that eliminating as much inflammation as possible helped to relieve her MS symptoms and she didn't require the meds any longer. I'm also lucky enough to be med free. In addition to that, I've gone from wearing a size 26/28 to size 14/16. I'm not saying it's a cure all for everything but it may help. I'm new to the site and don't know if it's acceptable to name the authors or the book due to the no advertising policy and is the reason why I didn't. If it's permitted, I'd gladly share the title with anyone interested.
  • divamom0122
    divamom0122 Posts: 11
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    That is EXACTLY what I am experiencing! Very weird... I gained 3 pounds YESTERDAY. I checked my sodium and it was well below my limits... like 700 yesterday. BUT I did exercise more than usual the yesterday & the day before. As I have some pretty sever joint issues/arthritis I am guessing it is inflammation. I have written EVERYTHING I eat down for the past 45 days and had only lost two pounds,,, now I am back up again. The worst part is that I only ate like 1200 yesterday! I am just going to keep exercising and weigh in next week to see if it is better... FRUSTRATION!!!
  • flakey63
    flakey63 Posts: 13
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    Hi, I guess many people have the same problem you have and of course, I do too! The one thing I can say as a few others have, try not to weigh yourself so frequently..We women, I hate to catergorize us, but our weight does flucuate during the day and I for one, never weigh myself at night..It sounds as if something you're eating or maybe new medication is triggering your body to hold a bit of weight. My doctor just put me on Lyrica for pain and the second warning is weight gain..why do they never say weight loss?? lol Anyway, I am now trying a WW type food plan and I am cutting carbs a bit more to lose. It sounds like you're doing everything right, I love that you're eating small meals during the day which makes so much sense since you have all day to burn those calories. It may be your body is going through a "phase" and next wk you will see a loss. Maybe your building muscle which definately weights more..Lots of reasons, and there are many people responding here who might give you the answer..I love this site by the way..Was on WW for 4 months, points, went to meetings only lost 12 lbs and got disgusted..I like this site because it counts my problem which is carbs..As soon as I'm near my "number" for the day I stop..and its free~~~The best of luck to you and all on this site...
  • flakey63
    flakey63 Posts: 13
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    I am so sorry your having this problem. I didn't realize an arthritic problem can cause this, but then it does make sense. I would say go to your doctor and ask him/her for advice but if they're anything like mine, a female and thin, she told me to cut down my calories! Duh..That was maddening..Well I also have osteo arthritis in most of my joints so I wonder if thats my problem too..You are doing everything right, but don't give up and I hope you get an answer..All the best..