Are you about to ask the forums why you aren't losing weight?! Read This First!

These are the most common reasons I hear people say they gained weight:

A ) I blame yoga pants, leggings etc, I wear them all of the time so I didn't notice how much I gained.
B ) I must not have a metabolism.
C ) I have no idea how I gained weight?! I only eat 1200 calories a day!

Now here's the truth:

A ) Unless you were EATING your yoga pants/leggings (not sure the calories in those) they did not MAKE you gain weight. I get that fabric is stretchy, But a 200 lb person is not going to wear the same size as 160 lb person. If you gained 5 lbs, maaaybe even 10, I can let it slide, but when you've gained 30+ pounds, you noticed they were too tight, you were in denial.

B ) Thanks to this really awesome guy named Empedocles (should out to Thales as well, you were almost there little buddy) we know that energy is neither created nor destroyed, it is just transferred. That means when you eat that 1500 calorie cheeseburger 2 things are going to happen: You burn off as much of it as your body needs and then you body stores the rest of the calories (energy) in your fat cells. This is why people workout, so they can burn off the excess energy before it makes it's way to their thighs.

C ) You did not eat 1200 calories a day. Period. End of Story. Did you know that in order to gain weight on a 1200 calorie diet a 25 year old woman would have to be 3'5" and weigh 50 pounds?! She'd also have to be bed ridden as well.
Maybe it was the alcohol on the weekends with friends, maybe it was the Mcdonalds you got on the way to little Johnny's soccer practice. If you aren't weighing/measuring your food, it's extremely easy to over eat.
Stop trying to eyeball portions and at LEAST use a measuring cup! Make sure you're logging your drinks, make sure you're logging your condiments, sauces, toppings etc.
Make sure you're logging the crap that you eat as well, don't lie to your journal, because no matter what you put in there, your mirror will always be honest with you. At least if you're honest in your journal, you can look back and say "oh hey, I ate an entire pint of ice cream that day, so that's why I'm up a pound this week."

I know I'm probably going to get *kitten* on for this, but this question is asked about a thousand times per day. I'm sorry, you are not a special snowflake. There is no magical reason to why you got fat.

There are legitimate reasons for weight gain in the first place. Maybe you started a new relationship and cut into your exercise time to go out with them. Maybe it's all those dates you guys have been on, or maybe you just got comfortable. Undiagnosed, untreated, and/or un-monitored medical diseases. (Do not WebMD every disease that causes weight gain and make your doctor run a full panel, this isn't as common as you'd think) Depression is another one. Until you admit the real reason WHY you gained weight, you aren't ready for weight loss. Maybe you'll lose some weight, but without treating the Cause prepare for the Effect to come right back.