Unexplained Weight Gain - advice needed!

hard to say with your diary private..you could be consuming way to much sodium and maybe calculating calorie burn incorrectly

Make your diary public so you think harder about what you are going to have to admit to. And, no matter how hard it is, log EVERYTHING you eat. No tweaking the data.

Water! If I don't drink my 9 glasses a day I'm heavy the next day. May be the foods you are choosing, even if your within your calories.

I would suggest a BodyMedia - it tells you how many calories you're ACUTALLY burning on a daily basis + how much you burn from your workouts. They run ~$200 but the information you get from it would be worth it. Its possible your body needs more than what MFP thinks and you might need to eat more to lose more...if that makes sense

Are you weighing & measuring all your food? Instead of estimating the quantity? For me, that makes a huge difference.

Have you been to the Dr. recently and had any blood work done? I had the same thing (30 lbs in 6 months) and found that my Thyroid had dropped in the hormone production. i was tired all the time and my skin/hair/nails were dry flaky brittle and unattractive. I was sleeping 11+ hrs a night and still feeling tired. I take a low dose pill every morning now and I feel soo great! i didnt know what "normal" felt like until I fixed the problem. The most common condition associated with low thyroid is a slow metabolism and uncontrolled weight gain! Go get checked! You never know...

You may have already seen this message. I put it as a blog on my page. I truly think this helps when people feel like they are stuck and not sure what to do to continue. I dont want you to give up. I KNOW you can do this:) I also know there is strength in numbers so feel free to message me anytime if you are having issues throughout the day. I can check in daily with you if you would like:)

Just so you know, this may turn into a novel:) And dont go strictly by any of this. What works for one person may not work for someone else. We did a "Get Fit, Get Healthy" challenge at my work for 8 weeks. I lost about 22 lbs. and 5% of my body fat. We had to do certain things to get points for the challenge. These are the things we needed to do:

*64 oz. of water each day. This does not include coffee, juices or kool-aid. Now you can have 64 oz. + juices but you must drink 64 oz. When you do drink juices, they have to be 100% juice. Easy enough right? Grape juice, apple juice, orange juice. Tomato juice too but the sodium is ridiculous in it. I'm sure if you want some of that it would be ok for a change. Just dont make it your only juice.

*7 hours or more of sleep. This can be hard if you have small children or just a hectic schedule. If you are able to lie down for a nap during the day, you can count that, but it is much better if you can get 7 hrs straight.

*Eat breakfast within 2 hrs of waking up. This is a hard one. Some people just cant stand eating first thing in the morning. I usually grab something quick like an apple or a banana.

*5 servings of fruits/veggies a day. Pretty straight forward. Again this is where your juices come in. You can use 4 oz. of fruit juice as a serving of fruit. For the record, jelly beans are not a fruit even if they are fruit flavored.

* 210 minutes of cardio a week. Now you can get this walking, biking, swimming, yardwork (raking and push mowing count) snow shoveling is a BIG one but obviously it will be a few months til we can do that again and I dont mind a bit!! Now it doesnt matter how you break this down as long as you do a minimum of 10 minutes for any time you are counting it. You can do more than 210 minutes of course if your schedule allows.

*Toning with free weights or stretch bands 3 times a week for 10 minutes a piece. You can definitely do more than 3 times. That is only the minimum. Sometimes I will use my free weight and incorporate them into my aerobic routines.

That's it. Those are the simple rules I am following and the weight is coming off. You dont want it to fall off all at once. If it does, then you're doing something drastic and the chances of sticking with it are slim. Working it off slowly is the best ticket. Making small changes makes it easier to become lifestyle changes not temporary fixes.

Also, I tend to stay away from white flour. You can eat breads, potatoes and pasta in moderate amounts but it is much better for you if you eat whole wheat breads and pastas or sweet potatoes. Dont get worried about the fact that there are about as many carbs in whole wheat pasta as there is in the regular. It's better for you~trust me!!

Another trick that helps? If you have time, measure out a serving of your snacks. Use ziplock baggies and have them ready to grab and go. I usually have pretzels, animal crackers stuff like that ready so that I dont have to think about it. If I just try to sit with a bag of pretzels, pretty soon Ive eaten half the bag but if I have a true serving size packaged, I know when to stop.

If the idea of this process is overwhelming, dont try to change everything at once. Maybe work on 5 fruits/veggies and once you have that figured out, then try 64 oz of water. Keep adding a step to it til you are on your way to healthier choices.

Good luck. Hope this helps:)

Becca

I agree with other posters. My diary is private (except for friends) but I am sure to log everything. There are some days I know I will go over (example: date night tonight with 5 course tapas meal and then comedy club). Since I know I will be going over today I usually try to make sure I am within my limits every other day and drink a lot of water.

Also, remember it takes time. Try switching up your workout. Sometimes I find that makes all the difference. Water,water, water. I drink about 10 or more glasses a day and it keeps me in check since I tend to go over my sodium a lot.

try drinking more water too....

Thank you for writing in...I am doing very similar. I am however diabetic also and have had my insulin raised which is making it very difficult. My endocrinologist says that women over 50 have to exercise and hour a day at least 5 times per week to maintain their weight, not even to lose. And happily, I have stopped gaining which was freaking me out. I have been trying to move more during the day.

You probably have also gained muscle and lost fat which is good! I feel better, though i feel that I am still so heavy and don't like it.
I asked the program "answer"....about my health issues and a doctor answers your questions. He recommended basically a vegan diet. So I am trying that. I have high cholesterol and triglycerides also. One daughter is a vegan and she is always skinny.

Anyway....as we age it becomes more difficult......good job exercising as you have more muscle and less fat....and maybe try going vegan or eating at least most of your meals as vegan.

Check with your doctor. Get your blood tested. Any medications you have been taking or that have changed? BCP's? Allergy? Have you been more tired? Make a list and take it to your doc.