Continued Weight Gain - despite my efforts
MichelleBigg
Posts: 3
Well, I have been working at losing weight for going on 10 months now. I am 22 years old, 5'6" and currently weigh 177lbs. When I first began adjusting my diet (food types and portions) and excercising on a regular basis (5 - 25 minute cardio workouts and 4 miles of walking per day, every day) I weighed 162 lbs. In the 10 months of my efforts I have experienced consistent weight gain, despite my efforts. I have never been so motivated for such a long period of time at any other time in my life - yet I have yet to reap any benefits from my hard work (other than feeling healthier.)
My typical day (Mon - Fri) is as follows:
*Wake up 5:30am - walk dogs 1 mile - complete 1 of 3 Jillian Michaels DVDS - shower/cool off
*Breakfast, usually two eggs, apple/orange/pear/banana and 1 16oz bottle of water
*Work at 8am - lunch at 11:30am, salad consisting of romaine lettuce, 1/2 tomato, sliced carrots, 1/4 cucumber sliced, and 2 tbsp of Ligh Raspberry Walnust vinegarette dressing, 1 16oz bottle of water.
*Off work at 5:00pm - dinner, 5oz serving of fish, poultry or pork, green veggetable usually green beans, brussel sprouts or spinach, and a carb usually potatoes - 1 16oz bottle of water - 30 minutes after dinner I head out to walk 3 miles at a brisk pace.
I am at my wits end as to how to fix my weight issues. There are a number of things that could be the cause of my situation. First is - I am adopted and have no idea of my family's health history. I have made efforts to research my family members - only to find that my biological mother and father are both deceased, as well as my biological grandparents. My thought is that I may come from a line of larger individuals and that part of my weight is due to reaching maturity as a woman. One support of this is that the weight i have gained is spread evenly to all parts of my body - no one part of my body has gained a significantly larger amount of weight than another and I remain relatively proportionate (apart from my breasts, which have always been large regardless of total weight.)
The next concern is that I may have Hypothyroidism. After basic research, there are multiple symptoms of Hypothyroidism that I display - such as weight gain, constant desire to sleep, menstrual irregularity, and muscle cramps. (to name a few). I have not been tested for hypothyroidism and am contemplating making an appointment to do so. I am always reluctant to visit the doctor, because I am always afraid they will find something wrong with me.
What advice or knowlege do any of you have as to my dilemma? I am truly concerned that I will continue to gain wait and will eventually completly lose control of my abilty to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Any bit of information will be extremely helpful in my journey to lose my excess weight.
My typical day (Mon - Fri) is as follows:
*Wake up 5:30am - walk dogs 1 mile - complete 1 of 3 Jillian Michaels DVDS - shower/cool off
*Breakfast, usually two eggs, apple/orange/pear/banana and 1 16oz bottle of water
*Work at 8am - lunch at 11:30am, salad consisting of romaine lettuce, 1/2 tomato, sliced carrots, 1/4 cucumber sliced, and 2 tbsp of Ligh Raspberry Walnust vinegarette dressing, 1 16oz bottle of water.
*Off work at 5:00pm - dinner, 5oz serving of fish, poultry or pork, green veggetable usually green beans, brussel sprouts or spinach, and a carb usually potatoes - 1 16oz bottle of water - 30 minutes after dinner I head out to walk 3 miles at a brisk pace.
I am at my wits end as to how to fix my weight issues. There are a number of things that could be the cause of my situation. First is - I am adopted and have no idea of my family's health history. I have made efforts to research my family members - only to find that my biological mother and father are both deceased, as well as my biological grandparents. My thought is that I may come from a line of larger individuals and that part of my weight is due to reaching maturity as a woman. One support of this is that the weight i have gained is spread evenly to all parts of my body - no one part of my body has gained a significantly larger amount of weight than another and I remain relatively proportionate (apart from my breasts, which have always been large regardless of total weight.)
The next concern is that I may have Hypothyroidism. After basic research, there are multiple symptoms of Hypothyroidism that I display - such as weight gain, constant desire to sleep, menstrual irregularity, and muscle cramps. (to name a few). I have not been tested for hypothyroidism and am contemplating making an appointment to do so. I am always reluctant to visit the doctor, because I am always afraid they will find something wrong with me.
What advice or knowlege do any of you have as to my dilemma? I am truly concerned that I will continue to gain wait and will eventually completly lose control of my abilty to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Any bit of information will be extremely helpful in my journey to lose my excess weight.
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Replies
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I really think you should talk to your doctor about it. Even being genetically predisposed to being big, weight loss should be possible following that routine!0
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I would definitely get your thyroid checked. And I wonder if you're eating enough...from what you said, I wouldn't think so.0
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If you are really sticking to that, you need to see a dr. Good luck!0
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A lot of exercise + not enough calories = weight gain or no weight loss.0
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It definitely seems to me like you are not getting enough calories - I would make an appointment with a nutrionist to make sure that your eating plan is well rounded especially the protein part. Good Luck!0
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How many net calories are you taking in per day?0
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You should see your doctor and get your thyroid checked. Better find out soon and get helped with it rather that wonder.
You'll be fine. We are here as your support system.0 -
Try eating more. It sounds to me like your body is in starvation mode, especially if you exercise daily. What does MAP have your calorie goal set at, and are you meeting it most days?0
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i think you need to eat more, but that is just my opinion. i am new here and will send you a friend request. Im hoping to find a few good friends to talk to daily for support.0
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I agree with the others as well. 1. get your thyroid checked 2. increase your food intake more protein with each meal and maybe 150 calorie snacks in between to help your metabolism increase. You are taking long breaks in between food and it seems taking in 1200 calories or less, and burning at least 400-500/day. Your body is going to fight this process because its not a healthy one. You should eat no less than 1200 calories a day with the difference in exercise included. Hope this helps.0
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you should check your thyroid. I had the same problem. I went under treatment and now, funny thing , I don't gain any weight , regardles of what/when/and how much I eat. Now I gain inches:)), but my weight is the same as it was 5 months ago.
Also ,you should consider a cleansing treatment.0 -
I am wondering if you are just not eating enough for the amount of exercise you are doing in a days time.....
what is your calorie goal? are you eating back your exercise calories? are you drinking enough water?
are you eating alot of foods with sodium...this could make you retain water = weight gain.
It would not hurt to make an appointment with your doctor too just to check everything out........0 -
Definitely see your doctor. One of my best friends has a thyroid condition and ever since she's been diagnosed and taken her tiny tiny pill every day her whole life has changed for the better! Don't be afraid of the doctor.. remember its best to find out if something is wrong early so you can "delete" it before its too late. Yearly checkups are very important! HTH!0
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I noticed you said this is what a typical Monday-Friday is like - what are your weekends like? If you are eating out, drinking lots of alcohol, etc., you can undo on the weekends what you've done during the week.
I do agree with the other posters, though - not nearly enough calories for your M-F days.0 -
It sounds like you aren't eating enough to fuel the amount of activity you do each day. On top of that, it sounds like you don't eat your exercise calories, further increasing your deficit. Too much of a deficit is not good for your metabolism, and can cause your weight loss to stop or make you gain weight (your body is thinking it needs to hold on to all the calories it can get, because there aren't enough coming in).
How much are your net calories set to, and how much do you actually net each day?0 -
I'm going to chime in and say you most likely need to eat more. Especially with all the working out you are doing. Adding more protein might be beneficial. You dont say how many calories you are consuming but based on what you say you eat, it doesnt sound like much for someone your height and weight.
I'm saying that because you hate the doctor. If you try eating more for a period of time and you STILL see no results then promise yourself you will head in to the doctor.
Good luck!0 -
Hey Michelle!!
My name is Leah and I am 23 years old. It's nice to see other people around my age writing in and working hard to lose weight!!
Anyway, just wanted to give my two cents. Other people might not agree, but it's what has worked for me. I am 5'7 and I started out this process at 165. I am 145 now. It has taken about 3 months for me to lose the 20 lbs. Before that I tried EVERYTHING, and nothing worked, if anything I would just be starving and binge, and then gain weight.
Anyway, let's imagine that you have no thyroid problem at all, because obviously that would be an extenuating circumstance that would need medical attention, and I don't have any knowledge of that. So with that aside the advice I have to give you is that you have to keep you metabolism working all day long. From what I see below you seem to be eating very little. When I heard that I needed to eat more, I didn't believe it either, trust me, but being a master of your metabolism is the key to weight loss. You should eat 5 small meals a day that add up to between 1200-1500 calories. That's portion controlled meals, and 2 150cal-200cal snacks. At our age even if you sleep all day you naturally burn about 1750 calories a day, so this makes an appropriate deficit. Additionally, exercise is AWESOME for keeping you metabolism up. Your metabolism stays reved hours and hours after exercising, so good for you for all the exercise you do!!! I love Jillian by the way... Anyway here's an example of a day of eating for me:
Breakfast:
2 egg whites
english muffin with light cream cheese
fruit
coffee
Snack:
orange
Lunch:
Turkey pita: Whole wheat pita, lean turkey, lettuce, and other veggies
Salad
light yogurt cup (I eat Activia light, it has about 70 cals for each little pre-packaged cup)
Fruit if I'm still hungry
Snack:
Grapes and skim string cheese (I like the Cheese Heads Light Frigo brand)
Dinner:
Lean Protein (3oz chicken or fish)
a carb (baked potato, 1/2 brown rice)
lots of veggies (fill up on veggies as much as you can!
)
Little drums mini icecream cones (130 cals for a mini cone!! These are great)
I don't know exactly what this adds up to but my calorie limit on here is 1240, and then I add in my exercise...
Exercise: 6-61/2 mile run and weights
I really never feel deprived when I follow this type of meal plan. I think it's really important to do little things for yourself like have a mini ice cream cone, or something that won't undo your whole day, but that will prevent you from getting cravings and binging later on. The key to all of this is keeping things balanced... deprivation doesn't work!!! I don't know how you can go all day at work with just a little salad and no protein!! You can do this!!! It's all about consistency!! I never thought I could do it... Anyway if you want to talk anymore I love talking about diet and exercise, and it's nice to find someone who's around my age Hope this helped you Michelle! You can do it! 0 -
I wondered about how much I should eat. MFP says I need 1450 calories a day to sustain 1lbs a week weight loss. I dont actually track my calories here. (I used to on an old account, but I had an email address get hacked and ended up just recreating my account here) As far as water goes, I drink between 6 and 8 8oz glasses a day. I try to eat snacks during the day but I get so wrapped up in working, I just forget (even with setting reminders on my phone.)
I think my first step will be to make an appointment with the doc specifically for this, rather than my annual or semi-annual wellness exam. I am also going to try and be better about entering my calories to try and get a handle on how many I am actually eating each day - I would guess between 900 and 1200 a day.0 -
Please get your thyroid checked sooner rather than later for your over all health. I speak of what I know. An undiagnosed thyroid can kill you as it can push you over into a heart attack. I have a thyroid problem and I have gained a lot of weight since the heart attack. I have been doing this for 3 weeks and have finally lost 3 pounds but it is harder with hypothyroidism. The not eating enough does cause you to gain even more weight if you have a thyroid problem and again I speak from experience. Also, is it possible that you have only gained muscle from all your exercise which weighs more than fat? Do you feel larger or just weigh heavier? Are your body measurements increasing? You can go to webmd.com and learn about your thyroid. It controls every cell in your body. Other symptoms are dry skin, brittle nails and hair breaking off or thinning.0
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Also - I do not drink alchohol or smoke. I rarely consume soda. On the weekends, we generally are out to eat - but Im always looking for the healthy options. (for instance yesterday for lunch I ordered the Grilled portobello sandwich on whole wheat with fresh fruit.)
I do not thoughtfully excercise on weekends. Occasionally we will go to the beach and swim, a park to walk trails, or to one of the local rivers to kayak.0 -
up water intake, up calories, get pregnancy test, and blood work 0
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First, it doesn't look like you are eating enough (if that's how you eat every day) - or eating enough of the right foods. The body needs proteins to heal and repair. A woman needs to eat 60-90 grams of protein a day (closer to 90 if she exercises). 3 eggs = 18 grams of protein, just to give you an idea! It takes FAT to lose fat. Google "coconut oil" and read up about it. Coconut oil has a lot of healing properties and it helps promote weight loss. You need to reduce your fruit and grain (breads, pastas, cereals, rice, etc.) intake as both those convert to sugar in the body which spikes insulin which results in fat storage. Eating protein promotes glucagon, which promotes fat burning/weight loss. I personally eat very little fruit, no sugar, no breads or grains. I eat lots of good protein, nuts, salad, vegetables and very little fruit.
When you don't eat enough in the day the body thinks you are starving it and will hold onto everything you put in the body.
When someone has a thyroid issue, that can absolutely affect your ability to lose weight. However, there's also something else that gets missed... The nervous system is "commander and chief" of your body and tells everybody else what to do. There are two parts to the nervous system: parasympathetic (slow down, relax) and sympathetic (fight and flight, speed up). Sometimes what happens is that the body can stay STUCK in parasympathetic or sympathetic mode or, sometimes the nervous system gets confused and turns on sympathetic when it should've turned on parasympathetic (and vice-versa). In the case of the latter, the body will do the opposite - in other words, a woman goes on a diet, exercises and GAINS WEIGHT. With that said, If either of these conditions are present, the body isn't open to anything and can affect your ability to lose weight. There are very specific reasons why this occurs and very simple solutions that can be done to resolve it.
I recommend looking into the alternative health realm - a practitioner who does "muscle-testing" who can find what's going on and put you on natural whole food supplements to help your body heal and repair so that you can lose weight.0 -
I wondered about how much I should eat. MFP says I need 1450 calories a day to sustain 1lbs a week weight loss. I dont actually track my calories here. (I used to on an old account, but I had an email address get hacked and ended up just recreating my account here) As far as water goes, I drink between 6 and 8 8oz glasses a day. I try to eat snacks during the day but I get so wrapped up in working, I just forget (even with setting reminders on my phone.)
I think my first step will be to make an appointment with the doc specifically for this, rather than my annual or semi-annual wellness exam. I am also going to try and be better about entering my calories to try and get a handle on how many I am actually eating each day - I would guess between 900 and 1200 a day.
900-1200 per day is not nearly enough for someone your age, weight, and height. In fact, 1200 calories really shouldn't be anyone's goal unless they are very obese and supervised by medical professionals while on the diet. By the calculators that I use online, it looks like you should be eating somewhere between 1700-1800 calories to lose weight, + exercise calories. Ans that's for someone who is sedentary, which, from what you describe, it sounds like your lifestyle is more "lightly active", and you may even need to be eating even more than that. (http://www.health-calc.com/diet/energy-expenditure-advanced)
If your thyroid isn't the problem (which I am doubting it is) I would also recommend some real strength training and raising your calories to a healthy level.0 -
I would for sure make a dr. Apt. For blood work, get on a med. For it, if you are for sure you are hypo.it can cause weight gain if not on medication for it, as i am and have been for quite some time now. Then from this day on it will always have to be monitored for your hormone levels can change often if not followed.
I have whats called "Hosimotos desease " it ends up a form of hypothyriodism. But your body can get so out of wak!
So please get your blood test done!
Let me know if you have any other questions about it, i also work at our hosp. Here and in the health field for many yrs. So i can answer any question you might have? Good luck
Deb0 -
Consider adding more protein into your diet around lunch time. Grilled chicken or lean beef on the salad, maybe a protein bar or shake supplement side peanut butter & jelly sandwich (with 1 slice of whole wheat bread), etc. Complex carbs (whole wheat) are also great to add into your diet if you eat regular pastas, bread, etc.
You could be retaining water after eating out (I do all of the time). Drink lots of water to try to flush out the excess sodium.
Change up the exercise routine. Add in a day on one of the weekend days or an extra mile or a 2nd round of the video later that day. Yoga is great to help build strength and there are some great free videos on Exercise TV that are online or on your On Demand service if you don't have Dish.
Otherwise if you make these changes and things still aren't moving that make an appointment with your Dr and Dietician.0 -
The latter is possible. The former absolutely is not. The body is not a perpetual motion machine. If it helps to wrap your mind around this idea, take it to the extreme. If you ate NOTHING at all, and exercised a lot, would you expect to gain weight? Of course not, so why do people think adding another 800 or 1000 Cal to that equation would change the outcome. Even thyroid problems can't change the basic thermodynamic equation of calories in vs calories out, except to lower the calories out number which would make you stable, NOT gaining.A lot of exercise + not enough calories = weight gain or no weight loss.
However, to the OP, I do think that you probably need to visit a doc to make sure everything is operating normally. I have a question, though? Are your measurements changing for the better in spite of your weight gain? (I doubt it, seeing your diet, but it's possible.)0 -
It could be what my issue was if your on birth control. A few years back I was in the same boat. And I found out it was my iud. If you have one for some reason you wont lose weight and in my situation I didnt gain eather. Hopefully you get your ancer even if this one isint it. Cuz I know how crazy it was making me. Good luck in your weight loss.0
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My initial guess is you need some good fat in your diet. Avocado, fatty fish, nuts, seeds...it sounds like your body is holding onto the little you give it.
And, I'd love to know, with all the exercise and lean eating you're doing, are your clothes looser? You may just have been gaining some wonderful muscle and not any fat.0
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