Why am I gaining weight

I can completely empathize. I had been gaining a lot lately and just trying to eat less and it wasn't working for me at all. That's when I dusted off the MFP app and starting using it again properly last week. So far, I'm down 4 pounds. Whew!

Here are a few things to keep in mind:

You can gain weight eating too much healthy food. You can also lose weight eating nothing but Big Macs and fries. Really. Calories are calories whether they're from vegetables or fast food. You'll likely feel a lot better eating 1000 calories of lean meat and veggies than a Big Mac but you can lose weight eating just Big Macs if you keep your calories under your goal every day.

Walking doesn't really burn that many calories. Weight loss comes more from what you're eating and less from how much exercise you're doing. You might want to completely disregard those extra calories for the moment until you get moving in the right direction.

Water intake is important for your health but it isn't going to affect weight loss at all. At the most, it might help flush out excess sodium and you'll drop some water-weight but that will be very short term.

Food amounts can be very deceptive by eye and a kitchen scale is going to be your best friend when it comes to calorie counting and weight loss. It's always more accurate to measure things by weight rather than by volume (cups, ounces). This is especially true for things that are high in calories like salad dressing, peanut butter, rice, etc. Things like green vegetables and lettuce are so low in calories that you can be less careful but potatoes and bananas need to be weighed carefully. It can sound daunting to those new to this method of weight loss but it's really very easy once you've used a kitchen scale a few times. You'll likely be surprised how little an ounce of peanut butter really is.

Avoid drinks that have calories. Sodas and coffees full of cream and sugar are needless calorie bombs that will sabotage your best intentions. If you like diet sodas, switch. There's a "zero sugar" variation of almost everything out there now. If you can't stand plain water, buy some Mio or Crystal Light. If you need sweetener in your coffee, try Splenda.

You need to be completely honest with yourself. Some questions to ask yourself are: am I entering absolutely everything I eat? That includes your vitamins, gum and hard candies (if not sugar-free), that late night snack, and yes, that coffee with cream and sugar. Am I entering the proper portion sizes? Weigh everything that doesn't come in a single serving package. Am I eating healthy, low calorie foods? You can eat more green vegetables than starchy ones for the same calories and you'll feel full longer.