Gaining weight?

Hey hunni,

Im not very rich either so I know how hard it is to eat healthily on the cheap! However I do a lot of batch cooking and its a lot cheaper. My shopping bills are now really really low and I eat really well. If you need any help on cooking like that my food blog is www.thethriftygoddess.blogspot.com if you trawl through the old posts there's a post called 'rubber chicken' part 1 and part 2 is good as you can get so many meals out of one chicken! Plus other posts to do with slow cooking.

I hope that helps xxx

Plus I hope you don't mind me saying, ive checked your food diary and the sodium is really high..... is there any way you could try and reduce it? xxx

I wish I had an answer but I feel your pain. My first weigh in of having a week where I felt like I did everything right and I gained 2 pounds!! My biggest fear had been that it would be the same, not gained!

Don't let it get you down and keep plugging a long. Maybe your hard work will show up in a future weigh in.

Hi, this site might help you:

http://www.poorgirleatswell.com/

You can eat very well on a low budget, you just need to know what to get Some "superfoods" that are really cheap include things like sweet potatoes, eggs, skim milk, kale, dry beans, oatmeal, canned fish, etc.

If there's a trader joe's near you, I also can't rec that enough! Once I bought all my groceries for the week for $9 (I just bought lots of fruits and veggies and had a super healthy week, lol).

It might also help to cut out dressings/sauces (like mayonnaise - or maybe switch to the kind where they use olive oil?) as well as sugary cereals. I'd recommend eating oatmeal instead for breakfast. It'll keep you full for HOURS! Good luck!

I see you live in East Hickory, PA (don't know where that is) but I live in PA too. We have several different grocery stores around here that have lower priced items (Aldi's, Save-A-Lot, Food King) and a place called Erie County Farms that has tons of fresh fruits, veggies, and meat for low prices (I'm talking filet for 4.99 a pound). That place can be crazy but it's worth it when you are on a budget. Also, what type of exercise are you doing? Definitely need to cut down on the sodium:) I'm the same way with sugar though! Good luck!

Hi,

I was curious what you have your weightloss goal set to per week? What is your fitness level set at (sedentary, etc)? Have you by any chance calculated your BMR (apart from MFP's calculation which can be a little high sometimes- at least it was for me)?

Try focusing in on that sodium, do a week of keeping it under 2500, then lower it to 2250, then 2000. I have mine at 2000 right now, but I want to eventually lower it to 1500.

Also, try eating breakfast. I started losing weight and feeling better when I started eating breakfast. Even something as small as a thing of yogurt, or peanut butter toast, or oatmeal (the instant kind has a bunch of sodium Boo! lol). Maybe some apples or bananas to have as a mid-morning/afternoon snack?

It is a process, you have to start somewhere. I read an article on here about gaining when you first start a new exercise routine... Something about your body storing more water in the muscles etc (search "why you gain when first working out"). You might experience a little weight gain now and then have it fall off drastically after a few weeks.

ETA: I'm in PA too! :-)

I would definitely say keep working at it. If you have been doing the same workout for a while, try switching it up or set up a new challenge to push yourself. I love setting up challenges to keep myself motivated.
Also, like the previous said, try cutting the sodium a bit, and work on getting better foods in your diet. This can be a slow change, no need to empty your pantry and start over! Just try switching in a veggie/fruit in place of other snacks, wheat in place of white breads/pasta.
Always water.

Same question is asked thousands of times. Here are replies from a few minutes ago. You can also use the Search function to find other replies to this same question. Copy and paste into your browser:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/446248-why-am-i-gaining-weight

yes! sodium will make you retain water, so if you increase your sodium, you'll be thirstier, and you'll actually hold water weight. strange, eh? I also concur with reduced sodium canned veggies... they aren't expensive, and they have less sodium whole wheat pasta and pizza crusts are good, if you like them, and you can make a quick tomato sauce in a blender with some chopped tomatoes, and some dried herbs.
also, I think everyone else is onto something with the 1200 calories being too low. I seem to be going through the same trouble you are, my app tells me to eat 1260 calories a day, but I'm STARVING all day! that isn't normal. there's only so much computer stuff can do to vary person to person, and they can't always take metabolic rates and cardio rates into account. I would try adding maybe 100 calories of healthy food, like a banana or other fruits/veggies and see if that helps out.

Eating processed foods is actually significantly more expensive than non processed ones, it's just that it seems more expensive to buy all the individual ingredients you'd use to make something similar. The thing is, though, that if you buy individual ingredients, they last longer, so it becomes much cheaper very quickly. Frozen pre-prepared meals, like a lean cuisine, or digiorno pizza for example, is cheaper than say buying a whole bunch of chicken and vegetables, or all the ingredients to make a pizza, but the difference is that with the chicken and vegetables, that will feed you multiple meals, whereas the lean cuisine is barely one, same with the pizza ingredients. Per gram, the processed stuff is significantly more expensive, but the fact that it portions it out, and you don't have to buy every individual ingredient, makes it seem cheaper. Staying away from the processed stuff you'll almost necessarily be eating healthier and less sodium too, so double win. For example:

The texas toast from wal mart, 150 calories a slice, one gram of fiber, 44 carbs and 340 sodium. Instead you can take a piece of whole wheat bread and spread it with some butter you've mixed with fresh garlic. You then control the amount of butter (and therefore the calories), and get less sodium and more fiber. As it is, GV texas toast is just empty calories, and because you buy them in packs premade, you're pretty much paying by the slice.

Yogurt! Instead of the individual yogurt parfaits, get a big tub of low fat unsweetened greek yogurt, add your own fruit and nuts or granola. It will be way, way cheaper and you will get way more health benefits (lowered calories, lowered sugar, and probiotics which you may or may not be getting from the parfaits. You'll get more of the yogurty taste and less of the sugar which can take a little getting used to to start with, but then you get accustomed and the dense creamy richness of the plain yogurt makes it really hard to go back to the other stuff.

So what you can do is decide on what you're going to make, simple stuff, and figure out the cheapest way to make those on your own. Buy it in bulk and freeze what you don't buy. Buy on sale! Studies have shown the cheapest way to buy stuff is to stock up on your items you use a lot when they're on sale, so you can buy them less when they're not. Get in a rhythm of how you buy and what you prepare, and soon you'll be so accustomed to paying less for food that preprocessed stuff will seem like a waste (no pun intended ) of money.


Another little thing is that some stuff, like Baby Ruth minis, raisinettes and chinese, is tasty but really bad for you! So you don't have to cut it out but just sticking with a taste of something can be a huge benefit. I love the idea of just barely tasting something to get the taste without as many calories, and it really works. I bought a couple huge bags of Cinnamon M&Ms right before they went away and were on half price, and some whipped cream, and when the sweet tooth hits, just take three or four M&Ms, or a small spray of the whipped cream, and that's that. I know that's all I'm getting too, so I make the most of it.

Sounds like you're doing the right things, just keep truckin!

How have you been gaining? Have you been gaining steadily over a period of time with no losses? Or did you just wake up one day and weigh more? How long has it been happening?

Sodium can definitely cause you to retain water, but only so much. If you've been gaining consistently for a while, then it's not sodium. Are you measuring and weighing your food, and tracking every bite that goes in your mouth? Are you overestimating your calories burned?

I see you say you try to net around 1200 calories, but your diary the past few says says more. I don't know your height/weight ect., but you may be eating too many calories. I can net 1800 and still lose, but my best friend doesn't lose unless she nets 1400 or less. She's pint-sized (5'1), and I'm 5'11.