OMG gained 4 pounds!!!!!

It's probably just water weight. Cut your sodium down and keep hydrating and doing what you're doing and you'll be fine. Takes your body some time to adjust to changes.

Don't panic! It sounds like you've gained muscle which may be your answer to the scale readout.:)

Women also tend to fluctuate if it's your TOM

Have you done more resistance training or changed up your exercise routine? Is it TOM? Have you had higher levels of sodium than usual?

Some or all of these things (and many more) can contribute to weight fluctuation. My advice, focus on the process, not the result, and 2. don't sweat what the scale says so much, get out the camera and tape measure - track your progress that way!

If you haven't eaten 14,000 cals over your normal diet, you have NOT “gained” a single pound (and no, you did not gain muscle). You are holding onto water weight which will fluctuate anywhere from 1-5 pounds easily, especially if you are new to working out. Always remember, it takes an ADDED 3500 cals to GAIN a pound just as it takes a negative 3500 cals to lose a pound. Stick with it, you will see results if you keep going, promise! :flowerforyou:

please put Sodium in that and do NOt go above the sodium that they ask you too. It can be hard but sodium is very bad for your diet. Plus you gotta drink water if you really wanna lose weight.. Seriously. It isn't that bad. I stopped drinking pop and I drank pop for years. I now drink 12 glasses of water a day!

If your doing exercise you need to eat more. I found it a little hard adjusting to trying to eat less to loss weight to eating loads and lossing weight because I was running but it works.....slowly but properly. Try not to take to heart the number on the scale I've been on MFP almost 6 months and only lost 18lbs which I was totally gutted with but that is 1lb a week and it has taken a hell of a lot longer to put it on so no over night miracle. Plus do you measure yourself and take pictures? Sounds stupid and initially I didnt see the point but afer the first month of running a 5k atleast 5 times a week I was gutted with losing just 7lb so decided pictures and measurements was the way to go! 6 months on 18lbs down and 20inches overall lost! The pictures aer quite an eye opner too mind.

As for your food try and up your protein are you using the custom or guided version of goals on MFP?? Did you eat late lastnight? With a week of my TOM makes me gain up to 5lbs? Drink more water for sure...I drink anywhere between 75-100 oz of water in a day. I also read a post on here about an MFP user who did a little experiment with caffine and noticed that when she didnt drink it her tummy fat and weight were lower...I'm cutting coffe out altogether as of today. mmmm can't think of much else atm.

Dont give up it is disheartening but it's been two weeks so dno;t worry too much right now and just try and find the balance that works for you.

I noticed that you have your weight loss goal set at 5lbs. I do not think you will notice any difference if you lose 5 lbs by doing cardio. If your goals are to get more fit you need to incorporate weight training or interval training as well as cardio if it's something you enjoy. You won't notice a change in the way your body looks by losing 5lbs, but you will notice a HUGE change if you focus on toning verse focus on a number on the scale. I've lost the extra weight that I was carrying around and now I'm going to move into a training regime focusing more on toning up verse trying to lose anymore. I know that I will still continue to lose a few more pounds but now instead of the scale as my goal, I'm changing my focus to inches... new goal is 36-26-38 and i don't care what the scale says when I get there :happy:

Us women are cursed especially around the 40 age mark. I am right there with you. It is taking forever to get these last pounds off and is soooo much harder for women than men. Take your inch measurements. When I first started working out, I lost a ton of inches and not much weight if any. The scale is only one indicator. Your diary seems fine, maybe a little more protein. 2 weeks is not enough time to really evaluate yet. I am finally at the 4 month mark realizing I spent a lot of time being impatient and a lot of time chasing my tail. If you are not getting results then you have to tweak it a bit. Maybe you are exercising too much. That happened to me because my solution was always to work harder. If you are working hard, then you have to work smarter. Let your body rest from time to time. Hang in there. Feel free to add me as a friend.

Here's an example of what I'm talking about :

The debate was "Is a Calorie a Calorie?" Can someone eat just 1200 calories a day of only candy bars and lose weight?

Marie says:

"The person eating the candy bar will burn lean body mass(muscles) along with fat and in the end may lose weight but will do so with a high bodyfat percentage and will be, as referred to in gym circles, as skinny fat. this is just as unhealthy as being obese. a high body fat percentage leaves fat around vital organs. a person eating clean, with proper nutrition and macro nutrients will burn much more fat than lean body mass and will not only lose weight but will also reduce her body fat percentage. at the end of the day it is not your weight that determines your health but your body fat percentage."

Too many simple carbs. Try replacing them with complex carbs like brown rice and sweet potatoes.