I am so depressed and it’s all my fault. I’ve apparently gained TEN POUNDS in the past two or three weeks (got a little inconsistent with the weighing there for a while, but it’s been no more than three weeks). Two things:

1) I was pregnant. I mentioned it in a previous post. The pregnancy was not viable and I had to terminate. I had the procedure and since then I have been cramping and bleeding and feel downright crappy (sorry if TMI). It just feels like the worlds worst period.

2) When I found out I was pregnant, even though I knew that I would have to terminate, I let that be an excuse to go on an all out, eating competition style binge. For the past two weeks, I’ve stuffed my face non stop. I don’t eat as much as I did before I started losing weight, but I know that at my lower weight, it will take less to gain.

But still…ten pounds in less than a month? Seriously? I am so ticked off at myself. I look awful. I look bloated and chunky and my clothes are tight. It sucks. It’s funny because, on the way down, I was so elated to be 185 pounds. But now? I feel like I look like I did at 214! I am discouraged and scared that I will not be able to get back on track.

So, do you think that some of it might be water or pregnancy weight? I know that I have gained some real weight just from eating and not working out…but ten pounds just seems like a lot…and I don’t know if mentally I am prepared to handle the reality of that.

Calm yourself! Being pregnant makes your emotions go haywire, changes all your hormones around, and definitely affects EVERYTHING. It's also a huge confusing draining emotional experience-- especially if it was unanticipated and or problematic.

Sounds like you fell back on a familiar comfort measure, food, and your body grabbed every calorie because that's what pregnant bodies do.

Get yourself back on plan, one day at a time, and that weight will come right back off.

Also, PLEASE be kind to yourself and give yourself a little emotional breathing time. Of course you feel crappy when you go through something like that.

Relax! When your body develops a baby there is alot of fluid that is retained. Although the pregnancy was not viable (sorry about that - I have had 3 miscarriages and it sucks!) - your body is still dealing with the hormones and fluid buildup. Just back on whatever plan you were on and your body will rebound!

Fist off, (((HUGS))) I am so sorry to hear that you are going through this. I've struggled with 2 miscarriages, and I know that they can be horrible on both your body and your mentality.

There is a great chance that a lot of this is "Extra" from pregnancy. And water weight from just eating the wrong kinds of foods.

I think that the stress of knowing you had to terminate made you binge- but do you honestly think you are 35,000 extra calories in 3 weeks? I doubt it!

It's good you are acknowledging it now- so now you can stop and maybe looking into dealing with the stress in another way.

I'm sorry for what you had to go through

I hate to tell you this, but only you can truly answer your question. Only you know how much you've gone overboard, and how the pregnancy affected you. Be honest with yourself. I'd hazzard a guess that to be this stressed over it, you know how badly you ate. Does it really matter how much weight came from what? You're still going to feel bad for falling off the wagon, even if a lot of the 10lbs is from fluid retention. But give yourself a break, it happens to everyone, and I think you have a much better reason than most.

Here's the question: even if it is all your fault, are you really going to quit? Are you really going to say, "So I went through this horrible event in my life and gained some weight. Might as well give up entirely." Of course not!

Give it another week or so. You're still dealing with it. You'll probably feel a lot better here shortly.

When you get back on plan, more than likely about 5 pounds will come off immediately--that's water weight. So you probably have about 5 extra pounds that you will need to re-work on losing.

But 5 pounds is really not so bad. Get back on plan today and it will be gone in a month or less.

I am so sorry for your loss. I had three miscarriages myself (and eventually three live, healthy babies), and I know how very awful it is. Please be kind to yourself, and make the healthful care of your body your top priority.