I'm a gassy girl by nature. I'm pretty sure it is linked to my diet. I eat alot of fiber, beans, cabbage, etc. My friend always told me that it was because of the sugar free hot chocolate mix I add to my coffee. My weight appears to be unaffected by the gas. It's the bloating that I find uncomfortable. I don't really know what causes it but at my age I don't care as much. Old ladies are supposed to fart, aren't they?

Mindy,
Do your pre-natal vitamins contain iron? I could not tolerate iron myself, and it is a pretty common problem. Constipation, bad bloating. Probably worth a few pounds.

I remember compensating with iron rich produce. At your pre-natal Gyn visits I seem to remember that your iron level is checked. (??). So if you are low you can always default to the vits. I never had to.

Good luck

I looked at the iron in the vitamin...it's got 29 mg. I haven't had my iron level checked yet, but maybe I need to! Thanks for the info boomer!!

Iron causes gas and constipation, but not weight gain. Pregnant women frequently become anemic, thus the iron-containing prenatals. If you eat a lot of red meat and iron-rich greens, you may be able to forego it.

Mindi, fwiw I never took prenatal vitamins. I just couldn't keep them down. And I had 2 healthy 9+ lb babies. I just tried to eat well during both pregnancies. It's possible to have healthy babies without prenatal vitamins.

I eat fairly well, but I don't eat a lot of iron-rich foods.

I'm gonna take a pregnancy test today to see what's up on that end. If it's a negative, I may skip the vitamins for a few days and see if they are the cause.

On the calorie front, I think I AM going to cut back just a little. Nothing drastic...just get things back in control. I took a hard look at my habits over the weekend. I was still on plan, calorie-wise, but started to stray away from eating healthier things in favor of high sodium foods, full-fat and sugar desserts that were higher in calorie (and took away from my "real" food during the day) and a bit too much snacking.

Gotta get things back under control! Whether it results in any losses isn't the point....it's all about getting a handle on things before the weight creep turns into a leap!

MindiV, you didn't ask, but my suggestion would be, limit the carby/sugary foods, even if they fit in your calorie allowance. I'm beginning to think that is what contributed to my slow (and then not so slow) regain.

Jay

I've thought about that, too, JayEll...but I so love my carbs!!! I'm struggling with that decision a lot.

OMG! It's just getting worse!

In an effort to get myself fully back under control I cut my calories a bit this week. Not much...just 150 a day to 1,700 daily calories. I've been eating CLEAN and on plan. I've kept my carbs lower than they were and watched my sodium. Not pregnant.

145.2 today.

Ready to just give it all up at this point. What's the point of eating well and working out religiously like I do when all I'm doing is going backward from the place I spent so long reaching?

And what's worse is I have NOBODY to talk to here about it. My husband has lost 80 pounds himself, and when I expressed my concerns to him all he said was "It's fine. You're not over 200 pounds again."

Grrrr.....

Right there with you honey - our situations sound very similar, except I'm not trying to get pregnant.

I've been good with food, cut calories back, started a personal exercise 'boot camp' and still no change, or increases is anything.

Feel free to PM me if you need someone to vent to.

Thanks, Shannon!

I'm hoping that maybe I'm finally about to start my TOM again. Ever since stopping the pill it's been wacky. So maybe this is my increase before starting.

Goodness knows I'm overly emotional and PMS-y.

Mindi, what is your BMI? If you are in the healthy range maybe your body just wants to have a bit more mass? I went down to 129 (briefly) and then my body fought me tooth and nail to get back up to 135. I would much rather weigh 130 but my body pretty much insists on 133-135.

Maybe that's happening to you too? And if you want to get pregnant then you might have to gain a bit of weight, just so that your body accepts the pregnancy.

Dagmar

Dagmar, my BMI is about 21.3. I guess it's possible my body is just saying "MORE!" It's just weird that I was able to maintain a lower weight for sooooo long. Six months ago (when I was still on BC) I averaged 138 with "spikes" to 141 when I was about to start my TOM. I haven't seen 140 since I went off the pill.

I think if I wasn't trying to get pregnant this wouldn't worry me so much. I just worry that something is wrong with me, especially with the super-long cycles I'm having. I don't want to gain 20 pounds THEN get pregnant and gain even more. I want to be healthy and pregnant.

Again...DIGESTIVE ENZYMES! Google it please! Been there, done that (where you are)...DIGESTIVE ENZYMES. No more obnoxious gas, better digestion, easier weight control.

As we age, eat processed or cooked foods, the amount of available natural digestive enzymes decrease. That is what causes excessive gas. Ever heard of people who are "lactose intollerant"? There bodies do not produce enought of the enzymes necessary to digest dairy products, therefore they have gas, tummy aches, etc upon eating those products.

Our bodies need different enzymes to process differents food groups. Look, I could go on and on forever on this subject, but I'll just stop here. It worked for me...maybe it will work for you. It's cheap, about $9/100 pills from amazon. I use NOW Super Enzymes. Worth a try. Save your marriage...try them...you can thank me later!