OK, I've been doing good on this diet. I have even been to an all you can eat buffet and my only splurge was a chocolate mouse. And yet.....the last two days I feel fat. Especially around my middle. My jeans (the size 16 I was fitting into so darn perfectly at the beginning of the week) yesterday they felt snug around the waistband. What is up with that? I stay under 1250 calories a day, ride my excercise bike at least an hour every night...no days off. And yet I feel so bloated!! What the? My period has come and gone so it is not that. I feel like I have failed! And I don't want to become discouraged. Has anyone dealt with this? And if so, how did you keep focused?

I really appreciate any how tos!!!
Nancy

Hey Nancy!

Congrats on your willpower and staying OP!!

The whole bloating thing might have more to do with what you eat, as opposed to how much of it you eat. If you've been eating a lot of salt, or not drinking enough water, it might cause you to retain water and feel a little bloated.
Another reason might be if you are eating more fiber than you used to... fiber is good for you, so don't stop! - but it might take your body a while to adjust to the change in your diet, in which case you might produce a little more gas in the digestion process... leading to bloating. The same thing can happen if you consume a lot of sugar alcohols, which are found in sugar-free sweeteners (eg. diet drinks, gum). In any case, drink tons and tons of water anyway and it should help. If the bloating doesn't go away after a while (give it a week or two) then you should think about talking to your doctor.
Hope that helps! Keep up the good work!!!!

Oh goodness, do I ever! I look at it like having a bad hair day. One of those days that no matter what you do to your hair, it just looks baaaad. Or one of those days you just feel like crap, for no apparent reason at all. It just happens.

You haven't failed! It'll pass. Keep going!!

I swear, I can stay at the exact same weight for days and days but there are some of those days where I do feel fat. I can always tell. Fresh out of the shower and I put my undies on, they feel tight! I have a bit more bulge here and there on those days. I just don't understand why that happens, because I'm the same weight. But it does happen. I guess I'm not alone.

I can relate -I literally felt like a balloon yesterday and my jeans were tighter than normal. Sucralose puffs me up like a blowfish and I had had quite a bit. I think I'm going to avoid it totally - it puffs me up and does other things to me that are totally obnoxious and disgusting.

Count me in as an other "me too" on this one. I agree that its like a bad hair day - we ALL have days where we feel fat. Its just how it goes...some days the mirror isn't a friend, or there is something going on with us emotionally that makes us feel less positive about ourselves, and that comes back in the mirror. Its totally normal.

Certain foods will bloat my stomach. True I do have some problems with my stomach, but just about everyone I know says the same things. Soda, any kind is really bad about this. Hot dogs, if I eat one, I feel like someone who is 8 months pregnant. The way I have figured this out is a to write down what I eat, and how I feel that day, everyday. This showed me that some foods effected me up to 24 hours after I ate them. But everyone has days when they feel fat. And when I have those days, I put on some looser clothing and try to walk a little more than usual. Seems to help me.

Those food buffets are nutso with the sodium. So it's most likely water retention. I do the same thing, especially after I eat Chinese food.

Just drink plenty of water

I almost always "feel fat." But the bloat around the waistband is something I've come to expect if I eat certain foods. For example, yogurt or kefir will make me bloat very quickly. I'm not sure what it is--it could be my liver puffs up! But I don't even know why I think that.

I gain most of my weight on my belly, so feeling clothes be tight there is "normal" for me.

Jay

Second that !
Water is really important. It helps flush out toxins and keep your skin look radiant.

The bloating with dairy sounds like lactose intolerance to me. What happens if you drink milk (any type, skim to full-fat)?

Me, too! I have plenty of days where I still feel fat.

In my mind, I'm still at my highest weight. When I look at myself directly (not in the mirror), I can't even see the difference. I feels like I haven't made any progress at all. It's strange, because I can clearly see that I am way thinner when I look in the mirror and if I put my hands around my waist, I can definitely feel the difference, but if I just look down at my stomach or my legs, I just can't see the difference. I don't know why this is. It is sometimes very discouraging. I compensate for it by looking in the mirror A LOT. Every chance I get, practically. Even in public. People must think I've become horribly vain, but I'm just trying to reassure myself that I'm still thin.

Barbara - I could've written that post!

d'you know, I think it's cos we never paid any attention to how our bodies looked when we were big, but now we are almost hyper-aware, so we notice if we're having a bad body day, or if we're bloated or feeling puffy.

I don't really feel much different from what I did when I was big - apart from my legs don't chaffe when I wear skirts and I'm 1000% more active. But my legs are still tubby, I still feel like I take up a lot of room but I know somewhere in my mind that I don't really.

I think it takes a while for the mind to catch up with the body.