Hello everyone!
I'm brand new here. I'm turning to this forum as I have no one else to share my weight issues with, and I need to speak out or I'm going to go mental.

I'm from Switzerland as you can tell, but have left Europe 4 months ago to go travelling through Mexico. I am now in California visiting relatives.
I put on 30lb during my trip, enjoying Mexican food far too much. I'd told myself that once I was in the States I'd go on a detox, eating only healthy foods, and that I would lose at least half the weight in no time. But I was wrong. Not only does my new healthy lifestyle not make me lose weight, it made me gain weight!!!
I am shocked! I've been in California for 6 weeks now and have gained 7lbs!
How is that possible?
I walk everyday, and do some light yoga inspired exercise every 2 or 3 days for a least 30 mins each time. I've been counting my calorie intake and make sure I don't consume more than 1600 kcal a day.
The weight has been creeping up all the same.
So today I felt so discouraged that I thought "f*** it then" and reached out for a (dark) chocolate bar. Well, I only had 2 squares of it, I'm still careful.

Is anyone else experiencing the same problem?
What is happening? What can I do?
I feel fat and worthless.
I'm staying at my cousin who is 40 and so tiny and fit it makes me feel shameful.

I need advice and encouragement.

OMG! What's WRONG with us?!
The SAME thing happened with me. I lost weight. Then I hit a plateau, but it still trickled off a bit after that, now I've GAINED 15lbs! Exercising 3 hours a day and eating between 1500-1800 calories. (It was lower, but a few people told me to raise it since I was doing so much exercise), but still. The SAME things happen. The pounds come on like 2lbs a week and I JUST don't get it!

as odd as it souds maybe you are not eating enough. when working out you need to "fuel" the body other wise instead of loosing you gain. not sure but just a thought...

SwissDiva, I wonder if you were dehydrated a bit from your travels, and/or perhaps doing a lot more walking in Mexico than you are now? For 7 lbs to come on that fast, I would suspect it is water weight, which maybe your body needed. If you want more specific advice regarding your diet, try posting a couple days worth of actual menus on the Calorie Counters forum in Diet Central. There are some very experienced ladies there that could pinpoint any obvious problem areas. Meanwhile, hang in there!

Oh, and welcome to 3FC!

Welcome to the forum.

I'm so sorry you're having a rough time.

Cheryl's idea of posting a few daily menus is a good idea. Post them here if you want to, and we'll see if we can figure out what's up.

You, too, Nikki!

Thank you all for your replies.

Cheryl, you've touched on something that has been a problem for me for years. I don't drink enough water. I just don't think about it. The only things I drink are green tea, water and sometimes a glass of wine. I'm into sodas or packaged juices.
So could that be why I put on weight?
I'm starting to believe that my body has a mind of its own and wants me to be big no matter what.

I need support cause I feel worthless.
All my life I felt that I was only worth someone's love if I were pretty and slim.

I'll try posting my daily menus as suggested and take it from there I guess.

Thanks!

Diva,

You're probably getting some water from the tea, but I think drinking straight water does help with the weight loss. I drink a LOT of tea, but straight water was a hard one for me to swallow, and I've had trouble remembering it lately, as you said, so I can relate!

What is working for me is to fill up some bottles and put them in the fridge. Right now, I'm trying to drink three 20oz bottles a day. To help me remember to drink them, I have been marking them on my calendar each night, and also during the day, I just try to think of taking a few swallows before I can have another cup of tea. Perhaps if you can tie the water drinking in with something you KNOW you'll do several times a day, that might help you remember.

I know that for me, also, sodium will interfere with my weight loss, big time. I'm still burning the fat, but it won't show if I have a high sodium meal more than about once a week, and for a few days after that meal, you can bet my body is going to show a water weight gain. My rule of thumb, which I just made up, so it's not hard and fast by any scientific means, is 200 mg of sodium per serving. I just look at the sodium content, and if it's more than that per serving, I try to leave it off the menu. It really seems to help, so maybe give it a try..?

Anyway, hope to see you over at the Calorie Counters forum. They're a great group, and I'm sure they can help! Hang in there, and we'll figure out a way to get that weight off.

Sodas and juices can totally be helping you gain weight. I would cut back on these and replace with water.

One thing that I can say for food in the US is that is uses a lot of preservatives and chemicals. I am not familiar with the food in other countries, but it is my understanding that it is not the case in many foreign countries. Some of your water weight could be your body reacting to all of these chemicals. In addition to drinking water, see if you can eat more organic foods and whole foods.

I'm on a trip too and I always gain when traveling! I love Mexican food and we have been eating plenty of it too! The mirror in our RV tends to be slimming and that fools me sometimes but even so I can tell I've been gaining this time. I have just gotten back on track with my diet the last couple days since joining this site. All I can say is don't give up! I've read that the best way to get through a plateau is to just keep with your eating plan and you will start losing again. Even one great big meal doesn't have to destroy your diet...not that I'm advocating overeating...but the way we gain is when we over eat all the time. So get back on your plan and stick to it...it may take time but you will lose again.

You.re getting water from your drinks too and I assume you're drinking diet soda? But watch the juices...you can pack on a lot of calories drinking juice.
And eating the actual fruit is healthier too. You are NOT worthless! Don't ever allow yourself to entertain that thought. To a great extent losing weight is a battle of the mind. So when those thoughts come counteract them with positive thoughts. You are more than your weight and those who really matter will realize that and love you for who you are inside.

Oooh those sodas can do it big time and so can the packaged juices if they are processed. Take a sec a read the label. If it's not diet, I'll bet it's chock full of high fructose corn syrup. Nasty bad stuff that. If it is diet (and here I give my apologies in advance to anyone who has seen me around other threads because I'm about to go into my broken record rant) there really are some of us out here who will gain weight on artificial sweeteners. While you are working on upping your water intake, try giving up (or at least cutting way back) on the diet drinks and artificial sweeteners for maybe 2 weeks and see if you see a difference.

And, yep, I agree that our bodies have a mind of their own. But, do they want us to be big? Not at all. When we develop bad eating habits they think we're telling them that's what we want and they are just obliging. We just have to take a little time to communicate to them there's a new agenda

Mary, I can relate to that, and it sort of made me snicker. (not at you! With you!) The lighting in our bathrooms is terrible, and when I leave to go out somewhere, I look fabulous!! I am one hot, smokin' babe. And then I use a public washroom, and discover that some alien has replaced me with a fat, middle-aged frumpy dump!

Diva, if you're worthless, then so are the rest of us. And we're not, and neither are you, dear girl. Give yourself a break... believe that you are a woman of worth.

Yoyo... "a new agenda"... You're killin' me. That is perfect. My new mantra... thank you!

No, no, no . . . it's the other way around . . . those overhead fluorescents in the public washrooms make almost everybody look a little zombie-ish.

Now . . . on the OP's topic . . . have to agree with what so many others have said . . . try to stick with plain water (maybe with a little lemon) instead of soft drinks and juice.

Oh no!!!
I made a huge typo and now I've got everyone telling me to cut back on juices and sodas! lol
I meant to say Im not into sodas and packaged juices!
I only drink water, green tea and occasionally I'l have a glas of wine.

Well thanks everyone anyway for the advice, I appreciate it all the same!

I'm happy today cause I've lost 4 lbs by actually eating more!


Thank you for your support!! :-)

SwissDiva,

Welcome! May I make a suggestion re the water intake - start mixing your sodas and juices with water. Small amounts at first, until you progress to 'mostly water'. I do this with cranberry pop (which is pretty much the only pop I sometimes buy [mostly in summer]). Personally, I don't like the taste of diet pop, so I buy the non-diet cranberry pop and I cut it with water .... typically 1 part pop, 2 parts water. I do this because I find that the pop is too sweet and it I drank water, it would not quench my thirst. But sometimes, I still crave something sweet and so the watered down version of the pop hits the spot.
I usually drink this when I am gardening (and sweating like crazy).