good morning all.

i am very confused and frustrated. i did south beach ( not completely strict-sort of modified) from april to august. lost 30 pounds. i was/am exercising everyday. averaging about 60 min of cardio with some wieghts thronw in for arms. in august, i thought i would mix it up a bit and do calorie counting. i have for 6 weeks. keeping calories at around 1500 (average). was told by another poster on board that i should up my calories (this was done with care and concern-no meaness) because i was underestimating and just plain not eating enough to balance the amount of exercise.

so i up calories to about 1800 and cut way back on exercise. i also started a blood pressure med and anti anxiety med exactly 1 week ago and was having some side effects like headache and queasy. so for one week i reversed what i was doing.


i GAINED 2 pounds! i am so confused and frustrated and just so annoyed. why does it have to be this complicated?


now i dont know what to do. is it possible that i could eat low calorie and just not lose weight? i did eat bread which i usually do not.


i have to go to work today and i am just so flipping annoyed that i am not exercising (just for today) and i want to go thru mcdonalds and get the bigest greasiest burger and the vat of fries. WHICH I AM NOT GOING TO DO.

packed my much already, soup, salad, sandwich, SF jello. i work 10 hours and take all my food with me.

ack, i am rambling. sorry. just so sad and overwhelmed.

First, calm down and let your body/tummy tell you how much to eat. Keep it simple. Simply eat SB approved foods till you are full then stop. Don't worry about counting calories, measuring out food etc and stressing yourself out. Really listen to your body and it will tell you when you've had enough or too much.
Have breakfast, lunch and dinner and snacks in between that should take care of that.

Throughout this journey, I have not counted calories or even weighed myself that much...just "listening" to my body has pretty much done the trick. To me, weighing can be a downer...your weight fluctuates all day long and from day to day. I think scales are evil. Let your clothes tell you how you are doing. I honestly have no idea what I weigh and I don't care.

Well it seems that when you added more calories and cut back on exercise you started gaining again. Calories are calories, the way to loose weight is burning more calories than you take in. So, you should try and meet in the middle somehow, maybe not cutting way back on exercise and eating more calories, exercise somemore and cut your calories back a little. Maybe instead of 1800 try 1650 or 1700 and try and keep up a cardio/weight regime, if you can't do 60 minutes, try 45, or 40 minutes.

After a week or so of eating good foods and some exercise, if you are still gaining weight, you may want to talk to your doctor to see if these new meds could be impacting you.

Hang in there. Yes it's frustrating but keep up the good work of not diverting to the drive through for a greasy burger. You can do it.

I understand the increase in calories but why cut back on exercise? Of course 2 lbs can come and go for all sorts of random reasons too. Any chance the meds are contributing (water retention for example)?

I envy people like you I have been obese/overweight so long that I just don't stop when I should. I really need the added external control of counting calories.

I do agree that SBD can often be enough and if it is why add the stress of calorie counting.

You should have done one or the other - kept the exercise the same and eaten more calories or the opposite...not both. 60 minutes of hard cardio is a lot - you're going to need more calories. BUT, if you lower the amount of exercise plus raise the amount of calories you consume....it's simple math, you're going to gain.

Also, it's just two pounds....relax. It could just be water retention from starting the new medications - that is very, very common.


Relax.

i cut back on the exercise cause of the headache. that was just temporary. will go back the same routine beginning tomorrow, i dont think the meds are causing it. i have taken both before and didnt have any side effects at all. the headache and queasy were new. but on the list of side effects. and the weight gain was in past 2 days and been on the meds for a week.

i truly do think that i cant eat certain carbs. i.e white flour and carby vegs like corn. is it possible tho to eat low calories and still have your traitorous body not lose?

the gain could be water or "bathroom issues"; i know but not losing for 6 weeks is killing me!

and thanks for listening and the support. i am headed to work to help peeps with their phone issues and my empathy meter is running low.

Well, remember that unless you completely pigged out....you didn't actually gain two pounds of fat. 7,000 extra calories is quite a bit and definitely wouldn't come from a slice of bread.

Yes, it is possible to go into really long plateaus. Try upping your exercise or changing it around (ie: instead of walking on the treadmill, try sprints or instead of the elliptical machine, try a cycling class). It is easy for your body to become accustomed to what you are doing in terms of exercise, and when it does, that exercise becomes less beneficial.

Also, try mixing up what kinds of calories you're ingesting. Don't just use calorie counting, but make sure that those calories that you are getting count. Eat whole foods - fresh veggies and lean protein as the key forms of nourishment, cut back on fruits and other complex carbs.

It is a guessing game sometimes....a trial and error game, if you will. Do not get frustrated over two little pounds. Just relax and reevaluate your situation.

thanks, zeff.

it is just so confusing. i like south beach and it was working but the weight loss had slowed. so i went to counting calories (and not just eating beachy foods) and it didnt jumpstart it at all. if fact, the weight loss stopped.

so i waited. and waited. and waited.

and then i GAINED. grrr.

and it probably isnt a real gain. just so confusing on WHAT to do.

i am going to go back on phase 1 and begin again. but cant until next friday cause of $$ issue--already did the grocery shopping. but can tweak what i have.

sigh...i am better now.no tears. just have to take a deep breath and begin again.

thanks again, all.

also remember that, as frustrating as it is, a slow weight loss is the key to keeping it off....

well, that and proper maintenance

You sound like you are doing everything well. If P1 isn't an option at this time, try to cut back on as many non whole foods as possible and change your exercise around. Cycling is my favorite - 50 minutes = 600 calories gone. I just did one yesterday...it's a bit harder with a big preggo belly, but still just as fun.

Good luck!

Ms. Dorson, I remember from another thread that you were exercising a lot every day, eating really really low calories, very low fat and commented that your hair was falling out, right? The responses were that you just weren't eating enough for your basic metabolism plus all you were burning with exercise.

You just changed your calories recently - like someone said above, you wouldn't have gained two pounds back that fast. It is likely water weight from the diet change. Did your sodium increase with your calories?

I've noticed that anytime I make any change, either diet or exercise, I retain water. It freaked me out, too... It will settle out. Once you get back to exercising that should help too.

You asked if it was possible to eat low calories and still not lose - absolutely, if you eat so low cal that your body thinks it is a famine coming and starts holding on to everything. Make sure that you don't go so low with cals and so high with exercise that you end up hurting yourself.

http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=151586

Sweetie, I can tell you're frustrated, but you have to give it time. Some people do hit plateaus that last months and you cannot freak out and give up, if you happen to be one of those people. I lost my first 60 pounds easily and then it took me 5 months to lose another 20.

Sometimes it's just like that.

You changed your eating plan and now you're going to have to sort of refigure things again, which is going to take some time. I personally would not have both cut back on exercise AND raised my calories. I think you needed to increase your calories and eat better from where you were since you were suffering from some of the symptoms of not getting enough fats in your diet.

Also even though you took meds in the past and didn't suffer any kind of side effect, doesn't mean you won't suffer those effects in the future. It's possible that the anti-anxiety meds *are* causing you to gain/retain a little.

I'd say honestly, based on what you've written, you need to really do some research on nutrition and figure out the nutritional balance that's best for you. I think that maybe taking some time to not focus (or obsess) on losing weight and spending some time learning how to maintain a healthy weight/diet would give you an emotional break. Then you can move back into a "losing" phase.

This isn't a race or a sprint to the finish. You can't let a couple of pounds freak you out so much. It's one thing to be frustrated (believe me - I have been there and am there now). It's another to be freaked out, crying, and thinking about sabotaging yourself.

Just walk away for a bit and let your body figure out what it's doing. A lot of changes are going on for you. Give it time!

We're all here to support you.

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On that thread, the general consensus I got was that your baseline was significantly less than 1500 calories, and several recommended that you eat at least 1500. I don't think 1800 was ever suggested. But I think you were coming up with quite a bit higher calories than others were estimating. But you did say you were getting counts from the containers. I don't know.

But if the gain is in the last 2 days, you just can't say anything from it. It certainly isn't fat in 2 days.

I understand the frustration. I'm only half as far into a plateau as you.

But stick with it. You may have to do a lot of trial and error, but that's definitely not the same thing as pigging out at McDonald's .

I will admit that I did freak out when I gained 2 lbs back three weeks ago after eating something really dumb and I was really upset with myself so I can sympathize with you there. Yep and I told everybody I knew about it too so venting does help so you're right on.

I agree with those who say to bring back the exercise (I used to suffer from HBP and headaches so I know nothing is getting done when I get one of those so hang in there). I agree with you about starting P1 for a few days because it's what I did and it got me back on track but I didn't do it for the full two weeks because it wasn't needed. P1 and increase your exercise should bring you back to life. Cheering you on!!!

Sass