Okay so I've always been the sort of person with a very nice figure. And for the first time I don't have one. It was just drilled in today at a hotel, where I can see myself in their mirror. I'm really fat. The side view is just sad; my belly is bigger than my breasts.

I'm more active than I've ever been, but it doesn't seem to make much of a difference. I run 2.5 miles most days, do four hours of dance a week. I walk everywhere. Yet last week I was 170 pounds at 5'8''. I just don't see what I'm eating wrong. I eat the same way I see other people eating--and they're not fat. (In fact, I eat much less than they do.)

Help. I don't know what to do anymore.

Eating less could be your problem. People can actually gain weight by not eating enough, and lose weight by eating more. You should put your info and activity level into an onky calorie calculator and see how many it tells you to eat. I wouldnt be shocked if it told you atleast 1600-1800

Do you do any lifting? Everyone looks better with some muscles!

what do you see other ppl eating? if you're always at restaurants, that's a clue.

what about coffee - are you a frequent habitué of places like starbucks? those yummy lattés - it's amazing how fast they'll pile up on your hips. even home coffee and tea - i finally got around to measuring how much milk i was putting into my tea and was astonished to find it a solid 1/2c! i drink 8-10c a day of tea *minimum* so that means i was adding 488 to 610cal a day to my intake, invisibly - in addition to the dolce-gusto lattes i was going through to the tune of 8 every 2-3 days (at 70 calories each).

so just to average things out, i was consuming 829cal, ballpark, every day, in addition to the too much of the wrong kinds of food i was eating.

no wonder i was bloating like a stoat!

the best thing to do is start from scratch: for the next week - two weeks would be better - write down *everything* you eat and drink. every cup of coffee, every stick of gum. try to be as accurate as possible with the portions. at night, plug it into a nutrition tracker such as the one on fitday or sparkpeople and at the end of the week/two weeks, run a report on what your daily intake actually averaged.

your BMR is 1584 - i used an arbitrary age of 25, female, your current height and weight.

using the mifflin-st jeor formula calculator on freedieting comes up with:

Maintenance 2674 CALORIES/DAY
Fat Loss 2139 CALORIES/DAY
Extreme Fat Loss 1605 CALORIES/DAY

based on your stated activity schedule (which i plugged in as "everyday - twice a day" since you run most days and also dance; i noted in your profile you are involved in a few other activities as well.

with that high a level of activity, i wouldn't be surprised if you were absentmindedly schkoffing back calories without really thinking about it.

I recommend keeping a food journal for a week or two and figuring out how many calories you are truly eating. That would be the only way to know if you're having too much or too little. Furthermore, people tend to underestimate how much they're eating and overestimate how many calories they burn. Finally, as we age, we have a decrease in muscle mass and that means you burn less calories while at rest than you used to in the past, which could explain the weight creeping up. If everything you say is spot on then it could be that you either need the help of a doctor (perhaps there's a medical reason for this) or perhaps you are just one of those people who simply gain weight easily and needs to eat less in order to have the figure you want. There are people on the maintenance board who can eat 2500 calories a day and not gain and there are people there who cannot eat more than 1200 calories or they gain (and they need to workout like maniacs). Sometimes life's just not fair like that but the best thing to do is figure out what's really going on so you know how to deal with it most constructively.

@ 150lbs at 5'8" You're far from fat! Are you carrying some bloat in your tummy? How's your posture? What's your diet look like? Sometimes, when you're already within the healthy range, WHAT you eat makes a lot more of a difference. If I eat empty carbs I bloat like a MOFO and my usually flat stomach gets a pooch.

Don't talk down on yourself!! You can meet your goals.

I'm a little confused - are you 170 or 150?
I used to feel that way about some thin people I know too, including the ones in my fam - how can they go out to eat so much and be thin? But then I went on a long vaca with them and found that after they eat out they eat less later and at the end of the day I do eat more than them. It wasn't until I lived 24/7 with them for a long time that I realized at total cals over a lot stretch of time, I consumed more than them.
What have you been eating? Don't despair, you are making an effort to lose. You just might have to change your diet. I know that I had to change it up a fwe times before I found what works for me, and I am still learning.

If you're unhappy with how you look, one thing that can make a HUGE difference is weight training. Not sit ups, they don't do that much, but try something like this: http://www.womenshealthmag.com/fitne...ly-fat-workout or http://www.cosmopolitan.com/advice/h...runches#slide2.

Adding those in maybe 3 or 4 times a week should really help. I added some really light weight training for my arms and it did wonders. You're already doing the cardio which is awesome. If you want you could try increasing how far you run by a mile or so.

Last but most important, I've found that weightloss is 70% what I eat, 30% how much I exercise. It may be different for other people, but that's how I work. Try keeping a food journal for a week or so and see how many calories you eat in a day. 1600 is a good number for you - I'm an inch shorter and that's what I shoot for. My problem is snacking. If you don't keep a food journal you could be getting extra calories and you just don't notice. WHAT you eat is really important too. Try increasing your green veggies! When my family orders pizza, I try to eat a bunch of carrots/broccoli/celery before I eat the pizza, to help myself fill up. That way I can enjoy a slice but by the time I eat it, I'm on my way to being full. And as always, drinking lots of water helps. When I drink soda or eat stuff with lots of sodium, I bloat. It's crazy how visible it is (to me, at least). Drinking plenty of water helps keep you from bloating. Good luck! I can't wait to be 170 - I've been fighting to get out of the 180s for months.

I know how you feel, I've always had an hour glass figure and carried my weight well. I had a bad year in 2009 and gained a little weight and have steadily been gaining more. Then I got pregnant and had my son and now 5 months post partum and heavier than I've ever been.. I have naturally large breasts and my mommy tummy is dead even with it. I love to go out side, hiking but I think my problem is my hubby loves fastfood, processed food... and I tend to eat what he eats.
I would try a food journal - I tried it along with exercising and lost 5 lbs in a week! Watching carbs helps immensely... it could not be how much you eat but what you're eatting. Try low sodium to help cut water weight. I wish you luck, but believe me with your stats you're far from fat m'dear.

Bingo. I'd bet $100 you're eating a calorie surplus and don't realize it.

I agree with the other ladies; a food journal sounds like a good idea, but it takes dedication. I tried the food journal thing (pen an paper format) and it didn't help, so I decided to use an online food journal to help me see what I'm ACTUALLY eating. Good luck!

I do the opposite - I plan my day on a journal before it starts and follow my plan. It's easier that way, to me.

If you tech savvy, I use DailyBurn Tracker on my ipod. It's a free app and I love it. It keeps track of things for you and almost everything is in their database. It can also be used online.

Another good one is MFP -Myfitnesspal you can get it on any electronical device that accepts apps basically. There is also an online version (website)

Try cutting out all grains for 30 days. Take measurements and pictures. I bet if you stick to it and eat clean for that 30 days you won't believe the difference!!

The book "Wheat Belly" is a good resource, if you are interested.