Hi, I have recently gained 20 poungs very quickly and am very upset. My question however is that when I started to watch what I eat last week and cut way back on the fattening stuff I weighed 180.5, now after being good for a week I weigh 182. How is this possible? Does anyone have any suggestions? Thanks!

Hi Jake

I have a couple of questions. Did you start exercising ? What is considered fattening stuff ? You could be eating more calories an not even know it.

I would suggest going to www.fitday.com and start recording everything you are eating so you can see exactly where you are at.

Hang in there, Rome wasn't built in a day.

Well I haven't really started exercising. I was working out regularly before I got married last October and have been only sporaticly since then. I did go to the gym once since I started this "diet". What I mean by diet is that I am leaving the fries off of my combo for lunch, ordering water instead of cola, ordering without cheese or mayo and eating no cookies, candy, etc. that I have been eating since I got married. I'm sure all the sweets caused the weight gain, it's only obvious. I'm eating smaller portions as well. I wouldn't expect to have really lost any by now but I sure didn't expect to gain! I'm just so frustrated with my body. I have lost weight in the past and gained it back but never so quickly. What would cause such quick gain. 20 lbs in 4mths!

I would suggest going to your doctor only he/she can make that kind of diagnosis. Are you on any medications?

When I got married hubby gained weight too from all my good cooking but eventually he lost it, me I've struggled my entire life.

Don't panic, thats the worst thing you can do, how about slowing down a bit and logging your food intake into fitday.com its a great place to see what is going on. You can customize foods there and they have a TON of foods you can pick from. AND ITS FREE....You might be eating more than you think. Some times when you take a bite here or there or you think your not eating alot you really are. It sneaks up on you. Low fat, no fat doesn't mean no calories, in some cases it could be more.

Bottom line with any weight loss program is calories, you must burn more than you take in.

Hi Jake,

I don't have anything to add bec Leenie gave you some great advice! just wanted to second what she is saying!

why not join us on the daily thread and the weekly food log. sometimes it helps to log in everything that you put in your mouth, and sometimes other people can see something that you might not think about.

take care,
cathy

Thanks for the advice you guys! I will try it!

I really think when you do this for a few weeks, your eyes are gonna open and you'll see exactly whats going on.

Good luck, let us know what you find

Hugs

Hi, I've been using that fitday.com website you gave me, it's pretty cool. It's a good way to calculate an estimate of my calorie intake. They don't have everything exactly as I eat it but I can find something close enough for most things. I have one more question. How many calories should I strive for everyday. The fitday website said I had 2200 calories today and that with my lifestyle I would have burned 2600 so does that mean that I'm good or should I have less calories still? If you don't know, any ideas on how to find out how many I need to stick to to be losing weight? Thanks for all your help again and thanks for sharing that website, it's very cool!

Gee Jake, it sounds like if you are burning more than your taking in than that should be good. You'd have to call that one yourself or ask your doctor. See how you feel, if your really sluggish then maybe you need to eat a little more.

On fitday, if you eat foods regularly then you can customized a food and add it. Another words, I eat turkey bacon every day, Louis Rich. So what I did was click on Add Custom Food/New Custom Foods and fill in the information from my package of tky bacon (the nutritional stuff on the back) It will save it for you. Makes my life alot easier.

Losing weight/exercise is a learning thing, you have to get to know your body and that will take time. Losing 1 - 2 lbs a week is a safe way to go. If you are losing to fast then you'll need to adjust your calories, if your losing to slow, again, either adjust your calories or exercise more. In about a month or so you should know what your body needs to do. Everyone is different.

Remember to drink your water, it flushes your system (fats gotta go some where I guess lol ).

BTW, your welcome.

Wow, I didn't know about that customizable thing! That's great! I'll have to get to know that website a little more as I go! Thanks again for another great tip!

Any time