^^^ This.

the posts about excuses aren't true. i remember some posts when she was talking about SUCCESS! and i'm really proud of the success that the OP has had. Don't give up!

Hey, first, congrats on your loss so far!

I agree with what most people have said about calorie counting. I don't think you need to do it forever, but at least a few days to see where you are at. Weighing, and measuring is important.

My husband started running last summer, and was wondering why his weight didn't change at all. It turns out he upped his calories to compensate for working so hard. He would eat an extra orange, some nuts, or some granola, or different healthy things, but he was basically eating the amount he was burning, so his weight stayed the same. It's hard to burn 500 calories, but really easy to eat it... especially after a hard workout!

As other posters suggested, maybe you are too low, but you wont know until you actually track the calories.

I wish you luck, and hope you figure out why you are gaining.

coco, love your avatar! but..wanted to say I read an article about this, about how people who did cardio would often gain weight because they over ate to compensate for exercise, but sadly we just don't burn as much as we think with exercise.

I agree with you lottie...I haven't read that article but I would have to believe that a case where you are not eating enough, and gaining weight would be pretty rare.

I think that you can gain by not eating enough if you are holding on to calories but I do find this situation to be more rare and far less extreme than most people think. I find it to be as often reported by people as "I"m just gaining muscle." a friend 'gained 8 lbs of muscle" in two weeks, that would take about 6 months for a woman. heh...for a trainer to say that was the case for the OP, well, I'd be iffy about the trainer.

I'm a firm believer that the "starvation mode" is a myth.

As a matter of fact, google "starvation mode myth".

If it was true, people who are lost at sea or the desert or are in horrible 3rd world prisons would be chunky monkeys.

Anyhow, I too think you need to journal & account for ever single morsel that passes your lips - including fluids. My guess is, is that if you do journal one week, be on track calorie wise & exercise wise ... you'll have a loss at the end of the week.

I am kinda cracking up at the "she's undereating" posts. Really? You can UNDEREAT yourself a gain of 10 pounds? Wow, I must have been REALLY undereating to gain 145 pounds....

"Starvation mode" is a terrible, terrible crutch for dieters.

I totally understand where youre coming from. I went through this recently. For me, it was just taking a while for my body to get used to all the lifing I was doing. But if you swear you think you're eating careful portions, than maybe you're not eating enough. ESPECIALLY if you're doing weights. If you weren't exercising at all you could lose on that many cals. The fact that you are working out frequently and doing strength training makes me think you need more food. After all, you need energy to not only make up the composition of those muscles, but to create them and run them.

And just to let you know I'm not full of it, I work out a lot too and eat 1600-1700 cals and I'm losing (or dropping inches) pretty regularly.

You could also post a sample menu and we could give you feedback from there. But whatever you do, don't give up. It's frustrating, it will pass!

twinmommaplus one, I have to be honest here. I was a little taken aback by your post. Maybe some people respond to "tough love" where weight issues are concerned, but I am not one of them. I delt with it with my family my whole life including childhood.... and this type of commentary is just what would send me spiraling back into binge mode. I realize that you were probably just trying to help, but please understand that some people are much more sensitive than others and don't respond well to criticism. I came here for support.

Thank you Katy Trail, I am glad that someone noticed. I try to support others on here as well as seek support.


Thank you all for your advise and support. I have tracked yesterday and today on thedailyplate.com (great site... thank you Razorbackbritt for suggesting it!) I think most of you are right, I think I'm eating too much and just not realizing it. Just in 2 days, I have struggled to stay at 1500 calories, so I'm sure I was going way over without counting. I will do it for a while and see if I can get good enough to be able to only do it one week per month... maybe that will help with the problem of not wanting to do it the rest of my life.


Also, I totally agree with shannonmb... If I give up... I will not like the result. I know I will just be bigger than I was before, so... I'm not giving up.

Thank you all for your support!

Hey Gidget, at least you've got to the bottom of the problem. Now you can focus on moving forward. Don't let TwinMomma's "tough love" get you down and an excuse to binge. Use it as motivation.

I've been a calorie counter, but oftentimes I do estimate. I also do not count fruits and vegetables. This has been working for me so far, but now I am getting closer to goal and I am trying for the next few weeks to be more diligent on counting the calories. I'm making sure I don't exceed 1700 right now. Think about the things you might consume everyday. I always prepare my coffee the same way, and now I know each cup I drink has 50 calories. My veggie burgers I often have for lunch are 350 calories the way I prepare them. 2oz of turkey meat is 60 calories, and so on. Some things now are automatic, it doesn't take me long to figure the calories.

I agree with the other advice on here to prepare your week's meals in advance if possible, or maybe eat the same things over the course of a week, to keep things easier. Perhaps your breakfast/lunch/snacks are figured already and you only have to total up your dinner, etc.

Good luck to you, and keep going!!!

My "tough love' sending you into binge mode-would indeed be a very sad thing for you. The best part of losing any amount of weight is the momentum you gain from each strength and step forward. You have already lost some weight, how did you do it, how did taking those steps stop you from continuing to take those same steps for more? Do not think for one second that losing weight for anyone is ever easy. Each person that loses puts in the effort, sacrfices and faces the same amount of challenges as you do. Often times we stand in our own way, we create excuses on why Life has gotten in the way of what we say we want. Saying and Doing are two seperate things. I say to you- Go back to what you did (if it was healhty?) and keep doing it. Stop doing what you are doing now, it's not working, obviously. Stop making excuses and put your foot down and take it day by day, meal by meal. No one here can ever begin to tell you what you are not doing right/wrong. We dont' know have a camcorder on your life when you are working out or when/how you might be eating!

Bottom Line, you Can't make posts like these about wondering why something hasnt work when you are not on a active plan for change.

I'm glad you are tracking- keep it going, start moving more and ultimately I hope you can enjoy healthy foods, find that eating healthy feels wonderful, that moving feels awesome and find yourself an activity that you can get excited about!

Good Luck to you!

hey gidget, glad it was a bit of a 'lightbulb' moment on the calorie counting. As to the other unpleasantness, if I can pass on one piece of tough love myself, I'm a firm believer that OTHER PEOPLE can't 'make' us do anything, it's our reactions to things right?

I would much rather see you tell someone who hurt your feelings to go F**K themselves than ever turn it inward and do damage to yourself Once you practice it a few times it becomes a way of life LOL don't let peeps mess with ya

I agree, this is supposed to be a support forum. A place to ask questions, post about struggles and look for answers. We all benefit from encouragment and useful information/ideas. You had every right to post your question and I am sure it helped or will help others. I am glad you got your answer and hope the scale starts moving in the right direction again!

I'm really glad to hear this - I'm glad you were willing to put in the time to give it a try, and that it's given you some good data as to what might have been going wrong. Don't worry about the rest of your life - just worry about staying on plan today. Then tomorrow you can worry about tomorrow. I hope you sort it all out and get it back on track soon.