well everyone...i started as a member here in nov....and i have gained weight!!! i have been eating way better and exercising since jan 8th but i am losing it!!!! i am now completely frustrated....i NEED to lose weight...this is rediculous. does anyone have any suggestions for food?? i would like to lose 30lbs.....which seems soooo far away but i absolutely hate the way i look.....i do not feel sexy anymore eventhough my wonderful boyfriend tells me i am everyday....i am sick of being unhappy with myself....i am 23 and should be in a bikini and enjoying myself.....HELP!!!!!

I can definitely understand how frustrating it can be!

1. Are you following a diet/exercise plan, and if so, what is it?

I myself am a calorie counter. I thought I was eating right. I mean, I was eating healthy things, but I wasn't aware of how many calories I was consuming. Even healthy things can be high in calories, and cause you to gain weight. There is also the other side of it. Some people don't consume nearly as many calories as their bodies need to maintain, and their metabolism is convinced that it's starving, and it will hold on to the fat thinking it needs to save it for a later date, in layman's terms.

If you take the calorie way (which has been successful for me, and many others), the first thing you need to do is figure out how many calories you should be consuming.
This website was suggested to me by Jasmine31, and it was a life saver for me. It was a great start!

Women's Health Calculator. Just follow the instructions, and it will give you a wealth of information.

Second, if you are counting calories, and haven't before, you might want to try an automatic calculator, like Fit Day or Calorie King. Fit Day has an option for free or pay, and Calorie King has a 7 day free trial. Basically you enter the foods you are eating and the exercise you are doing, and it automatically calculates your calories in and calories out, as well as you carb/protein/fat intake.

Try to set a realistic goal. For myself, I am recommended to try to consume 2000 calories a day to lose weight gradually and healthily. But I consume about 1600-1800 because I'm just not used to eating that much food (I underate most of the time, and moderately binged every week or so, so my metabolism was very confused). This works great for me!

If you have any questions, just let me know! Many of the 20-something girls are also calorie counters, so there is a wealth of information here.

I'll cut this short now, let you look over a few things, and let you respond before I go on even further

Have a good night, and good luck! We're here for you .

-Mande

On top of the advice above, just keep at it @ eating healthfully & exercising. Slowly but steadily you'll lose the pounds (you certainly didn't gain the extra 30 over one week, so why the expectation that it'll shed in that amount of time either?) Since you started last week (Jan. 8) the results should roll in over the course of this month.

And I wouldn't fret over not seeing results since November either, few make it through the holidays maintaining their weight, let alone losing - but now that those times are behind us -- move & look forward to a healthier, slimmer you!

I count calories. I use the meal tracker on spark people to make sure I'm not underestimating my calories.

I had the same problem as you when I first started out. I was eating healthier and working out more. And I was GAINING weight and had no idea why! Well it took a little while for me to actually be real with myself...I realized my little "treats" here and there throughout the day weren't helping. And i also wasn't being very consistent with working out. That's the name of the game...be truthful with yourself and put EVERY SINGLE THING you put into your mouth in some type of meal tracker like FitDay. Even if it's just a bite or a sip, log it. And not only do you need to be consistent with working out, you should make it a point to just be more active throughout the day. Walk to the store, straighten the house, park further away from the door. It all adds up, and you'd be surprised at how much these little things help.

But don't give up! No matter what. I gave up, and a year later found myself at the exact same point, wishing I would have just kept at it because I'd be at my goal weight now and wouldn't need to worry about this!

That's what has killed me in the past, too. I just realized YESTERDAY that the 5 mini reese's peanut butter cups I ate after lunch contained 189 calories, 11g of fat and 20 carbs! I tend to rationalize so I think "hmm, I had salad for lunch, so it won't hurt if I have some chocolate." Really? Because I could have eaten almost two bags of those 100-calorie popcorn bags, rather than 5 pieces of candy. Or I could have just done myself a favor, and not eaten any of it.

Also, drink, drink, drink water! I try to drink around 100oz a day - but the trick is, drink when you are thirsty. I mentioned to my hubby that I was upping my water, but I was just pee'ing it all out, and he said, "well, do you think that's really doing any good if your body isn't absorbing it?" Good point. But not only will drinking water help your metabolism, it will also help you NOT maintain water weight, and it clears up your skin.

Like above i count calories, and try to keep my carbs, protein and fat balanced out. When i eat carbs, it's good carbs with lots of fiber. Lean proteins, and low fat. Calorie-count.com is so great!

Trust me! It's still doing PLENTY good!
TMI: When you urinate, you are expelling urea and uric acid. Essentially, you are filtering the toxins out of your blood. Peeing several times a day is not a bad thing. You should also notice that your urine becomes lighter, less urea and uric acid because you are peeing more often. Trust that yes your body absorbs water, but more so, it absorbs the minerals and oxygen from the water So keep drinking it, and keep drinking plenty of it! My mom used to say, "When you drink more water, you pee out fat!" I used to believe that we could literally pee out fat, but now that I'm older, I understand that she was saying that the minerals and oxygen HELP to lose weight with a balanced diet and exercise, but wouldn't it be funny if all of us weight losers were going around using a diet plan strictly surrounding peeing out fat?

Also, something to keep in mind: When it comes to eating, we are all untrained in every aspect when we first begin. We all for the most part have unhealthy eating habits one way or another. Quite often thirst disguises itself as hunger because you aren't yet trained to know the difference anymore. If you are hungry, or you feel snacky, and it's outside of your scheduled meal plan, chances are, you're thirsty. So drink water first (at least a FULL glass), then if you're still hungry, eat after!

P.S. Hehe, I am a biology lover. I would marry it if I could! You'd think knowing hormone cycles, and how eating affects them, I would be more apt to eat better in the first place, funny how the mind rationalizes something to give in to a craving.

P.P.S And 2Fat4MyJeans is SO RIGHT about logging every sip and mini bite. If you don't know the exact portions, always guestimate over! I ate 3 Cadbury mini eggs the day before yesterday, and it rounded out to a pretty high number of calories, in which I could have eaten a whole bag of grapes and still not met that number!

Let me say that I love you, you are my new best friend! I could not have said it better myself. I have been there many of times and its about counting calories and taking in the right amount of calories (you CANNOT starve yourself), eating the right foods and eating them throughout the day (about every 3 hours), burning more calories then you are consuming, and moderation. "The Three Hour Diet" by Jorge Cruise is amazing and it really helps you understand how everything works. It is not a "fad" but a way of life!