I'm a new user and started searching today for diet forums out of frustration.
A little background information: I'm a 40 year old female, moderately active, 5'0, 124 lbs., small frame. My ideal weight, based on both research and the weight I felt good at in my "tiny" past, is around 105-112 lbs. I've gone from 112 - 124 in 10 years.
My current situation: After getting the "Skinny *****" book for Christmas (which promotes a strictly vegan lifestyle, for those of you who don't know) I've changed my eating habits completely. I started my diet changes exactly two weeks ago today. I've completely eliminated coffee from my diet, as well as most dairy, almost all processed foods, and have replaced it with green tea, and lots and lots of fruits and veggies. I haven't completely adopted the vegan thing, but have certainly made lots of modifications to my diet. This is what a typical day looks like for me: Breakfast 1 cup steel cut oatmeal, topped with 2 tbs. chopped walnuts, 1/2 banana and 1/2 cup 1% milk; lunch is a large salad with no dressing; snacks are usually a piece of fruit, or nuts, or organic trail mix, and sometimes a dairy-free Soy Ice Cream in the evening; Dinner is typically any variety of fresh vegetables, and either some type of fish or a Garden Burger. My daily caloric intake ranges from 950 - 1100, which is based on me trying to lose 2 lbs. a week. During the week, I get exercise from a variety of sources, whether it be on the treadmill at home, lifting dumbbells, or my 4-6 hours a night of bartending/serving, which IS quite aerobic at times.
So, here's my complaint: At the start of this new eating plan, which was the Monday after Christmas, I weighed about 126... my usual weight is 124.5. The first week I lost about 3 lbs, which I was happy to see. My second week, I dropped another pound to pound and a half, then all **** broke loose. I ended up eating a FEW things that was not on my diet, but I certainly didn't get out of control, by any means. I went to a restaurant with a friend on Saturday, and had HALF a turkey club, on whole wheat bread, and took the bacon off. Then yesterday, Sunday, I had a bowl of homemade corn chowder. Now while these weren't the most prudent choices, I felt a hadn't done THAT much damage. This morning, I'm back UP to 124!!! There's no way that I ate an extra 7,000 calories to be able to put on 2 lbs.!! How can it be even possible to eat 1,000 calories a day on average and be gaining weight???
EDIT: I realize this is primarily an introduction forum and not meant to put all my issues out here, so perhaps a moderator could move it to the right forum, or someone could direct me where to go for advice from the successful, experienced dieters?
You mentioned you haven't been eating many processed foods, however the club and soup might/could contain a lot of sodium and preservatives. You're probably just bloated. Drink lots of water!
During the week I had been drinking my (8) 8-oz glasses, but I don't do as well on the weekends. Is it possible to gain that fast just from two little mishaps? It's certainly discouraging, that's for sure!
Yes, it is possible to -gain- that from 2 mishaps. But you're not gaining FAT. It's just water retention from the extra sodium and carbs consumed. It will go away as quickly as it came!
Gaining FAT would take 7000 extra calories. Gaining water weight is WAY easier. Luckily, losing it is way easier too!
You may want to check out our "Featherweights" forum, for those starting out fairly close to goal.
Thanks for clarifying. While I have read tons of literature on diets, etc., I guess I didn't know that you could put on that much just from water retention. That is a little bit more encouraging. So, presumably, when I shed this extra fluid weight in ?? what ?? a day or so, I will return to my previous weight of 121.5 if I continue with my same calories and healthy food choices?
That's the idea. Drinking lots of water will help you lose it faster (you drink water to eliminate water...crazy, I know). Keep on going and you'll get used to the scale flucuations.
Soup generally has a lot of sodium which generally means a lot of water retention. Also corn chowder screams of dairy and dairy can make you bloat and retain water.
Thanks everyone for your quick replies, knowledgeable advice, and overall support. Just when I was getting discouraged and tempted to fall off the healthy eating bandwagon, I found this site and now I'm more determined than ever to stick with it this time and finally achieve my goal!
Thanks everyone for your quick replies, knowledgeable advice, and overall support. Just when I was getting discouraged and tempted to fall off the healthy eating bandwagon, I found this site and now I'm more determined than ever to stick with it this time and finally achieve my goal!
Yes, I agree with the others. Water retention.
As for falling off the healthy eating bandwagon, come now. THAT certainly isn't going to help get the weight off. No way. Nu-uh .
Hi, My name is Theresa... and I need help!
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