madhouse, good luck on your journey and welcome
However, the physics of weight gain are very simple.... you are always in one of three states.... a caloric deficit, where you take in less than your body needs in a day (results in weghtloss) caloric maintenance or balance, where you eat exactly how much your body requires in a day, i.e.; energy balance (weight stays the same) or you can be in a caloric surplus, where you eat MORE than your body requires in a day ( resulting in weigh or fat gain)... you dont put on weight by not eating enough (aside from rare medical cindtions or whatnot).
You are probably eating more than you realize.... just because you dont eat frequently, it doesnt mean you dont eat too much..... someone can easily gain weight by eatign one meal a day, if its made up of calorically dense food. Not to mention you have daughters... a lot of us motherstend to graze when we make meals for our children, or "steal" a few french fries, finish whats on their plates, etc...... those calories do count!!
My point is, if youhavent chosen and decided on a diet plan yet, my best advice is to TRACK WHAT YOU EAT for a few days... write down every bite lick, taste and meals...... your portion sizes (or perception of portion sizes) are probably distorted, and larger than yo realize.
Im not trying to be mean, im merely saying that 99.999999% of us either UNDERESTIMATE our caloric intake (even people who track, weigh and measure) or they grossly OVER estimate how much they move in a day, e.e.; how many calories they deserve, or earn in a day.
find a BMR tracker online..they are everywhere, and it will give you a very very GENERAL idea of how much you burn in a day.
Good for you for exercising too! thats great! but if youve been exercising regularly for a while, then your body adapts to the exercise and you become more efficient and burn less than you did when you started..... not to mention we, in general, dont burn nearly as many calories as we think during exercise. NEVER go by what the machine says your cals burned are..... Alot of people will workout for 30 min to an hour, and think they burn 300 to 800 cals, when in reality they burned half that. Then they go and eat one cookie, and guess whaty? they just ate back ALL the cals they burned.
My point is, to re-iterate, faithfully and HONESTLY track what you are eating for a few days. I think you will be very suprised by the rue amount you're eating.
Please take this as constructive advice, and not criticism. Fatloss is all about diet, in my opiono its 100% of the equation... you cant out-exercise pooor eating habits. Invest in an inexpensive food scale... you can get a digital one at walmart for 20 bucks..... it will be indispensable
had enough
xxxxx
