Yes, I measure everything. Especially in school, I don't buy anything, I make everything by hand and if my chef is making it, I get to watch him, measure with him, and know whether I'm going to eat his meal in the end or not.

I thought water retention might have something to do with it, so I'm guessing that might have a lot to do with it. And yes, my mom used quite a bit of salt in the rice, beans and meat.

I don't eat beans anymore, havent for a while...don't even crave them, they disgust me actually haha

The previous poster was correct about sodium, and you'll find that things like chicken noodle soup are LOADED with it. If I eat something with high-salt like that, I swell up like a balloon the next day, and the scale shows it! My guess is that your mom's cooking has lots of sodium, as well.

Ill have to agree with you there, she does cook with lots of sodium. All I can do right now is limit how much I eat of everything, because she doesn't have much variety.

It'll be easier to make my own diet when I move out