I'm freaking out, really badly. I'm depressed and frustrated. I gained probably six to eight pounds over the past month. Granted, I was drinking a lot of light beer, but I cut that out three weeks ago. I also wasn't exercising as much as I should.
I'm eating healthier now that I ever have in my life. I eat one serving of quaker oatmeal with raisins or dates mixed in for breakfast. For lunch, I eat a big salad with a few croutons, a little bit of tuna or chicken, and fat free dressing. For dinner, I divide my plate....half is veggies, one quarter is meat and one quarter is a starch. Sometimes, I don't even eat a starch. If I have any snacks during the day, it's either 2% milk string cheese or a yogurt. I drink LOTS of water and sometimes have a diet soda or Crystal LightSometimes I have a fat free pudding snack or fruit in the evening.
Three weeks ago I got back into my TaeBo. I've been doing that just about every day and if I don't do the TaeBo, I walk.
My body is becomming very toned and I love it. The only problems is, I can't seem to take off the extra pounds. I used to fit into a size eight this time last year. Now, with certain clothes, I JUST make it into a size 10. My jeans are a lot tighter than they used to be.
Everyone tells me that I don't look like I gained any weight at all. They all say, "It's only seven pounds" and "You'll take it off". But, it hasn't come off. I dread the scale now because every time I think I've lost pounds and I hop on the scale, I've either gained or stayed the same.
I don't know what's going on. I don't know what I'm doing wrong. I don't know if there is something wrong with my scale, whether my body is changing because of the added muscle I've gained with the TaeBo, whether I'm not eating enough or eating too much and not realizing it. I just don't know. But it's seriously affecting my self esteem and causing me way too much stress.
Do you guys have any suggestions? I've gone to friends , family and DH for suggestions and help, but they have no clue. It's just affecting my quality of life and I can't get it out of my head.

I feel your pain!

Only thing I can suggest is do something different! Try going protein-heavy for a few days for the same number of calories.

You could zig-zag calories over the week to average out at a nice number for you.

Also try more exercise, Tae Bo and perhaps add in some running (short jogs).

I find that if I jog for 20 minutes most lunch times that kicks me in the rear again and I hope it'll start me losing again.

Also - stay off that scale for a week and CHILL THE HECK OUT! I've just put mine away since I was going over it too. Remember, stress makes weight-gain easier hormones etc

Are you keeping track of your calories? It's possible you're eating more than you think you are. Many of us here use fitday to track our calories and once you start entering in everything you eat, you'd be surprised how many calories you may be taking in. That might not be it at all, but it wouldn't hurt to start there.

Process of elimination

No, I can't use Fitday. I started using it when I started to lose weight and I used it for a little while when I stopped eating Lean Cuisines. So, I know that what I'm eating now is good. But, I can't use it because I become SO obsessive when I do and it's just not good for me. Especially with my Bipolar. I freak the **** out if I go over my calorie range and then get depressed.

I am in a similar predicament. About three weeks ago I started walking 45 min. to 1 hour a day (in addition to my 3x a week at Curves gym). I'm not eating more calories (I record everything faithfully in my Nutridiary) but have gained 2 lbs.

Some fellow 3FCers told me not to worry, that it's common to gain weight when you start doing extra exercise. It could be muscle or water weight. I do feel more toned, especially in the legs, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the weight will come off soon and I'll start a losing trend again.

I see that you have lost a lot of weight - 120 lbs. - that's a fantastic achievement!! Maybe you body just wants to stay at or around your current weight for a while. I'm aiming at 145 lbs., but would settle for 160. I couldn't stick with eating less calories than I'm on right now, so it might take me another year or two to lose at the rate I'm going. Hopefully the walking will pay off. Hang in there, this is just a bump in the road.

I hit my maintenance goal about 6 weeks ago. I had the same thing happen. I had dropped 4# below goal and then I started to gain. I was up 4 lbs. very quickly. It scared me so bad. I was so fearful that I'd just keep gaining. I went back to the induction phase of my eating plan and now the 4 lbs. are gone again. I am willing to do this again if and when I gain. It's better than just keeping on gaining.
Your gain may very well be muscle weight gain. Mine wasn't as I have been unable to exercise due to an injured ankle. Good luck and I can definitely empathize with what you are going through.

Thanks for the support guys. It's just so damn frustrating. I haven't even been maintaining for a year yet and now the pounds are slowly creeping back on. My DH keeps telling me that at some point in my life I WILL gain a few pounds, but never to the point where I was before. He said that he KNOWS I will never let things get out of control again. But I just feel SO defeated! I've majorly increased my exercise, I'm eating wonderfully and those stinking pounds just won't budge.
I think my clothes are fitting tighter, but then again, it could be all in my mind. They could have ALWAYS fit this way and maybe my mind is playing tricks on me because I'm obsessing about it. My rings aren't tight at all.
I really just want to cry. I can't get fat again! I just can't do that to myself. Just nothing seems to be working to take these extra pounds off.

You are doing great. Just remember that! I am sorry you are so freaked out about it, but you are in a great place for support. If anyone knows about frustration/fear over weight loss and gain it is here. I am proud of you for your accomplishments.
(I agree put the scale away for at least a week!)

Oh, I see. Well you definitely don't want to do anything to stress yourself. Heaven knows we've got enough of that in our lives already

If you're not keeping track, then maybe a little at a time cut back on the amount you eat and see if that works. But give it time. I know I'd sometimes get stuck for weeks or even a couple of months at a time.

You're not gonna get fat again, hon. Just take things a step at a time until you figure out what's going on. It might not be the amount of food you're eating at all. Medications can be a factor, as well as stupid hormones or just about anything. Overeating isn't the ONLY reason people gain weight.

I don't know how old you are (sorry if you mentioned it and I missed it) but pre-menopause and menopause itself can pack on a few pounds as well.

We'll figure it out!

I'm glad you posted it, because this is my real fear -- gaining it all back!

So, I'll say to you what I hope to say to myself in such a situation:

First, calm down! You had a bit of a setback and let things slip a little, but you are back on track now and doing good stuff: eating healthy and exercising. I think as long as you do not let yourself get complacent, you're going to be okay.

It's one thing for us to say to ourselves that "this is for life" but the day to day reality of "this is for life" is so much bigger and sometimes harder than we think. I think we're all going to have little setbacks along the way and we need to a) catch them as quickly as we can, which you did and b) think about why they happened in the first place and try not to let them happen again.

The other thing about "this is for life" though should be comforting. You don't have to lose the 7 pounds by tomorrow or next week. Just be observant about what you're doing and you can go back down. Remember that your life is so much richer and fuller than it was 100+ pounds ago, and don't panic about this blip in the road.