Weight Gain Getting Out Of Control...

[blas]

It's been a while since I posted my "Acai?" thread in regards to losing weight.

I am now flirting with 140 pounds. I am not a doctor, but my prefered healthy weight is 120-125, to my doctor it's anywhere from 115-135, but I start feeling uncomfortable at 130.

I am starting to get so frustrated with myself that I cannot even bear the sight of myself in the mirror anymore.

I have not gained very much muscle, if anyone is still trying to convince me that joining the gym has done me good and I'm gaining muscle so that's why my weight keeps going up. If I were gaining muscle, my clothes would still be fitting fine, and I'd be firming up, not still jiggling in all the same places as before, if not worse than before. In all honesty, I think I could swallow hard and accept being 135-140 if I had actually gained muscle everywhere and was actually toning up and getting more lean.

I am now up to an hour of cardio 5-6 days a week versus 30 before. I have quit weight training save for tricep and pectoral exercises to get rid of upper arm jiggle and prevent breast sagging.

According to the treadmills I use (granted, it could be off) I burn anywhere from 700-1000 calories each time I do my cardio.

I have quit soda and only use it as a treat once or twice a week. I only eat fast food (like the bad stuff like McDonalds) once or twice a month, if I do eat out it's Subway or Jimmy Johns and I'm really no fun to go out to restaurants with anymore because all I eat is salads or to buffets with salad bars.

I have cut out any carbs that I consider more than what's necessary to keep me energized and focused. I have not eaten chips or cakes or cookies or other snacks for weeks. All I snack on are carrots, apples, bananas, grapes, blueberries, raspberries....healthy stuff.

I am up to almost 100 oz of water a day, and that's just at home, because I can't really approximate what I drink at work. I drink Powerade or Gatorade at work because that's the only thing available that isn't soda or energy drinks or coffee or overly sugary juices with just as many calories as soda. But I also slip out of the room almost every hour to the bubbler to drink 3-5 cups of water.

I am on a very high fiber deal right now, anything Fiber One makes, I have. I also eat 10-20 prunes a day. I'm as regular as can be, so it's not like I'm full of shit.

I had a body wrap done and I lost 5 1/2 inches from random places from the chest down, but didn't lose very much weight.

Every time I get on the damn scale, it's either the same or I've gained yet another pound.

I don't even know what to do anymore. It is not healthy for me to weigh this much, I can hardly fit into some of my pants anymore, everyone has noticed and some people have even started making comments about how large my lower body has gotten.

A year ago at my friend's wedding fitting, I was 36 26 36....now I'm 36 30 40.

Some of you may roll your eyes at me and say "Be thankful you aren't extremely overweight or obese" or "You are just an eating disorder waiting to happen!" but it's something that is really bothering me and I just don't know what to do anymore.

[Cat]

**hugs** I have no real advise, I just wanted share sympathies. I can completely understand....I'm in a similar place.

Only thing I have found that works for me is "diet" and exercise. (I am not on a diet, I changed my eating habits*).

I lost a good deal of weight this past year, and it's slowly coming back....some muscle, some def not. It is frustrating.

Could stress or health reasons be keeping your weight up?


*well, I was eating healthy until recently....today I pigged out on junk, but I told myself it fuel for my hike tomorrow.

[r2cagle]

Check your neck... do you still have a hollow at the base of your throat? I have the same issue with weight, cannot lose a stinkin' pound to save my life, but then found out my thyroid is inflamed... nothing apparently wrong with it, just inflamed.

The weight gain is something to discuss with a doctor. IMO it sounds like something else may be going on, and it wouldn't hurt to get a full workup to see if the cause can be found.

*not a doctor here, but that much water every hour... is your family predisposed to diabetes?*

[trailerparkmedic]

I almost wonder if you're not eating enough with the level of activity you have. If you eat too little, your body goes into starvation mode, slows your metabolism, and stores most of your intake as fat instead of burning it.

If I were you, I would start tracking what you're eating and how many calories you are consuming daily. There are a plethora of websites that help with this--I've used SparkPeople.com before for the tracking (it's free). Are you eating enough? Are some of your regular foods higher in calories than you expected?

There are plenty of sites that will calculate the amount of calories you should be consuming, but if you want to do it yourself, here's the math:

-You need to burn 3500 calories to lose a pound.

-Your body requires a certain number of calories to exist--this is your Basil Metabolic Rate or BMR.

Female BMR = 655 + ( 4.35 x weight in pounds ) + ( 4.7 x height in inches ) - ( 4.7 x age in years )
Male BMR = 66 + ( 6.23 x weight in pounds ) + ( 12.7 x height in inches ) - ( 6.8 x age in year )

-BMR is just the amount to sustain life. You burn more than that because you don't lie in bed all day. The way I learned to calculate this is through the Harris Benedict Equation. You can google it for specifics, but the way I would use it is by determining how active you are at work (assuming you work full time).
If you sit behind a desk, multiply BMR by 1.2. If you stand and walk a lot, multiply BMR by 1.375. If you do heavy lifting or other physical activities, multiply BMR by 1.55.
This number gives you the number of calories you need to consume daily if you don't exercise and want to maintain your weight. Let's call this Daily Calories.

-So say you want to lose 1 lb/week. To do that, you need to eat 500 less calories than you burn every day. Eat ((Daily Calories) + (Exercise Calories) - 500).

So, there's the math-intensive way to figure out what you should be eating. Your body won't always listen to the numbers but it's a good starting point.

[blas]

When you say a hollow in your neck, do you mean by your collar bone and can you press your finger there and it goes in without any effort? If so, yes, I can.

Diabetes runs in the men in my father's family, no woman has ever had it. I have cut out as much sugar as possible in my diet, save for sugars found in fruits.

As far as the water goes, some of it is natural thirst and more thirst from lots of cardio, but the rest is drinking it to flush myself out. I really have limited myself now to just water (although I will sometimes have Silk with a meal) and Gatorade at work but still lots of water as well. I think I have become a little obsessed with flushing myself out, considering I am obsessed with fiber and prunes.

Edit to add: It's possible I'm not eating enough, but my metabolism is confusing me. A little TMI, but I am pooping quite quickly after eating most meals (and it's not runny or painful, it's solid and clean and sinks) or if I don't poop a few hours after I eat, the next time I eat, it wants out now. Or maybe that's just my digestive system working properly?

I am having the hardest time in the world staying full after cutting carbs. I was eating way too many, so I cut back. It's been hard because they were the only foods I really liked to begin with, and I had to force myself to eat salads and veggies and force myself to like them. I've cut back on cheeses and other dairy (except milk and I only drink soy milk) and that has been torture. I cannot stay full unless I eat something with a lot of carbs or something that is processed and bad for you. It sucks.

I am so angry I just want to eat a tub of ice cream and everything on the McDonalds menu and then take a 3 day nap and tell my body to fuck off.

[trailerparkmedic]

I think I have become a little obsessed with flushing myself out, considering I am obsessed with fiber and prunes.

One of my drill sergents told us that light yellow pee meant you were well hydrated and anything lighter than that just meant they were making us drink tons of water just to mess with us. Just a thought.

I wanted to add a couple of things to my earlier wall of text:
-I notice you're eating a lot of salads. Salads in general are good, but be careful about toppings--don't go crazy with cheese, high fat dressings, etc.
-Cutting out carbs does little for your weight if you're making up the calories in another part of your diet. Proteins and fats eventually get broken down into glucose to be sucked into your fat cells too.
-Speaking of protein... are you getting enough? Are you getting enough fat? It is good to get small amounts of fat and lots of protein, especially since you're so active.
-Don't stop weight training. There are tons of health benefits, and muscle burns more calories than fat. Weight training indirectly increases how many calories your body burns.
-Personal experience only (nothing to back me up) but I lose weight better when I eat 2-3 servings of lowfat dairy a day. Mostly I try to be conscientious about it because of osteoprosis but when I'm good about it, I have better weight loss weeks.

[blas]

I'm ignorant, but I quit drinking protein shakes because I thought they were contributing to my weight gain. I still have them in the fridge, they are still good for quite some time.

As far as salads go, I add fruits and nuts to them and just a tad of dressing. Also, I'm not one of those people who eats carrots with tons of ranch (I hate ranch blech). I eat all my veggies and fruits plain, no ranch or no carmel or syrups.

Edit to add: I forgot to add that I have been eating a LOT of egg whites recently. I go through a dozen every 3-4 days. I don't eat the yolks. Sometimes they are hardboiled, sometimes I scramble them.

And also thank you so much for the link. I just created a profile and got started with today's workout and burned calories.

[ditchdj]

Take it easy Blas. Weight gain just comes with part of the territory of getting older.

I was in the same boat. The main thing I did was cut my calories down. Simple as that. I decided to stick with a 1500-2000 calories a day. Just cut your portions. I learned that by watching a news piece about the French. They eat lots of candy and sweets, yet for the most part they don't struggle with obesity. That's what I did and it helped me lost 30 pounds. If you eat a hamburger try only eating half of it. You probably shouldn't really cut anything completely out of your diet because you could end up with malnutrition. That and stick with working out in the gym. Then the weight will drop.

Also try getting a physical from your doctor.

[Green_Fairy]

suggestions:
~eat more lean protein. white chicken, salmon, any white fish, beans. that can help with building lean muscle which burns more fat
~keep up with weight training, just just cardio. low weight, high reps. just heavy enough to be difficult, and do maybe 3 sets of 15 or so. if you can, try talking to a personal trainer once a month or so just to make sure you're doing the right exercises do reach your goals
~do you drink milk? what kind? whole milk has 4% fat, 2% has that, and fat free is well, yanno. milk and light yogurts have been shown to help with weightloss.
~don't eat just 3 times a day. breakfast, light snack, lunch, light snack, and dinner. the light snacks between meals help keep your metabolism going. just be careful with those snacks. anywhere between 100 and 150 calories should do. some fruit, 100 cal snack pack, half a sandwich. just not a candy bar or chips, which you mentioned not eating anymore
~talk to your doc. it is possible there's an underlying issue that's preventing weight loss. just get a few tests run to make sure your thyroid's in good shape and your other random glands are in good shape. also, allergy checks would be a good thing. if you're allergic to some things, even mildly, can cause weight issues. s/he can also suggest some diet tips. oh, and mention the pooping as often as you do. it's possible that eating too much fiber can just run everything out of your system.

good luck and don't go overboard!

[Cat]

Just wanted to share more now I have time to type.

I second keeping track of calories, I do this near obsessively. (I am trying to stop now). Make sure you are eating enough.... I did a crash dietand was weak as hell.

I have an ipad app that I use to track....loseit.

[Magpie]

Just as general heath advice - don't go overboard on the protein. If you're meeting your requirements there is no benefit from having any more protein. And there can be some problems with calcium absorption and the like.

I'd seriously take this to your doctor though. If your weight changes suddenly, that's a reason to see your doctor about it. I can see that you wouldn't be gaining a lot of muscle bulk, if all you're doing is aerobic exercises. I can see looking fatter while gaining muscle (it's common for women - there's enough fat over the muscle that the muscle's effectively not there). Your situation, however, confuses me.

[ParkingWitch]

Have you looked at the calories from the Poweraid / Gatoraid ? A lot of those drinks are sugarwater with flavor.

[BookstoreEscapee]

Have you looked at the calories from the Poweraid / Gatoraid ? A lot of those drinks are sugarwater with flavor.

I was thinking the same thing. Unless you're a hardcore athlete, you're better off with water.

Lean protein and a little fat with each meal will keep you fuller longer than mostly carbs because they take longer to digest.

[Seshat]

I strongly suggest at this point getting a doctor to do a metabolic check on you. I'd rate you as having a possible endocrine problem at this point.

If I were your doctor, I'd want to have a dietician and a physiotherapist check your diet and exercise - just to be sure - but I'd also get a full endocrine workup and probably a full blood workup as well.

[Thuringwethyl]

One more thing to consider: the human body is great at adapting to stressful conditions like exercise. What this means is that after a while your body will become "used" to doing lots of cardio and behave more efficiently expending less energy. So if you at first see great results with running, for example, after a while the results will lessen (great if you want to run longer but not so great if you're trying to lose weight).
Also, some machines overestimate the amount of calories burned. I think there is a way to estimate yourself (based on body weight, exertion level, etc.) to check against the machine but I saw the equation once and promptly forgot all about it. I always just used my diet to control my weight and weight lifting to keep firm (cardio for fun).

[blas]

Today I had blood drawn for my cholestrol test and for a thyroid test. Let's hope I can get some answers.

[tollbaby]

Now this is just my opinion (I'm not a doctor, or a nutritionist, and take this with the caveat that I am overweight)...

You're obsessed. Toss the scale out the window. Cut down on your water intake - you're flushing away necessary salts in your body and replacing them with synthetic ones (gatorade). Gatorade is just as bad for you as juice/pop is. It *is*, in fact, possible to drink too much water, and from what you've described, you definitely are. Never mind how much you weigh, and concentrate on how you physically feel. Your body also requires a certain amount of fat and a lot more protein than you're giving it. Try white meats (chicken, lean pork, fish, seafood) - in other words, rather than having a salad with just fruit and nuts in it, add some shrimp, chicken or turkey and an ounce of cheese. (you don't have much calcium intake either).

One very important point that I realized after I'd finished posting is that NATURAL sources are always best, so if you need more protein, eat meat/seafood. If you need more calcium, eat cheese or yogurt. Don't go taking protein shakes, supplements, etc. Our bodies best absorb what they would naturally absorb anyway. Any time you add something synthetic or chemical, you're throwing an extra roadblock in your body's way.

The panic I'm sensing in your posts is approaching eating disorder levels. I don't want to see you go down that road any more than you want to travel it yourself. Please take a good look at yourself (not your body, but your entire being) and don't concentrate on the numbers, just concentrate on how you look and feel. Measurement numbers are just as bad as weight numbers - toss them out the window and listen to your body instead.

I really hope you don't take this the wrong way - I've spent DECADES obsessing over every little thing I put in my mouth (whether good or bad) and it's not a healthy way to live. *hug* Good luck!

[blas]

Test results are back, I also had a bone density test because I have been on Depo Provera for over 5 years.

My thyroid is normal, my cholesterol is normal, I passed the bone density test with flying colors.

Maybe I should have been more clear, but I do not drink that much Gatorade. I have none at home. I only drink it at work because it is the only thing (other than water) available to drink that isn't soda pop or overly sugary juices or coffees or energy drinks. I know it's not that great for you, but the electrolytes help keep me hydrated and I feel less guilty and less bloated than when I drink soda pop.

I also do not drink protein shakes religously anymore. I have not had one in quite a while. My doctor recommended I start eating tuna instead. It has just as much protein, but won't leave me feeling overly full.

My doctor also recommended that I go back to doing as much weight training as I was doing when I first went to the gym. She gave me some reading info before my bone density test, and it said that light weight training and working out helps keep your bones very healthy. My doctor said that I also need to go back to drinking as much Silk as I was drinking before and eating as much dairy as I was before.

I did have a slight change of heart. While I was almost certain I'd pass all of those tests, I always seem to freak over any kind of medical test (I have nearly had a panic attack over a pregnancy test before a colposcopy, and I even knew there was no way I was pregnant), but hearing those results made me feel a little more at ease with myself.

There is nothing wrong with me, as far as we medically know. I should be happy that I am a healthy young adult. I should be proud of myself for joining a gym and keeping it a habbit to go there often. I should be proud of myself that I learned to quit drinking soda pop like it was water and treat as only a treat every now and then. The same goes for sweets and other unhealthy foods. I should be proud that I have learned to like several foods that even months ago, I would have gagged at the thought of. I should be proud that I can sit at the computer and eat a bag of carrots versus a bag of cookies, or the fact that I don't even care about cookies anymore. I have come a long way, even if I have made some mistakes and worried some people and became a little too obsessed.

I feel like I should just be happy I am healthy. I am not overweight, even if I am one number away from it on the stupid BMI chart. BMI is a load of bullshit anyway. I should not let my life and my own worth be determined by a stupid scale. A few extra pounds and a little struggling with the jeans should not be the end of it all. I am still me and what I have accomplished, destroying horrible eating and drinking habbits and couch potato tendencies, becoming very active and ambitious, is more important than having a few new dimples on my lower half.

[trailerparkmedic]

the electrolytes help keep me hydrated

No they don't. Water hydrates you. Electolytes are sodium, potassium, things like that--stuff you should be getting enough of if you have a balanced diet. Gatorade is good if you exercise 60+ minutes at once and you're sweating the whole time. Otherwise, it's not necessary. That's not to say you shouldn't drink it--if you like it and it fits in your diet, cool. Do check out the calories on it, though. I was shocked when I saw how many calories were in a bottle.

I wish I had some wise words about self-image, but that's something I've struggled with since I was young. One thing I've heard often and have seen work for other people is thinking of all the things your body can do. One of my favorite bloggers hates her legs, but feels better about them when she thinks of things she can do with them, like ride her bike on a 30 mile tour of New York.

[Magpie]

I think you've got it down. Good that you went to the doctor, because you didn't know what was wrong. But since you've got a clean bill of health, then screw it. Like you say, BMI is a number. The only reason weight matters on its own is for joint problems. Aside from that your activity level and diet (i.e. what generally causes being overweight) matters more than your actual weight.

ETA: I'm assuming that you're on a hot shop floor, if you feel that you need to drink Gatorade instead of water. Adding a little bit of salt to your water will have the same effect. And as long as your water isn't distilled you should be ok. LD 50 of distilled water is in the neighbourhood of 5-6L (can't remember, too lazy to look it up), but tap water has a lot of ions in it already.

[Primer]

PowerAde vs GatorAde: Read the labels! GatorAde no longer has the electrolytes it did when it was first developed. PowerAde does. PowerAde is also available in a sugar-free version. Rather than buy GatorAde at work, can you keep some PowerAde in your car and take one or two in with you each night?

We do a lot of reenacting out in the heat, and make sure we have lots of water and lots of PowerAde available at every event we attend.

[Evil Queen]

It looks like it's sweetened with Sucralose (Basically it's Splenda) so I shouldn't have a problem with Powerade Zero. I'll try that.