1200 calories and gaining weight? WHAT?!

I'm currently trying to lose the horrible freshman 15 and I'm seven pounds away from my goal... well 8 now. I was stuck at 136 for a while... a long while and then I dropped to 134 then dropped to 132. Now I'm eating around 1200 calories a day and exercising for at least an hour a day (stationary bike & brisk walk- 4 mph). I ate more than 1200 the other day (probably around 1500ish) and did the same exercise and gained weight? How can this happen? Also what foods should i be avoiding if I want to lose weight (other than the very obvious ones) and what sort of exercises should I be adding into my regime?

 

THANKS

no negative comments please...

first of all, did you weigh yourself a day later? How much was your gain? What kinds of foods did you eat? How was your H2O intake?

I dropped one pound but still had the other one. Two pounds I gained... I know I should get all flustered about it but I stayed at 136 for a long time and I was so excited to drop weight because I was working my butt off for it. I eat pretty healthy; veggies, oat bran for breakfast, apple, non fat yogurt, peanut butter, other fruits, some raisin bran cereal. Lately I've been keeping my water intake pretty high since I do drop in bikram yoga so I need to be properly hydrated.

Well, it sounds like you are on the right track. You know, sometimes are bodies do weird things and a daily fluctuation of about 2 lbs is normal. Most, if not all, consists of water weight because i can assure you did not consume 7000 cals extra in a day to gain 2 lbs. The scale is tricky and deceivign so try not to rely much on that. If you would like to rely on it, I suggest you weigh yourself once a week for a better and accurate number. Weigh yourself preferrably when you wake up, after all bowel movements if necessary and before anything is put in your mouth. Every time you weigh, try to do it at the same time (morning) as the weigh in before.

I assure you that those 2 lbs could not have been from the days intake. Keep up what ever you are doing.

It sounds as though your body is adapting to the exercises you are doing. If you do the same exercises day in and day out, eventually your body will recognize that, and adapt itself by giving you just enough calorie energy to do the exercises, but not any fat to burn. That is where the dreaded plateaus start. To change some of the routine, perhaps adding in rest days instead of working out every day, or changing types of exercises, such as upper body strength training. This could shock your body back into burning fat again.

You also mentioned eating 1200 calories a day, and not being able to lose any more weight. Have you had a Basic Metabolic Rate calculation done?? A Basic Metabolic Rate, or BMR calculation, will tell you how many calories you are supposed to be eating for normal body function based upon your age, height, and weight. This might be a good start to step back and see what you are supposed to take in calorie wise.

You refer to the "freshman fifteen" so I'm assuming you're under 21. If that's the case, 1200 calories is too few for you to be eating. To keep your body happy and prevent it from slowing down your metabolism, you need to eat at least 1500 calories/day.