Eating Healthy helped and ruined me

Most of my life I have weighed around 190-198, but I had never hit 200 until maybe 2-3 years back. I eventually ended up at 240 lbs. I couldn't take it anymore so I started exercising and eating healthy. About a year and a half later I had gone down to 175. Well, I didn't end up sticking to it, and now in practically no time I'm nearly back to 240. Eating healthy helped me so much at the time, but now I gain weight like nothing. I gain about 7 pounds every two weeks. No matter how much I ate before I could never gain that fast. I kinda feel like eating healthy ruined me. And I honestly don't even feel motivated enough to get back although I'd love to. I just don't know what to do anymore.

Go back to eating healthy but do it because healthy food is more delicious than food that's bad for you.  It's a lot easier to choose that reason when you're making food choices, and we're just brainwashed to think crap is more delicious - it's so not.  If you look forward to the healthy food you're eating, and do it with glee, you win.

Eating healthily didn't ruin you, but switching back to an unhealthy diet probably didn't help.  You'll only gain weight if you consume more calories than you use up, you'll lose if you consume fewer.   If you were eating far too little in the past (crash dieting) or you went with some imbalanced fad diet (low carb) the yo-yo weight-gain can be alarmingly fast. 

The way you describe it 'exercising and eating healthy' sounds like it was quite a rigid regime?  If you did it purely to lose weight with your teeth gritted and getting no pleasure from it then you were never going to keep it up.   The answer is always a happy middle ground.... eating deliciously healthy foods 80-90% of the time and enjoying the not-quite-so-healthy foods 10-20% of the time, for example.  Exercise has to be something you enjoy enough to do it voluntarily, every day.... and that's not necessarily working out at the gym, it could be something you work into your regular life.

Every long journey starts with a single step....  Work out how many calories you need each day to maintain your current weight with your current activity level, deduct 500 from that number and see if you can build a meal-plan around it.  Good luck

In addition to what has been said above, set smaller more manageable goals for yourself. They don't have to be about the number on the scale - set fitness and nutrition ones!

Find something that works for you and take one step at a time. We all make mistakes as we're only human. We have our ups and downs. The important thing to remember is to not give up.

something to keep in mind is that you are at a time in life where you metabolism changes. as a teen many people are able to eat whatever they want with little regard to weight, but as you age your metabolism starts to slow. odds are it's your changing metabolism (and poor diet) that made those pounds come back so quickly and. keep on hangin' in there!

good luck

i've been through the same thing you have. i overrestricted and then suffered the consequences when i tried to incorporate more "normal" foods into my diet. when i went up 25 lbs i told myself i have to change something. so i analyzed my diet and saw that i was eating a lot of "healthy" foods that i thought would do no harm, but a calorie is a calorie.... so i cut back on some healthy snacks i would consume (for example, a handful of pretzels here and there, and 3 apples a day, would eventually add up). I would really lay out a plan, use the calorie goals suggested on here and stick to your calorie maximum. also exercise really helps. even if you just walk for a half hour a day. best of luck to you!!

I read on the Women's health website something about how if there are two women who both weigh 250, but one was heavier before and one wasn't, the one who used to be even heaver will have a slower metabolism. Not sure if i explained it right, but it's somewhere on the website if you wanna check it out. It explains a little about metabolism.

You should really test how many calories you burn with the "burn meter" in "TOOLS".  I like to underestimate my activity level during the day, just to be safe.

You are probably eating more calories than you are losing or trying to maintain.

Eating healthy doesn't mean starvation.  If you want to loose the weight, research how much your body burns day and moniter your calories. I will NEVER give up all the bad yummy food out there, but when I moniter what I eat, choose healthy foods 70-85% of the time, I have room to allow myself some sweets, or maybe even fries or anything that can ruin all the great work I have been doing, but I don't over do it. 

You really have to think both long-term goal and taking things one day at a time.

I SERIOUSLY recommend journaling your calorie intake...that's what this site is awesome for.

Healthy food isn't the problem. The problem was neglecting yourself.  I'm sorry if that sounds harsh.  After you lose the weight and you WILL, go back to your burn meter and you can raise your calories to that level, and that should maintain your weight.

Burn meter says you burn 1900 cals a day, but you've been eating 2000-2500 cals a day= it's inevitable to gain weight.

It's not you're fault...I was in the same situation. We just weren't educated about our bodies. 

if you burn 1900 and don't like the idea of dieting to the extreme ( I can never understan why people do that to themselves) =

eat anywhere from 1500 to 1800 if you're NOT working out.

If you exercise and loose 200-500 cals at a time, increase your calorie intake.

I hope that helps.  Don't give up!

MJ

Define "healthy eating"  Do you mean you had a healthy diet like THIS?  Or do you mean you ate low fat and low calorie without regard to good nutrition?

FYI, A person's body creates "fat cells" to store the excess energy (fat), when eating too many calories. However, even once you lose the fat out of the cells, the cells remain. THink of them as storage containers. When you are fat, the containers are full, when you lose weight and fat, the containers are empty...but the containers are still there. So, if you've yo-yo'd for a long time, losing weight, giving up, gaining it back, etc... you've created a habit for your body to know the pathway to store the fat. It becomes easier for your body to do it. THat is why weight loss should never be about "dieting" then going back to the original eating habits. It must be a lifestyle change. Gaining 7 pounds in 2 weeks is from many things. Some of it is fat, some might be excess water retention because of the sodium content in unhealthy foods. If it is all fat that means you have to have consumed  12250 calories extra PER WEEK!! That is almost 2000 calories EXTRA per day. Look at what you are eating, and drinking. Soda, alcohol, bottled beverages, juice, evem too much milk could easily put you in the 2000 calorie extra a day mark.

The good news is, you already know how to empty the storage containers to lose the fat. So, make the choice to eat well and exercise, and you'll see the pounds come off again. It's not an easy choice. You choose health over comfort, and what is right for your body instead of what is "right now". I am in the same struggle as you are, but when you recognize that you are in control, and you take control over your body, you'll see incredible results.

Along the lines of what gadzooks said, you could set measurement goals. My body has a tendency to swap fat for muscle. I don't think it's a bad thing, but the result is a misleading number on the scale. To keep myself motivated, I keep track of my measurements (natural waist, hips, thigh, arm) so I know that I am getting healthier, not bigger.

I want to add a different perspective - the mental aspect of weight loss.  One thing we often overlook is our body self-image.  If we have a mental image of ourselves at a certain weight, we program our bodies to keep it that way.  Don't give up on yourself - try taking a picture of someone with a similar frame to yours at a weight you like and pasting a picture of your own face on it.  Keep it on the refrigerator and meditate on it until you really believe it.  Imagine yourself smiling and happy and doing all the things that you would do at that weight - dancing, swimming, biking and playing on the beach.  Of course, this by itself won't do the trick, we still have to do the exercise and watch the food intake, but this will put your subconscious to work for you instead of against you and you will quickly feel that missing resistance, like having the wind at your back instead of blowing in your face.  You can do it!

Rayoflight7,

I like what you said about addressing the mental.  Last summer I started meditating and expressing gratitude that my body is healthy and strong even if I'm not at my ideal weight, and it worked.  I didn't shed all the weight, but I'm happy with how I look now and still working towards my goals.  I know a lot of women who have reached their goals and are still unhappy with their body.  Its sad.  Anyway, I just liked that you brought that part of dieting up.

-Kim

You're 17, right? 7 pounds every 2 weeks definitely sounds not normal.  It would make sense to get the hormone levels checked as well as bloodwork for insulin resistance / hyperglycemia.

I agree with the "mental" side of things when it comes to the body image.  If you have some time, go on Youtube and check out "Magnus Tapping" videos, and maybe check out something called "Emotional Freedom Technique", weight loss section here: http://www.emofree.com/articles.aspx?id=2

This technique is gaining a lot of momentum and popularity, and it does work (I do it for various things).  The founders say "try it on anything", I agree.  It looks rather weird but it works.

rayofight  I totally agree with you!

One of the most helpful things for me was simply stopping the negative talk.

Every time I think of my body in a negative way i try to rephrase the statement positively.  "My stomach is huge" becomes "I am still graceful",

At one time I thought of myself as "less" than everyone else.  These days I realize that I am my own cheerleader.  i believe in myself. 

Good thinking and good rephrasing! I add some stuff to mine, like "I'm still IN shape because round is a shape!"... but, seriously... last night I showed that new Subaru commercial to my hubby (with the sexy sumo wrestlers instead of the usual bunch of chicks in bikinis), and he goes "Eewwwww!" (and he's not all that skinny either, LOL).  This kind of bugged me...  so I told him today that I think heavier men can be sexy too, and I mean it, and what actually repulses me is the Mr.Universe/Miss Olympia (google that and see what I mean) types.  He was a little surprised...  so... looks can make it or break it, depending on the personal tastes.  Some people won't like the way you look and some will love it.  Don't beat yourself psychologically that you're on a heavier side right now.  So what?  You are exactly where your mind wants you to be.  If you see yourself fat, your mind will make sure your body will stay that way.  To change your body you have to change your mind...    No, I didn't make this up (I wish but I'm not that smart), but google for the phrase "change your body change your mind" and you'll see.    Best of luck, and don't give up.  Nobody said it's gonna be easy but you'll get there... when you're ready.