Really frustrated - advice?

Hi All!  I'm Sarah, 30, live in San Diego.  My whole life (until I really started developing, at age 20), I was a stick.  I was literally in the 5% growth category for my age/weight/height until then.  When I graduated high school I was 5'0" and 93 lbs.  I am currently still 5'0" but am 11 lbs more, at 104 lbs.  Over the past decade, from age 20 to 30, my weight has fluctuated from my heaviest being 120 lbs to my lightest being 99 lbs.  

I decided to join this group because I am very frustrated.  For the past year, I remained at 99-100 lbs constantly.  But in the past two months, I've started putting on weight.  Sometimes I weigh as high as 108 in the evening, and then 104-105 in the morning.  Even though this is only a 5 lb weight gain, it is enough to be noticeable (remember I am only 5 feet tall) and none of my pants fit anymore.  My lower abdomen is always puffy and I have to unbutton my pants after every meal (or sometimes leave them unbuttoned after I put them on the morning - embarassing!)  I refuse to buy bigger clothes b/c that is just excusing my weight gain and it's too expensive.  

I was going to school full-time last semester and was very stressed.  I noticed that the last month of school (April) I lost all control of my otherwise strict eating habits.  I just began eating everything, snacking, even eating sweets (I don't have a sweet tooth, either!).  I know it was probably just stress, but now it's over, and I still can't seem to reign myself back in.  I sabatoge my eating all the time.  I tell myself that tomorrow I'm going to eat healthy and have no more than 1,200 calories and then I blow it.  I'll come home to prepare dinner and eat a zillion snacks while preparing it.  I always feel so good and that I don't care while I'm snacking, and when it's over, I'm depressed and angry at myself that I messed up another day.  I think that everytime I step on the scale and see I'm still at that 5 lbs more, I get further depressed and just keep eating.

Today I am really, really trying to make a new start and get back into my "old" figure.  Here is my plan to lose the 5 lbs: 45 mins HIIT cardio 4 times per week, 30 mins intermediate pilates 4 times per week for strengthening.  I am also going to try my damnedest to stick to 1,200 calories a day (I am already so petite that I shouldn't be eating more than that anyway).  Do you think this will work to lose 3-4 lbs in a month?

Does anyone else feel like they don't have control over eating?  I feel like there's always some event to go to, as well, like a BBQ or someone's birthday that "prevents" me from eating healthy.  I seriously go so overboard at all these events.  My mind tells me I must eat everything, that it's all "a treat" and I need to indulge.  I am so sick of this train of thought.  Now that I've hit 30, my metabolism has slowed a bit and I simply cannot keep thinking this way about food - that I need to stuff myself, and especially with fatty foods like burgers, hotdogs, etc.  Any help would be appreciated!

~Sarah

HI Sarah

I have 5 pounds to lose that I just can't seem to keep off. I always gain it in my stomach so I can relate to your problem. I sometimes look like I am 4 months pregnant if I let it all hang out. But most people don't know or don't believe me because I look good in clothes and am constantly sucking in my stomach, going on 36 years now. The  only way I have been able to lose the weight and have a flat stomach was to work out 4-5 times a week, 1-2 times with a trainer, keep my calories down and keep a food journal. Once I wasn't able to keep all that up I gained most of it back. All you can do is to keep working at it, don't get complacent with your weight. I love this website, I seem to keep my self in check when I have to write down everything I eat. Anyways, sorry I wasn't much help.

Good luck

Based on your situation, you should try a moderate and long term plan. If you want fast results you might be setting yourself for disappointment, or a short term solution. 

For the first month. Mix in cardio and light weight lifting. That way you can reduce your body fat and help reduce muscle loss. Since there are days that throw you off and it's hard to maintain the calorie deficient. Try to be in a moderate calorie deficit (200-500) for four days and then the other 3 days just maintain your BMR (1,500-1,700 ? ). Leave the extra calorie days for the weekends when you have your gatherings and BBQ's. 

This way you could expect to loose at least 2-3 pounds in a month. 

Also be careful on the cardio and calorie deficit. If your reducing your calories by 500 + your burning (let's assume) another 500 calories in cardio, that would equate to 1,000 calorie deficit. You might notice some short term loss but that could lead to a plateau, a slower metabolism and muscle loss (if done for extended periods).  

Sarah -

Perhaps its not the calories you are eating -- but what kind of calories.  How does your analysis look?  Are you concentrating on flat belly foods?  What is your carb/protein grams look like.  

For folks like us (I am 5 ft as well) - the 10 lb range is not crazy - 95-105 -- but the question is --how do your clothes fit?? How do you feel?

I have been on cc since March and am now down 13 lbs getting to my regular "fighting" weight.   I have found that I've needed to bump the burn calories (lots of cardio.....which I hate... and focus on core strength...pilates, a little yoga and some weight training) -- that REALLY is tightening my 43 year old belly and while I may opt out of a bikini this season I want to ready to try it if I'm in that daring mood

My carbs are almost 100% from fruit and multicolored veggies and my protein is high, my body seems to like protein as fuel.   Carbs 113 Protein 90.  I eat around 1165 grams of food per day and usually run 900-1000 calories.   This is a short term goal -- once I stop losing I will most likely be in the area of 1200 - 1300 per day.   Being petite is tough -- but as long as nutrition is high -- I take no less than 5 days of A and 2 days of A- a week - have good energy and keep trending correctly I figure for my metabolism I am on the right track.  

I have a Monday weigh in on the 6-10 lb group of lots of petite woman if you are interested -- join us.  The support is good and the suggestions have been excellent. 

Thank you for the suggestions everyone!  Suntraa, I definitely agree with you - being petite (and maintaining it) is very tough!  To answer your question, my clothes feel tight and uncomfortable, so that is how I know (or at least assume) that it is weight gain, not just muscle or anything else.

However, I am confused as to whether it is simply water weight gain, since I feel bloated all the time.  I was admittedly eating very badly for a period of about a month - foods with tons of sodium like pretzels, pizza, beer - and so I never fit into my pants during that time, as my abdomen always felt way too swollen (and my thighs and butt were a bit bigger too! :)  I'm at a point where I'm ready to begin being disciplined again, but I am really confused by the scale.

For example, last week here was my weight trend: Monday - 104, Tuesday - 103.5, Wednesday - 103, Thursday - 102, Friday - 101.5.  I was eating 1,200 calories a day during this period of time.   But, how is it possible to lose 2.5 lbs in 4 days unless it's simply water?  By that same token, yesterday I ate a rather filling pizza lunch with a couple beers, and my weight this morning was 106.  So I obviously did not gain 4.5 lbs since Friday - it must be water again.  I never know my true weight because of these constant fluctuations.  For a while when I was very disciplined (consistently eating 1,200 cals/day, sometimes less, for months straight) my weight stayed exactly at 99-100 every morning, despite the weekend splurge.  That is not the case anymore; it is fluctuating like crazy every other day, so it is obvious to me that some of the weight gain is in fact fat, and the rest is water.  Trying to figure out which is which is bothering me.  I guess the only way I will know is if I go back to being very disciplined for a period of at least two weeks, and see where my weight tends to stay.  Then I can determine how much I've actually gained, sans water weight.  It's all so complicated, isn't it??? :)

Thanks for the tips on the breakdowns of carbs and proteins.  I try to eat a lot of protein and limit carbs to about 80-100g per day.  And when I do eat them, I make sure they are complex.  I guess I'll just have to be patient and keep sticking to being disciplined.  It is hard, but it must be done!  Especially since I live in SD and am expected to get into a bikini fairly often, LOL.

Sarah --

My little bro lives in LaJolla -- small world.  You may want to concentrate on some carbo's that are also natural diuretics and see if that helps.  Here is a list:

Some diuretic foods include

Water
Cranberry juice
green tea
beets
cabbage
asparagus
brussell sprouts
oats
carrots
lettuce
tomatoes
raw onions
radishes

Avoid excessive fruits and carbohydrates and fats if you are trying to lose retained water. There are also many herbs you can take that act as diuretics.

These diuretic herbs include coffee, green tea, dill, licorice, rosemary, mint, and probably many more.

As for weight fluctuation -- that is natural -- if you are going to weigh every day (and I do) -- I compare Day to Day (Monday to Monday -- Tuesday to Tuesday etc) -- mine does the same thing -- Monday 103.5 - Tuesday 102.5 Wed 102 Thursday 101 Friday & Saturday 100.5 Sunday 101. Monday 101.  Total loss over week 2.5 and yes my calorie deficit was in line with that.

Good luck and if you want to join the Monday weigh in -- go to the 6-10 lb group and look for Weigh In.