So frustrated!

 Okay, I have been using this site for about three weeks now. I am 5'3 and weigh about 175. In the first week, I lost two and a half pounds, the next week I lost 1 pound. Last week, I apparently gained 3 pounds. I have been working out 5-6 days a week, doing at least an hour of cardio (walking, using the elliptical, interval training on the elliptical), and I just added yoga three times a week, and stregnth training twice a week. I have been eating 1400-1500 calories a day. Can anybody help me figure out why the scale is going in the wrong the direction??

It sounds like you have been building muscle, and muscle weighs more.  Look at how your clothes fit and how you feel as an indicator if you're making progress.

Are you eating too much sodium by any chance. Becoz with the amount of exercising you are doing it does seem that you should be losing weight. Your body could be holding a lot of water and that is what is showing up on the scales. You could check the sodium intake under the Analysis link in the logs.

 I see this happening with me also at least once in 2 weeks when the scales go back up, but on analysing its always comes out to be the chips or sushi with soya that i have eaten the day before that is the culprit even though they fit in my 1400 cals a day limit :D

It does say on the analysis thingie that I am eating too much sodium, which is funny because I never add salt to anything. It must be packaged foods that are giving me the extra sodium?

packaged foods are LOADED with sodium!!!  and the scale can show a 3 or 4 pound gain overnight if you have had too much sodium  :(

just drink lots of water & you'll be back on track, but yet...  watch that sodium!!!

Yikes! So is this real weight gain or just bloating or something? According to the analysis, I have been getting 100-120% of my daily reccommended value for sodium.

what is your burn meter at when you choose sedentary?

what time of the month is it?  I always either stay the same or gain right before my time of the month - then it drops again - our women's burden

When I chose sedentary, my burn meter sits at 1900. I am about a week and a half into my cycle, so it's not a TOTM issue. I also reviewed my sodium intake, and it's been much better for the past week or so.

And what is your daily caloric intake?

1400-1500 calories per day, and I am burning usually 500-600 calories per day through exercise.

OK That means you are running a 900-1000 calorie deficit (at least) everyday which is probably way more than your body can handle. If you are eating 1500, and burning off 600 through exercise that only leaves your body with 900 calories to "live" off of, and women require an average of 1200 just to "live".... healthily that is. Try upping your daily calories by 200-300 and I bet you will start to lose weight again. Hope this helps!

I agree with Iknowmychickens;  if you are working out that much you  need to up your calorie intake because if you don't your body will go into starvation mode and start burning your muscles instead of fat and then you will eventually burn out.  You need plenty protein ,  Carbs and Fats and drink a lot of water.   Good luck I know you will get it .   It just take adjusting with your food and remember to read your Labels so your not putting chemical in your body that alone can hamper weight loss.  Also find a real good vitamin and take extra calcium with D and K ( broccoli) that help loose weight too especially if you strength building. 

Thank you. I just wanted to give a little update. Since reading your advice, I decided to increase my calories each day by a few hundred until my usual weigh in day and see what happened. Two weeks ago, I weighed in at 176, which was great, and then last week, I had gained three pounds, bringing me to 179. This morning, I am VERY pleased to say that I weighed in at 175.

Hooray!