hello! I am losing my mind lol

Hello everyone! My name is Michelle and I have been on and off this site since April.  I have not lost any weight since I joined, in fact I gained.  Once again, I had started working out, and was really proud of myself for doing it at least 3 times a week and the same thing happend that always happens.  I gain weight.  And this is not muscle, this is fat.  Or maybe water, I'm not sure.  Every time I start working out I gain a pants size.  I am a 16/18 and I do not want to buy clothes any larger.  I am so uncomfortable.  I'm 5'8" so I am lucky to carry my weight well, but I am FAT.  I have a hair tie around my jeans button so I can still wear them because I REFUSE to buy a bigger size.  I don't understand why this keeps happening!  As you can imagine it's very discouraging.  I just got the Food Lovers Fat Loss System but I haven't started it yet.  It's a bit complicated and I've been studying it since I received it. I also need to wait to get paid again so I can go food shopping.  I'm fed up with being fat and I don't know what to do anymore.  Nothing I try works!!

Hi Fyrefly

I feel your pain. It seems really unfair that gaining weight is so easy while losing it is so hard! From what I've heard/found in my own weight loss quest, exercise (though good and important) isn't the route to losing weight. The only way to get there is to cut down on caloric intake. Instead of focusing on exercise, I'd recommend using the calorie per day tool in the tools section of this site to get a target daily caloric intake and then religiously enter everything you eat every day. For me I have to make sure that I either eat prepared foods with fixed serving sizes or measure everything I eat less my evil brain decide a huge heap is "just a half cup".

I've never tried any of the popular diets outside of Weight Watchers. I had a lot of success with WW but, in hindsight, I realize it was because the system stressed measuring and recording what you eat.

Hope some of this helps! Try not to get discouraged. Remember that you deserve to be the person you want to be so quitting is like letting external forces take what you deserve away. - G

Hi Michelle!!

Weight loss is mostly diet... exercise is a strong contributer, but basically, the reason we put on the pounds is because we eat way too many calories!

Push through the minor weight gain because of the exercise, your body needs some time to adjust and sometimes it can take more than a month!! Do not eat more even if you are exercising!! We spend more energy, but we have to train our stomach's and mind's not to want those extra calories we don't need!!

I am 5'3" I weigh just over 210 pounds and I struggle with my body image  I do not like to go shopping because I feel like a whale everytime I put something on. My weight is mostly carried in my tummy, which is even more frustrating because it's the hardest part to lose!!

On top of everything, you should start watching what you eat before really exercising, it is very hard for the body to adjust to 2 different lifestyle changes that sometimes it might think that you are trying to hurt yourself!!

Hoping that you keep up with the determination!! Most of us are here for the same reason as you! :)