I'm freaking out!!! Please help..

Okay..so..for five days straight I've FINALLY been nourishing my body properly..I'm eating 1400 - 1500 calories a day, but netting 1200 - 1300 a day (due to the exercise I do).

Now, logically, I should be losing on this.

BUT I'M GAINING.

I realize I could be in starvation mode and have severely harmed my metabolism, as I was consuming 400 - 800 calories during the day for...well, a rather long time..and not really losing any weight due to regular night-time binges of 500 - 1,500 calories each time. I went from 132.6 to 129.0 doing this.

Now that I'm finally eating healthily, I'm back up to 130.4??? I DON'T GET THIS. argh.

It's not sodium, because I know for a fact I consistently consume 1 - 2 grams a day.

It's not..er..a bathroom issue, because I'm regular in that department.

I think it might be my period, because I'm around that time..but I'm not sure, my period is pretty irregular. It skips months sometimes.

(and yes, 130.4 is overweight for me, I'm 4'11".)

er..bump.

keep doing what you are doing, it may take much longer than five days. and yes, i think you can expect a little gain before you start losing again. especially ttom. wait and see what happens next week, before you worry too much about that pound and a half. patience is the most important thing, once you get the right amount of nutrition going! have a good day today!!!

I agree with elin - give it at least another week.  That pound and a half could be anything - water retention, ttom, but I doubt it is actual weight gain.  Just keep up the good work and I think you will see progress soon. 

It could be water. Once you finally start nourishing your body properly, you hold onto a lot of water for a while. It was about four pounds for me at one point.

You went from 129 to 130.4? Calm down. Step away from the scale.

So  many ways for that tiny change to be explained.

Your muscles may be gaining back some carbs and water.  If you were eating 400 calories they lost some for sure.

Maybe last nights meal is a little slow in digesting.

Maybe you moved on the scale and it didn't read 100% right.

You may be regular but you aren't a machine. 1lb could be just a timing issue.

Relax.

I agree with Zeke.. as for the sodium I'm assuming that you mean milligrams, because 1-2 grams of sodium can be what is causing you to retain water.

If you are eating 1-2 milligrams you should consider eating at least 500 milligrams daily, that is the MINIMUM amount of sodium one needs to be healthy.

If you are a woman, it is normal for your weight to fluctuate througout the month.

When you have been starving your body for a while, and at a high degree, it will take time for your body to get comfortable enough to lose the weight.

In the process of getting a healthy metabolism, many people report a temporary weight gain.  Your body needs to pack on a few pounds to feel safe and comfortable. 

Keep going at it in a healthy way and the weight will start to come off.

Here's an article link lollipopfairy has posted before that I think you'll find helpful:

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/core_march_8. htm

What type of exercise are you doing? 

It's very possible that the gains you are seeing are due to muscle growth, especially if you are new to working out and have a hybrid resistance training / cardio workout regiment. 

When I joined CC two weeks ago, I was at 142lbs myself.  I am now at 148lbs. 

I, too, agree with Zeke. Definately avoid getting obsessive over what it says on the scale.  You have to know that it's impossible for people to see that extra pound on you. And it could EASILY be water weight.. which could easily be due to your period. Weight fluctuates all the time (especially around the menstrual cycle).. and that's just what this sounds like.. completely normal.

Give it some time and your body will find a happy medium. Try not to be so hard on yourself. Just remember you're trying to NOURISH yourself. You'll gain energy even if you don't lose weight right away. :]

Thank-you so much everyone!

I did mean 1 -2 grams of sodium a day, 1 - 2 grams converts to 1,000 - 2,000 mgs. I think.

I feel kind of ashamed, because as soon as I posted this thread, I began to pee...a LOT. After every bathroom trip, the number on the scale went lower and lower.

I weighed myself this morning, and it said 128. So I really lost weight!

It was just water weight after all.

=)

I have found that weighing everyday is OK if you weigh the same time each day.  I usually shoot for first thing in the morning after all bodly functions are complete. 

Weighing at different times throughout the day will show various weights (as much as 3 to 5 lbs) just something to take into consideration.  Hang in there, you can do this thing.

Roy 

i'm in the same boat as you hun. I was eatting 900 calories and now I bumped up to 1200.  Just the bareee minimum but just the one day I went to 1200, I GAINED 2 pounds! Freaking out? YES! But i know I must do this to get my body out of starvation mode.  You should gain for 3 weeks, up to 8 pounds, and then it will fall off again.  Our metabolisms are confused.  Thats what we get for doing it wrong in the first place egh?

I guess so, x17star17x! But we didn't really do it "wrong"...we just made a mistake.

ilisa, I LOVE your attitude! It will serve you well on this journey of good health. Take it all in stride, stay focused, do what you know is right, use the tools on the website and all the combined knowledge of those that have been here a while. You're gonna do JUST FINE.

irregular periods are often associated with a condition called polycystic ovary disease - an ultrasound would be able to diagnose this so please do see your doctor - for years my doctor said irregular periods were "your norm" - it turned out i had polycystic ovary disease - 80% of women with this disease go on to develop diabetes by the time they are in their early 40s, as did i - so please see a doctor because diabetes can be avoided

rushme, I always thought my irregular periods were due to my ED, but now that I think about it, I had a problem with my period before my ED..I was getting it twice a month. Then I lost it for two years (due to the ED), and it hasn't been normal since.

I will definitely mention this to my doctor, thank-you!

As I wrote earlier today: Don't trust numbers!  I started taking a picture of myself each week for comparison, and I just lined them up; although the numbers are down 5-7 lbs since then, there is noticeably more of me now.  Maybe a weekly picture comparison would be a better way to judge your progress.

littlestbirds, maybe there is "more of you" due to muscle-gain. Or it could be the other way around, and you lost muscle and not fat.

Sounds like it was just your typical plataeu to me.