I'm miserable...

I've been really gung ho about the whole life change. However, my body seems to gain gain gain whenever I do ANY strength excersise. The gaining depresses me to no end. I've been ecstatic at the loss of 11 lbs. since the beginning of June which is when I started. To now have gained 3 of those back. I have not changed anything. I'm eating 6 small meals a day. Somewhere in between 1400-1600 calories. Doing light cardio 3x a week and have recently started some strength training. I know that without excersise a diet is not all that successful however, doing excersise and gaining weight is demolishing my motivation.

Maybe if you post a little more about what you are eating, heigh, weight, age people will be able to post more specific suggestions for you.

I know that when I started strength training my muscles retained water (I was told they do this to repair themselves after use).  So I "gained" about 3 lbs too but it quickly came off. 

Try taking measurements...often your body changes size without losing weight.  Have another "number" to motivate you when the scale isn't cooperating might help!

Good luck

True. Sorry about that.

I'm 31

Current weight: 265

Starting weight: 273

First Goal: 200

Ultimate goal: 175-180

I usually have special K with lowfat milk for breakfast (6:30). A fruit snack (9:30). Turkey sandwich on wheat bread for lunch (12:30). Protein shake (3:30). Dinner at 5:30 - 6:00 grilled chicken wrap made at home or turkey sandwich with a salad. Work out. Protein shake (8:30).

Taking a crap load of vitamins which I don't even know are necessary.

L-Carnitine 500 mg (once a day)

B6

B12

CQ 10

Omega 3 & 6

Soy Lecithin

Chromium Picolinate

Should I make any changes?

This is just a suggestion, which may not go over well, but here goes.  I would get rid of the protein shakes completely.  Why are you drinking them?  I personnally think drinking your calories is a waste.  I like to eat, so I would replace them with healthy alternatives.  You can still gain muscle without protein shakes. As for all the vitamins you are taking.  Educate yourself on why you are taking them.  If you are eating a healthy diet, you could get by with one daily multi-vitamin or even nothing. 

Thank you for the suggestion. I find that they fill me and hold me off for longer periods of time. After the shake I usually get to the next meal without feeling any hunger at all. Well, I take the CQ 10 and the Omega 3 & 6 for circulation and minor heart issues. I also heard the L-Carnitine is good for that as well as speeding up the metabolism and it provides me with energy. The lecithin helps me with water retention. But, I really don't know if the B6 & B12 are necessary at this point. As the chromium picolinate. Also, my recommended calorie intake is 1900. I barely make it between 1400 and 1600 a day. Yesterday was less than 1300. Should I increase it?

It doesn't sound like enough food to me.  I agree with Jill about getting rid of the protein shakes.  I could be mistaken, but I don't see much in the way of veggies.  I think that you should have more variety in your diet as well.  That looks like a meal plan that you're going to get tired of really quick.  Also since you didn't post your height, I used 5'5" and got a daily burn rate of 2300 for a sedentary female.  For light activity, it's 2640 so you should be be eating at a minimum 1300 calories and more likely between 1600 and 1900 calories.  See if upping your calories helps.

Ugh, sorry I forgot that too. 5'8" Yes, I do have a salad daily and sometimes I alternate the night shake for some mushrooms or carrots. I was just giving an example of one of my days. My breakfast is always the same. However, lunch and dinner and snacks vary. I was also contemplating upping the calories a bit. Atleast to give it a try and see what happens.

It seems to be quite common that people see a gain of a few pounds whenever they start strength training.  It comes from the muscles retaining water as part of the repair process after a workout and will eventually drop off as your body gets used to the extra work. 

I agree with increasing your calories, but I see absolutely nothing wrong with a protein shake, I would make sure that you drink it soon after your strength training workouts, as it seems to be beneficial to the recovery process. 

I second caverlady, eat a little more.  I'm 5'4" and weigh 190 and I eat 1400 (or a little more) a day and I've been consistently losing 5lbs a month for 6 months now.  I started at 250 two years ago.  I've learned that slow and steady wins the race!  Good luck!

Don't let it get you. I always gain several pounds right before I lose more weight. At first it was discouraging, but now I look forward to it, because the drop will happen soon.

A better guage of your success would be to have set goals other than weight. For instance: I have taken 10 minute off my 1 mile. It doesn't matter what I weigh, 10 minutes is 10 minutes and it shows an increase in health. The healthier you are, the more you will do and the better you will feel.

As for the vitamins--it seems like a lot. Do some research, there are plenty of good foods that can give you the same nutrition, but saves your kidneys from over working.

Here is a great site for vitamin/nutrient info (micronutrient information):

http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/

Original Post by littomisshaylo:

Ugh, sorry I forgot that too. 5'8" Yes, I do have a salad daily and sometimes I alternate the night shake for some mushrooms or carrots. I was just giving an example of one of my days. My breakfast is always the same. However, lunch and dinner and snacks vary. I was also contemplating upping the calories a bit. Atleast to give it a try and see what happens.

Sounds like you're only getting 1-2, maybe 3 servings of veggies a day.  Probably won't affect your weight at all, but try adding 1 more serving a day each week until you get up to 4-5.  I have trouble myself, but am getting better.

I also second the eating of more calories.  I wouldn't worry about your 3-lb fluctuation from starting strength training, as others have said it's probably fluid retention.  However, with your stats and activity, you should be able to lose on closer to 2000.  I'm not saying you have to get that high, but 1400 is way too low - you don't want a deficit over 1000 cals per day, and it sounds like yours is higher than that.  I can't sympathize with having trouble getting up to 1600 (comes a little too soon for me!), but adding in a few servings of veggies would at least help.  It's ok to have some non-essential food in there, too, if you like - I eat a little dark chocolate every day to keep myself sane. Try string or cottage cheese, peanut butter, yogurt, eggs, etc to keep protein up and add in some extra calories. 

The slight gain may be from the water retention in your mucles. Because when you do weight training your mucles tear and then fluid will be stored here to help them heal.

I used to think the same like as if i am really bulking up.......

Give it a week or so and you will see it go again :)

Good luck........

For protein, egg whites are awesome.  They are like "free protein" at only 16 calories per large egg.  Personally, I hard boil them and remove the yolks.  They are fast and easy to eat on the go.

Special K does not actually have that much fiber (hardly any at all).  If you were to switch to Total, you could probably cut out most of those multi-vitamins.  Add some fresh fruit, it is very unlikely that you will be hungry before lunch.

Also, what is your sodium intake?  It doesn't sound very high from your food list, but those protein shakes may potentially have a decent amount of sodium, or you could be neglecting snacks which are high in sodium.  Excess sodium could easily amount to a few pounds.

Just reiterating what everyone else is saying: veggies are high in vitamins.  Eat more veggies and ditch the mutli-vitamins.  How about carrots?  I personally keep a bag of baby carrots in the fridge at work and snack on them whenever I want to chew on something but am not necessarily hungry.  They also have a small amount of fiber that can help you get to the next meal - for virtually no calories.

--J