Was loosing weight - then gained it back! HELP

Hi all. For the past two months I've gotten serious about losing the weight I've gained from college. I started college at 130 and then shot up to 141 by the end of it. My goal is to get back down to 125-130 or have the measurements 33-25/26-36. I was at a plateau of 136 for a while then I dropped to 134 (awesome!) then I went to 135... then back up to 136 that's we're I've stayed for the past week. Then today I was 139?! How could I have gained two pounds in one day. I eat roughly 1300+ calories a day. I try my best to eat healthy foods - I never eat takeout or lots of greased up food either. I work out for over an hour (usually stationary bike for 45 minutes then do 30+ of walking (4.5mph) or 2 mile run - the other day I even did a 7km walk). I also do situps, planks etc. What am I doing wrong and why am I not seeing better results because my jeans were getting loser now there getting tight again.

Other info age 19, 5'6, female, pear shaped

Thanks.

Fluctuations in weight by a couple of pounds are pretty typical - try not to get too discouraged. You may find in a day or two that you're back to 136 again! Treating the numbers you see on the scale every day as set in stone can be very misleading. For example, last night I was 128.5. This morning (i.e. - 8 hours later), I was 125.2! Clearly I've not lost 3lbs overnight (I wish!).

So with this in mind, I've decided to track my weight loss over 4 weeks (via four 'official' weekly weigh-in's), and as long as I see a downward trend over a month, I'll try not to get too hung up on the day to day ups and downs.

Additionally: are you working out for an hour every day? it could be that you're eating too little for your level of exercise. 1300 cals per day isn't that much, especially for someone of your age, height, and level of exercise. Perhaps an increase of a couple of hundred calories or so might help?

Thanks for the reply. I'm hoping my weight goes down because gaining two pounds in a day is a bit ridiculous! I have increased my calorie intake I used to eat less than 1000 a day (I know really really really bad!) but I changed that up and I probably eat more than 1300 with all my snacking. Anyways when i added those calories my weight seemed to jump up a bit to? I do work out an hour everyday but it usually is a bit more than that.

Bear in mind that, the slight jump in weight could also be because you've gained a little muscle due to your workout regime. This, plus those pesky everyday fluctuations could easily result in a temporary gain. I highly doubt that you've gained fat on 1300 cals per day, at your level of exercise. However, you may find it hard to lose weight without increasing your calorie intake - if you don't give your body enough energy to work with (and from what you've described, I don't think you are), it'll hold onto those fat cells like nothing else!

If I were you (I'm 5ft 5 and a similar weight to you - only a few lbs less), here's what I'd do (disclaimer: I'm not an expert, I'm just outlining what seems to be working for me):

• Stick to your workout regime as much as possible, but switch a couple of your bike sessions for some weight/resistance training. Mix it up a little! Your body will like you for it :) Oh, and give yourself a day off the exercise each week! VERY important!

• Increase your cals to the point where your deficit (the difference between how much you burn, and how much you eat) is around 500 or so per day (certainly no more than 800), or an average of 500 per day across a week. Your deficit may be larger one day than the next, depending on whether or not you exercise, and how hungry you are - working with averages is a bit more forgiving, because it allows for lazy days (when you're tired, busy etc.) as well as active days. 

• Plot your progress across a month, and see what the results are. If  you're maintaining an average daily deficit of 500 calories, there's no reason why you won't drop those few pounds. 

Good luck! 

Thank you so much! I reall appreciate the time you took out to write this down. I'm thinking of incorporating some yoga and pilates into the mix since i have an windsor pilates dvd. 500 a day - mental note taken of that. Once again thanks =)