6 pounds in 2 months..that can't be healthy...

So I went to the GI Friday (who FINALLY diagnosed me with IBS, and then gave me no advice lol) and when I stepped on the scale, I had gained 6 pounds since I was there in December!!!6 pounds!I had felt like I had gained some maybe 3-4, but I had increased my weight training from 1-2 days a week to 5-6 days, so I expected the number to go up but not that much! I checked m BF% at the gym and it had gone down 2.2% to 17%...

But this is mentally killing me! It wouldn't be so bad if I didn't wake up and eat 2x's a night, which I just cannot seem to shake that issue...I am training for a marathon so I know I will lose weight but I have taken the week off because of knee issues so it's killing me even more since I can't run!

:::SIGH::: I worked so hard, I just want to feel good again, I had finally hit a point where I didn't focus so much on numbers and I was finally happy and working on maintenance and just ended up gaining most of it back

Your body fat % went down and you're complaining??!!  You don't think weight training 6 days a week might add muscle weight?  Wish I had your problems!

Agreed! Your BF% has gone down and weight has gone up due to MUSCLE, most likely! Though waking in the middle of the night makes me raise an eyebrow - are you fuelling yourself with enough food for your marathon training and weight lifting? It's really important that you are!

Remember this thread? http://caloriecount.about.com/calories-ft1181 93 Gi Jane gave you very good advice on what you need in terms of calories. You need, as a 20 year old, very active woman at 5'4 and 122lbs, using this calculator for under 21's: http://www.bcm.edu/cnrc/bodycomp/bmiz2.html, 2780 calories very active. So, about 2800 calories to maintain! And please, remember your rest days - you need them!

Lalabanana---I was hoping you would answer...I have been putting forth a lot of effort to make sure I am eating enough good stuff throughout the day. The thing is that I have not been running all week (due to injury) and lifted only twice because school has started once again but I am still waking up and eating and it's mainly junk food (ugh)

And in reference to that thread I am no longer 122lbs....closer to 128-129 and not so active as of right now...so I do not even know what I should be aiming for intake...I do not have the time to lift now so my lifting days will be back to 2-3 times a week and hopefully I can hop back into training monday or tuesday.

I had finally got out of the 'numbers' mindset and into 'how I feel' and friday just ruined that...now I'm mentally tormenting myself. I really would just feel a whole lot better if I could stop the unecessary night-eating..when my tumm growls at night I do feed it, but most instances I just do it 2x's a night with no growling!

advice?

Well, that still means an intake of 2850 or so. Higher weight means you will need more calories than the first one I worked out, not less.

How do you mean by "just do it"? As in, do you find you are eating at a specific time? Again I really think this will be down to the fact that you're not eating enough for what you need to maintain. Furthermore if your BF% has indeed gone down you will have more metabolically active muscle that needs feeding - and if you don't feed it, you will lose it. But if you're boredom eating or night eating there's more to it.

Have a read of this: After The Binge - By Annette Colby, PhD, RD, LD - now, not saying you're always bingeing, but it lists common causes of overeating including eating too little or taking dieting to extremes, thus being starved or semi-starved; skipping meals; restricting certain foods or even food groups for invalid reasons (valid would be things like religious beliefs, or vegetarianism for beliefs) and thus feeling deprived.

You may find that once you are consistently hitting the 2800+ you need to maintain, your night eating stops.

"just do it" is I'm so deep in sleep mode but somehow get myself down to the kitchen to manga manga and can barely re-collect doing it..it just happens lol

I will most  definitely read it and I will try even harder to eat even more (sometimes it gets so hard during work and school I can't stop and have a snack so that I know most deifnietly causes binging at night, but I know it is because my body is hungry)

and the restricting part I know is part of the problem...with my IBS I find that it cannot enjoy most of the 'good stuff' like I used to without feeling ill or even eat in large amounts...so I restrict so I don't feel sick and then eventually I will binge on it and just feel awful (my belly mostly) so I have been trying my best to eat 'the good stuff' in very small portions and moderation and I have had success except for a few slip-ups...

Thanks for the advice and I'm going to keep working on this! I just hate not having control and I want it back!

There are no "good" and "bad" foods. Only bad diets.

If you are having trouble making calories but having time to eat you need to start planning and packing high cal low density food. Nuts are quick, portable, easily snuck in by the handful and require no preparation. Granola bars and raw food bars like larabars, similarly. For 2800 calories you should have a plan like:

B 700
S 250
L 700
S 250
D 650
S 250

A 250 cal snack is easy. That's 30g of nuts, or a nuts and dried fruit mix; a larabar and a plum; hummus stored in a yoghurt pot washed out, eaten with crudites and breadsticks... hard boiled eggs, whole fat dairy yoghurts (or soya, if your IBS is agitated by dairy)... but you have to grapple this "but that means effort!" mindset.

You're making excuses for yourself and then you wonder why you binge. Nip it in the bud. Set some time aside to cook meals and freeze what you won't eat right away to have reheatable leftovers. Think negativity and you will only be negative. Think positively and you will ultimately BE positive. As corny as that sounds.

Thanks for the tips..

should have been more clear with the "good" and "bad" .I have those classifications as what's going to make me so sick that I won't be able to get to work or school and live my life like I need to and as what I know my body can handle so I don't have to worry about if I can make it through all my appointments at work or sit through class...

I do take the time and make my breakfast and lunch and pack snacks but my days are from 8am till 9:30 or 11 at night. I grab stuff as school to compliment what I usually bring but I can't even sneak snacks at work (I'm a personal trainer and I go from appt to appt which makes it hard) I do bring veggies as part of my snacks and I love hummus so I'll see if I can schmooze my dad into putting that on the grocery list (still haven't gotten him to grasp the concept of 100% whole wheat bread lol) otherwise I'll just go buy it myself...never heard of soya but I will try it--yogurt is one thing I really do miss :( I do bring whole natural almonds too...I usually pack egg whites on a wheat wrap to eat as I drive to school and have some piece of fruit with that..I bring an apple, banana, and clementine and eat those throughout along with the almonds, a kashi bar, a wheat turkey wrap, a bag of cut up veggies, and dry cheerios on my longer days I bring a can of tuna and have that quick on the go too...and usually grab a snack at school

When I do get home late I have turkey burgers and boca burgers that I put on the george foreman with a salad and any veggie I can find...I actually did just make a great chili with ground turkey and hominy ( unfortunately I don't like beans) to keep in the fridge for dinners...I'm trying! I'm so deteremined everyday to stop this binge I'm leaving post it notes to myself everywhere lol!

My new goal is to try and stick with the calorie sequence you posted above and not step on a scale for a while...it psyches me out too much...just want to feel good again!

thanks a million for the advice...I'm planning on meeting with an RD once I can rest up my knee and get back into my marathon training as well so I don't hurt myself (nutritionally)

positive positive you got it!

Nuts are easy and quick to eat, even if you just have to nip out and munch a handful. They are very small. If you're eating tins of tuna, get them in olive oil. If you're eating dry cereal, eat granola, not cheerios. A larabar over a kashi bar. Dried fruit instead of clementines. Also - why the whites? The yolk of an egg is HUGELY nutritious and considering you need more calories start eating your yolks.

Dinner needs to be a lot more than just turkey and boca burgers. Top them with guacamole, eat them in wholegrain breads/baps... good you made the chili but are you sure you don't like ANY beans? What about chickpeas? Or why not try beans you haven't eaten before? There are LOTS of bean varieties.

On a similar note, are you IBS-D, C, or A?

6 lbs in 2 months dont sound that terrible.. I mean I used to go down 5 lbs every other day lol.. well when i was heavier. but nonetheless, 5 lbs go down pretty quick so don't worry about it.

Mmm wish I could do olive oil...but according to my bowels that is one of the biggest NO-NO's lol...I do eat the yolk, but generally just on the weekend...three a week(because cholesterol)so I enjoy them on the weekends because I like to dip my toast in the yolk...and I eat the burgers on buns forgot to mention that...and the thing with beans is the texture (this is where I am a picky eater) the texture makes me nauseous, same with chick peas lol..

and about my IBS I wish I knew..he just told me I had it and pretty much just left me at that..gave a prescrition for 'emergency use only' and that's about it. I'm trying probiotics now to see if they help at all...

thanks for some alternatives to my favorites..I'll add them to the shopping list...what dried fruit do suggest, any certain brand?

If you'd eaten breakfast and lunch before your appointment, you had food in your belly, and it weighs something.  And if you're training hard, you've probably built a little muscle.  I wouldn't worry over it too much.