PLEASE HELP!!! What am I doing wrong??

I AM SO FRUSTRATED!!  All summer I have tried SO HARD to be good about watching what I eat, staying within my calories, etc.  I just wanted to lose the like 8lbs which I had gained during the March-May finals studying in law school...but I actually GAINED weight!!  I am 24 and 5'8, trying to get down to 125lbs (I am small framed and this is still a healthy weight for my height).  I started the summer at like 135...and now I'm UP 6lbs!!!  WHAT?!?!? 

According to CC, I burn 1720 calories/day (i do nothing but sit in an office all day).  So I have been trying to stick to 1,200-1,500/day.

Here is what I had yesterday (breakfast, lunch, and snacks are generaly always the same, dinner changes)

Breakfast: coffee w/ skim milk and a Kashi GoLean crunchy bar (YUM): 200cals

Lunch: salad (30) w/ grilled chicken (90), a little gorgonzola (110), and light raspberry vinegrette dressing (80)

Snack during the day: whole wheat pretzals and light string cheese: (approx 210 in snacks)

Dinner: 3 stuffed clams (330), 1.5 servings of steamed broccoli (or other veggie) 50

 After dinner snacks: fat-free yoghart and some sort of 100 call pack (180).

Grand total yesterday: 1280.

I also have started Jillian Michaels 30-day shred recently.  Before that I wasn't really doing any real exercise routine. 

I do tend to kill the diet a little on weekends, but I try to at least stay within my maintenance..I don't think its possible that I could eat back an additional 2,500 calories OVER to make up for what is burned during the week...So why is the scale going up?  Am I making bad food choices? 

It could be a number of things.  You could still be over-eating on the weekends and not know it, or not be counting accurately.

OR, you could be undereating.  If you are doing Jillian Michaels, you are NOT sedentary.  However, you are eating like a sedentary person.  It's possible you might need to eat a bit more on the days that you work out.

Are you weighing your foods or eyeballing them? "A little gorgonzola" can easily become a little more gorgonzola. Are you putting any oil/salt on the broccoli? One would add calories, the other might cause fluid retention. How much salt are you getting daily? You've got quite a few salty things in your diet.

Just as an example, if you're eating close to 1500 a day and burning 1700, that's only a 200 calorie deficit a day. Eating only 500 calories over maintenance on the weekend would negate that deficit. 500 calories could mean just one fancy mixed drink on top of your normal diet. You'd be surprised how easy it is to go over maintenance by 500 calories even with just one meal out. 

Also, did you gain the weight after starting 30 Day Shred? A new exercise routine often causes temporary fluid retention, and at the beginning of a new routine you can also put on some muscle. 

First of all, a 6 lb. gain isn't that bad.  The scale could have been a little in-accurate on either day.  And we all know how water retention and TTOM affects our bodies

Do you log on the weekends??  If not, I would start.  Even when I was keeping a 1,000 cal a day deficit, there were weeks where I would only lose .5 lb or none at all because of the weekends.  It's amazing how quickly calories add up when we're not even trying to indulge.  In your case, you end up with a 2,500 calorie deficit by Friday...And since you burn 1,700 cals, you would only have to eat 2,950 cals each day (sat and sun) to end up even for the week.

Do you drink on the weekends??  If you do, I really, really insist then that you log calories for one weekend to see how much a difference those few drinks can make.

Thanks for replying so quickly!  I literally just started doing Jillian Michaels 3 days ago.  I guess I probably should have made that more clear in the post.  I add in the calories burned into my activity log but only really burn around 150-200 extra for the 20 min video (I'm pretty terrible at working out), so I didn't really think I should eat too much more than I had been.

I usually weigh myself every day to every other day usually, so I don't really think the problem is with the scale. 

I am pretty insane about measuring out my food and everything for during the week: most of the stuff like the snacks and Kashi bar are pre-packaged, and I measure the chicken and cheese so I know how much I have to buy each week.  Even the broccoli is in one of those steam-fresh bags (3 servings) and I split it with my roommate, so I am pretty sure I'm counting it right. 

I will definitely start logging what I eat over the weekend, I didn't realize how much of a difference it could have made.  I haven't really drank anything this summer.  But maybe the junk is getting to me

If you are accurately counting your calories you are not eating enough. You need to exercise. If you eat clean/balanced and eat enough and exercise 6 days a week you will loose weight. Heart pumping cardio 6 days a week for 40-60 minutes. 3 days a week of heavy lifting.

Original Post by jenniebean1:

I AM SO FRUSTRATED!!  All summer I have tried SO HARD to be good about watching what I eat, staying within my calories, etc.  I just wanted to lose the like 8lbs which I had gained during the March-May finals studying in law school...but I actually GAINED weight!!  I am 24 and 5'8, trying to get down to 125lbs (I am small framed and this is still a healthy weight for my height).  I started the summer at like 135...and now I'm UP 6lbs!!!  WHAT?!?!? 

Maybe your body is telling you it doesn't want to be at a BMI below 20 (which 125 pounds would be).  Even at 141, which I think is what you say you are at, your BMI is less than 22, well in the healthy range.  Have you considered eating and moving a little more and letting your body settle in at the weight it wants to be?

Wait, eating 12-15,000 calories a day isn't enough?  CC set my daily target at 1220 cals...is that wrong based on my height/weight??

I know it would be better if I could work out more.  But I seriously work 9hours a day over the summer (no lunch break...gotta love law firms), and I commute at least an hour each way (and traffic usually makes it more like 2 on the way home).  By the time I get home its like 8pm, I have to make/eat dinner, make my lunch and stuff for tomorrow, etc.  The 20min workout is all I can fit into my day and still stay sane.     

Dude ... your BMR is at 1700 ... if you eat 1200 cals everyday then you will only have a daily deficit of 500 cals/day = 3500 cals/week = 1 lb of weight loss per week. If you are at 135 you are at a very healthy BMI and that last ten pounds for you will be notoriously difficult to trim. You really can't go below 1200 calories for more deficit without getting into unhealthy territory. You happen to be in the same stats as my girlfriend who's having the same struggle. BTW ... 30 day shred rocks ... My girlfriend is doing that too, but says it's tough.

A 6 pound swing in weight is also no big deal. That can easily be just "water" weight. It could be that you need to be more accurate with your cal counts.

To start seeing better results I'd think you'd need to stick to 1200 cals/day AND do the shred everyday! Then you won't see the scale move quickly. You'll slowly see your clothes fit differently and over weekly time frames see the scale move slowly. If you shred everyday you are at the point that you'd be getting a little muscle as you're burning. Increasing activity at your stats is really the best/only way you're going to increase that burn deficit effectively.

Jillian Michaels made me gain a couple pounds and then stay there. You look fitter-though I didn't realize that then- but with all the muscle weight, you don't actually lose weight on the scale.