Very frustrated- please help!

I have been working on weight loss just through diet, and lost 18 lbs in 5 weeks. I decided last week that I should add exercise to my weight loss program. I joined Curves (have done 2 sessions since Friday); bought an at-home belly dancing tape, and have been working with weights, sit-ups and push-ups. I GAINED 2 POUNDS since I started this! I don't know what I am doing wrong! I know muscle weighs more than fat, but surely I couldn't have developed muscle in such a short time?! I also have been eating under 1000 cals per day, and figured I should follow the instructions to eat 1250 per day- but this makes me feel full and fat. PLEASE GIVE ADVICE! I almost feel like giving up the exercise since it made me gain weight. What do I do?

Your body may be going into starvation mode.  If you don't get enough to fuel your body, it will start to store fat to survive.  I think you should up your calorie intake to at least the 1250 that was recommended.

eat all natural foods..I hope..no pills...then consider a cleanse...all food cleanse.

The colon can hold up to 40 pounds of waste in chronic cases. 

Psyllium, flax seed, eat a lot of veggies, green apples for about 5 days...you will start losing again and do this when you hit a plateau.

do not give up..give your body time to adjust to this new body you want..

the cleanse will work if you do it right....let me know..please.

You're not taking in enough calories - you need AT LEAST 1200 a day, and that's a minimum for sedentary folks - which you are not! If you're working out, you need to add additional calories to that. Also, you need to add calories depending on your body size - taller peope need more, for instance.

If it's difficult to eat even 1250, try high-calorie, low volume healthy food like peanut butter. Small amounts of PB are very healthy and very caloric - pair with an apple or something for a good snack.

The longer you continue to undereat, the more your body will rebel and hold onto what it gets - its simple survival. Give yourself what you need and the pounds'll melt off, trust me.

You've lost weight incredibly fast because you've basically been starving yourself or crash-dieting.  Crash-dieting follows a fairly standard pattern... a few weeks of rapid weight-loss followed by a stall or even a slight gain when the body hauls on the brakes and tries desperately to conserve energy.  You haven't gained muscle since some of your 18lbs loss will be muscle, used up as well as fat.   Crash-dieting leaves people malnourished and weak rather than slim, healthy and toned.

The average adult female can maintain her weight on 1900-2100 cals a day so, at some stage, you should be able to eat that amount of food without gaining weight.  Bear that in mind.

For now, increase your intake to 1300-1400 by including some energy-dense foods such as nuts, raisins, oils, oily fish, avocados, red meat, whole eggs... in your diet and reducing some of the bulkier low-cal foods such as vegetables.  Then you will eat less volume but more calories.

Edited to say... ignore the ridiculous & dangerous advice above to 'cleanse your colon'.  The last thing you need at this stage are laxatives.

The most obvious answer is that your muscles are retaining some water as they break down and repair themselves.  This happens all the time, especially when people first start doing resistance training.   After a little while this will normalize and you wont really notice the fluctuations so much.

Try to remember that this is a journey, a way of life.   Do not live and die by what the scale tells you, especially since the scale can vary +/- 4 pounds for a variety of reasons.   Adding exercise and resistance training is a good thing.  Give it a few weeks and see how you feel.

You should also pay attention to what others have said in the amount of calories that you are taking in.  It is not a simple matter of eating the fewest amount of calories possible in regards to weight loss and health.    Try searching the forums a bit on people who've severely restricted their calories and you'll see the same themes.   They lost weight at a pretty fast pace and then stall or start to gain even though they are not eating more calories.  This does have to do with the body going into starvation mode and trying to store every little bit it can, even with a diet of under 1000 calories.   As soon as people increase their intake to a normal level, they start to lose again (and feel a lot better too).

Good luck and let us know how you are doing. :)

Please eat more-otherwise your body is going to adjust to these very low calories and you'll be stuck eating that way or you'll gain weight.  You need fuel in the form of healthy food to burn the calories.  Even 1250 calories sound low for all of that exercise.  What are you eating that makes you feel fat at 1250 calories?  Maybe too much fiber or fruit all at once?

I have been mainly eating grilled chicken, salads, some sandwiches, and lots of fruit. Sometimes also yogurt and cereal. I have not been drinking very much water- so decided to follow advice and drink more H2O- previously only drank coffee and diet soda. I have been told I eat too much carbs and have a high intake of sodium (I add salt to almost everything). I definately appreciate everyone's advice- had been trying to get in calories by eating bulkier low-cal foods- never occurred to me to eat higher cal foods that didn't fill me up too much. What do you think of things like mayonnaise or salad dressings? They have high cals, but I am assuming the fat content is too high to make up the cals in a healthy way? Once again, thanks so much for all the help- it felt really good to see how supportive people can be :-)

Eat olive oil instead of mayonnaise, also try to add nuts and seeds in your salads. Eat whole-wheat bread and integral pasta. Add one potato to your salads or just boil it, slice it, and add one tbspoon of olive oil, lemon zest,  and parsley on top. It is healthy, and adds some calories to your diet. Also eat more fish and eggs.

Don't worry, you will lose weight again.

p.s. veeery quite dog:)