working out 7 days/week and gained 1.5 lbs

Will someone PLEASE explain to me how a person can workout 7 days a week with a min 1.5 hours and still gain 1.5 lbs in one week. WHAT THE HECK IS UP WITH THAT? I feel like I am working out around the clock, watching everything that goes into my mouth...no sugar, no fried foods, no fast food, no eating out, no no no. I don't feel deprived but it is a little irrirating. Here is my workout schedule MWF 30 min cardio (eliptical) & full body weights, T Th S & S 1.5 hours of cardio/eliptical. I am drinking 64 oz or more of water a day. I have lost 32 lbs since end of August. I am attempting to loose another 30 before my bday Mar 14th. I am determined to do it. I lost the first 30 lbs eating 1200/day. When I decided to get radical about 3 weeks ago, I started the Atkins diet & only lost 3 lbs. Not big on diets but thought Atkins  would give me the extra edge I needed. WRONGO! After weighing today, I am back to tracking 1200 cal/day & eating balanced. Any words of encouragement?

How frustrating is that!  I'm no expert by far - BUT, I was stuck on a plateau for over 3 months until just this past Monday when I went to a weight management class and they advised that I double my protein intake.  All I did was (a) double my protein to about 50-55g per day, (b) reduced my carbs (the only real Carb's I've been eating is my morning oatmeal and what I get in fruits and veggies) and (c) changed my larger meal to noon instead of 6 p.m.  I try to not eat anything past 8 p.m. but if I have to, I eat a piece of fruit (peach, grapes, melon).  I eat all the veggies I want and I usually have at least one daily protein shake made with 2% milk ,yogurt and whey protein.  That's it.  And I've lost 6 lb since Monday. 

Prior to doing this, I was eating well balanced, nutritional foods totalling about 1450 calories per day and exercising at Curves 6 days per week where I was burning off about 550 calories per workout.  I am still doing the Curves circuit and am amazed at the progress I've made this week.  On Monday, I will be increasing my daily calories to about 1500 by adding more proteins and the plan is to stick to that level for about 3 weeks and then increase calories again up to about 2000 per day for 2 weeks.  Then, I will start all over until I reach my goal weight.

Sometimes, although we do everything "right" we still need to find the magic combination.  Furthermore, the "magic combination" changes from time to time which forever keeps us on our toes.

I hope you find your magic combination.  Whatever you do, don't stop.  Perseverence always pays out in the end.  Good Luck!

First, it's not possible to lose 30 pounds by your birthday in a healthy way. You'd have to drop about a pound every day, which is just not healthy. Second, there's no way you're eating enough food on 1200 calories a day with your exercise level. The 1.5 pound weight gain could be your muscles retaining a bit of extra water, or any number of small fluctuations. But that's not the point. You are putting your body under an enormous amount of stress by over-exercising while under-eating, and in the long run you're only going to damage your metabolism. You should rethink your goals and set a more realistic goal for your birthday--like dropping 10 pounds or losing 5 inches off your body. And you need to up your calories.

most likely you aren't eating enough and your body is hanging onto everythng you eat as if its the last thing it might get.  You need to change your thinking that you will loose about .5 to 1 lb a week on average and you have to remember the average because some weeks you won't lose anything and the next you'll lose more than expected.  If you are working out as much as you say then you need extra calories...1,200 just isn't enough if your burning so much during your workouts.

good luck

water, when you have just drank a lot can weigh up to 2 lbs are you weighing right after you work out and consume a lot? Or you could be building muscle, which is not a bad thing because eventually it will burn more calories! Final thought- are you watching sodium. A lot of "health foods" are high in it, and can cause you to retain. Anyway Im sure that 1.5 lb fluctuation is not gained fat, so you have nothing to worry about.

I'd echo the advice to eat more....  If you're 5'3" 170lbs-ish and working out 7 days a week for 2 hours at a time you need more like 2000 than 1200 in order to lose weight.   As you're proving to yourself, eating nothing doesn't actually work and you're even gaining.  As a short-term measure, have a day this weekend where you get a good 2500 cals which is your maintenance amount.  If you've been crash dieting on 1200 cals since the end of August your body will have got used to managing on less food and if you have a day where you get your full maintenance amount it can boost your metabolism.  Then go back to no lower than 1800 on an ongoing basis.

Think it might have been a mistake to guinea-pig Atkins btw...  If you go back to a balanced diet now with a few more carbohydrates you'll probably find you gain even more weight.  But, like repairing the effects of the crash-dieting, it's just something you'll have to work through, come out of the other side and start over. 

Good luck.

Thank you for all of your comments and I plan to definately "RETHINK" my process. I plan to up my calories and add more protein to my daily intake. I believe if I stick with my current workouts, the weight will come off. I've never been much of a goal setter so this whole process is foreign to me but I will work through it and hit my goal. I knew if I turned to CC friends, I would get the information I needed....hardcore truth...THANX AGAIN!!