Needs Some Help and Insight

(This is coming from someone who used to weigh 290lbs, made it down to 149lbs, and am afraid where this path is taking me)

I used to weigh an average of about 160-165lbs, and I would like to get back to that. I weighed myself this morning and somehow my weight keeps climbing (192.2lbs) and I cant seem to stop it. I eat fairly healthy for the most part (lately has been a bit lax, but its not enough to warrant this kind of a gain since February.)

Now, I think most of this came in part due to a lot of stress i went through when I was job hunting, doing the interviews, and then the whole moving process (took a total of about 2 months) and I noticed a gain since then. Even after all that passed though, it still keeps climbing up and up and i cant seem to stop it.

My breakfasts normally consist of oatmeal (servings) and lite yogurt with a cup of skim milk, lunches are usually a turkey sub (about 8 inches) on wheat with mustard, lettuce, tomato and banana peppers, and my dinners usually consist of something along the lines of grilled chicken with veggies, or some kind of soup with either toast or wheat crackers, and then I will snack on some popcorn (100 calorie bags).

My total calories for the day doesn't usually exceed 2000, sometimes 2200 at most, yet somehow since 2 Fridays ago, I've gone up 5 more lbs since the last weigh in, and I can't seem to stop it....any advice or insight anyone can offer is greatly appreciated.

Its got to be a lifestyle change. You need to continue to eaat healthy even after you get to your goal weight. Maybe continue to weigh yourself weekly and log your foods after getting to goal so that you stay there. I think anytime anyone loses a significant amount of weight, they MUST look at their eating habits as a lifestyle change or they undo everything that they've struggled so hard to achieve.
Just my 2 cents. Good luck. You can do it!

I recommend tracking every calorie, at least for a while - if you have been, then several days on your food journal fall significantly short of the calories you should be eating. If you haven't been food tracking, do it for a better analysis of your intake.

Lunchmeat and most soups are high in sodium - - are you retaining fluid because of the high sodium? Drink PLENTY of water.

A few thoughts and possibilities:
* That could be a random fluctuation. It's very common for my scale to move up or down 3 to 4 pounds within 24 hours, depending on my hydration, the exercise I've been doing, and how much undigested food is still in my system. I've even seen a 6 pound swing in one day. So...a 5 pound gain might not be 5 pounds of body mass. It could be none, it could just be one pound. It's still worth keeping an eye on and confirming, though

* You could be undercounting your calories. Your diet seems pretty reasonable, and if you really are taking in just 2000 to 2200 calories per day, there's really no way you could gain 5 pounds of body mass (either fat, muscle, or both) in just 2 weeks. Try to be extremely vigilant about counting every single calorie for a couple of days, and see if you aren't taking in more than you realized. This is, unfortunately, an easy and common scenario.

* You might be one of the (relatively) few people that has an actual thyroid/metabolic disorder. Have you ever had this possibility explored, or discussed it with a physician? Once again, it shouldn't really be possible to put on 5 pounds of body weight in 2 weeks at a 2000-2200 calorie diet, particularly if you're a younger male. If that really is all you're eating, a metabolic disorder might be the cause.

You don't mention if you measure or weigh your food. Do you partake in soda or other sweet drinks (even juice) during your day? Have to agree with the above, LOG EVERYTHING down to the last teaspoon of sugar to get an accurate count. If you aren't measuring your portions, start. Most folks eyeballs are deceivers. Check your diet for chemicals. Looking at your post you consume a lot of processed food. To me, it's not practical to eliminate all prepared or processed stuff, but try to cut it where you can.

Try to mitigate stress. That cortisol is a biotch. Try some yoga for a few weeks to relax your body and mind along with building some muscle.

Make sure that bread is whole wheat and not just wheat.

Work in some fruits and veggies. If you're really only eating breakfast lunch and dinner, that could be the problem. Eat a little something in between each meal. This could be how you work in your fruits/veggies. Eating a little something stimulates digestion which of course stimulates your metabolism. It also keeps blood sugar more stable than eating only 3 times per day.

Drink enough water per day. If you work out, you may need over 64 ounces.

Make sure you're getting in some weight training. Muscle raises your metabolism so you burn calories even when you're not working out.

Other than that, try to relax - and do as others have suggested...take a few days and record exactly everything you eat. You may surprise yourself. You could be eating too little...or way more than you think. Or you may discover you're eating mostly carbs and not enough protein. (Shoot for equal parts of carbs, protein, and fat)

Good luck to ya - you can keep yourself on track!

Amy

I'm with mammasix- the first place I would look are your portion sizes. Before I started counting calories, I thought I was "eating healthy", but once I really started counting and measuring, I was shocked to see where extra calories snuck in. The creamer you put in your coffee, a couple cookies from the reception desk at work, dense fat sources like butter, olive oil, avocado and cheese- they all add up very quickly if you aren't paying close attention to how much of them you're eating. A serving of chips and crackers won't hurt you, but if you aren't consciously weighing them out, you're probably eating 2 or 3 servings without realizing it. Also, are you drinking calories? Juice, sweet tea, and alcohol can all pack a huge punch and again, you're likely drinking more than you think you are if you aren't actively measuring.

Congrats on your weight loss- I hope you can find out the right balance to keep it off!

Hey Bro, lots of good advice here and I thought I'd jump on board too. First and formost like the Queen said get some weight training in; if you can't make it to the gym go old school with push-ups, sit-ups and squats. Work those major muscle groups like your back and legs. Take a walk after dinner a 2-3 nights a week to a playground. It's easy to find ways to do chin-ups, assisted chin-ups, tricep dips, reverse push ups and elevated push ups to work your back. Then do some walking lunges, split squats, leg lifts, and sprints for your legs.

If you're eating yogurt pre-mixed with fruit I'd really recomend trying 0% greek yogurt mixed with your own fruit. Greek yogurt has almost twice the protein as the normal stuff and it takes almost twice as many calories to digest protein over carbs. If you're a soup guy really try to stay away from canned and cream soups. I love homemade lentil, pea, or bean soups. Not only will your fiber intake skyrocket, but you'll be getting more protein too. Somebody mentioned wheat bread and thats because if it's not whole wheat bread companys will just mix in mollases to color the "wheat" bread brown.

I'll stop for now, but it's small tweaks here and there that really make a difference. More protein and fiber less processed fats, carbs, and sodium makes a huge difference.

Blake