Why am i putting on a couple of pounds a week?

[AllergicToNutters]

I am not eating more, I am not drinking more, my lifestyle has not changed at all. I am doing more exercise which includes 2 - 3 long fast walks a week (only about 25 mins), an exercise class or two (recently started) and playing badminton once or twice a week. I eat healthily generally speaking and never snack or pick unless it is at a bag of dried fruit or apricots. It is drivimg me crazy. I am now 9stone which I have NEVER been unless I am pg! I am usually 8.7-8.10 stone and that is the weight I feel happiest at. I am 46 years old.

The only thing to add is that for several years I had an enormous amount of stress in my life. Huge stress, now I am far less stressed. Could this be it?

possibly because of less stress ,maybe peri menopause ?

it is really getting me down. It creeps up every week and I cannot seem to combat it! Where will it stop?!

You are most likely experiencing middle aged spread!

Sorry

You won't like this but...if you look up the amount of calories used by that sport you will be surprised how few . I walk 3 miles uphill 4-5 times a week and thought it was using up loads of calories. then I mapped it on a website called www.walkjogrun.com and worked out that for my weight etc and walking at 3.5 miles per hour, i was using a mere 180-200 cals! In my head I was sure it must be 300 or more.

So- the short walks you do, plus a spot of badders, and the classes will not make that much difference.

You maybe need to look more carefully at what you are eating, eg the dried fruit is mega high in calories- and accept that as we get older we need toeat less than we did before.

It's probably your metabolism changing. If you are worried though see your dr for blood tests to rule out any thyroid problems.

If you have had a lot of stress for a long time and now, for whatever reason, it has gone, it might be useful to check out adrenal fatigue. Your adrenals will have kept you going through the stress and will now be hanging about with nothing to do.

D

is there a problem with your scales? do you look heavier? could be water retention?

just trying to make myself feel better too!!

oh bloody hell, it sounds like I am doomed to get fatter and fatter despite doing more physical activity. That's a crock of shite isn't it?! What about all this 'eat less, move more' crap then? If that is what I am doing then surely I should not be gaining weight! i have looked up thyroid probs and it doesn't tally whith anything I am feeling so I can pretty much rule that out I would think. I will google adrenal fatigue. That sounds like a possibliity as I definitely lived on my nerves and adrenalin for several years . Have had counselling and getting through it but the flip side is that I am gonna be a lard arse! Would rather be a few pounds heavier than stressed to the eyeballs but still, it does not seem right to be gaining weight like this . Thanks all.

Pregnant?

Actually- the latest evidence seems to say that being stressed causes weight gain- due to cortisol levels rising etc etc- and the same applies to poor sleep patterns.

I'd suggest that you REALLY look at what you are eating- calorie count everything over a week.

You might be surprised. People aged 45 who don't have a hugely active lifestyle might only need 1200- 1500 cals a day instead of 2000 for more active people. I know I do!

To lose 1 pound in a week you have to have a deficit of 500 calories. so it makes sense that if you are eating more than you need simply by 500 cals a day then the weight will creep on.

StealthPolarBear - definitely not pregnant - i'm a widow .

ameliagrey- i will be dropping my calories henceforth! I am quite active though. Maybe not active enough. I have never walked so much in my life. I walk everywhere where before I would have driven. Unless I am with the children in which case we drive to town etc. as it is too far for my ds. I am rarely sitting down (unless on MN . I don;t understand! I will be reviewing my calorie intake. How depressing. I have never had a weight problem and I don;t want one now!

If you're doing more walking you could be adding muscle which weighs more per volume than fat. I'd swap scales for a tape measure - if your waist and hips aren't getting fatter then that's probably it.

do not get too depressed - you might just need to make some tweaks to your diet - I am reading a Gillian Micheals book called Master your Metabolism and she does discuss the impact of stress on weight gain - it happened to her when she was working out loads - she just cleaned up her diet and the weight started to drop off - she says she exercises so she can eat more so it is, in her opinion, as case of eat better, move more ...

Might be worth a read?

Agree.
You might like to invest i n some "fat scales" which show you your muscle mass, fat, BMI and calories needed per day for simply existing! That way you can track if your muscle mass is increasing or your fat percentage.

John Lewis online has a good selection of scales.

Agree with notcitrus, muscle weighs more than fat.

Also is your BMI ok? Because when I was 9 stone I used to wonder why no matter how much I dieted I couldn't get thinner. Turns out 9 stone was quite light for me and in retrospect I was skinny

who would have thought that exercising would cause so much bloody aggro! I was looking forward to weighing myself this morning as the weight has been creeping up and was sre that I would have been down a couple of lb's this a.m. So what should I do? I'll look up the book ZZMum - thanks and invest in some 'fat scales" (are they actually called that . This has really peed me off! Exercise more, pile on the pounds! I have even recently changed to wholemeal, whole grains etc. Maybe I am sneaking in extra calories wihtout reaising it.......oh bugger! Thanks again peeps. Off to mow the lawn and then go for another long walk and back.

SparkyTGD - My BMI? No idea how to measure that? I am certainly not outwardly overweight. I'm 5'3" - 5'.4" and currently weight 9 stone. Urgh! I want to see the 8's again! do you think too much bread is bad? God I used to so good at eating and nutrition. I feel like I am losing my ability to monitor my own bloody calorie intake?

Google BMI and there are loads of online calculators.

However, latest news in press this week from experts is that waist size is more important as a guide to health and weight.
Your waist should be no more than half your height-so your height in inches is 63-64 so your waist should be no more than 32.

I am 5' 3 and weigh 7 st 12, but I am very petite and my BMI is 19.5.

18.5- 25 is "normal" but top end is not advisable.

9 stone makes your BMI about 21 at your height, healthy is between 18.5 & 25.

Obviously if you 'feel' too fat, fair enough, but I'd have to be anorexic (seriously) to go below 9 stone (am taller).

My guess is age/menopause
This is exactly what happened to me. Yes it fucking sucks.
But as you get older your metabolism slows and hormone flux messes with your weight too.

I put on weight progressively until I realised I couldn't carry on and have a proper exercise regime.
It doesn't happen to everyone but all those women who get heavier towards their 50s have not given up and hit the chocolates. You have to work much harder just to stay the same.
I was a little overweight in my early 20s but then had never put on weight until I hit my mid 40s. Then I put on a stone in less than a year.

yep - this happened to me. Turned out I was 16 weeks pregnant with DS4

Are your clothes still fitting? If so, then it could be that you're building muscle, which weighs more than fat.

Yy to judging by clothes and not scales.
I hate scales.

I knew I was in trouble when only two dresses fitted me ..

What kind of exercise classes are you doing? I ask because as you get older (I am 40 so v aware of the ticking clock etc) we naturally lose lean muscle mass unless we do exercise that builds it back up. Lean muscles burn calories, so the less you have, the less calories you burn everyday, so if you eat the same as you did previously you will gain weight. Walking and badminton are miles better than sitting on the sofa, but they are not going to build lean muscle.

Classes like body pump (or something similar) are ideal. Alternatively there are DVDs that are good (e.g you can't move on MN without someone mentioning Jillian Michaels and her DVDs - Shred etc - but that is because they WORK and are based around boosting strength and lean muscle and hence burning fat.) It is all about strength work - so think using weights (you will NOT bulk up - that is a fallacy) or your own body weight. Squats; lunges; press-ups; tricep dips etc.

Also, there is quite a lot of evidence show that as you age, being too low a weight is a risk factor for osteoperosis (Sp?) etc. Some weight gain may be expected and trying to maintain an unrealistic weight/shape can be counterproductive. That said, as mentioned below, maintaining a healthy waist size and body fat % (far better method for assessing how healthy you are than just using your weight) is really important.

www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2143709/How-eating-English-breakfast-hit-waistline-just-hours.html

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