Why oh why am I gaining not losing?!

[Bluesheep8]

Average day looks like this:

Either a couple of bananas OR a smoothie made with frozen fruit, fat free yoghurt, banana and skimmed milk.

Lunch is turkey or tuna salad OR weightwatchers soup or homemade soup with 4 ryvitas and laughing cow light.

Dinner is something like homemade chilli made with lean mince and lentils with cauli rice or homemade spag bol made the same way with spiralised bns. A weighed portion (40g) of reduced fat cheese.
At least 3l of water, a 20 min fast walk at lunchtime and 20 mins at least on the treadmill most nights. Yet I'm GAINING weight! How? Why? Help!!!

Got weighed this morning. 6 days of solid being good on between 1000 and 1200 calories. I even managed Tuesday at 800 calories. I've lost 1 sodding pound. I know if I have wine and normal food for sat and sun I'll put on 4 or 5 pounds in 2 days.

It’s so annoying how relentless I have to be with the healthy/ low cal/ whatever now- like you all say, 1200 a day for a week and 1/2 lb off if I’m lucky! I am on it from tomorrow though (today was fucked as international day at school and the children all brought in lovely food to share and so many were so proud to give me things!). Wish me luck/ inspire me / if you have any tips I am all ears!

Oh bugger. I'm so pissed off about it (and hungry) that I've just eaten four biscuits and a peanut butter sandwich.

Well I have discovered I am now almost 10 1/2 stone so must do something. Thinking to cut out sugar this week (although have 2 big birthday parties to go to) and then drop to 1200 after half term. How are you doing op?

Have decided to take a break from the relentless 1200 calories for half term. I think i need some time out!!!
i'm pining for bread, (since when did bread become a treat?!!!) chocolate and dried fruit. I'll enjoy the week and then get my game back on for a strict diet week before I get weighed again.

tanaqui thanks for asking, I'm fine thanks-I met some family for lunch yesterday. They tucked into whatever they fancied plus cake for dessert whilst I had a ham salad. A fair bit of wine and a Chinese takeaway last night though. mind you, I did have mushroom chow mein rather than sweet and sour chicken so it could've been worse! Baked cod with spicy bean and tomato stew and spinach for tea. Couldnt get to the gym yesterday due to plans with family taking up quite a lot of time but I refuse to beat myself up about that!

unperfect yep, bread is a treat for me too. As is a jacket potato, I suddenly realised yesterday. It's a pretty sad state of affairs sometimes!

As is what happened in my office on Friday. Everyone had fish and chips. Everyone. And a large bread cake. I had chicken salad and 2 hardboiled eggs. And it gets me nowhere.

Yep. Toast is my dream. Since when did bread stop being a staple food? I'm sat here now, fighting the urge to toast a slab of thick white. I WILL resist.

Random question but do you have a mirena coil?

I am pretty good at keeping the weight off usually but for no reason I can fathom, I gained 20lbs and the strange roll around my middle.

It’s out now so trying hard to lose it again.

megan no I don't. But thanks for wondering. I can't think of a reason. Having tested my thyroid the Dr just (helpfully) said "It's your age"....

Ok: two things are leaping out at me.

1. You work in an office, right? So you are sedentary most of the day. You're simply not burning much off at all.

To be brutally honest, you wont burn many calories at all just sitting still. Do you drive to work?

A fair bit of wine and a Chinese takeaway last night though. blush mind you, I did have mushroom chow mein rather than sweet and sour chicken so it could've been worse!

^

A full chow mein will have at least 1000 cals in it. Not sure if you ate the whole thing but it's basically just pure carbs I. E sugar.

I think you need to look at calorie expenditure as it were over a weekly or even monthly rate. Even if the Chinese is a one off, the next week you have a curry, few wines, etc, it all adds up!

halfwitpicker all of your points are valid. And yes I do drive to work. I used to take the train so that I got some walking in but the service is so unreliable here that I've had to resort to the car. My job means that I am sitting at a desk all day, yes. I do get out for a walk at lunchtime but am limited on time. Agreed 're takeaway and wine once per week though. That said, I had about less than half of the chow mein but I do take your points.

The problem is that for a smallish, sedentary woman, a couple of treats at the weekend (can easily be 1500 calories worth) is enough to cancel out any calorie defect of the previous week. I know how soul destroying it is. I only see results if I up my exercise quite considerably.

thehoundsoflove that makes sense. Totally. And I freely admit that I tend to be of the "I've been careful all week so I'm having a treat at the weekend" mentality!

Another 2lb gone on over the weekend

thenightsky I feel your pain. But you already know that! I have sat at work today and watched people eating cake and biscuits and crisps and chips for lunch. As well as being told what they've eaten and drunk at the weekend. And I ate hardboiled eggs and salad. Again!

And yes i did have a treat at the weekend but maybe even rhat has to go too

Honesty, blue, I really identify with everything you've said.

It's totally brutal having to eat like a mouse to stay slim. When everyone else eats junk.

I'm basically exactly the same as you, sedentary job, same weight, etc and if I eat more than 1400 cals per day I gain weight. It's shit.

halfwitpicker couldn't have put it better myself, especially your last line! How old are you, if you don't mind me asking? Part of my problem is, as I said previously, I was almost 15 stone in my 20s and was 9 and a half for YEARS having worked hard to lose and keep it off. I really thought I had it nailed. Then I hit 44/45 and BAM! The way I've managed things for all that time doesn't work anymore. Agreed, it IS shit!

Are you hungry? Sometimes eating more smaller portions can help with weight loss. I'd try and snack on veg if you can. Also as others have said portion size might be worth thinking about?

I'm currently trying to not snack at all, not even a celery stick. I'm going to try to get out of the habit of putting things in my mouth outside of meal times. I'm sure its just habit rather than hunger or my body needing it.

So your weight is within the BMI range.

IMO you’re probably consuming more calories than you think. Tracking / weighing portions is a good plan.

Better to eat fruit whole than blend it.

With work colleagues eating takeaways, cakes etc (frequent at my workplace too) I try to see it as a positive choice not to eat the high calorie, sugary stuff. I want to be slimmer and improve my nutrition: eating that stuff won’t help me with that. A fair few colleagues similarly avoid it.

Am also trying to move away from regarding high sugar/salt foods as “treats”. And to spend time cooking nice meals and packed lunches with plenty of veg.

Also, it’s not the case that “everyone else” eats junk. The slim people I know don’t.

Thanks loopytiles the thing is, i DO see it as a healthy choice at work etc, I'm just bemoaning the fact that what has always worked for me has ceased to.