Has anyone experienced weight gain with diet and exercise

[kathyt1965]

This had happened to me off and on for the last 5 years.  Everytime I start a workout and healthy eating program I start to gain weight.  I just gained 3 lbs and 1 inch in my waiste and hips.  My clothes are like getting really tight.  I used to be able to eat anything and as much as I wanted.  I eat junk food maybe once a week, I don't drink alcohol or sodas.  Just water and skim milk.  My diet consists of white meat chicken, fish, salads, fat free cheese and low fat cheese, Whole grain cereals, whole wheat bread, fruits and vegetables.  Occassional pasta or rice.  Every year I keep cutting out something else because the more I cut down then I gain.  I workout at the gym, 3-4 days weight lift for 45 min to 1 hour.  5-6 days a week I do cardio 30-60 minutes.   I've had my thyroid checked and it was normal and my doctor wouldn't send me to a specialist and he said to just exercise more and eat less.  I only do 1200 - 1500 calories a day.  I eat 5-6 small meals a day.  I learned this from a body building site on the internet.  

Any new ideas I can try???

[msniki412]

Maybe your building too much muscle? That could be it.

[Barb135]

Welcome.  

You could be building more muscle as msniki412 said OR you could be eating not enough calories.  If you don't eat enough, your body will go into "starvation mode" because it thinks there won't be enough food coming to keep it going.  

Additionally, I must ask if you have checked with your doctor to make sure you don't have any underlying medical issues that might cause weight gain/retention, such as thyroid, insulin resistance, pcos, etc.  

[kathyt1965]

My doctor said my thyroid test came back normal for TSH.  He wouldn't send me to a specialist though.  I've had problems with other stuff I went to him about and he kept saying I was fine.  Then someone told me to go see an ear, nose and throat doctor who said I had allergies.  He sent me for tests. turned out I was allergic to 32 out of the 38 they tested for.  Now I get shots once a week and I feel better.  I still have another issue that my be a thyroid problem.  I have a lot of the symptoms of Hypothyroidism but I don't know what kind of doctor to go see for that. Would it be the same to check for insulin resistance and pcos?  What does PCOS mean?

Thanks for replying

[Barb135]

You might want to check out the thyroid forum.  The "normal" range for thyroid is not always normal for you and that's a problem a lot of us go through.  For insulin resistance, you would need to get tested for blood sugar and insulin levels, which is NOT the same as thyroid tests.  PCOS is polycystic ovarian syndrome and would most likely be diagnosed by a gyn who might be willing to let you get tested for the other things as well.  

And keep in mind that TSH is NOT the only test needed to diagnose thyroid problems.  Again, please check out the thyroid forum - just read through some of the previous posts and you can get a ton of info that could be helpful.  Post your own questions and there are a lot of people who will help you out.  

Good luck and keep posting here.  I'll be interested in hearing what you come up with.  

[kathyt1965]

I will definitely check the thyroid forum.  What you just said is very interesting.  My doctor is just a family medicine doctor and he just blew me off, told me my TSH was fine (although after I got a copy of my results, it did say "Adults with levels lower than 5.5, subclinical hypothyroidism cannot be ruled out") and to eat less and workout even more and put me on anti depressants which made my fatigue worse.

I will keep you posted.  Hopefully my experience will help others.

[Barb135]

I had a doctor who put me on anti-depressants also.  He said I was "tired because I was depressed"; I kept telling him I was "depressed  because I was tired".  Yep, there's a difference!!  The anti-depressants only made me want to sleep more so I quit taking them.  

Anyway, part of the "tired" turned out to be low B12 levels (pernicious anemia); the other part turned out to be thyroid.  I now take a B12 shot every 2 weeks and 3 tiny thyroid pills daily - voila, I'm back among the land of the living!!  

NOW - I have to figure what's keeping me from losing the pounds.  I worked out for 50 minutes this morning 35 min on Wii Fit plus 15 minutes of vigorous cardio and gained 3.5 pounds.  Anyone who can help me figure THAT one out will have my forever gratitude.  

Will look forward to hearing from you.