Frustrated With Weight Loss!

[desiit]

I am a 22 year-old female, and over the past week I have gained about 5 pounds.  I had been at a steady 123-124 pounds for a few months, but last weekend I fell ill with a sinus infection and did not work out for one day, and was only able to do half a work out the next day.  Since those two days, I have been easily been able to go above and beyond my usual work out (I work out 6 days a week, 1-2 hours, with 1 hour devoted to cardio); the other day, I did 2 hours of cardio, an hour of medium-paced walking, and a 45 minute jog later that night!  However, this 5 pounds is still sticking.  I'm not sure why I've gained so much weight; I was drinking 100% juice (NO ADDED SUGAR) a few days while I was ill, but I really tried to keep my calories in check.  I weighed myself this morning and it read 128 pounds!!! Help!!!!

[Barb135]

I'd recommend keeping a food diary - it's possible that you may be eating the wrong types of food or maybe the portions are too large.  Keeping a food diary lets you see at a glance exactly what you took in, both nutritionally and calorie wise.  

It's also possible that you aren't eating enough calories; if you don't get enough calories, your body will hang onto what you have because it thinks there won't be enough coming in.  This is called "starvation mode".

Additionally, with all that exercise, you may be building more muscle. Have you tried taking your measurements to see if you might be losing inches, rather than pounds?

I agree with the others said about the fruit juice.  It's much better to eat the whole fruit because a lot of the vitamins/minerals may be lost in the processing AND the whole fruit has the fiber.

[anniecrawley]

Hello I've read where when you start gaining muscle that it seems like you are not losing but gaining what you can do is change up your routine a little to make it more harder and some one gave me a tip to add cucumber and lemon slice to my water to make it have more flavor I am trying my best to drink more of it so far so good the juice that isn't sweetened with sugar is most likely sweeter with high fructose and is usually high in calories looking on your labels what ever ingredient is first that's what is in it the most whatever that's last is what's in there the least

[sk123]

I'm not sure why the 5 pounds is sticking, but I would recommend against drinking juice, even the no sugar added type. To get your daily dose of fruits, you should eat them, not drink them. When you eat them, you're ingesting a lot of fiber that slows down the absorption of the fruit's natural sugars into your bloodstream. The fiber in the whole fruit helps to keep you full longer and slows down the rush of fructose entering your bloodstream. Just a tip...