I have been working out and eating right for 5 months and I gained weight LOL

[TMM3574]

I am trying to lose weight before my husband comes home from Iraq. But the more I work out , the more I watch what I eat I have actually gained 6 pounds... UGHH getting frustrated.

[Lucey12]

I know what you mean. Mys husband was gone for 3 months with the army and before he left I decided I wodul take this time to get fit so he would come home to a sexy lady. Didnt work. I ate veggies, and meat. About 1 fruit a day and a bit of bread occasionally. I ran for half an hour a day and walked half an hour. I also road a stationary bike fro 2 hours ever night. I didnt loose a pound! You have to jsut know you are doing the right thing by being fit and dont worry about the pounds,they will come off eventually. (by the way there is now a military family support site. Check out my page for details)

[phil]

Food intake is a bigger driver of weight gain than exercise. The type of food you eat is most important

[Barb135]

You need to calculate the number of calories your body requires each day to maintain your current weight, then lower the amount of calories consumed to make a deficit.  You have to take in less calories than you need in order to lose weight.  Example:  If you need 1800 calories/day to maintain your current weight, then you need to eat less than that or use up more than you currently are.  It's best to create this deficit using a combination of both eating less and exercising more.  

A safe weight loss is 1-2 pounds/week. So let's just say you want to lose 1 pound/week (that's easier to calculate....lol).  One pound is 3500 calories so to lose one pound/week, you have to either eat 500 calories/day less or exercise enough to use up 500 extra calories (500 calories/day  X 7 days = 3500 calories or one pound). .  So to make it easier you can try eating 250 calories less and use up 250 calories more to make up your 500 calorie deficit.  You will need to calculate your calorie needs based on your current weight/height, etc. If you use the food journal here on MedHelp, it will help you do that or you can do an internet search -- there are a lot of websites on which you can put in your info and get back the number of calories you need to maintain your current weight.  

All that said --- exercise DOES produce muscle; I beg to differ with the statement that MUSCLE WEIGHS MORE THAN FAT!!!               A pound is a pound no matter what it is.        Muscle is denser than fat, so it takes a smaller mass of muscle to make up a pound.  Just compare rocks and feathers --- you can see how many feathers it would take to make a pound versus the rocks........that's the way it is with muscle and fat.  

In addition, muscle USES more calories than fat.  So -- you need to back up and calculate your calorie needs and go from there.  jimgreg is right in that if your body thinks it is being starved, it will hold on to the calories and store them as fat.  You need to eat ENOUGH calories without overdoing it.  And it's a good idea to change things around on a regular basis as well.  If you eat exactly the number of calories every day, you body gets used to that.  If you do exactly the same exercises for the same duration every day, your body gets used to that also, and the exercise is no longer a challenge.  Change you exercise routine regularly and change your diet regularly so your body doesn't come to "expect" a certain thing.  

Keeping a food diary is an important step.  That lets you keep track of exactly what you are eating on a daily basis.  Chances are, you might be eating more than you think.  Make sure you get at least 5 servings of fruits/veggies every day, along with 3 servings of fat free/low fat dairy (includes milk, yogurt, cheese, etc).  You also need to get plenty of lean protein either in the form of lean meats, legumes, soy (unless you have thyroid issues), etc.  

Hope this helps you take a look at how you are doing it and maybe be able to make some adjustments to "kick start" your weight loss.  

Keep us posted.  

[jimgreg]

ur not eating enough then if ur gaining wile working out...ur body burns  but has to refuel as well..if it senses that your starving it..it will put weight from what ever you eat..when working out..you need at least 1600-2000  aday..depending on you and what your needs are,,.you can google this,..it will say how manny  Cal's you need...

i just gained 4 pounds making me down..i do cardios  and  workout with weights..but ALWAYS REMEMBER MUSCLE MASS WEIGHS MORE THAN FAT...