Can anyone help?

[tinygal]

I have posted on other threads on here but it seems like all men who cannot relate at all! I lost alot of weight many years ago and pretty much kept it off, about a year or so ago I went through a very stressful time and barely ate at all, maybe consuming 500 cal a day, plus I was doing cardio excessively so I lost about 6 more lbs and was down to 108 lbs. I stopped doing the cardio so excessively, which could've been up to 3 hrs a day, because I developed a problem with my sciatic nerve. When I stopped that and began eating again I began to put on weight. I do admit that there were times I didn't eat the best. I would put on a few lbs and take them off and so on. About 6 mths ago I began to get my butt in gear and started eating clean 5-6x a day, working out with weights 3x a week and cardio daily 45-50 min. I am still putting weight on and it is NOT muscle, it is fat. I now weigh 120! My fear is because of how I starved my body that now I am holding onto everything I eat and my body is storing it. Here is a sample of what I have been eating:

AM - 3 Egg whites and 1 whole egg omlette or a protein bar MetRX Protein Plus small bar

Snack - Whey Protein shake - 20 grm protein, 80 calories, 1 carb

Lunch - Tuna in a bowl with spicy brown mustard

Snack - Small protein bar or protein shake

Dinner - Chicken, fish, turkey and either salad or green beans

Snack - Protein Shake

I am taking in barely any carbs and it doesn't seem to be many calories so I don't understand with the amount of time I am working out why I am gaining weight. Has anyone ever experienced this, eating so few calories and then gaining when they begin to eat again? If so, how in the world can I jumpstart my metabolism again? I also began taking Lipo 6 but see nothing yet. I used to weigh almost 190 lbs 6 yrs ago and I fear that I will get heavy again, how sad for that to happen when I work out and eat so clean! I'm almost ready to go back to eating 500 cals a day! What in the world can I do to reverse this? Oh also, I do drink almost a gallon if not more water a day! Help please.

[vanillabn]

You probably need to increase your calories. Going with too few calories for a long time can damage your metabolism, and will inevitably lead to failing because your body is never going to be satisfied.

I would suggest tracking your calories in a program like fitday.com until you KNOW what you're taking in every day. I have been in the same situation as you are before, where I wasn't eating nearly enough, and sometimes didn't even realize it... so tracking your cals can really help to get that baseline estabilshed. I would aim for about 1500 per day (you are my height) and evaluate from there (after a few weeks of this).

Also, you have NO healthy fats from what I can see in your diet. You absolutely need these... try to incorporate things like salmon, avocado, almonds, etc. into your diet. I had a lot of luck with doing a 40% carbs, 40% protein and 20% fat diet in the past.

I found this site really helpful in establishing my BMR and how many calories I should be taking in:
http://www.hotnfit.com/fat_loss/diet.htm

You are also doing a TON of cardio. I would increase the intensity and frequency of your weight training and cut back the cardio -- I think you'll find that way more helpful in shedding the fat as you put on some muscle.

Good luck!!!

[tinygal]

Thank you for your response. I do agree about the healthy fats, the only thing that I will eat also is some natural peanut butter as I don't like nuts, almonds, etc. Not that this is enough healthy fats but something I didn't mention eating. Yeah, see, because I lost all my weight on a low carb diet, I have always been afraid of carbs. And I guess in my mind I thought that increasing my calories would just continue to make my weight go up. I will take your advice on the weight training and reduce the cardio, I have a cardio addiction, lol, most people hate it, I love it. I just want to regulate myself and start to shed this fat, I am ok with the scale if I am lean and have muscle tone. Thanks again!!

[digitalbath11]

I'm no expert, but I'm thinking that you might be getting an extra amount of junk saturated fat from protein bars. Check out your labels. You can have some "real" food insted like greek yogurt or cottage cheese. My advice is that if you can have more natural foods, that should be your first choice. Supplements are last minute scenarios in my opinion. Your body will know what to do best with natural foods. Also, don't freak out with numbers in the scale. Patience and TIME are your friends. Good luck.

[Lckymii]

My question is, why are you avoiding carbs like the plague? They're not going to damage you and they contain so many health benefits that you should consider incorporating them into your diet.
Also you should be weighing, not measuring, your food. (measuring cups can be off, if you KNOW they're accurate use them if not-don't)
Get a food journal to track everything and be accurate with what you are eating. This way if you do have a damaged metabolism it is more apparent and will be easier to repair by upping you cals and monitoring your progress.

[sacha2]

You look like a candidate for avocados!

Yes, it is hard after you mess up your metabolism. I gained 12lbs and it is a shock but after time, you just deal with it. You have to get healthy and there is only one way to do it.

[tinygal]

Thanks everyone! I guess I avoid carbs because that is how I lost all my weight on a low carb diet initially. I can't get rid of that thinking. I will take all of your advice and hopefully I can see some results soon.