I have a weird metabolism... what do i do?

[Kasiopea]

Hi,
Im 20 years old, 5'6 and am around 128 pounds.
I have always had problems with my digestion. It seems to be very slow, anything i eat stays in my body for about 2-3 days, and its killing me. Three years ago i was much thiner at around 110 pounds. I used to eat very little (1-2 meals a day), which i know is not good, but my stomach seemed to work better and it kept the fat off.
Around 3 weeks ago i joined the gym. I want to lose the flab and gain muscle, at that time i was around 120 ponds. With the new diet instead of loosing weight i'm actually gaining... which is driving me crazyyyy. Help!
My diet consists of:

Breakfast: 9:00 Bran Cereal with some raspberries, or 2 eggs, or cottage cheese with berries.
Snack: 11:00 Shake with Whey Protein or a Low Fat Yogurt.
Lunch: 1:00 4oz. Chicken breast with a little salad, avocado, nuts.
Snack: 2:00 Shake with Protein and berries or nuts.
Snack: 5:00 Almonds or berries, may eat a slice of cheese or an apple.
Dinner: 7:00 Stake, or Tuna (LOVE Tuna or Chix, with asparagus or sweet potato, or mushrooms.
No more food after 7pm.

I go to the gym 4-5 times a week, do weights and 10-30 min of cardio. I am a horse rider and i train twice a week for about an hour and a half.
I lift pretty heavy, never train the same muscle group more than 2 times a week and do burn outs.
With a good diet and all the workout my metabolism is still very slow. I gained 8 pounds within 3 weeks, since i eat 6 times a day it seems my stomach just can not process all the food, and im constantly full and bloated Yes, i feel stronger, some muscle groups look more defined, but over all i got bigger ... much bigger, and not lean at all. It just makes me want to quit and go back to harsh dieting to loose the pounds...
I am trying to cut down the portions i eat per meal, but then i cant reach my protein and nutrients intake goals.

Has any one had this problem when they started? How do you speed up the metabolism? What am i doing wrong? How do you intake a proper amount of protein and nutrients without over loading the stomach? Just inpatient and should i keep doing what i am?
Pleeeeeease help...

[ozigal]

how many calories are you taking in? Are you doing cardio everyday? There's a lot of nuts in your diet. Replace some with lean protein instead (which you should be having at every meal, but you're not).

Did you consider that you have gained muscle which is you be heavier. If you're weighing yourself constantly you really need to get rid of your scale. Weight can fluctuate greatly even within a day. You should get your body fat measurements taken and use those instead.

Going back to drastic measures to lose weight is going to of no benefit what-so-ever. Sure maybe you'll lose fat but you're going to just end up looking sickly & still flabby with no muscle base. By the way 110lbs for 5'6" in NOT a healthy weight.... I think perhaps you may have some underlying issues about your weight and if you're considering using drastic measures to lose fat i.e. 1-2 meals per day then you're well on your way to anorexia/another eating disorder.

[twinnett]

At 5' 6, you really shouldn't weigh 110#...that's way too little..work on some muscle!!!

[freebirdmac]

You need to get a handle on what is causing your digestive distress. Is it eating disorder related? Food sensitivities? If you're afraid of gaining fat you can make yourself ill. Literally. If it's food related then you need to start eliminating the most likely causes...dairy (lactose alone or any milk proteins which include whey) and/or gluten. If it's something like IBS, dropping out dairy will help.

[SophieM]

If you have delayed gastric emptying, you should see a doctor so they can (maybe) find the cause and treat you for it.