I thought I did so well the last two weeks and then I went to weigh in and gained 4.5 lbs......

I DON"T KONW WHAT TO DO!!

Amanda,
Did you journal? If so, look back through your journal and see if you see anything that looks out of place? Any chance you ate a bit here and there without writing it down? Drink enough water? Etc. If you did really well, then maybe you're holding sodium. Either way, it should work itself out next week. Just make sure you're journaling.

I did journal, and I looked through it and didn't see anything that looked "different" I never went over my points, and I went for a walk every night.

I have been only cooking for me, so I have been making WW meals, so nothing to grab here and there!

I don't know!!

Amanda,

Are you eating ALL of your points? Maybe try mixing them up a bit, you know not always the same point count for each meal, it's so easy to get into a rut.

If you are eating only WW meals maybe you are retaining...they are loaded with sodium.

Since you are exercising, perhaps you are builidng muscle, as we all know, muscle weighs more than fat.

I can feel your frustration....but DO NOT QUIT! Just keep on counting and journaling...you CAN DO THIS!

Amanda,

I would suspect water retention. What did you eat the night before weigh-in? Also, is it hot where you are? I retain water like crazy in the heat. There is a lot of sodium in even things like pasta sauce, lunch meat, etc, not the obvious places. That could be your culprit. Also, if you are exercising more, your muscles hang onto water as they store glycogen, so that could be part of it too.

I agree about the mixing up your points theory too. I eat high and low throughout the week and that works for me. It kind of keeps your body guessing which keeps your metabolism up.

I read recently that another tactic to break a plateau is to remember to vary the foods you eat - the same foods day in day out don't rev your metabolism. I don't know how true that is. I also read that your body adapts to exercise, so it is important to do different exercises and at different times of the day. Obviously, I haven't tried this one yet - I am still just walking and biking and ALWAYS at the same time of day. LOL

Hang in there. We are all behind you!

Uki

Amanda
Do you think you could post what you write in your journal for Breakfast, Lunch Dinner and snacks in between????
so we can take a look and see what your doing???

Iknow your frustration real well, I was in a stuck place myself, I talked to my leader, and she wanted to see my journel, the food and snacks I was doing was all good, so she and I were puzzled, it turned out I was drinking flavored carbonated water, and for some reason that carbonation was not filtering thru my body like plain water did..

Today I might have 1 bottle of that and the rest of the day is just pure bottled water...

and the losses have been happening.. who would have thunk????

We all know that "F" word, i love the wealth of info we have and encouragement we give to others.

As i posted this before, but if you just started out exercising:

When first starting out exercising,
exercise spurs your muscles to store carbs as fuel reserves. Every stored gram of carbs carries a few grams of water and that additional fluid could send the scale up. But the more muscles you build, the more efficient your metabolism gets. Four or five weeks into your exercise routine,the weight starts to come off.

I agree with Tobe - post us a sample of your journal so we can better help you figure out what's going on...maybe we will notice something that you are just not seeing as causing your difficulty in losing. Also, did you get in all your daily requirements (ie: veggies, milk, oils, protein) before you used points on all the other stuff? Let us know so we can try and help...but in the meantime hang in there and DONT GIVE UP!
Marilyn

Dear Akus,

Soooooooooooooooooo GLAD that you reposted this!
I started walking 2/1/2 weeks ago.
On the second week, my last weigh in, I gained 5 pounds! While I thought I was on program! I admit I eat larger portions, but I journal them. So I accepted the fact that a 5 lb gain MUST be my doing.

I have done nothing different this week and some of that wt seems to becoming off....slowly.

I also have to take a LOOK at cortisol the natural hormone that is secreted when we are under stress.
Simultaneously with the walking in week two and my wt gain was a LACK of Sleep and MORE STRESS with my MOM in the hospital again after good rehab in teh nursing home for 30 days. It took the wind out of my sister and I. VERY unexpected. I did not get sleep for two days. So cortisol is secreted even more. Cortisol LOVES to live and hide in abdominal fat and it has a bit to do with the kidneys, as well, with water balance. This is a TRUE fact. So I have been wondering if the fact that I was under MORE stress, LACK of sleep and second week of exercise, ALL at the same time, all contributed to this 5 lb wt gain.

It will take about 2 to 3 weeks to undo this gain. But I will do it.

Tonight I will walk again even though my walking buddy is out camping.

Any way I just wanted to offer to you that maybe stress or lack of sleep has contributed to the wt gain


Respectfully,

JeanCat
Since I am salt sensitive and must watch sugar and salt for high bp, I do not think for me it was salt.

I was and am very FRUSTRATED too this week. But I kept plugging along and got MORE sleep or should I say tried to play catch up (FYI: research says we never really catch up on lost sleep).