Background:
I'm about 5'6.5 and have generally been pretty slim for the majority of my life due to being a child athlete. I was a competitive figure skater (very, VERY in shape) for about 10 years up until I was 15, and still stayed very thin up until 18 (not sure why, maybe due to habits, metabolism, or simply just because I was a teenager). I included the fact that I was an athlete because I've heard that if your body has a history of exercise, it sort of "remembers" what it's like to get fit and does so more easily (I'm not sure how credible that is- I was also so young so idk if that would carry over to now)? Anyway, I went to college, went wild with food, and went from 110lbs to 155 lbs within 2 years. Got back down to 130, and stayed there pretty comfortably for 3 years until the last three months. Since September maybe, every week or so it seems like I've been gaining a couple of pounds. To combat this, I've been paying more attention to portions and doing a few exercises a week. However, it appears that the more I pay attention, I've kept gaining weight until I've found myself back at 150 with larger body measurements as well. I don't really know why the gain happened or what to do exactly.
Habits:
I admit I've had a pretty stagnant life since quitting skating. I have a desk job. I do still dance, and throw in 15 minutes at lunch and at night after dinner for fun. As for my eating habits, I still have the habit of eating 1, sometimes 2, meals a day that carried over from college. However, that never seemed to bother me much and I know that intermittent fasting is a thing. My first meal is usually at lunch-2:00 pm and a 7:00 pm dinner. I don't drink sodas or juices, nor do I eat lots of junk food. I don't eat a lot of vegetables though lol. At home (I've moved back with my parents last year to keep them company bc covid) we eat a lot of meat lately. My dad is on cholesterol medication and he's kind of gone off the rails and eats whatever he wants. However, my mom and I aren't as huge fans of meat and don't eat large portions of it. Occasionally we get lazy and go for pasta or beyond burgers but for the most part, we eat fish, sandwiches, quick homemade chinese food. Both my parents have huge appetites, and I've inherited it as well (though both of them are quite slim). I've tried going on 1500kcal meal plans in the past when I lived alone and found that I was still incredibly hungry all the time. I tried eating small meals throughout the day, but I've found that the more I eat, the more I want to keep eating (does that make sense? That my stomach stretches out and I want to eat more?) But even if I eat large, less frequent meals, then I can end up overeating (in terms of calories, not in terms of fullness. I hardly ever eat til I'm stuffed). I do not count calories religiously. I did at one point but got too busy and kept forgetting. But I'd estimate I eat around 1600-1800 a day, which I believe should be around maintenance for me. I absolutely don't get enough sleep. I've also passed age 25 so maybe there's some grown woman stuff happening there. I can bloat up to 5 lbs and 2 inches when I'm on my period. I have lost weight before in the past, though it was mostly by accident (ie. too busy to eat at all) lol.
Recent Changes:
I've noticed that in the past year, I've started getting really sweaty really quickly. Even when I was at my heaviest, I could dance about three songs before I'd start to sweat from my chest and back. However, as of now, I start to sweat midway through the first song and it's on my hairline and bangs, which I have never sweated from in my life. The excessive sweating has made working out exponentially more unpleasant than it was before and it makes me not want to move as much since I don't want to go back to work a mess. I did get put on Cymbalta 6 months ago and I do know that it can make you sweat more, though I do not take it regularly. It could be that, or my age, or the weight, but either way I feel gross and unmotivated. I did have a physical not too long ago and everything seems normal.
Since noticing the weight gain, in addition to the dancing I've been doing 7-minute body weight workout routines in the morning that have worked for me in the past and helped me lose inches (leg workouts, floor workouts, etc). While I do notice a slight change in the firmness of my body, the results are not the same as they once were. Like I said before, I've ended up expanding. My waist has gone from 28 inched to 30. I've also just started incorporating jogs on the treadmill every other night for about 30 minutes.
I am also going to start a new job soon that is not sedentary. I am going to be standing a lot and driving to different locations. While it's not physical labor, just the act of going from place to place is enough to get me hungrier. And with my already big appetite, I'm afraid its just going to get bigger without me burning anything.
Psychological Stuff:
With the holidays coming though, I am getting nervous. I don't have a good relationship with "fun" food. As stated earlier, I used to be a figure skater and did dance as part of training. My mom has always been sort of a nutrition nut as well. So for the majority of my life, my diet was carefully monitored and controlled. I didn't have real bacon, cheese, or white bread until I was in high school. As we've gotten older, we've also gotten more relaxed about buying "fun" things. The problem is, that even though I'm an adult now, I still have this subconscious mentality that the fun food is "special". It's a "treat" and I never know when I'm going to get it again so I eat as much of it as I can! I want to hoard the food since I never know if someone else is going to eat it or if I'm going to miss out on it. That, plus the huge appetite, is dangerous. I remember a few years ago, my dad got on a Dominos Pizza kick and I ended up eating a whole X-large pizza at dinner because what if it was gone the next day? While I dont eat whole pizzas anymore, I still feel this uncomfortable longing for food and dont trust myself to be in control of my diet.
Goals:
I'd love to get at least below 140lbs. I'm just not 100% sure how to do it now. I'm not quite sure what it is but I know that my body's changed. Cutting calories has always been hard because I just stay so hungry-like, tummy rumbling hungry. I don't really know what's been going on in these past few months that caused this gain, since my life hasn't really changed. If anything, I've been trying more than before. I know I'm not the most serious about working out or dieting, but I don't really know what's happening or how to go about it now. I'm sure that there's 100 things wrong that you guys can find in my lifestyle up there, but please keep in mind that I'm pretty new to doing this stuff on my own!
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source https://www.reddit.com/r/loseit/comments/qoiox8/ive_f26150lbs_have_been_gaining_a_lot_of_weight/
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