Metabolism seems all over the place :/

freethink3r

A few weeks ago I way over ate for a few days and just by not over eating for a week or two my weight would go right back down and be fine. But now it seems like every morsel I put into my mouth makes my weight fluctuate. I haven't changed my eating habits - I eat about 1900 calories a day and count very carefully, but if I over eat one day my weight shoots up 3 or 4 pounds and stays there.

What could it be? It's so frustrating.

I exercise about 6 hours a week, spread into 5 days. It's usually done in cycling (fast enough to make me sweat) and Jillian Michaels workouts (I wouldn't be able to hold much of a conversation, so I judge it as being vigorous for my fitness level).

I'm 5'5 and 120lbs, and a vegan if that makes any difference. I eat a lot of salads, vegetable stir fries, soy milk, almond milk, dairy free chocolate, oatmeal, hummus, fruit smoothies, protein shakes, sweet potatoes, beans of all sorts...

I don't particularly want to lose weight, I just can't understand why it's so easy for me to gain it these days. Any ideas? Thanks in advance!

madma

your weight can fluctuate daily by up to 5 pounds or so as far as i know. it sounds like your a bit obsessed with the scales. weigh yourself once a week and leave it that.

anytime i over-eat or have a bad weekend or whatever the same thing happens. it used to be annoying but it happens most people. once your back to your healthy living and exercising you dont need to worry about it. i put on a stone and a half over winter as i always put on weight then and im currently on a cut and looking to lose what i put on but ive kept up weight training throughout the year and have eaten decently when i could and i still have a good shape but i just need to have a cleaner diet which i started back a week ago. I now dont really care what the numbers are on the scales as i know with consistency most of the time ill reach the goals i want to get too

silverharp

I don't know vegan diets work but you need a source of good fats , nuts, coconut oil etc. Ive been reading recently about rest days and if you have somehow got into over training your body might be fighting you. Maybe try a couple of weeks where you do 3 x 1hr and 2 x 30ish minutes?

cmyk

freethink3r wrote: »

A few weeks ago I way over ate for a few days and just by not over eating for a week or two my weight would go right back down and be fine. But now it seems like every morsel I put into my mouth makes my weight fluctuate. I haven't changed my eating habits - I eat about 1900 calories a day and count very carefully, but if I over eat one day my weight shoots up 3 or 4 pounds and stays there.

It sounds like you're reading into things a little too much, metabolism isn't an immovable object, it fluctuates daily with a lot of variables. Track it over a few weeks and tweak your nutrition as necessary, don't get too hung up on the scales and don't stress too much about it.

freethink3r wrote: »

I'm 5'5 and 120lbs, and a vegan if that makes any difference. I eat a lot of salads, vegetable stir fries, soy milk, almond milk, dairy free chocolate, oatmeal, hummus, fruit smoothies, protein shakes, sweet potatoes, beans of all sorts...

If you're measuring your weight on a daily basis something to consider is that some of these are fibrous 'bulky' foods, and mainly carbohydrates. Short term that bulk will sit in your digestive system and hold a bit more water than a lower carb based diet. Please don't read into that as saying you need a low carb diet, there's nothing wrong with those food choices at all, and probably necessary as a vegan, it's simply an explanation of short term weight on the scales.

freethink3r wrote: »

I don't particularly want to lose weight, I just can't understand why it's so easy for me to gain it these days. Any ideas? Thanks in advance!

As I said, track it over a longer term with relative consistency with your 1900cals and see how it goes, you can tweak as needed then.