Hi there,
I am new to the forum, I thought I'd give this a shot since reading 328746824 articles only confused me more. Here it goes. I am 35, have been exercising and staying healthy for the past 15 years or so, maintaining a pretty steady weight (around 120 lbs, I am 5'3", last time I had the test done my BF was around 23-24)). I am an meso/endomorph, I build muscle quite easily, I do some weight exercises occasionally but usually stick to elliptical (I sit for 8 hours at my job) about 3-4 times a week. In the past 6 months I have been gaining weight. I am currently around 128, which doesn't seem like much, but the only time I ever went over 122 was when I was pregnant. Now I am steadily reaching new points on the scale and wondering what's been going on. A few things I should mention:
1. I tend to undereat and then binge on sweets. Before you're like 'a-ha!' I should say that I'd been doing it ever since I remember and it never affected my weight; in the past few months I've been trying to meet my calorie goals and eat healthier, therefore minimizing the nighttime snack binges. I try to eat around 1800 calories a day, I struggle with protein, but try to get close to 'enough'. Most days I still fall under my goal. I had to consciously start eating more because I was always cold and had severe hair loss due to anemia and not enough protein in my diet.
2. I am often bloated and constipated; I drink a lot of water and do not use salt;
3. My measurements have gone up as well; I am worried because although I've always had strong muscly legs, the inches never went up. I did go up in the resistance on the elliptical recently, in the spirit of 'you bulk up first and then the muscles burn the fat', but I also read a ton of articles debunking it and saying that I may need to go no-or-low- resistance to slim the legs down and just do cardio. I can't run because of my bad knees.
4. My stomach is also expanding. I use the MFP food log and I always round up the calories, to make sure I don't log too few. I cannot make myself eat less than 1800 because I don't want to end up with an eating disorder again.
Please help! What do I do? I have finally got the courage to do the InBody test tomorrow; I am freaking out because I know the weight will be so much higher than all my previous ones. I want to know if everything I put on was fat? Last time I did InBody it basically said I was perfect- didn't need to lose weight or gain any muscle. And I loved that weight.
I am new to the forum, I thought I'd give this a shot since reading 328746824 articles only confused me more. Here it goes. I am 35, have been exercising and staying healthy for the past 15 years or so, maintaining a pretty steady weight (around 120 lbs, I am 5'3", last time I had the test done my BF was around 23-24)). I am an meso/endomorph, I build muscle quite easily, I do some weight exercises occasionally but usually stick to elliptical (I sit for 8 hours at my job) about 3-4 times a week. In the past 6 months I have been gaining weight. I am currently around 128, which doesn't seem like much, but the only time I ever went over 122 was when I was pregnant. Now I am steadily reaching new points on the scale and wondering what's been going on. A few things I should mention:
1. I tend to undereat and then binge on sweets. Before you're like 'a-ha!' I should say that I'd been doing it ever since I remember and it never affected my weight; in the past few months I've been trying to meet my calorie goals and eat healthier, therefore minimizing the nighttime snack binges. I try to eat around 1800 calories a day, I struggle with protein, but try to get close to 'enough'. Most days I still fall under my goal. I had to consciously start eating more because I was always cold and had severe hair loss due to anemia and not enough protein in my diet.
2. I am often bloated and constipated; I drink a lot of water and do not use salt;
3. My measurements have gone up as well; I am worried because although I've always had strong muscly legs, the inches never went up. I did go up in the resistance on the elliptical recently, in the spirit of 'you bulk up first and then the muscles burn the fat', but I also read a ton of articles debunking it and saying that I may need to go no-or-low- resistance to slim the legs down and just do cardio. I can't run because of my bad knees.
4. My stomach is also expanding. I use the MFP food log and I always round up the calories, to make sure I don't log too few. I cannot make myself eat less than 1800 because I don't want to end up with an eating disorder again.
Please help! What do I do? I have finally got the courage to do the InBody test tomorrow; I am freaking out because I know the weight will be so much higher than all my previous ones. I want to know if everything I put on was fat? Last time I did InBody it basically said I was perfect- didn't need to lose weight or gain any muscle. And I loved that weight.