Originally Posted by raeanna74

Last year during the summer I was having trouble loosing the weight that I had gained when I was sedentary and recovering from surgery and then a broken foot. I was trying quite unsuccessfully. After going about 2 weeks of eating no more than 900 calories a day (I was even documenting the licks of the spoons when I was cooking) and seeing no results. At that time I was making sure that I was doing some sort of aerobic activity or exercise every day. I went bike riding, for a brisk walk, to the playground with the kids and played tag, trotted up and down my second floor stairs 10 times, ANYTHING. But what happened?? I actually GAINED. I still don't fully know why.

When I asked the Dr (not my regular Dr - I consider this one a quack) what I could do and told him what I was (or wasn't) eating. His reply was "just don't eat as much." I asked if that wouldn't be dangerous as I was already only eating 900 calories a day AND exercising for at least 20 min a day. He just sortof ignored my question and said "Just don't eat." How is that supposed to help?!

I went to the Dr's and asked for a thyroid test, It came back only slightly low. It wasn't long after that when I discovered that BC pills can hamper thyroid function slightly. So I got my tubes tied and went off BC. After that the weight gain at least STOPPED. It was still nearly impossible to loose much though.

I didn't start loosing until I started working for my dad. For a while there I was doing heavy labor, construction work, for 8-10 hours a day in about 90 degree heat (one 10 hr day was in 102 degrees at the peak hours) and managed to loose 5 lbs in one week. That weight didn't come back surprisingly. Though I suspected that some of it was a result of dehydration.

I have actually been able to loose more weight in the past month when I developed a hankering for a fried (not with oil - just on an iron skillet) egg and piece of buttered toast for my afternoon snacks. It didn't bump me over the 1300 calories that I try to stay with but that high particular snack has not made me gain any weight. In fact in the past month I have lost 7 lbs eating this way and doing the same amount of exercise as I was doing last summer. My thyroid is functioning better. I'm taking a multivitamin and additional Iron and Iodine suppliments because I'm chronically anemic. Beyond a small INCREASE in calories, I have not changed my diet from last summer. Yet my weight is slowly going in the opposite direction from where it was going.

Weight, food, exercise, and hormones are so intricately intertwined and it's hard to get the right balance. Chemicals that we eat, medications we take, antidepressants (more people are on these than ever before) and other things cause people to gain weight easier.