Cant lose weight

Question
I'm an 18 year old female. I'm 5'6" and 136lbs.

Two years ago I went from 140 to 110 and maintained this for just over a year with ease. Suddenly (about 6 months ago) I began to gain weight quickly. In the first few months, I gained 10 pounds, then almost another 20 in the months following.

Despite my best efforts, I can't seem to lose any weight. When I realised I'd started to put on weight I made the effort to exercise, but I still kept gaining weight. Last time I weighed myself (a month ago) I was 137 lbs and have exercised most days for at least an hour, yet I've only lost a pound which might just be a normal fluctuation in my weight.

Nothing has really changed. My diet is as good as it can be and I'm not on any medication that might cause weight gain or difficulty losing weight. I am not pregnant.

Answer
Hi Sarah,

Well, a couple of things could be going on here. I know you feel like nothing has changed when you say, "suddenly I began to gain weight" but that happened to me one time when I changed jobs. I didn't realize my whole routine had changed and I was no longer walking as much at my job or bike riding with my friend after work, and I was also engaging in a few snack times that I hadn't been previously.

You say a couple of times that you "made an effort" to lose weight, and you "made an effort" to exercise--but did the exercise and the diet really happen, and happen consistently?

Think about what really changed just before you started gaining weight--different house? job? hours? friends? sometimes we start eating out at restaurants more often and there can be lots of hidden calories in the foods we eat out, even though it seems we are not eating more, and we are making healthy choices.

Keep a food diary every day (and write down what you eat immediately after eating it--we tend to forget an hour later!). Then you can see what you are really eating over a period of time.

If you are really eating a reasonable amount that you should be losing weight on, and exercising (an hour a day is super!), and still not losing weight, make an appointment with your physician. Underactive thyroid is not uncommon in women (you might have other symptoms, like missing periods, being very tired, and unusually cold) and this slows your metabolism and causes weight gain. The treatment is a simple pill!

Let me know what you find out :)
Laurie

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