Monday, 03 October 2011
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Advice: I Gained 6 Pounds in a Week!
This comes from our Advice column!"I'm in college, so I kind of expected a little weight gain. And I was on the slightly underweight side before, so it's not TOO bad I guess, but what bothers me is that I gained 10 pounds in the first month of being at school! And six of those pounds were this week alone!
I may be eating more but not an extra 20000 calories a week more. Does stress or even just a little less sleep cause this? Because this is a trend that needs to stop NOW."Can you help? Share your advice in the advice column!: "Gained 6 pounds in a week"
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Comments (23)
If you don't eat, you won't gain weight. And one pound = 3500 calories.
@npr32486@xanga - I never do this but... wayta promote eating disorders! Good one mate.
put down the fork.
seriously, just eat smaller portions, more often.Also, its a proven fact that when women menstruate, we pack on literally two pounds of water, in hopes of getting pregnant (our body, haha). Preparing for conception takes its toll..
@ohletitbe@xanga - Huh...I never knew that. Well you learn something new everyday then.
I'd suggest, I don't know, exercise? If your a freshman in college it's not uncommon to gain weight, a.k.a. the Freshman 15. My advice would be to relax on any alcohol consumption, eat 5-7 SMALL meals a day (keeps your metabolism constantly active) and a 30-45 minute workout. Please don't give the excuse that there isn't a gym around, your own body weight is all you need.
wow. maybe lay off on the deserts? limit yourself to 1 a week. a lot of cafeteria food has sodium which can make your body retain water so maybe substituting 2-3 meals a week for a salad? and by salad i mean lettuce with a bit of dressing on it, and veggies and a tiny bit of cheese. i see too many people with more cheese and ranch on their salads than lettuce. for breakfast i know cafeterias always have hash browns and pancakes, but try to stay away from the carbs. eggs and whole wheat toast, yogurt, fresh fruit, are better choices.
also, get up and work out. you're sitting for a lot of the time, so go for a walk or to the gym. it's not that tough. beats having to buy all new clothes.
The funny thing is though, I eat mostly healthy. Lunch and/or dinner (assuming I get them) is either an apple or two on the go or a plate of lettuce and cucumbers, with some tofu or fish. Snacks were crackers or the occasional fun-sized chocolate, until I cut them out. Getting rid of canned food (canned veggies or broth) helped too... I do eat alot (meaning a LOT) of fruit though, and I mostly eat at night, so maybe that's it? Thanks for the help guys....
hey relax. most of the comments are really rude and judgmental. It happens... the excitement and new environment of college can definitely result in a few extra pounds. But it's just as easy to shed them as long as you're aware that it's becoming a problem.
Go to the gym 3-4 times a week and take a fun workout class or listen to some tunes on the treadmill, etc.
If you're eating in the dining hall, fix a small salad to eat first and then make half a sandwich with some soup. Avoid fattening things like fries, nachos, soft serve, etc. Do not drink soda with your meal! Drink only water or unsweetened iced tea.
Do not let stress and excitement be an occasion for eating. Are you truly hungry? Rate on a scale from 1-10 how hungry you are. If you aren't hungry, then why are you eating that cookie?
Don't eat when distracted, say watching tv or studying. Really focus on what you're chewing and savor the flavor.
Hunger can strike at any time.... so always have healthy snacks lying around your dorm or throw it in your backpack. Fruit, vegetables with hummus, pretzels, almonds, raisins, etc. make a great afternoon or morning snack to tide you over until mealtime.
good luck. I lost 20 pounds my freshman year. I gained it back but hey, I also started drinking. So watch those beers if you do indeed party.
...dumb ass. your metabolism is slowing down. and weight can fluctuate 5-6 lbs daily
i thought this was gonna be an advice post on how to gain 6 pounds in one week :(
@apples2apples - Yeah, don't eat at night because you're most inactive at night (unless you're exercising late at night before eating big meals). If all you do is study late at night and eat at night, you'll gain weight because you aren't burning off the calories. You're supposed to eat big in the morning, eat a decent lunch, and a small dinner. Try not to have any food 3 hours before you sleep. All of it just gets stored as fat as you sleep.
@zzzzzulavalle@xanga - that's what I thought! I was on a high protein diet for the summer and could only gain a good 10 pounds from end of June - September.
Your weight can fluctuate up to 5lb daily just depending on the volume of food you have eaten, whether it's TTOM, if you've eaten too much sodium or not had enough water.
Gaining 6lb of fat in a week is damn near impossible, so don't stress it.
how much do you weigh and what is your height? You didnt really gain anything it fluctates, maybe you shouldnt weigh yourself everyday its not needed an its only going to stress you out.
I'm 111.8 lbs and 5'6"
Wow, I can't believe how rude, bitchy, and judgmental most of these comments are. I would be willing to bet that it's water weight. A similar thing happened to me a few weeks ago. I was very sick and had no appetite, and I actually did not eat for 2.5 days. I just drank water and then even when I started eating again, I just had chicken soup and fruit. And I gained 6 pounds during that week. It can happen, and that's why I get so sick of the "Durr lay off the donuts and work out" comments. It's not your body, you don't know this person's daily habits and you're not their doctor, so consider fucking off.
Rant over, sorry. Moral of the story is that if it's water weight, you can just wait for your body to release it naturally or you can take a diuretic to speed up the process. The week after I was sick I then lost 5 pounds that week just by eating normally. Your body could just be freaking out from stress or change or something. Good luck!
@npr32486@xanga - The first part of your comment is not true for everyone. Yes, it is a good universal rule of thumb, but everyone's body functions differently and I have actually gained weight before without eating (and on rare occasions have lost weight when I wasn't working out or watching my diet closely). Every person does not function exactly the same.
Funny how nearly everyone assumes its from eating too much. 21,000 extra calories on top of the body's requirement is nearly impossible to consume and certainly impossible to consume and not realize it, seriously. Hey, I fluctuate anywhere from 0.5lbs to 4lbs on a given day dependent on: using the bathroom, clothing, water retention, menstruation, standing on the scale a different way.
@needmoreink@xanga - Gained weight without eating more? Or without eating... because if you gain weight without eating that's pretty odd. However, if you mean you didn't change your dietary patterns, it is probably because you cut too fast and your body went into survival mode.
@npr32486@xanga - Gained weight without eating, no joke. It pissed me off hardcore! But my systems were completely out of whack. It did end up being water weight but it was still very frustrating.
Wow, where has common courtesy gone?
I'm studying to be a nurse, and some factors to keep in mind is that, as mentioned previously, you would have to consume a SUBSTANTIAL amount of calories to gain 6lbs that is directly derived from food. My educated guess to the weight gain? Water retention/fluid imbalances. What could this be attributed to? Stress, consuming excess sodium, lack of sleep, to name a few. When you notice a significant weight gain like that in such a short amount of time, most likely it's fluid imbalances. Also, I would hope these weight records were measured at the same time of day, preferably when you wake up and after you've gone to the bathroom. Weight can fluctuate throughout the day, but it should not be something like a 6lbs difference. Only other thing that I can think of is thyroid issues (hypothyroidism)...go to the doc or main healthcare provider to double check, it'll give you peace of mind.
@stanlee255@xanga - ahaha i tried eating fast food for a week once a day and i still never gained anything -_-
I hate when people say to eat 5-7 small meals a day at COLLEGE! I have 6 meals a week. And I don't have time to prepare small healthy meals in my tiny dorm room. Where is the college friendly advice for eating healthy?