Do I need to change my eating?

Help.
I have gained 5 pounds in about 3 months. My weight is usually very stable (106, a bit more on weekends). Today it's 110.6. I don't know if it's my diet or physical activity. I know these weights sound low, but i am barely 5' 1." Been eating mostly Paleo since December. All of a sudden, I've sort of lost my taste for so much meat, and I am eating more Mediterranean, although still very little dairy or wheat. I didn't ride as much last year (like a thousand miles less), but I've been going to boot camp, hiking, nordic skiing. Riding season is going to start in earnest for me this weekend, so that might change things. Though, one of my issues is that I get ravenous when I ride or ski a lot. I don't eat junk food at all. most people think I am very disciplined. But, I like to cook, go out quite a bit, and I am not going to starve myself.
It comes down to the fact I don't feel good about the way I look and I am starting to think I need to change something in a big way. I know I am not going to stop going out, as it's part of my social life, but I am not going to MacDonalds... and I don't buy into, the "well, this happens when you get older" theory. When I've been in situations like this before, I get serious, usually about both eating and exercise and I lose a couple of pounds. It's not happening now.
I am hoping some serious riding helps, but lately I've been reading that it's really diet and not exercise that matters. This is one time Ihate being short!

Welp ... I've been cutting out most (but not all) grains for a year or so and feeling a lot better, but I think you've been eating a WHOLE lot more meat than I do. I'll have red meat maybe once a week (sometimes with leftovers into the next day) and fish or poultry another one or two meals. We also go out quite a bit, and since I'm particular about what meat I'll eat and we don't have a raw food restaurant nearby, that usually winds up being either fish, or vegetarian heavy on the grains. Too much meat and I just feel logy, unless I'm in a VERY heavy training phase, and even then we're talking about meat three meals a week for no more than a couple-three weeks in a row.

What if you put more emphasis on calories from green vegetables? It helps that you like to cook, since getting a lot of calories from vegetables means a lot of prep time.

This is basically what I've been thinking about. My normal diet, before I started eating the Paleo way was very much like yours. Beef once every 2 weeks or so, lots of fish, chicken, and veggies, with some vegetarian meals in between. I like beans, soy, etc. and since I don't have any breast cancer hx in my family, I don't restrict it, while I don't overdo it, either. I do eat a lot more veggies than I used to, including lots of asparagus, kale, Brussel sprouts, broccoli. I do have to be careful though, as my "sensitive" stomach can't take too much fiber.
Going back to the former way, and am now going to re-do my grocery list a little! I have no food in my house because we were away last weekend, so I have to do a serious grocery shop. The one time I had to lose serious weight (20-25 lbs) it was by eating vegetarian.

Make sure you are getting enough sleep.

I have struggled with ~ 5 lbs since my office moved late last summer. The change in my daily routine had a big impact -- I could no longer go to the usual delis to get the usual sandwiches or salads for lunch, and the food I was eating instead never seemed to be enough. The increased stress that accompanied the new office location made it worse. (Being in a building with no windows, and thus no visual cues to time of day, also made it worse, I think.)

After much trial and error at the second new office, I am finally in a better routine, in terms of sleep and meals. That seems to be helping.

Good luck.

I went through a short (3 week) period in the middle of this, where I wasn't sleeping well. It was all from the job change, it always happens, and it left fairly quickly compared to last time. And, then there was the stress from the change itself. I wasn't eating more, but my body sometimes rebels against change, even though my mind doesn't!
Feel a bit more motivated now; did intervals on the trainer and stretched, re-did my shopping list, went to the store, and came back to eat a nice lunch of a can of tuna, mixed with mayo/yogurt, chopped apple, carrots in butter lettuce leaves.
Going off to get a pedicure and a haircut. I love having Wednesdays off.

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Originally Posted by Crankin

and I don't buy into, the "well, this happens when you get older" theory.

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About this -- I am finding that it is harder to lose weight as I get older, but not impossible. And I'm finding that I have to eat less at dinner to control my weight. Any weekday exercise that I get is after work, so I need to eat a good breakfast and lunch (splitting lunch in half, with the second half as a late afternoon snack) to prepare for that. But I've had to cut way back at dinner. The exception is if I have a long bike ride planned for the next day. In that case, I need to make sure I eat enough for dinner the night before to prevent being hungry during the ride.

Have you had blood work that included checking thyroid lately? When I was undiagnosed hypothyroid, my weight increased and it was much harder to get back to my normal weight.

I had some blood work done for my endo, who treats my osteoporosis and also has been watching nodules on my thyroid for like, 7 years. I used to have scans done every 6 months/bloodwork, but nothing ever changed, so she said it wasn't necessary. I am actually not seeing her for a year, now since my osteoporosis has improved so much with medication, I don't need to take the meds for year. I don't think the blood work had any thyroid tests, though. If I don't see a change in 2-3 months, I will definitely go see her. She's a runner and gets it.

Update
I've lost 2 pounds in 2 weeks, which is good for me. Gone back to the Mediterranean type diet, semi vegetarian. Cut my portion sizes and trying to ramp up the intensity during all of my work outs, no matter what I am doing. I am finding that if I limit wheat to once a day, I'm OK, or twice a day, if it's some other kind of grain, like spelt or quinoa. I'm also feeling fuller and not craving snacks as much.

Sounds good.

My parents visited me earlier this week. I gained >2 lbs in 2.5 days and only some of it was water. Oh well. Bike ride tomorrow. And though it will get cold again next week, it won't be cold enough to keep me indoors on the couch.

You might some food eliminations for a while to see how that changes things. I eliminated wheat and 90% of dairy and most sugar and it's really made a difference in how I feel. Wheat is a known inflammatory, and I dropped a handful of pounds in the first two weeks I went wheat free. I'm not shopping full on gluten-free, just not eating anything with wheat. I guess you could say I'm eating paleo-ish. Yams and rice are my go-to carbs for now. The most interesting thing is that if I eat any wheat not I feel it almost right away in the development of huge amounts of phlegm. Fwiw, quinoa doesn't seem to agree with me which is a disappointment.


Back to eliminating- once you add back something in after a month or so or not having it at all, you'll know if it a culprit in some aspect of affecting your well being whether it holding into a few pounds, joint inflammations, gas/bloating/ constipation or other issues.

And the whole"you are getting older thing" I too think is BS..... If you are mindful about what you eat, how much you move, and how it makes you feel. One of the best things I ever did was to spend three months tracking very single bite or sip that went into my body. I used an app called My Fitness Pal, and it was a real education. That was about three years ago when I was going after burning off some excess body fat, which I did very sucessfully, and have been able to maintain.

It's been a long hard winter in our area --we've had some dangerously cold (meaning frostbite inducing temp.) and now snow has returned a bit. I haven't cycled as much as other winters.

I eat bread about 1-2 times per wk. or less. I only eat rice um...maybe less than ten times per year. So eating rice is the opposite for me: not good for me at this point in my life. Withdrawing from rice was more in response to a borderline near diabetes 2 reading. Most of the pasta I eat ..tends to be specific types: certain very light Asian pastas and egg white based pasta. We went to a wonderful Italian supermarket and bought some pastas. I had forgotten how heavy Italian pasta was in taste! So I prepare just less of it.

For instance I don't eat rice vermicelli, soba noodles...I just don't feel great afterwards.

Still eat meat ie. a fistful each meal...2-4 times per month. I just haven't cut back on sugar..not good.

Weird as this may seem, I also evaluate my body functioning..by um...my bowel-intestinal functions. Whenever I hear someone is constipated for several days: it's not a good sign. And the older one gets, is to pay attention to this also. Of course cycling and regular exercise is always good for motility. :)

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Originally Posted by Crankin

Update
I've lost 2 pounds in 2 weeks, which is good for me. Gone back to the Mediterranean type diet, semi vegetarian. Cut my portion sizes and trying to ramp up the intensity during all of my work outs, no matter what I am doing. I am finding that if I limit wheat to once a day, I'm OK, or twice a day, if it's some other kind of grain, like spelt or quinoa. I'm also feeling fuller and not craving snacks as much.

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I was thinking about this more. It's interesting that the mostly-paleo diet seems to have been a problem for you, while others lose weight with it.

I would hate to cut back so much on wheat. I do eat less pasta than I used to, but I love my morning waffles and I usually like to have a sandwich for lunch. Since I started working at the new location, I'm finding that Whole Foods is the best place within walking distance to get lunch. Their sandwiches are good and are the right size to get me through to dinner without wanting a snack. It's the snacks that cause the most problems for me. I have been eating more Greek yogurt lately, as part of an effort to get more protein. I suppose that means I've been substituting dairy snacks for grain-based snacks, like granola bars.

Do you eat rice with your semi-Mediterranean diet?

For me I've found that switching up my exercise seems to have more of an effect on my weight. I am on the Primal rather than full Paleo (I do consume some dairy), but I made that switch almost 2 years ago for reasons other than weight. While I've lost and maintained 10-12 pounds, I made the switch for health reasons. For me it's been a real blessing and I feel so good that I'm not tempted by anything outside of really high quality ice cream.

Occasionally my weight does go up a couple of pounds, but most of my exercise is very intense - as yours is Crankin. I recently switched things up by dividing my coaching package between my usual intense strength and conditioning coach and a kettlebell coach. Both have quite different styles. Almost immediately after making the switch I dropped the stubborn 3 pounds I gained a few months back and I am back to 125. I had suspected that was from too much of the same good thing - and that seems to have proved it. I've noted this in the past, when I do the same type thing - even highly intense exercise that is constantly changing - I seem to hit a plateau that might be from "too much of a good thing" without proper rest. Or perhaps just too much of the same intensity level? Not that my KB lifting training isn't intense but it is a very different activity.

Irulan, I added wheat and other grains back in to my diet, because as NY said, Paleo-ish type eating seems to make me gain. I have lost 5-10 lbs other times by doing about 2 weeks of no grains and then slowly adding in only true whole wheat or spelt grains. For me, based on my physical 2 years ago, which is when I last experimented with Paleo, it increased my total cholesterol a lot, and I find I just can't maintain that kind of eating. I've only had to lose a lot (20-25lbs) once in my life, when I was 25 years old and I did it by eating 90% vegetarian, with some fish. It's sort of what I am doing now, except I am limiting the types of grains I eat more. I don't feel badly with grains, in fact I am feeling pretty good right now!
Catrin, your exercise is more intense than mine. I do the boot camp 2X a week, which is crazy hard for me, but I could ride a lot more and/or harder. This year, I've made the decision to ride a little harder and lots more. I found a training plan I like, for those wanting to lose a small amount of weight, but truthfully, once I get out there, it all goes out the window. I've come to the conclusion that the hills around here are my intervals. There's one, maybe 2 flatter routes I can do, and I will *try* to do some intervals here, but I find the ups and downs of 5-12% grades is about all I can take. One of my other goals is to ride more with my groups, which definitely pushes me.

Another update.
It's been about 5 weeks since I switched up my eating and about a month since I've been riding outside. My weight is now down to 107.2, my usual set point. It's like a switch has turned on and I can do it.
A couple of things. Moderate intesity rides and commuting 1-2X a week seem to have helped a lot. I'm doing one or two longer/harder ride a week, too. Been watching portion sizes a bit more, especially at dinner. My goal is to get to 105, so I have some wiggle room, but I feel good now.