Weight-Loss I'm stuck...

[Belleindigo]

I'm 5'3 - 5'4 (I'm not sure)
I weigh 164
I'm a 21 year old female

So I caught this trait from my grandmother where I only eat about half of any meal I get. I've been that way all my life. After high school, I moved out of my mom's house. That's when I started gaining weight like no other. I used to be 120 at age 18 and even THEN I thought I was "fat."

It was gradual so I didn't really take much notice. But now of course I'm having back pain, depression, stretch marks on my legs, etc etc. I started dancing and doing strength exercises a few months ago, but there's been absolutely NO change. I've been 164 or less since November of last year.

The only thing that's changed since high school are my eating habits. I ate more then. Because the school served breakfast and lunch and it's easy to go about making dinner when your mother buys the groceries. I don't know the first thing about eating healthy and I wouldn't have the money to keep that up if I did. My town doesn't sell "organic" anything and it's so small that the farmer's market is only open once a year and it's not what you'd call a "market." Haha

Anyway, could the weight gain be from eating less? And if so, do you have any advice about grocery shopping?

 

[Jeanette401]

When you say you ate more, how were you measuring? Do you know how many calories you were eating?

It's unlikely the gain is from eating fewer calories, although it could be from your food choices and it could be from less 'non exercise activity'. I.e. walking to classes etc.

I wouldn't worry about organic, but I'd recommend two things.

1) Buy plenty of fibrous veggies. Things like asparagus, broccoli, kale, lettuce, celery, etc. (As opposed to getting most of your veggies from potato). Also get plenty of lean protein sources like chicken breasts, lean cuts of meat etc. but cut back on processed meats like sausage, bacon etc. Reduce the pizza, pasta, breads etc.
2) Track what you eat on a site like fitday.com or livestrong so you can actually see how many calories you're eating. Ideally, get a food scale so you can weigh the food and not just guess at portion sizes.