Advice? Bloating and weight gain... page

[c_bolton12]

So I have been doing Primal 80/20, or a bit better than that, since February, avoiding gluten entirely except for a few special occassions. Well, last Monday (11 days ago) I started eating pure Paleo and have been getting more and more bloated and have actually gained 3 pounds since I then.

I work out 5-6 days a week, lifting followed by 30-45 minutes of walking/light jogging 3x a week and running/biking/some kind of cardio 2-3x a week. I always stay within my calorie restrictions and in the last 11 days have stayed under 100 carbs a day. I sleep 7-8 hours a night but have still been tired.

Here are two sample eating days...
Yesterday - off day from the gym, except one 30 minute walk with a friend:
-3 egg omlette with bacon, tomato and a little bit of cheese
-Salad with avocado, chicken, tomato, egg and a touch of vinagrette dressing. Cup of watermelon
-2 scrambled eggs, 1.5 cup mixed berries (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries), chocolate milk.
Total: 1,095 calories, 56g fat (43%), 78g protien (27%), 89g carb (30%)

Tuesday - lift and 30 minute light jog (burned a bit over 550 calories between the two things, wore HR monitor)
-Bacon/spinach quiche, cup of red grapes
-1/4 cup Pumpkins seeds
-Chicken fajitas (chicken, red peppers, onions, salsa and whole fat sour cream)
-8oz of rotisserie chicken, 2.5 cups of mixed berries, cup of broccoli, piece of dark chocolate
Total: 1,700 calories, 93g fat (49%), 133g protien (31%), 87g carb (20%)

Any ideas what could be causing this weight gain? It is very frustrating!

[AdamC29]

There aren't a lot of vegetables in your diet (well those 2 days anyway).

Also weight gain is sometimes misleading. It could mean your building muscle which is obviously heavier than fat?

There is a lot of dairy in your diet. you could be dairy intolerant?

Also your first day looks way more calories than 1,095. Your calorie counter could be underestimating.

[ciavyn]

I second Adam. It could be the daily changes of weight going on here...but you eat quite a bit of fruit. Might want to cut back on that a bit and see if anything is different.

[vb66]

Your calories seem low, and based on the stats in your signature, your weight seems quite appropriate for your height.

I'm not sure what would be causing the bloating except maybe the dairy.

[sbhikes]

Overtraining?

[DaisyEater]

By bloating, do you mean gassiness? Because that much fruit would definitely make me toot. Fruit and nuts both do that if I have more than a small serving. I have to watch it when camping. Trail mix makes me a very undesirable tent-mate. Some people have an issue with dairy, too. I'm pretty ok with it in small amounts, but I couldn't drink a cup of chocolate milk. From what I see here, this is not unusual.

Here's your list. I've bolded the things that I commonly affect my digestion if I eat more than just a little:

Yesterday - off day from the gym, except one 30 minute walk with a friend:
-3 egg omlette with bacon, tomato and a little bit of cheese
-Salad with avocado, chicken, tomato, egg and a touch of vinagrette dressing. Cup of watermelon
-2 scrambled eggs, 1.5 cup mixed berries (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries), chocolate milk.
Total: 1,095 calories, 56g fat (43%), 78g protien (27%), 89g carb (30%)

Tuesday - lift and 30 minute light jog (burned a bit over 550 calories between the two things, wore HR monitor)
-Bacon/spinach quiche, cup of red grapes
-1/4 cup Pumpkins seeds
-Chicken fajitas (chicken, red peppers, onions, salsa and whole fat sour cream)
-8oz of rotisserie chicken, 2.5 cups of mixed berries, cup of broccoli, piece of dark chocolate
Total: 1,700 calories, 93g fat (49%), 133g protien (31%), 87g carb (20%)

[c_bolton12]

Thanks guys! By bloating I mean actually being puffed up around my stomach/hips/legs, no gasiness.

I've tried cutting fruit and dairy in the past but it doesn't make much of a difference. I actually feel a lot better when I have some dairy. Maybe I'll try slowing down the training a touch and eating more veggies

[Damiana]

It might be an obvious question but could you be PMSing? I assume from your height/weight that you're female, and I'm going through the same myself. Same weight, just puffed up like a balloon around my middle.

[murthaba]

So I have been doing Primal 80/20, or a bit better than that, since February, avoiding gluten entirely except for a few special occassions. Well, last Monday (11 days ago) I started eating pure Paleo and have been getting more and more bloated and have actually gained 3 pounds since I then.

I work out 5-6 days a week, lifting followed by 30-45 minutes of walking/light jogging 3x a week and running/biking/some kind of cardio 2-3x a week. I always stay within my calorie restrictions and in the last 11 days have stayed under 100 carbs a day. I sleep 7-8 hours a night but have still been tired.

Here are two sample eating days...
Yesterday - off day from the gym, except one 30 minute walk with a friend:
-3 egg omlette with bacon, tomato and a little bit of cheese
-Salad with avocado, chicken, tomato, egg and a touch of vinagrette dressing. Cup of watermelon
-2 scrambled eggs, 1.5 cup mixed berries (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries), chocolate milk.
Total: 1,095 calories, 56g fat (43%), 78g protien (27%), 89g carb (30%)

Tuesday - lift and 30 minute light jog (burned a bit over 550 calories between the two things, wore HR monitor)
-Bacon/spinach quiche, cup of red grapes
-1/4 cup Pumpkins seeds
-Chicken fajitas (chicken, red peppers, onions, salsa and whole fat sour cream)
-8oz of rotisserie chicken, 2.5 cups of mixed berries, cup of broccoli, piece of dark chocolate
Total: 1,700 calories, 93g fat (49%), 133g protien (31%), 87g carb (20%)

Any ideas what could be causing this weight gain? It is very frustrating!

Chicken, bacon, onions, broccoli, chocolate, milk etc., they all can cause you some bloat in varying degrees.


EDIT: I just found this article through Google. I hope you find it helpful:

5 Foods That Cause Bloating

Unless you are suffering from some terrible stomach disease (in which case, you need the attention of a physician), your stomach bloating is probably just a result of some of your poor food habits. Often, replacing the bad foods (that cause bloating) with healthier substitutes can offer you permanent relief from bloating and flatulence. In this article, I will tell you about the foods that can make your stomach bloated and constipated! Don't be surprised if some of these foods form the core of your daily diet!

Processed Foods: Processed foods such as carbonated drinks (energy drinks, soft drinks, diet soda, diet coke, etc), potato chips, coffee, tea, alcohol (especially beer and wine), etc., can be the cause of stomach bloating. They are at best - avoided!

Meat: Meat is pretty hard to digest; no wonder that meat eaters are some of the biggest sufferers of abdominal bloating! Then again, how you consume meat is also a determining factor in whether you would be able to digest or not. Raw meat is perhaps the easiest one to digest, but hey, a human being usually cannot eat raw meat, so let us not kid ourselves! The second best option is to boil meat, which is probably the closest form of 'digestible' cooked meat you could have. If you eat heavily fried meat then it is going to cause rumblings and gas in your stomach. Meat in smoked form is generally considered to be the one that is hardest to digest, and therefore, should be avoided at all costs!

Of course, it is not just meat that is to blame for stomach troubles; in fact, just about any kind of fatty foods can trigger abdominal bloating, gas and constipation!

Milk: Milk is one of the causes behind an unhealthy stomach, and so is any dairy product (such as cheese)! The fact remains that a lot of adults are in general lactose-intolerant, a condition where one cannot digest lactose (of milk). It is therefore, little surprise indeed that people who drink milk heavily are the ones who suffer from bloating pretty frequently. Undigested milk often results in stomach bloating and gas! Personally, I stay away from milk no matter what, but if you cannot live without milk at all, then stuff such as Lactaid (which is available over-the-counter) can help you digest lactose!

Natural Foods: Of course, even if you never drink milk, it does not mean that you won't suffer from abdominal bloating at all! There are a lot of solid foods that have been scientifically proven to be the cause of bloating; examples of such foods are beans, bran, lentils, bagels, broccoli, legumes, cabbage, onions, Brussels sprouts, pulses, cauliflower, etc. It would be good if you don't eat these foods at all, unless of course you enjoy farting and belching in public!

And you thought that any kind of natural food is good for your stomach? If so, you better think again!

Especially for beans, there is a way to keep them from forming gas in your stomach. Soak the beans in water and leave them like that for one whole night. Then, discard the water and cook them for at least thirty minutes. Once done, discard the water you used in boiling these beans and then cook them again for another thirty minutes - using NEW water!

Then there are certain foods which are known to cause slight bloating; while a moderate intake of such foods should not cause a problem, their overconsumption may certainly result in irritable bowel syndrome! Such foods are apricots, bananas, raw apples, citrus fruits (rich in Vitamin C), lettuce, potatoes, wheat bread, celery, carrots, cucumbers, eggplants, pretzels, soybeans, raisins, etc.

Chocolate: If you love chocolate, I have got bad news for you. Since it cannot be easily digested by your stomach (one of the reasons being the presence of high concentration of sugar in it), it makes a mess of your digestive system. I know how you feel about reading this, but believe me, I love dark chocolates, but even I usually stay away from them; occasionally, whenever I break that rule and grab a bite of chocolate, I start suffering from irritable bowel syndrome! Bottom line, eating chocolate means inviting stomach trouble!

Other Culprits: These culprits are not foods but still, are indirectly related to foods, which is why I thought to elaborate on it on a separate paragraph. If you eat foods too fast, and don't chew them well, you are forcing your stomach to work harder to digest that 'unchewed' food, which in turn would result in stomach gas.

Bloating is also sometimes caused by parasites; believe it or not, parasites inhabit the surfaces of most of the fruits and vegetables we consume daily; you can discard these parasites by washing the foods well before cooking them! If you are not washing your food well, those parasites would certainly entire your digestive tract and wreak havoc inside by giving you a bloated stomach!

Then of course, there is constipation to consider. Foods that trigger constipation are often also the ones that can trigger stomach bloating; for this reason, such foods should be avoided, or at best, their intake moderated. If you suffer from chronic constipation, you should visit a physician urgently, as chances are that this is the root cause behind your current digestion problems!

Article Source: http://totalinfotips.com/bloating/5-foods-bloating.php

[PHaselow]

So I have been doing Primal 80/20, or a bit better than that, since February, avoiding gluten entirely except for a few special occassions. Well, last Monday (11 days ago) I started eating pure Paleo and have been getting more and more bloated and have actually gained 3 pounds since I then.

I work out 5-6 days a week, lifting followed by 30-45 minutes of walking/light jogging 3x a week and running/biking/some kind of cardio 2-3x a week. I always stay within my calorie restrictions and in the last 11 days have stayed under 100 carbs a day. I sleep 7-8 hours a night but have still been tired.

Here are two sample eating days...
Yesterday - off day from the gym, except one 30 minute walk with a friend:
-3 egg omlette with bacon, tomato and a little bit of cheese
-Salad with avocado, chicken, tomato, egg and a touch of vinagrette dressing. Cup of watermelon
-2 scrambled eggs, 1.5 cup mixed berries (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries), chocolate milk.
Total: 1,095 calories, 56g fat (43%), 78g protien (27%), 89g carb (30%)

Tuesday - lift and 30 minute light jog (burned a bit over 550 calories between the two things, wore HR monitor)
-Bacon/spinach quiche, cup of red grapes
-1/4 cup Pumpkins seeds
-Chicken fajitas (chicken, red peppers, onions, salsa and whole fat sour cream)
-8oz of rotisserie chicken, 2.5 cups of mixed berries, cup of broccoli, piece of dark chocolate
Total: 1,700 calories, 93g fat (49%), 133g protien (31%), 87g carb (20%)

Any ideas what could be causing this weight gain? It is very frustrating!

What in your diet listed above is new or increased?

Weight fluctuates for some much more than for others. I echo what others have said: that is a ton of fruit sugar and processed sugar in the chocolate milk. Try reducing those two and adding some fat.

It is so frustrating, I know! Work through it. Your body is telling you something and you need to play detective for a bit. If you suspect a certain food, eliminate it completely for a week and see what happens. I mean 100%.