ok why did i gain like 8-10 pounds? im trying to LOSE weight..this is long please read though?

First of all, calm down, don't be so hard on yourself. You are nearing the edge of self-loathing, not self-improvement. It seems like in the past you've used food to fill an emotional void. Don't think that having a boyfriend is less complicated or more fulfilling. You're going to have to learn how to at least like and accept yourself regardless of your weight. This may sound weird, but you may have to accept the possibility of failure of your goals in order to be set free from the anxiety that they are creating in your life, because the anxiety is not helping. Confidence is what will help you, you'll have to build it by rebuilding trust in yourself first.

It's not always what you eat, but how much you eat. Are you counting calories or just thinking that what you're eating is okay? YOU MUST COUNT CALORIES, calories in, calories out, if you want to lose weight. It takes something like burning 3600 calories to lose one pound of weight. That can be one week's worth of exercise, because of course you need calories to stay healthy. You can calculate how many calories a day you want to eat in order to lose weight in a certain number of days on the internet, there are "calorie calculators" just google the term.

In using the bowflex, use it for circuit training. Find a weight where you can do 8-12 repetitions in one minute. Get a timer or even a big analog clock with a second hand. Do 10-12 different exercises, varying between your upper and lower body with each exercise. This builds muscle and helps tone, not for bulk but to help "unleash" the calorie burning powerhouses that are your muscles. Only do this every other day.

on days when you do circuit training, do 30 minutes of cardio the following way. On days where you do no circuit weights, do 1 hour of cardio the following way. You say you can do powerwalking, so do it the following way. Get a watch with a timer or a stopwatch.After a good stretch (30 seconds a stretch for each muscle group) start off walking as hard and as fast as you can for 2 minutes. Then bring it back down to a brisk but more comfortable speed for two minutes, then push it hard for another two, follow this pattern for your workout. If (or when) this isn't challenging enough, make it 3 minute intervals, then four (I'm not talking within the same workout, but weeks, maybe months down the road, as you progress.) Once you get to four, then you start walking three minutes hard, two minutes easier, etc. ALWAYS end this workout with five minutes on "easy" to cool down your muscles. Make sense? I hope so.

I'm not sure about the ab lounge as far as what kind of exercises you do. In case you can do a variety, treat it like the circuit training and do it on the same days you do circuit training, one day on, next day off. One minute, although 8-12 repetitions might increase to more since I doubt you can increase resistance on the ab lounge. But it can likely be a useful too anyway.

So you'll spend about one hour and fifteen minutes a day total with workouts including stretching, weights every other day, cardio and cool down. You will see results from this; I can't say what kind of results you're getting now because I can't see how you're doing it. It sounds like you did gain some muscle from 4-6 hours a day with your friends. Don't fret; muscles are powerhouses that burn calories. Just know that now you have a more targeted method to lose weight and get fit.

Also you are fourteen, you are still growing. You got taller, that does account for some of your weight gain. Teenagers are hungry people, I remember that from my days as a teen. Just try to fill yourself with healthier foods, and really ask yourself when you are full and when you are just eating for pleasure. Man being a teenager is a difficult period in life, there is so much growth in so many areas. You will look back one day and hopefully just be proud of yourself for having survived it. And remember that the colder months of the year can make it more challenging to workout, so be forgiving and don't give up, remember that Spring is around the corner to re-invigorate your mind and body.

My final suggestion is that you find a hobby, something to help you build confidence. Forget about boys for a while, do something you love. Explore something you love, whether it is learning how to cook or how to ride a horse or how to give a great massage or sew or play chess or cards or whatever. Even finding a mystery novel series you love to read and reading every single book. Even picking a subject in school where you're not doing so well and choosing to get really, really good at it, something like math. (Danica MacKellar has a great book about math for young women your age to help demystify the subject.) Achieving something on your own, at your own pace, will help build the confidence you need to make you feel attractive, which will help you out.

Very best of luck to you, don't beat yourself up, and don't give up!

Well you aren't tooo specific about what you are eating. Roughly how many calories? If you trying to lose weight I would aim for 1200-1500 calories a day. Sometimes you can eat more, you have the right to indulge. Just make it an occasional thing.... like a few times a month.

And excersize is really the key to losing weight. It sounds like you've changed your fitness habits lately and have lost some weight so that's good.. its working. But if you want better, faster results your going to have to workout more. Swimming is great! And speed walking is good too.. although running would be ideal. If your not ready to run, you should ease your way into it and once you've shed a little weight try jogging a bit. Whatever excersize you can get it is good, try to get an hour a day.

Don't give up! I've been struggling with my weight fluctuating ever since freshman year, and I think Im finally getting it together.

Throw away your scale, if your clothes get loose then you know you're loosing weight, but scales really mess you up.

Eat more protein, less sugar(less pasta, bread, candy, junk), more veggies and fruit. Drink water, that's a great start. Don't limit how much you eat, just make sure it's all healthy, eat until you're full and then try to stop but if you feel the need to keep eating then just tell yourself that you're just going to eat veggies... That should be boring enough to make you find something else to do.

Don't go by what the scale says, OR, weigh yourself once a month on the day after your period is completely over. Otherwise there are way too many variables, your range is going to be crazy so there's no guarantee of accuracy. The best way to tell if you're making a difference is to measure your hips, waist, upper arms and thighs at their biggest points and do it once a week. Just go walking, drink water, do aerobic stuff but NO weight training unless you want to build muscle.

It wont happen over night. But you'll see a difference every week. You just have to wait and stick to your plan. If you mess up, just start over again the next day. The worst thing to do is to give up. Every day you do right is another day of healthiness under your belt. Don't underestimate the importance of every little healthy act, they all add up, just like the chips and ice cream added up. Only now you're adding up healthy acts instead of unhealthy acts. You can do it.

Oh and don't forget, take the holidays off, don't kill yourself over it. Eat junk on Valentines day and LOVE EVERY BITE OF IT. But then stop the next day. Throw out the chocolate, just have it one day and enjoy it. Same goes for Christmas and New Years.

Good luck hun, buy that bikini and hang it up in your room for inspiration!

It's called WILL POWER. We all have it but few of us have ever used it. I lost 20 2 years ago and kept it off. I assume your goal is somewhere around 110-120 pounds. You are going to have to go on a strict diet. You don't have to starve yourself just trade the junk for good calories(celery,bananas,whole wheat bread etc. NO SOFT DRINKS). Your body will adjust to your diet within a few days but make sure you are eating enough and not starving. Next is intense exercise. Start out slow and work your way up. You don't have to have a gym membership but it helps. You need to run, do pushups, and do abdominal workouts. Set an athletic goal such as running a 5k or being able to do a pull up etc. After a couple of weeks working out gets easier. Finally educat yourself on nutrition and exercise. The internet is full of good sites such as RUNNERS WORLD.It probably will take a year or two for you to get a smoking body but time flys. Use your WILL POWER! Stay motivated.

Alright so I'm not going to sit here and tell you from some already fit person's point of view or a personal trainer's point of view. I am in school to be a dietitian and although I am not one yet, I am going to explain to you what worked for me from what I have learned.

Being 14 itself is going to pose an issue. Your body itself is still growing and changing and this may just be an awkward time for you. There isn't anything you can do about this. However, you can prepare your body for what is ahead once your hormones aren't as "raging" one could say.

My first suggestion is BREAKFAST! It is literally by far one of the best things you could give your body, next to good ol' water. Try to get a cereal not too high in sugar like Fruit Loops. I know they are good but I've been eating Special K and Kellogg's Smart Start. The Special K is technically better for weight loss but the regular Smart Start is still very good and high in antioxidants and other essential nutrients. Have this with skim milk. Now whole milk is good but it is adding a very large amount of fat which you don't want.

School is difficult trying to choose food choices so if you can pack a lunch that is great. If you do, make yourself a sandwich with whole wheat bread and maybe some ham. Lunch meats are good but I don't recommend eating the same thing everyday. People like cheese on their sandwiches but I would limit that too. Cheese is high not just in fat but SATURATED fat, aka the bad fat. A fruit is a nice compliment to your lunch also, maybe an apple, orange, heck any fruit! If you are eating school lunch, try to make the obvious choices: grilled over fried, etc. I'm sorry I'm not sure what schools are serving these days.

For dinner, try to add in some proteins like chicken, turkey, but limit red meat because it can have marbling which is fat you don't want. Incorporate veggies and a starch. Your plate should be mainly the veggies and much less the starch and meat.

Overall as far as food choices are concerned, remember, moderation and portion control. Space your meals out and don't eat the same thing everyday. Portion control is a big thing also. I don't care if it's fruit or potato chips, eating too much of anything can cause a weight gain. Also, drink water over fruit drinks because, even the 100% natural juices have a lot of sugar in them. And of course, ditching any carbonated drinks is key. Don't cut out all of your chocolate or sweets or whatever you like because that will make your diet a nightmare to follow. Treat yourself here and there but keep in mind portion control.

You might want to look into counting calories. And to help with getting rid of fat, try not to let any of your meals exceed between 5-8 grams of fat.

As far as exercising, you can literally do ANYTHING! Buy some yoga videos or any of those fitness DVDs out there. What you want to make sure you are doing is getting your heart rate up for approximately an hour every day. It takes about 20 minutes of a moderate intensity exercise before your body starts using fat for fuel. Therefore, if you do an hour, you get 40 minutes of fat burning goodness!

And keep in mind, weigh yourself with as little clothing as possible after you urinate in the morning (not to be obnoxious) but this will give you your true body weight, without the influence of what you ate or drank during the day.

I really hope this helped!

i am a sophmore in highschool and i am a varsity wrestler. i had to cut 20 pounds to make weight for the weight class i want to wrestle (171)...i did it in 4 and a half weeks. its hard but you can do it...first of all you need to have set times where you eat breakfast lunch and dinner everyday, your body digests it easier that way. also watch your sugars, even fruits even though they are good natural sugars you dont want to eat to many sugars after about 4pm or those sugas will turn into fat. try to focus on eating more lean protien in the eavenings like grilled chicken is really good. and set a plan for yourself where you only eat junk food like ice cream 1 time a day and durring that day you have to double your miles on your walk. running is always better than walking but if you dont want to run atleast power walk to keep your heart rate up. also try doing more leg lifts then using your ab lounge i think those things are junk. if you need any more help email me iwrestler32@yahoo.com

omg the same things happening to me, except i dont eat alot anymore, i drink milk for breakfast and then lunch and then have like a little snack for dinner.The thing i've been doing to get rid of this fat is well im always running around the gym whenever we have gym and were playing soccer so its like a a better way fo rme to lose all this fat and whenever i get hungry i just buy game and chew on it-it actually helps. you should probably join a sport or track or ask for gym in your school- if u have a gym in ur school. sorry thts all i can think of. and dont starve urself--trust me..it does not work..or at least for some people! sorry hope i helped though.

Drinking alot of water helps, so your good on that. Your suppost to eat rather small meals. 3 small ones, and 2 snacks, not like junk food or anything. No bread, wheat or stuff like that. good sized meals. Jumping jacks are good, and crunches. Walking is also good. the bowflex would just give you more muscle which you dont want. That is how i losted weight, i weighed 130 and now i weigh 107

Hope this helped!

its stress i got grounded all summer this year and i was so stressed because of everything in my house and i couldnt get out and i gained like 20 pounds and as soon as i got ungrounded i waswasn'tressed anymore and felt better and now im back down to 120, so if you have stress talk to someone about it let it all out and you should feel better and lose the weight! :DD

first, dont get yourself down. second be happy with who you are and how you look. there are many others out there who will wear bikinis and such no matter what they look like

ok, kets focus on a plan....

simple rules and you will see results:

the first two weeks: stop all your fruits to get the sugars out of your body, only eat vegetables that are green in color. stay away from carrots which are carbs and corn which are starch. stop your carbs (bread pasta) and replace with eggs and healthy meats in small servings. drink water before you eat, eat three times a day, and dont eat or snack after 5:50 pm. no sugars, so no sodas or juices. water

after the first two weeks, you can add 1-2 fruits a day and a small serving of pasta, rice, beans, or bread (2 slices) but still 3 meals and the last meal must be before 5:30 pm.

when you work out, walk in the evenings after 5:30 and come back to drink water and now you can drink juice. walk for about 30 minutes to get your heart rate up in the everning. this will speed up your metabolism and do some muscle endurance exercises indoors.

for not stay away from sit ups as this exercise will just build your abs outward, and you want to slim that area down first. if you are tired of drinking just water, drink unsweet tea (hot or cold) dont weigh yourself until you hit your third week. stay focused and you will see results.