how did I gain weight?
 

I walked at least 4 miles a day, and that is the minimum and except for a daily gelato, I didnt over indulge at all. I dont think one ice cream a day can put on 5 pounds, at least not with all of the walking I did. I know it may not seem like a big deal, I just dont see how in the world I could have gained 5 pounds when all I did was walk and I didnt over eat. Has this happened to anyone else? I was in Italy for almost 2 months and constantly on the go.

It could be just water weight. It's not uncommon for a woman's weight to vary by up to 5 pounds due only to water retention.
Probably nothing to worry about :-)

Ha ha ha! Did you just turn 50?

No Holly, I will be 26 this coming autumn.

(My comment was meant for the OP.)

There is only one answer to the question "how did I gain weight?"

And that is that you ate too much food for your activity level. No one likes to hear this, but it's as old as time, true as can be, and no mystery at all.

so if that's you TexasAggie posting as Italianissima(?) well i clearly remember on another post something about 3 gelattos a day along with a couple slices of pizza. that'll do it ;-)

Have you missed a period, (and I'm not talking grammar here)? When I was a student in Florence, I lost 23 lbs without even trying in a 3-4 month span of time. I credit it to healthier eating and fewer between-meal snacks.

BC

oh mine was for the OP as well, i got confused by that 4th post in line

I'm actually 20. LOL, now you all probably just think I'm a young girl overly concerned about her weight. I know it sounds like I'm making too much of something small, I just dont see how it happened when all I did was walk and I didnt over eat. I hope it goes away. Maybe it is water weight. :-/ Though I've been home for 4 days now, so I dont know if the scale could still be reading water weight. Im trying to eat very healthy and I've been back to the gym. I just dont see why I didnt come back 5 lbs lighter!

Are your clothes tighter or fit the same? If so, you may have put on muscle.

Walking, an aerobic exercise, will help expend calories but if you didn't keep up any kind of a weight program, you may have lost muscle which keeps your metabolism up so that you burn more even when resting.

I lost weight while in France and was so happy that I ate a box of French chocolates upon returning - well, you know what happened.

Bookchick, I didnt want to put anything too personal out there that would skeeve out others, but since you mentioned it, I actually did skip a period. It's odd because I have never been late before (and yes I'm sure that I'm not pregnant) Are you implying the weight gain has something to do with my system not cleansing itself this month like it was supposed to?

Ronda beat me to it--I'll bet you toned up your legs, and muscle weighs more than fat. It's usually best to go by how your clothes fit and how you feel than by the dreaded scale.

suze,

Before you go accusing me of being another poster you might look at previous posts by both of us. Doing so would have alerted you that your accusation was <b>absurd</b>.

Not only have I been posting regularly since my return from my last trip but you can easily see from my posts that my last trip was for 2 weeks, NOT 2 months. Furthermore, if you read posts by the OP you would have found her trip report where she described studying abroad in Italy for a couple months.

So... where on earth did you come up with your idea of me being the OP?? Really, you should find better things to do with your time. And since you brought it up, yes I am blessed to be able to eat whatever I want and not gain weight. But I work out 5 or 6 days a week (running primarily) and I think that has a lot to do with it.

I was merely trying to reassure the OP that the weight gain might merely have been water retention. Women really can legitimately &quot;gain&quot; up to 5 pounds of water weight depending on their menstrual cycle. So it might really not be that the OP ate too much or exercise too little. A few days ought to be sufficient to know.

Nope. My clothes still all fit the same. Nothing tighter. However, does everyone really agree with the whole muscle more than fat notion? I've heard that before but dont really know if its true.

All sorts of possibilities, Italianissima, but most likely you were not eating the same foods in Italy that you eat at home. Maybe a bit more pasta, a bit more cheese, a bit more wine, etc. You may not have &quot;overindulged&quot; but there may have been more calories in the quantity of food you ate.

And, as a matter of fact, one ice cream a day over 60 days will put on 5 lbs. There are about 3500 calories in a pound. So 5 lbs = 17,500 calories. Divided by 60 days, that's about 300 calories a day extra. Very easy to do, I'm sorry to say!

You may have walked 4 miles per day, but if you are a regular gym-goer at home, you may not have burned as many calories walking as working out, especially if you do any sort of aerobics.

I've heard the muscle weighs more than fat too and it seems logical based on my experience. I weigh 7 pounds more than I did in high school but now I wear a size 4 instead of a size 6. My exercise in high school was mainly cheerleading, dance, and the like... whereas now I work out with weights and run several days a week. So... I'm a smaller size but I actually weigh more.

Also, if you did miss a period (and there are other reasons to miss one besides being pregnant), then yes - your body could be retaining a lot more water. Are you rings a little tight on your fingers? That is an easy indication of water retention for most.

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suze, I just saw your second post. I'm assuming that meant you no longer think I am the OP? :-)

Marilyn, you just ruined my day (as I sit here eating a Fudgesickle). Please no stats about Starbucks Vanilla Lattes, or you'll ruin my whole winter.


:D

&lt;where on earth did you come up with your idea of me being the OP??&gt;

whoa girl... if you read the first four posts on this thread, you answered a question that Holly asked the OP. It was confusing.

&lt;Really, you should find better things to do with your time.&gt; Well that's sure as h*ll not going to be to doing a background check on each poster before answering on a thread.

And, please do correct me if I'm wrong but did you not mention something about gelatto 3 times a day in a recent discussion, no?

Sorry, Jocelyn. :-(
It doesn't make me very happy, either. The trick, of course, is to figure out how to eat 300 calories a day LESS. (Or how to burn 300 calories a day more.)

Hey Suze,

I never said you were wrong about me mentioning eating pizza and gelatto 3 (sometimes 4 - I will admit it!) times a day in that other post. But... on that same thread (just as mentioned above), I also clarified that I have never had an issue with gaining a pound in Europe. I work very hard at exercising and maintaining my current weight and I'm sure my age helps too. So... I just don't understand why (how?) you thought I was posing as the OP? I can tell you with all honesty that I have asked some embarrassing questions (you should read my first post about hot pants!!) on this board but I have never posed as someone else.

I did re-read my post and I meant to delete a few things (I edited and previewed but my changes didn't show up on what posted for some reason...??). My response certainly came out a lot meaner than I ever intended and I am sorry for that.