exercise bike or new clothes help?

I say get some pretty new clothes and spend a fiver on Jillian Micheal's 30 Day Shred, as long as you don't have bad knees (no need to do it for thirty days straight, that was a marketing ploy.  Just a couple of times a week will be sufficient, especially if you're just starting to work out).

Also, if you have acid/bloating problems, try switching to a cleaner diet.  I have IBS and clean eating has cut down loads on the bloat and discomfort.  I'm guessing the gain is water retention/bloat and not actual fat, because you'd need to eat 35,000 calories to gain 10lbs of fat, and even if you were constantly eating sugar and butter, it's not physically possible to gain that much fat in three days!

I'm sorry you're feeling so down on yourself right now *hugs*.  I know it won't fix everything, but I think if you get some nice clothes, eat fresh and work out a couple of times a week it might help you at least feel a bit better.

try gumtree for free/cheap exercise bikes. I was going to buy one but got it free after asking on fb. try free cycle as well 🙂 good luck!

I agree with Intemp 100% - the weight gain could not possibly be actual 'body fat', so it must be something in the way your body is processing food/drink at the moment that's causing the bloatedness.  Intemp, you also mention IBS, and I can relate!  This is not a substitute for a cleaner diet, but I have taken probiotics now everyday for the last several years, and it helps loads with digestion and the bloated feeling/appearance.

And this is not a substitute for a healthier diet, but just from experience, I find that if my body craves something, it's for a reason, as long as I don't go overboard.  I've tried loads of 'healthy' diets, trying to force myself to stick to them, such as high-fibre especially, and my body doesn't respond well; I feel heavy and sluggish and do not process the food properly.  If I keep a balanced diet of cleaner and easy-to-digest foods, and listen to my inner signals a bit more, then my body seems happier!

And by all means, take up some exercise, just to feel good and gain some extra energy, but be easier on yourself because what you describe does not at all sound like permanent 'weight gain' and will probably be shed quickly if you hit the right balance of diet and exercise and positive thinking.

:-*

Just to let you know you can find the 30 day shred videos on youtube!

See that's what I've been telling myself too but it won't go away!!! I've had a ton of stomach problems since I was younger and I have really bad anxiety from it and I guess you could say an faring disorder. But recently ive started eating a bit cleaner and it still hasn't gone away ):  but at the same time I know its litterly impossible to gain the weight I did as fast as I did. I'm also having some heart related issues at the moment so I'll probably ask my doctor about my stomach again when I go in to my ekg and echo. And I live in Japan so I don't think we have free cycle her ): we do have a big online yard sale site tho and I found a few bikes in the 80-150 range and think I'm gonna end up getting one of those. I would love to do the 30 day shred workout but I am so out of shape I don't think I could even manage it lol. I have an Xbox kinet and a zumba game tho so maybe I will add then in with the exercise bike. (: I'm gonna go out tomorrow and find a really nice pair of jeans too cuz I think that will make me feel a lot better too (:

I went out today and bought 2 new dresses and a pair of shoes and am gonna spend the rest of my money on an exercise bike (: now hopefully when I get my hair done on Wednesday it doesn't turn out terrible!

Moderator combined posts.

Good luck =D

It sounds like water retention. I retained so much water (plus swelling) after my first  (botched) c section, after having an almost 9lb baby somehow I was 28lbs heavier! I was so, so swollen everywhere it was so painful I felt like I had plastic wrap wrapped tight around all of my skin. I felt like a water balloon. Theonly thing that helped was getting up and moving, and I drank decaffeinated green tea and lots of water. I ripped out my IV with fluid because I was just getting bigger and bigger and bigger. Just keep flushing yourself out with fluids, avoid salt, and try to be more active, even if it's just taking a walk for a half hour a day until you an get a bike.

I had the same problem when I started on anti depressants. I went from 98lbs (I'm very small ) to 120lbs in a few weeks! (size 6 to size 10 changa) exercise helped a bit but I really had to watch what I ate as carbs and starchy foods which I was fine with before started making me retain water and absorb fat quicker than before. You need to find a good diet which helps balance your weight again. I dropped normal pasta for wholemeal and stopped eating bread and that helped a lot.
the 30 day shred is really good but the one that helped me the most to lose those extra pounds was insanity. I am still 115lbs but its mostly muscle now. I have gone back to my size 6 from before the anti depressants.

insanity is so good! have a look in your area for similar work outs, I do metabolic HIT which is very similar and my oh my you're pooped at the end!! I prefer to work out in a class (but I don't mind at all if I don't know anyone...I actually prefer it lol) so it's good for me. I love it i can feel myself becoming healthier after just 3 weeks

I have a recumbent bike & other bikes for outdoors, I really miss outdoors right now!!! I need a walk, I like the distraction of nature to look at while I am working out. If I think I am searching for owls or something it is more fun :D.  You can try whatever you feel most comfy with & switch it up. Little by little. Cheers to you.

I would love to try insanity but I really don't think I can get myself motivated enough!! I am seriously seriously out of shape tho lol I got a recumbent bike for 75 dollars and its pretty nice!!! It killssssss my knees tho but I just have to take a break every few minutes and I can start riding again for a bit. I have a zumba workout game for my Xbox kinect too that is fun but very hard! My best friend was doing yoga for a few months she lost a ton of weight and looks soooo good just from doing the power yoga and when I did it with her it didn't really even feel like we were working out nearly as hard as we were which was nice! I had a sonogram when I initially gained the weight so they could check my gall bladder and they didn't see anything abnormal unfortunetly. I take an anti emetic called phenagran multiple times s day tho and have wondered if it could be causing the bloating possibly. Who knows!!! I'm really really really trying to get my diet under control as well and have cut out a decent amount of junk and have added beef and veggies in too but so far I haven't seen much change! I'm gonna keep at it tho and see if it eventually gets better ((:

If you like power yoga and/or if you have knee problems, I really recommend Jillian Michael's Yoga Meltdown (I know, that's two of her DVD's I've recommended).  It's low impact, but it's still a very hard workout!  You can find it on youtube, at least, level 1 is on there, not sure if level 2 was ever uploaded (level 2 is well hard, though, I'd start with just level 1 if you're not used to it).

Oh I'll deff have to check that out then!! Thank you ((:

Yeah, someone on here recommended it to me ages ago when high-impact workouts aggravated an old knee injury.  I lost about sixty pounds from alternating Yoga Meltdown with an exercise bike when my knees were weaker--I've now lost enough extra weight and built up enough muscle to support my knee that I can go back to higher impact workouts.