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I am a 36 year old mom of two. I gained a lot of weight while having children, and when my youngest was 1 year old, I decided to try and lead a healthier lifestyle. I went on Atkins and lost 40 pounds, kept it off for 1 year, and then quit smoking through sheer willpower. However, in the year and a half since quitting smoking, I have gained 50 pounds, and now weigh 240 at 5'7". I'm pulling my hair out trying to figure out where this weight is coming from.
I usually eat a high protein breakfast, like 2 boiled eggs and a protein shake. (This is the only thing I've found will keep me from starving the rest of the day.) Lunch is usually soup and salad, snack is usually cheese and nuts or a mini bag of popcorn. Dinner is balanced with protein, veg, and a moderate portion of carbs. We eat out one meal a week and never fast food. I eat little to no junk food, very little sugar, only drink water, tea, and coffee (with truvia), have an alcoholic drink about twice a month (usually red wine), and take multivitamins. I have a full-time sedentary desk job, but I try and make it to the gym 2-3 times a week to walk for an hour. I get 7 or 8 hours of sleep a night and am not tired during the day.
I get regularly scheduled checkups with bloodwork, and everything is normal. Blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar, thyroids, cortisol, all normal. My doc doesn't know what to tell me because all my tests are good. Everything seems to be working just fine, but I keep getting fatter. In the past year I have tried Atkins again, tried counting calories on MyFitnessPal, even dropped $2K on mail order diet food, but the scale keeps going up instead of down.
How are your clothes fitting? What about the BLTs? (bites, licks and tastes) Are you being consistent with good eating? When you tried Atkins, MFP, mail order diet food, how long did you do it before you said **********, it's not working and then maybe went to eating big portions of yummy food for a while?
What I have found helpful to remember and I believe to be true is this: If one is not losing weight, they are eating too many calories.
I am a 48 year old, 5'0 woman. So with my sedentary lifestyle, I probably burn about 1500 calories per day. So in order to lose, technically, I must eat around 1000 calories. Well that ain't happening. So I must get moving more in order to burn more per day and be able to eat more per day.
If you have gained 50 pounds, and been to the doctor, I don't know. All I can guess is that you really have something seriously wrong, or you're simply eating more than you think you are eating.
I'm in the same tough and frustrating situation, it all comes down to eating too much and exercising too little.Gaining 50lbs can only come from one source=food consumption.
Try writing down everything you eat on a calorie counter program like My Fitness https://www.google.ca/#q=my+fitness
You are eating too many calories. Omit cheese for one thing. Be honest with yourself. Break the habit of snacking. Write down every bite of food going into your mouth and force yourself to add it to the list. Be willing to feel hungry sometimes. You won't die. Eat fresh vegetables, green beans instead of potatoes. Grapes and apples.
It sounds like you are getting around 1500 calories a day, which isn't much. Write EVERYTHING down - every bite, track the calories and you WILL lose weight at 1300 per day - even with no exercise. Do not go below 1300 per day, that won't be healthy.
The ONLY way I can lose weight is calorie tracking. It's good because you can still have the occasional bit of chocolate or glass of wine, too.
Are you keeping track of your calories? I'd download the MyFitnessPal app and start keeping track of exactly what you eat. Buy a food scale. Log everything.
Alternatively, you could join Weight Watchers - that worked for me for a long time.
NOthing is standing out at me regarding your eating habits as being particularly terrible. But maybe cut out the cheese AND nuts and just go with one or the other (I like raw almonds). And do away with the carbs at dinner. I'd also add in some long walks - if you have a dog, put a leash on 'em, grab the kids and just get rolling.
I'm almost 40 and I'm trying to lose weight right now, and it's HARD once you get into your late 30s. In my early 20s, I lost 25 lbs in a couple of months.
One other addition: I have found that tea is a lifesaver. I have like 20 kinds of tea in my home office. Right now, I contemplated getting some cheese or fruit out of the fridge, but I'm going to try drinking some tea first to see if the urge goes away. I still feel full from my spinach and rotisserie chicken salad, so I think the tea will fix the problem.
An electric teakettle with automatic shutoff is like 20 bucks. A good selection of tea will set you back more, but it's worth it. And it lasts. I love trying new teas.
Another suggestion I would give is figuring out what you're ordering from a restaurant ahead of time. I was trying a new place the other night, and before arriving I looked up the menu online. I ordered grilled chicken breast with mole sauce, rice and refried beans. In restrospect, I'd have switched the refried beans out for black beans, but not too bad. The chips were my downfall though :-/ Still - I limited the damage by planning ahead.
Because what I REALLY wanted was a burrito the size of my head doused in cheese, guac and sour cream. Just sayin'.
Try writing everything down that you eat. If you keep a food journal you will surprise yourself at the amount of calories you are actually consuming.
Sometimes people who go low carb misjudge the amount of calories they are actually consuming. Breakfast does not need to hold you over for the whole day, just until lunch. Check the amount of calories in that protein shake. I would also just ditch it and eat real food instead.
Your whole problem is calories in vs calories out.
I am a 36 year old mom of two. I gained a lot of weight while having children, and when my youngest was 1 year old, I decided to try and lead a healthier lifestyle. I went on Atkins and lost 40 pounds, kept it off for 1 year, and then quit smoking through sheer willpower. However, in the year and a half since quitting smoking, I have gained 50 pounds, and now weigh 240 at 5'7". I'm pulling my hair out trying to figure out where this weight is coming from.
What the heck is wrong with me?
First off, congrats on quitting smoking. So glad you did this. Secondly, sounds like you have always been overweight because even before your "gained 50 pounds" after smoking, it means you were 190 lbs at 5' 7" which is still 50 lbs - 70 lbs overweight for a woman your height.
What is wrong is probably one (or both) of the following (I am ruling out any medial issues because you would have posted about this if you had any):
1. Your eating habits are horrible. You may think you are eating healthy, but in reality you are not. Its not just calories in vs calories out like some people think. Its quality of your food which is important. 1200 calories from veggies is much healthier than 1200 calories from McDonalds fast food. Sugar (i.e., bread) intake should be reviewed as well.
2. You have zero or completely inefficient exercise routine.
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So glad you did this. Secondly, sounds like you have always been overweight because even before your "gained 50 pounds" after smoking, it means you were 190 lbs at 5' 7" which is still 50 lbs - 70 lbs overweight for a woman your height. 
