Before I get to my question I want to state the following:

During the past week I did the following:

-Increased my Water intake

-Exercised for more than five hours

-Took long walks (three or more miles) more than six times

-With the exception for my cheat day* I had Protein with each meal

I would put 25 grams of protein in each smoothie I had for Breakfast

I would eat Protein Bars with at least 10 grams

lunch and dinner I would have sauteed vegetables with Boca crumbles

However, when I weighed myself this morning I had gained almost 2lbs. Sometimes I would have a snack between meals. One time it was trail mix with only nuts, seeds, and dried fruit. Sometimes it was edamame. But this was not everyday. I think I am going to do the liquid diet for a week and see if that helps me to re-calibrate myself.

*I decided if I exercised for five times during the week I could have a cheat day on Saturday. I never did a cheat day before and I think it will be my last one. For my cheat day I had pizza and chex mix. Chex mix is a trigger food, so it is not to be revisited.

Suggestions would be helpful. Also, I usually do not know the exact number of grams of protein I have because I often cook at home. However, when I do I make a point to include things that I know are higher in protein.

How many calories a day are you eating? You may not be eating enough for you activity level. Salty foods (many processed foods and carbs) will make you retain more water and result in increased water weight.

How many calories a day are you eating? You may not be eating enough for you activity level. Salty foods (many processed foods and carbs) will make you retain more water and result in increased water weight.

I do not count calories because I was told that the most important thing is to worry about protein. I also cook most of my meals, so I not sure how to determine how many calories I am consuming.

I use map my walk to enter my food and exercise in, a lot of people use my fitness pal.

I also have a food scale and even cooking at home you can measure portions and figure out if you are meeting Protein goals and keeping carbs down. I try to keep my carbs down below 60 most days (90% of the time) and always below 100.

by entering your weight/height and such information it will come up with your base amount of calories. then when you plug in the food you're eating you will know if what your calorie deficit is.

but yes, eating salty foods could be just causing you to retain Water, as does certain times of the month.

Smoothies, protein bars, edamame, trail mix are all incredibly high calorie. Frankly I think whoever told you not to count calories did you a terrible disservice. And like Dr. Phil says, how's that working for you? Since you are gaining weight, I'd say it isn't . . . give tracking a try, at least temporarily, to see where the calories and carbs are adding up. Instead of smoothies (efficient way to gulp liquid calories) stick with dense protein and green veggies. Skip the protein bars and the trail mix. If you need a snack, eat a hard boiled egg, or a string cheese stick, or turkey jerky or a packet of tuna (if you eat meat).

And definitely skip the cheat day -- call it what it is. It isn't a cheat day, it's a self-sabotage day. Cheating is when you do something unethical to gain an advantage. What you are doing isn't unethical, but it also isn't giving you an advantage -- you are just hurting yourself.

Two thoughts:

Sodium

Tracking

Even if you "cheat", "eat off plan" or whatever you want to call it, still track it. You may be surprised.

Smoothies, protein bars, edamame, trail mix are all incredibly high calorie. Frankly I think whoever told you not to count calories did you a terrible disservice. And like Dr. Phil says, how's that working for you? Since you are gaining weight, I'd say it isn't . . . give tracking a try, at least temporarily, to see where the calories and carbs are adding up. Instead of smoothies (efficient way to gulp liquid calories) stick with dense protein and green veggies. Skip the protein bars and the trail mix. If you need a snack, eat a hard boiled egg, or a string cheese stick, or turkey jerky or a packet of tuna (if you eat meat).

And definitely skip the cheat day -- call it what it is. It isn't a cheat day, it's a self-sabotage day. Cheating is when you do something unethical to gain an advantage. What you are doing isn't unethical, but it also isn't giving you an advantage -- you are just hurting yourself.

Thank you I will take that into consideration.

If you are still in weight loss mode - skip the cheat day. It's important that you measure your food and track protein and calories (especially if you're eating off plan) - snacks can add up. Some trail mix can have over 100 calories an oz (it's unlikely you're only having an oz). The Smoothies could be high sugar/high calorie depending on what you put in them. It's so easy to get back into old habits if we're not tracking.