Your body needs to rest and recover from your intense workouts. You are in effect doing chronic exercise and it is playing havoc with your cortisol and digestive systems.

Also, do you track your daily food intake on http://www.fitday.com ? It sounds like you are eating too much protein and not enough fat. Protein does trigger an insulin response and you are packing that energy from the protein being converted to sugar, into your cells.

Many of us eat 75-80% fat, 15-20% protein, & less than 5% carbs.

Your body is essentially telling you that due to your level of activity, it is going to create some stored energy. And it is also telling you that if there should come a drought in food supply, you will have some stored energy as a backup. Our ancestors faced a winter drought every year, so the body stored up energy during the summer and fall to head into winter for survival. You have put your body into a constant state of summer and fall when the activity of our ancestors were the highest and it "knows" that winter can't be far off. Thus you put on pounds.

Slow down and rest your body and it will give up the excess pounds you think you need to lose.

I know SherpaMelissa here has said that she has slowed down her activity...which is short 5k runs...and she now performs much better...faster times. More exercise and training is not better.

That sounds like an awful lot of physical activity. Your cortisol level may be too high as a result to drop any more fat. Have you tried reducing your amount of physical activity a bit?

Also, I would get bloated if I exercised a lot for a week or two and didn't increase my carb intake accordingly to replenish glycogen. Have you tried eating more starchy carbs like potatoes or sweet potatoes after workouts?

Random thoughts:

Most likely? Feeling great and lean in the summer, putting on weight and feeling more blah in the winter... if it happens again this year, you might think about light therapy and/or vitamin D supplementation in the winter.

I wonder if that 95-100 was actually lower than your genetic "ideal weight"? Is your body trying to get you in what it thinks will be a healthier range, long-term? Have you noticed the fat settling around your midsection in particular, or is it just something you've noticed by checking the numbers?

Touchy subject, but... Could something have triggered a hormone change? Pregnancy, menopause, changed birth control, started babysitting or hanging around babies and/or pregnant women, recently fallen in love, had a breakup, anything that might trigger a zany hormone change? (And/or... was there a hormonal difference in the summer that held you in that "I feel great" ideal state?)

Firstly you are an active young woman who is now pretty slim for you height at 105.

You need to eat something other than chicken breast or bison and salad if you want to feel better.

My suggestions based on the details you give would be:

• Eat more meals. For example try eating smaller meals three times a day. If IF is working for you great, if it not then try something else even if you have to make yourself eat at other times.

• Less meat. You are eating a huge amount of protein in a single meal.

• More carbohydrate. Seriously, eat some carbs from any source, root vegetables, potatoes, sweet potatoes, squash, fruit etc. Give them a try.

• More food with some fat in it. Chicken breast and bison meat tend to be quite lean sources of protein. Add some olive to your food oil or eat some coconut.

• More variety. Maybe some eggs, oily fish, organ meats, a few nuts.

• Eat some vegetables other than salad more often: broccoli, kale, carrots, there are lots to choose from.

• Salad is fine with other food but does not really make a meal on its own.

• Do you still need to be so strict about your food now? You are young and active, make you most of it.

chicken has a less than optimal fatty acid profile. maybe you are getting too much omega 6 and not enough omega 3.
i also agree that you are probably not getting enough fat. get some lard and maybe some virgin coconut oil and add some fat into your diet and see if that helps.

I had bloating issues for awhile that turned out to be caused by too much protein, and dang chica you are eating a lot of protein! That would be my prime suspect if it were me. I cut my protein back and added in some carbs and my bloating disappeared. I know we're all different, but might be something to consider.

Give up the gum, if nothing else. Even artificial sweetners cause an insulin response. Plus with all that chewing your body thinks it's meal time -- you may not be getting the full benefits of IF (a digestive break).

I'm a 5'11" 175 lb male and couldn't tell you the last time I ate 3 lbs of meat in one sitting. That's not a lot, it's a freaking sh*t ton of meat. I'm not sure you are bloated, just really really full. I like three meals, but two could certainly work. One huge one might not be ideal for you.

On a completely different note, it sounds like at 5'1" and 105 you really have things together. Your diet is clean and you are active. Enjoy yourself. Relax and don't "over hack."

One meal a day containing 2-3 POUNDS of meat, combined with tons of exercise, doesn't sound like a healthy lifestyle to me. The fat gain and other symptoms you're having is not a good sign and I bet it's related to what you eat. On the other hand, I don't think you need to focus on losing weight or staying at 101 lbs as opposed to 105. 4 lbs shouldn't be something weighing on your mind, yk? I know you're very short and 4 lbs is more like 10 on someone taller, but still. You need to focus on caring for your body and feeling a performing at your physical best. I think you could have that at 100 lbs or 115.

If I could even manage to eat what you do, I know my digestion would be in turmoil. Kale and cabbage SALAD? Raw? It's no wonder you're bloated!

Where is the fat in your diet? Only in the meat you eat? Chicken breast without skin?

I am a similar size to you and have the same activity level. I've been paleo for about a year and a half, I've found I feel and look my best eating at least 2 meals per day, 150g or so carbs, 70-100g protein, and 250g+ fat.

More variety, more fat, more carbs, less lean protein, and cook your cruciferous veggies are my recommendations. Live a little and don't push your body to the brink. You're fit and beautiful enough I am sure.