Training & Nutrition - Not gaining weight but Mirror says I am?

I lost 22 pounds last summer from riding. 222 to 200 sometimes 198 on a good day. However, The scale reads around 204 so Ive not gained that much from not riding due to the cold and be lazy. Ive notice my facial features arent slim and tight like they were when I was ridng.Puffy around the ears on the side of face. My chest also is looser and most of all my stomach feels fuller and loose and I feel like a blimp.

Is this water from sodium or something?

Im only up 4 pounds from 200 and I can visually see a fatter difference in the mirror.

Any ideas?

Thanks
Chris

ps todays my birthday (woooo) Im 32 good god Im old. Ill be treating myself to a nice lunch.

heheheheh :)

Could be water... is your kidney function normal? Normal amounts of light yellow? Any blood, or dark coffee-colored or bad-smelling output?

Did you do an Atkins-type high-protein diet?

Pure fat gain, with no muscle gain whatsoever?

Koffee

To much aerobic vs anaerobic. You haven't been building muscle or even feeding it enough and it is eating your muscle for fuel more than your body should be.

I struggle with my weight and finally realized that I have some body image issues. In other words, sometimes I look fatter or thinner in the mirror, but there is no subjective evidence (actual weight, or even the fit of my clothing) to support my perception. I expect that others might experience this too. I have trained myself to ignore my perceived appearance and just go by weight or measurements.

I wonder, has anyone else noticed this, or am I more wacko than I think?

Break mirror; put scale into storage. Train regularly starting now. Replace mirror and scale in mid-summer. Feel better :) It is very easy to obsess . . .

sounds like water retention. Did you have a bunch of sodium before you looked in the mirror?

I always feel the same way if I haven't worked out in a while. I would say that you are possibly lossing some muscle mass and gaining the weight in fat or the muscles just are not as toned and tight as they are when you are working out.