So this is where I would normally give up

fattymcrunnerpants

Thanks for all of the advice, I will definitly try more to lower the sodium and not eat out as much. A lot of that has to do with the fact that I work 50 hours a week and have two children. But I did want to address a few concerns:

-I haven't always been in a calorie deficit. I started logging consistantly to show my doctors that I wasn't over eating. Then since my hormones got balanced I decided to try again with restricting calories because I should be able to function like a normal human being now. But I've kept a food journal consistantly for 3 years. Which really helped last year because I gained 60lbs out of nowhere and my doctor didnt' believe that I wasn't overeating until I showed him my journal. Turns out I had a huge tumor on my thyroid and my thyroid wasn't fucntioning right. Looooooooong story. But my new doc wants to see the macros so that's why I started logging here recently.

- On the fast food front I typically don't eat all that they give me. I'll eat like half then log that I've eaten 3/4 or a whole serving


-With the enteries (especially on the ice cream) I weight it according to the grams on the box. For example, a serving is 67 grams. I'll have a serving and a half which is 100.5 grams. Then when it gets logged MFP measurements aren't the same but the nutrition info is. So it'll say I ate 3/4 of a cup but I ate 100.5 grams. IDK why that does that?

SLLRunner

For about a year I've been steady at 247. Every time I try to lose I will get down to about 237, 238 then creep right back up again without a change in my diet and exercise. So this time I got down to 236 for the first time. This week I haven't lost any weight, I've gained 3lbs! I've stayed in a calorie deficit, my sodium has been way high some days but other than that I've been coming close to hitting my other macros such as protein almost every day. I'm exercising 3x's/ week. What am I doing wrong? Any suggestions are welcome, my diary is open. I'm a 27 year old female 5'2

Weight loss is never linear. You just have to be patient.

Make sure your logging is in order too. Log every single thing you eat. For example, last evening we had chuck roast for dinner. I decided I was going to have a little bit more while I was cleaning up dishes, so I weighed that piece (almost an ounce) and logged it in. It's important to include all little bites here and there (within reason so that I'm not logging a sip of a sweet drink or something like that), condiments, butter, etc. If you won't weigh your food you might want to buy a cheap scale and give it a try. It's a real eye opener.

I used to think that I could not get down below 165. Then I worked hard about 12 years ago and got down to 155. I pretty much maintained for about five years, then about 30 pounds crept back on over a five year period. Last year I started using the MFP tools, and now my maintenance weight is between 139 and 142, which is fine. In fact, once you get to maintenance it's a range and not a set number.

You can do this, I know you can. If I can do it, anybody can.

SLLRunner

-I haven't always been in a calorie deficit. I started logging consistantly to show my doctors that I wasn't over eating. Then since my hormones got balanced I decided to try again with restricting calories because I should be able to function like a normal human being now. But I've kept a food journal consistantly for 3 years. Which really helped last year because I gained 60lbs out of nowhere and my doctor didnt' believe that I wasn't overeating until I showed him my journal. Turns out I had a huge tumor on my thyroid and my thyroid wasn't fucntioning right. Looooooooong story. But my new doc wants to see the macros so that's why I started logging here recently.

Thyroid is a whole different ball game.

- On the fast food front I typically don't eat all that they give me. I'll eat like half then log that I've eaten 3/4 or a whole serving

This is good because restaurants typically underestimate the calories in their food. I hope you get this worked out.

-With the enteries (especially on the ice cream) I weight it according to the grams on the box. For example, a serving is 67 grams. I'll have a serving and a half which is 100.5 grams. Then when it gets logged MFP measurements aren't the same but the nutrition info is. So it'll say I ate 3/4 of a cup but I ate 100.5 grams. IDK why that does that?

For many foods I have created my own entries under "My Foods" by grams so that I can accurately measure. I either take the nutrition information from the packaging or I look up the USDA nutrition information. Measurements, as in cups and spoons, are way different than grams and ounce measurements.

SLLRunner

A lot of your calories come from sugar and fat. I've had a skim through your diary and although you say that you are in calorie deficit, it may well be that there are more than a few "guestimates" there.
If you are able to, give up the alcohol too - empty and non nutritive calories and your liver will process alcohol before anything else as it sees it as a poison. Whilst its doing that, the fat and sugar are sitting in your system.
I find that once I knock out the booze for a week, then I drop several pounds. You might try this too.

Forget ice cream for a while - go for water ices or make your own fruit granita

Try to load yourself with more nutritional food and switch your carbs to slow release carbs that contain fibre and goodness rather than refined white carbs. That should sort you out and yes - way too much salt. This will cause you retain tissue water and whilst its not true weight per se, then its enough to knock your confidence when you get on the scales. Go for pepper instead. It flavors food and doesn't aid water retention.

Some things have been said here about fat calories. It's the sugar you need to cut out. Fat is the body's preferred fuel and fat does not make you fat nor does cholesterol raise your cholesterol nor does sugar make you sweet. Fat fills you up and causes you to eat less calories. Even if you didn't log. Which I don't and I eat about 40% fat, 40% carbs and 20% protein. That the Mediterranean diet macros. Add good fat. Take away added sugar and processed foods. Eat organic when you can - all natural foods, no boxed foods, no soups, grass fed beef. Don't be afraid to eat like people have always eaten before they went low fat and got obese.

Sugar and processed foods don't need to be cut out, nor does alcohol or anything else, because no food is good or bad. . It's all about moderation.

Moderation.

fattymcrunnerpants

For many foods I have created my own entries under "My Foods" by grams so that I can accurately measure. I either take the nutrition information from the packaging or I look up the USDA nutrition information. Measurements, as in cups and spoons, are way different than grams and ounce measurements.

That's a really great idea, I'll try that for sure!