Frustrated

Please do not be down. Weight loss is not easy and the fact that you are dedicated to food and exercise in your life are both highly commendable feats. For every one of you there are thousands of people on the couch unwilling to acknowledge they need to take better care of themselves.

From looking at your diary I see a couple of things going on over the course of a few days.

*Breakfast intake is sporadic. 250-300 calories is a good start if not more.
*Most gurus will tell you bananas should be minimized or eat half of one. They are delicious for a reason, but they are also one of the more caloric heavy fruits you can consume.
*Try to reduce the carbs and fat even more and shift the nutrition into protein. Regardless of what MFP is telling you, we need at least 75 grams of protein a day if not more. Protein makes you feel full for a longer period of time and the body digests protein more effectively than carbs. Look at your Wednesday dinner, the biggest chunk of it was bread. Balance as needed as I believe you mention you are diabetic.
*Ensure that the fat intake is that of the good fats, not the saturated ones.
*Drink more water (hard to tell if you are short or just forgetting to log), but get to your quota.
*While we cannot see it, check your sodium intake. If its high or near a goal, reduce it.
*Break diary into AM and PM snacks so you see how you are balancing your meals during the day (so others can see as well). *The visual of what you are eating during the day is very helpful. Some MFP'ers break their diaries into hours during the day (i.e. 7-10, 10-2, 2-6, 6-10, etc. Your call.
*A diet is not simply calories in v. calories out. It is about quality of chow, not just minimizing it. Items like wine are nice, but as you can see they consume good chunks of daily allowances.

While this week is not a good one for me as I'm on vacation, take a look at my diaries the last couple of weeks and you will see how I've balanced my food plan out to keep fat and carbs down or at bay while mixing up meals so I don't grow up,

GIVING UP IS NOT AN OPTION. Everyone is cheering for you.

Talk to your doctor about a different pill or some other form of BC (NOT THE SHOT!!!).

BC affects people differently. I never had an issue with weight on the pill, but I'm having your exact problem now that I'm on Mirena. No matter what I do, how much or little I eat, how much or little I exercise, I can't lose weight. And it's been going on more than a year.

I gain, then maintain for a while and then gain. And I'm not eating more or exercising less. It's all hormonal. The only way to fix it is to change my BC.

I understand how you feel! I went a month without the scale budging, and I finally lost a pound this week. I was so frustrated because as we all know, this is hard! We put so much on the back burner so that we can find time to exercise and eat right. However, during that time I was trying to figure out why what the scale says is so important. I couldn't come up with anything. I am the ONLY person who sees the number on the scale. EVERYONE sees my body.

So I started to focus on inches and how my clothes fit, how I looked in the mirror, etc and it has renewed my motivation. I see muscles! I see abs! My pants are gigantic now! These are the things I really wanted in the first place. So now, I have changed my goal to body fat % instead of pounds, and incorporated fitness goals (a certain time on my next 5K, bike miles, etc). I feel like I have a much better outlook now, because I'm focusing on using food as fuel for my next workout, not restricting as much as I can so I can see a lower number on the scale tomorrow morning.

I know it's hard and frustrating. Trust me, I've had a few breakdowns the past month. But the more I read these posts, the more I know that focusing on pounds lost isn't necessarily the best thing to do for our health, especially those of us that are so close to our "goal weight".

Good luck, and feel free to friend me! I know there has been a lot of negativity on the boards but there doesn't have to be any on your friend list

Ok, firstly you're pretty small so don't get too discouraged about needing to lose a lot! I've been 150-155lbs since I hit puberty, and that's with swimming through high school, college, and being an endurance athlete now. So yes, Kini34 is right, check your measurements!

When dieting, plateaus are totally normal and frustrating as all hell. Especially for women, guys tend to have it a lot easier than us as usual and lose weight more steadily and in greater amounts. Typically when things tend to level out, it's good to switch it up to give your body something new to adjust to; helps to get a jump start out of it.

I did take a look at your food log for a few days, and if you're really concerned with losing those last few pounds here's what may help:
-seems like you're getting in a lot of carbs and bread items. These are delicious (I am a carb queen myself) but also tend to be empty calories. Try cutting down on these a little bit and adding more in the fruit/vegetable department. I hate vegetables so I try to pair them with some sort of dip; either Wholly Guacamole (this stuff is AWESOME) or the Marzetti non-fat ranch dip cups. Also try the veggie chips or straws; they're kind of like chips and they are really really good. If you're still hungry, maybe add in a little bit more dairy, as long as you're not lactose intolerant. Raw nuts are a great option; technically they're a healthy fat and not a carb. Emerald makes some mixes that I really like, the Peanut Butter and Chocolate and Cinnamon Sugar ones are my favorite. Just watch how much of them you eat; 1/4 cup is a full serving. Also, make sure to get some protein in there. I didn't see much meat; are you a vegetarian? If so make sure you're getting your protein intake; peanut butter is good but it's more of a healthy fat. Tofu is good for this; if you don't like the texture, you can chop it up really fine into whatever you're sauteeing up and flavor it to your liking.
-Watch your diet soda intake. They trigger the reflex in your body that says "SUGAR" and make you hungrier. Instead try some sparkling water (Deer Park makes a less expensive one, and I love the Orange flavored Pellegrino), Crystal Light, or Green Tea.
-For as much as you're working out, it doesn't seem like you're eating enough. If you don't get enough fuel in, your body tries to store stuff up and it makes it hard to lose weight. I know you said you're trying to hit your calorie total for the day; that might get eaten up by the extra carbs you're taking in at the moment. Most of the nutrition programs I've followed have said 4-5 small meals per day, every 3 hours. Don't eat in the later evening, but if you get hungry try some dairy (I like a glass of skim milk). Try pairing up a couple food items with each snack/meal, like a healthy fat and a vegetable, protein and vegetable, fruit and dairy....

A lot of what I learned I got from the Meltdown program; they have an online version called Meltaway that I did once I moved. Not going to lie; it's pretty tough (or at least it was for me) but it definitely works. It's expensive, but might be worth checking out. And you're already doing enough working out to meet what they do there, it would just be a dieting change. wemeltyou.com is their site.

Hope that helps! Keep on keeping on; it looks like you're really dedicated, just need to switch up the variety a bit.

Also, my doctor told me that the IUD's and rings generally tend to lean more towards weight gain as a symptom. Others may have a differing opinion. I've done really well on the lower-hormone versions (right now I'm on LoEstrin 24, before i was on Ortho Tricyclin and that was good too, just expensive). Both my best friend and I had a lot of problems with Yasmin; gained about 10 lbs and felt like I had Mono. What's important on that one is you find one that best works for you; if what you have now works for you hormone/energy-wise, I wouldn't lean towards changing that as a first response.

Also, my doctor told me that the IUD's and rings generally tend to lean more towards weight gain as a symptom. Others may have a differing opinion. I've done really well on the lower-hormone versions (right now I'm on LoEstrin 24, before i was on Ortho Tricyclin and that was good too, just expensive). Both my best friend and I had a lot of problems with Yasmin; gained about 10 lbs and felt like I had Mono. What's important on that one is you find one that best works for you; if what you have now works for you hormone/energy-wise, I wouldn't lean towards changing that as a first response.

Well...if I did break down and do the IUD, I'd do the copper one, not a hormone one...I'm just so afraid of having something in there....not to be graphic

If you're having "female" issues when not on BC, DO NOT do the copper one. It can make it much worse. I think your nest bet is to try a different pill, really.

The weight loss road is slow and bumpy. Don't focus so much on the scale. It's evil! I have seen so many testimonials for weight lifting on MFP and how immensely it changes your body. I'm going to do it. Maybe you should think about it, too. And ALWAYS finish logging your food. Do it the next day if you have to. It really helps to look back after a good week (or a bad one) and see what you ate. This is a lot of work, but you can do it!