Just looking for some helpful guidelines?

Im 5'10 - you can do this. You want some guidelines to start with? Here is the three most often ignored lessons that lead to people quitting.

1. Consistency. Without doing this regularly for extended periods of time and taking the effort to train your body to understand that this is what life is going to be like now... Your results will be sporadic, harder to measure and all over the place and will result in plateaus for reasons you dont understand and hitting walls or getting injuries because you dont make it a priority to never go more than 3 days without a good workout.

2. Motivation is NOT necessary. Self control, will power and determination ARE. Being motivated can make it more fun to work out and easier to get off the couch, but you cant just do this when its easy. You have to do it ESPECIALLY when its hard. Thats when you must exercise your WILL. Nothing is more powerful than your desire to reach your goals, not even a HIMYM marathon.

3. No one else's behavior is an excuse for you not doing what you know needs to be done. Hubby doesnt want to eat healthy? Thats his problem. Kids dont like veggies? Too bad. Everyone else always needs you to do things for them so you have no time? Dont be a doormat, put your foot down. Make the people around you more self-reliant. Putting others first doesnt mean you must put yourself last. Putting yourself FIRST for a damn change, will actually enable you to be even BETTER for people around you. It will NOT make you selfish or vain, and when people are upset when you first change- it is THEM that are being selfish.

Accept these things before you even google wtf TDEE is

My first suggestions to anyone whose weight loss is stalling would be the following

1. cut down on the "healthy" foods that are high in calories but not very satiating, specifically nuts, nut butters, dread fruit, granola, avocados, liquid milk, protein shakes, and fruit juice. Those things are healthy for athletes who need extra energy but, in my opinion, they shouldn't be touched by anyone who is above their healthy weight range except as a treat.

2. Make sure to log cooking fats separately from what you're cooking in them as it's easy to add hundreds of calories without knowing it. fats such as olive oil, lard, butter, and peanut butter have roughly 100 calories per tbspn and are best measured by tspn instead. Usually you can get away with using one teaspoon per frying pan of food (scrambling requires more oil than frying or making an omelette).

3. Think of each meal as consisting of three parts, a lean protein (like chicken breast, fish, roast beef, ham etc), a high volume very low calorie filler (like sautéed vegetables, raw spinach/lettuce, steamed broccoli etc), and a small-as-possible fat or starch vehicle for the above (like oil for sautéing vegetables/frying protein, salad dressing, or a pita pocket for holding a high volume of vegetables and protein).

4. Falling off the wagon a bit on weekends is not the worst thing in the world as long as your net calories for the week are below maintenance. If those stints of eating somewhat more allow your diet to be more maintainable then you might want to consider them a legitimate part of your regimen. The most important thing is bravely getting back on the scale after a backslide.

5. Drink vodka & seltzer with lime or whiskey & seltzer with lemon instead of drinking beer. These drinks are btwn 65 and 100 cals per drink while beers are between 150 and 200 per drink and the hard liquor seltzers last you just as long and get you just as drunk.

2 and 3 are ok about remembering to log cooking fats and stuff.

2 and 3 are ok about remembering to log cooking fats and stuff.

I would say that for someone who is worried that she may have a hormonal issue like PCOS that requires one to restrict carb intake, monitoring fats is important but keeping it as minimal as the poster suggested is unrealistic. She'd have to eat a ridiculous amount of protein every day to just get adequate calories if she limited both fat and carbohydrates.

1. cut down on the "healthy" foods that are high in calories but not very satiating, specifically nuts, nut butters, dread fruit, granola, avocados, liquid milk, protein shakes, and fruit juice. Those things are healthy for athletes who need extra energy but, in my opinion, they shouldn't be touched by anyone who is above their healthy weight range except as a treat.

Mr. Madison, what you've just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.