WEIGHT GAIN

djwife ... the reason everyone is telling you to eat more, or net-out a healthy amount of calories, is that if you get too few net calories, it will trigger your body's natural starvation defences and your metabolism will slow, thus burning less calories.

As so many have suggested ... pick a reasonable calorie deficit from your TDEE (myfitnesspal helps you do that) and you should start to see better results.

I know. just paranoid and scared! I know I'm not eating enough because I'm always hungry! by the time dinner rolls around, i'm starving, then I don't eat enough there, and so it's not good!

You are purposefully choosing to undereat and struggle with hunger? How is that sustainable? Now you at least know that it doesn't work for weight loss. Is it all about weight, or are you concerned with health? Improving health = weight loss.

You need more food and according to what you mentioned that you eat in another post, you desperately need healthy FAT in your diet. Please! The fat phobia is bad for health. Really. I know we live in a society that tells us refined grains/sugary food (ex Special K) is good and fat is bad, but it's a great big lie.

Also, did you mention that you are 5'11 and 158 pounds? That just may be a healthy, sustainable weight for you and might explain some of your body's resistance to losing more.

Well, I do eat right. Do i have my off days, YES! but, for the most part, i eat well. I'm a work in progress.

You may want to reassess what you think are healthy foods. Special K has been marketed that way, sure, but is it really healthy? Read the ingredients, look at the grams of sugar. And the protein bar. And the "lite" mayo. It might also be useful to look at how food processing companies develop their products. I'm not saying that you can't eat what you want, but being aware of ingredients and macros has been really important for me. A low fat diet usually isn't beneficial in the long run. Since you are eating low fat and using processed foods, what little fat you get is probably coming from soy and canola both of which are highly refined and not at all healthy imo.

You need more food and according to what you mentioned that you eat in another post, you desperately need healthy FAT in your diet. Please! The fat phobia is bad for health. Really. I know we live in a society that tells us refined grains/sugary food (ex Special K) is good and fat is bad, but it's a great big lie.

What do you mean by healthy fats? Depending on what your needs are, you can choose either saturated or unsaturated fats. Olive oil has more calories than butter, but it's much better for your cholesterol. The real danger lies with transfats though. In my opinion, it's best to eat balanced, with lots of variety. I stay away from as many processed foods as I can. They're usually high in saturated fats, additives, sugar and/or salt. Try not to rely too much on MFP. I don't want to sound hippie, but.. Listen to your body. It will tell you what it needs