Honestly not sure what I'm doing wrong

PLEASE don't get discouraged! Many people who posted on here we rude in the way they put out their information...but I don't think they intended to hurt your feelings or make you quit. When I started my journey years ago, I thought ordering a chicken sandwich (crispy/fried) and a lemonade at McDonalds was healthy! I've come a long way with my nutritional knowledge, as will you! Please don't look at it as a "fail, I'm done"....look at it as a learning experience. You are absolutely correct, your diet is not as bad a many Americans...but many Americans are morbidly obese, for a reason!

Sometimes when we ask for help/suggestions/etc we really aren't prepared to hear the harsh truth, especially when it means we aren't doing something correct even if we are trying our hardest! Here is the other thing, you want to lose 15-25lbs? That means that you are closer to your goal weight than most. I've been trying to lose the last 10 for years now! I workout (HARD, VERY HARD) 6 days a week and eat clean (I don't diet, I just don't eat junk) which is about 1400-1800 cals a day. I am at a healthy BMI (as I'm assuming you are too or close to it to only need to lose 15-25lbs). It takes the right combination of nutrition and exercise to really drop pounds when you don't have a lot to lose! This is not an excuse to quit...this is just a fyi so that you know this is normal.

Here are my suggestions:

1. Get a tape measure and measure (or have someone help you) yourself: neck, arms/upper arm, waist at belly button, hips at widest part of your body, thighs...measurements tell a lot more about success than does a scale! I was lucky to have a friend who was qualified to do a body fat analysis. I go by that as a goal tracker than my weight now.

2. The nutritional suggestions have been beaten to death on here...I would take them to heart and continue to try and incorporate more fruits, veggies, and lean meats into your diet.

3. Make simple changes. Park your car further in parking lots. Take stairs instead of elevators. Go on walks after dinner. Etc. These little things add up more than we realize!

4. Drink LOTS of water. I found that adding a splash of lemon juice concentrate into my ice water makes me more likely to gulp it down!

5. Don't give up! You have done the hardest part....you started this journey! Just because some people were a little harsh, don't give up on yourself (and your family). I know it is hard when we feel like we are being attacked to just quit, but stand up, dust yourself off, and keep going! If I stopped every time I had a negative comment from people, I'd still be overweight and unhappy!

You've got this!

Try adding Cardio. When i did it i didnt lose much weight, only toned. Once i added cardio it started coming off (:

i hope you are not lumping me in with anyone you considered rude. if i was less-than-encouraging to you, i am so sorry! i was tired last night and should not have been responding to thread posts.

1) Yes, this is a vast improvement from how I used to eat. Believe it or not. And yes, I did used to eat an entire sleeve of Oreos in one night - sucks but its true. So I AM trying.

good job! any improvement for our health (even if we don't see it on the scale) is fantastic. you should be proud of yourself!

2) The Bust A Meal values are input from their own recipe database that breaks all entries down by ingredient and shows you exactly where each calorie/fat/etc is coming from - so I do believe that they are pretty accurate. They include every ingredient down to the 1T of olive oil you put in the pan.

i'm not sure why someone felt the need to question you on this.

3) The "Cafe Omlette" is something I created myself on here and includes the tomato, spinach, egg beater, and sm amt of shredded mozzerela. Same with Cafe BLT Wrap. They are made fresh to order while I watch so I know what's going into them (and more importantly what's not).

i think these sound very tasty and healthy! a small carb would round this out nicely (fruit, juice, half piece of toast).

4) Yes occasionally we do "breakfast for dinner" when my 3 year old has a rockstar day and gets to choose our dinner plan. It doesn't happen often, but its her favorite. Other than that I do make weekly meal plans for dinners and try to keep each thing either low fat, low carb, or low cal (not usually all three but I'm trying to make some headway).

we do breakfast for dinner too about 4-5 times a year. it even has it's own name - we call it 'brinner'. there is nothing wrong with that! the only thing that will help you with that is making sure it has a protein to balance the high carbs. i was using it as an example, but i didn't mean to make it sound like breakfast for dinner isn't a great choice!

great job on making and sticking to a weekly meal plan. you are doing better than i am with that. my dad died at the end of may and it has really messed with me. i still make a weekly meal plan on my blog, but now i very rarely follow it. it has become so easy to just say, 'let's go out to eat' and my husband is always agreeable. i need to start being accountable to only eating out twice a week again (once for lunch with friends and once for supper with family). ugh! i need some self-discipline (can i borrow some of yours? i promise to treat it nice).

5) I will work harder on cutting down the sugar and snacks. Starting today - not "tomorrow". I brought in a banana to have with my bfast and will cut out the candy. In fact I started last night with no "reward" oreos after my workout.

it may take awhile to find a fruit that you like. bananas may not cut it. i love banana bread and frozen bananas, but i can't stand the texture of a regular banana. doesn't work for me; you might love it. i love, love, love kiwi. there are so many varieties out there on fruit, experiment until you find one or two that you enjoy.

as far as the 'reward' oreos, plan them into one night of your weekly meal. you don't have to give them up completely.

As far as having a "thick skin" I'm afraid I don't. In fact quite honestly last night I was in tears after reading all the posts. I really had felt good about the changes I'd make and knew I was trying - hard - from where I had been. I got pretty discouraged and almost gave up my workout last night - but I knew that was just hurting myself. So I got off my butt and did it. Yes my diet is not perfect - but its better than a lot of America. No fast food, fresh meals prepared from scratch quite often. There is certainly room for improvement, but at least I'm not eating Taco Bell every night. And even though my meals aren't perfect I have a hard time believing that consuming 1200-1300 cals a day - regardless of the form - would not result in at least 1-2lbs of weight loss. That is where I'm stumped. I went from eating MUCH worse, and not exercising at all, to watching what I eat (even with room for improvement) and working out almost everyday. Part of me wonders "why bother".

again, i am so sorry if i hurt your feelings! you did a really brave thing asking for advice. i have received unsolicited advice and advice i have asked for; neither were easy to swallow. the important thing is that feeling something negative did not discourage you from pressing on! whoo hoo! you are amazing! a few years back, that is all i would have needed to throw my hands up and quit. good on you for doing your workout anyway!

stick with it! it may take some time, but you will start losing weight eventually. i am set to lose a 1/2 pound a week. it usually works out to be 1/4 pound a week. for a full year (20 days doesn't seem so long now, huh?), i saw NOTHING change, even when i was eating only 1300 calories and running 3 miles a day. not a single pound left my fat waistline. i understand how not seeing movement can be frustrating! now i have 17 pounds to go and can see the progress i have made and the progress i still need to make. slow and steady wins the race.

if you really think that you should have lost something... anything... because of the changes you have previously made, it is time to visit your doctor. 5 million women suffer from hormone problems that make them resistant to losing weight. since you are only 4 months out from having a baby, your hormones might be all over the place, causing your body to fight you on weight loss.

last piece of advice: take any and all of my advice (and the given by others) and weed through it. keep what works for you and discard the rest!
dawn

Now I am jumping in very late indeed to say DO NOT GIVE UP, like you my weight loss was non existent for weeks.In fact after 20 days I weighed more despite eating loads of "healthy " stuff & doing loads of swimming, which, due to medical problems is the only exercise I am able to do. Maybe there is a lot of truth in what has been said about high sugar intake, I haven't looked at your diary but I do have something else to tell you.Obviously healthy eating will be good for your health but just 4 months after having a baby it may be very difficult to lose the weight easily. After I had my 1st child some 38 years ago my consultant told me to eat healthily but said it would be 12 months before I would regain my figure due to water retention!!!! He was absolutely correct & 10 months after having her the weight started to come off & I ended up 14 lbs slimmer than before; so what I am really saying is it takes your body 9 months to have a baby so it is reasonable to assume it may take that long to get it back. Keep track of your eating as that will make you healthier, your skin glow & hair be glossy but don't despair if results take sometime.
Feel free to add me for support, I can reach out from the UK! Good luck & most of all enjoy your family.