Frustrated, even furious

I have been following this thread (I know, I'm a glutton for punishment) and I still don't know what the OP is looking for.

She directly asked if your body ever adjusts to starvation mode and allows you to continue to lose weight (on two occasions, that I can recall). And since most people here don't advocate (nay, abhor) starvation, I'm not sure she's going to get that answer from us

I would still want to know.
What happens if you keep going like that - eating in such a way that you are always slightly hungry?

Oh am sorry, but I have rarely read such a sleazy straw-man of an argument.

Intensively working out 4-6 times a week is "looking for way to have the perfect body without exercising?".

You have lost pretty much any trace of credibility your posts were still preserving.

I have found that with the many cooked-from-scratch foods I eat it is simply not practical to calculate how may calories my portion represents. I don't eat food that comes from labeled packages and for me it would just take way, way to long to figure out exactly how many calories a certain bite has.

To answer your starvation question, if you continue to eat at a deficit, yes, eventually you will lose weight. But it will not be fat. Others here have already told you that losing muscle includes losing HEART muscle. And people can and do die of it. It was a long long time ago, but you may have heard of Karen Carpenter. She is just the most visible example of this.

I have found that with the many cooked-from-scratch foods I eat it is simply not practical to calculate how may calories my portion represents. I don't eat food that comes from labeled packages and for me it would just take way, way to long to figure out exactly how many calories a certain bite has.

I am also a full time working mom and I cook mostly from scratch as well. I log. I work out 5 days a week for at least an hour.

I bet you don't cook something new EVERY SINGLE DAY.

Most people have 10-20 dishes that they rotate through 80% of the time. I measure and weigh the first time I make something then enter it into the database.

IF you are creating new dishes every single day, stop it. It's not a good use of your time. Better to get yourself on a rotation, eat leftovers, etc, and take time to figure out what you are putting in your body and why you are so hungry.

I call TROLL on her. Sayonara, Troll.

1. You don't want to count calories

Correct.

2. You can't make time for exercise

Are you serious? Where did you get this from?

I already am exercising 4-5 times a week, sometimes even 6 times - and quite intensively. There's no room for MORE or more INTENSIVELY - this is what I meant.

By the way, the idea that time is "MADE" has limits. I can be expected to MAKE TIME for extra exercise, just like I am expected to MAKE TIME for extra projects and accomplishments at work, just like I am expected to MAKE TIME for helping children with their academics and to volunteer at their school, just like I am expected to MAKE TIME to cook from scratch, just like I am expected to MAKE TIME for reasonable bed hour. You can only make PRIORITIES out of so many tasks.
When you try to make PRIORITIES out of too many things, some of them will simply no longer be priorities.

3. You don't seem to want to hear that a 2 pound fluctuation is perfectly normal DAY BY DAY even

I heard loud and clear...but that still doesn't explain the fact that I haven't lost any more weight.

How CAN we help?

The purpose of the initial post was to be able to:

1. rant

2. get some extra tips/ideas besides counting calories.

3. Find out what happens if I continue to do what I have been doing. Will the weight eventually come off even if my body goes into thermogenesis or my metabolism becomes slow?

I began a relatively dramatic lifestyle change back in May after a health scare (a small fibroid). After a couple of years of serious stress and stress-based over-eating, my weight had reached an all-time high at 194 lbs for 5'7". Since May I lost about about 29 lbs mainly by eating nice and "clean" (cooked from scratch, 99% non-processed foods, many organic), reducing portion sizes and exercising 4-5 times a week. During the first month, I remember eating very little because I had zero appetite because of the scare. Then I calmed down a little bit, my appetite came back and I began eating a bit more - but still quite little, always abstaining from more.

Per books, I have achieved a reasonable weight loss rate - but by doing what? The trouble is that I am ALWAYS in a state of hunger period.

I noticed that the ONLY way for me to lose ANY weight at ANY time is to seriously under-eat relative to what my appetite would ideally want. As in serious "calorie reduction".

If I have only one day of more decent eating, as in feeling my stomach reasonably full - I pile two pounds back in a heartbeat.

I do not count calories because it seems like a tremendous waste of time for me. I do, however, have very good understanding of nutrition in general, of calories per various portions, I know very well what foods are higher in calories - and I simply approximate. Generally speaking, I let myself be guided by my stomach.

I try to eat only when I am clearly hungry, I eat little portions and eat them slowly (savor them) and I stop way before I am close to feeling truly satisfied and full. As long as I do this, I lose weight - at a snail's pace, but the loss is steady.

As soon as I deviate just a bit from doing this - the scale goes up a couple of pounds.
This week I had two days of slightly less-than-orthodox eating (orthodoxy for me being what I described above). One day I ate a little extra at a department meeting at work (don't imagine any sort of serious overeating!!) and two days after that, husband and I went out for sushi and a coffee with a bit of cream on top...and bamm!! - two ponds gained this week, as if I had committed I don't know what kind of nutritional murder.

I just wonder whether I am doomed to a life of hunger and constant abstinence - Africa style.

As soon as I eat around 1200-1500 or a bit more calories ( more like normal people do on a daily basis), not only do I stop losing weight, but I immediately see two pounds piled back up in a heartbeat.

I cannot get any more disciplined than I already am: eating clean, eating little, and exercising. The fact that I am squeezing in a few exercising sessions a week is a miracle in and of itself given that I am a professional woman with a demanding career, two children with heavy school-related demands and needs, and a full cook-from-scratch schedule.

So exercising more, or harder, or eating even less is simply NOT an option.

I have at least 20 more pounds to shed to reach my ideal weight (around 142-144 lbs) and I just don't think I can do this much longer. Maybe just the fear of not having that fibroid grow could continue to keep me going like this.

I am just frustrated and I needed to rant - and to say that yes, yes, yes I am JEALOUS of all those skinny people who either eat to their heart's content or whose heart's content requires so little that munching on two salad leaves always seems to be just the right amount for them.

Briefly, I am tired of depriving myself when my body just darn wants FOOD, GOOD FOOD (carbs included!) - and not little, for that matter.
Where's a "pull my hair our" emoticon when you need one. :-(

I have been following this thread (I know, I'm a glutton for punishment) and I still don't know what the OP is looking for.