This isn't working! Need help!

A big one is drinking water...water and more water. Especially when exercising. Also try very hard to meet nutrition goals...I do not lose when eating crap - even though under my calories - I have to eat well:

1 dark green and 1 orange veggie each day minimum
Add a salad to every meal...use lemon juice instead of dressing
Fruit
Milk (or products) but I think milk is important
Increase protein
No visible fat on meats
Lower salt intake
Walking...even if you just park 10 minutes to work - that is 20 minutes of walkin g each day - it really helps. I started biking to work (small town can't park away)...

All the things that we hate to do - work!

Know that I too HATE exercising and HATE eating well...but it does become habit...and treat yourself occasionally - I treated at every 10 pounds...now I do ever 5 pounds as it is harder to lose at this point. And also don't deprive yourself...if you are a chocoholic...buy the mini bars at walmart...and have one once in a while...just log it and be careful. Have 1/2 a can of coke instead of a full...takes away the craving...occasional wont hurt you if you are watching your regular intake.

Good Luck!

Try not eating back exercise calories.

Your intake is all over the place and you look to be inconsistent with your logging. Have a read of this: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

Agree. Seems there is missing logs of food in a lot of the meals.

I am wanting to do just that, only eat half my calories burned. Is there a setting adjustment you can do to have the site automatically only add in half?

I've been doing the same thing as the OP. I set it as 2lbs/week and I've only lost 5 lbs in 75 days. Why is that?

If that's you in the picture then I'd assume you are eating a lot more than you think you are. You don't log consistently enough to have any idea what you really do eat in a day. Commit and log every single bite, drink, taste, candy, and make sure you are being honest with those calories by weighing and measuring all of your food. Most of us are horrible and eyeballing portions to start with and packaging can be way off between what they say a serving is for calories and what it really is by weight.

Accurate logging, adherence to a calorie goal, & consistency will get you the results you're looking for. I also have to say you're tremendously over estimating your calorie burns. When I burn 900 / hr I drop between 5 & 6 pounds in sweat before/after workout. Seriously it's that much sweat for that much effort.

You can get the results you want, just need to get your accuracy refined acoss the board.

Listen to the pro!

Maybe have some easy to prepare food on hand so you don't need to eat fast food. If your husband wants to, let him but make a salad or healthy sandwich instead for yourself. I know if I gave my husband cooking duty we would eat a lot of pizza!!! It will save you money and calories to minimize fast food. Being busy does not mean you can't eat healthy. Your husband should support you!!!!

BritMaxon (since there are a couple different conversations going on here) I'm going to agree with the advice you've gotten from others. The Zumba burn isn't going to be anywhere near 1000 calories, even if it's a high impact class. There are online calculators you can use to try to get a better estimate. Also your diary is kind of a disaster, at least the week and a half I looked through. The missed meals aren't helping you. The 1000+ calorie lunch with 2800+ mg of sodium isn't helping you. Like others have said work on eating less processed foods and try to eat more consistently. Especially with being a busy mom, if you set aside time once a week for food prep that will carry you through the rest of the week so when you are going in 18 different directions you don't have to stop and try to figure out what to cook or whether you have stuff on hand. Every Sunday I get my food planned out for the week. I get all my lunches made so in the morning before work I just have to grab my food out of the fridge and go.

I just had that checked in May along with cholesterol. The doctor said everything is fine except my good cholesterol is low so that is why I take omega 3. This Friday when I get some money I am going to try to buy more fresh ingredients to cook meals with and start making a weekly meal plan. I am also thinking about buying some new workout DVDs this month so if anyone has any that they enjoy, suggestions on that would be great too. I want to switch it up a little and not just to zumba all the time and I have already determined that running really isn't my thing.

Jillian Micheals 30 Day Shred is popular. ..so are a few others of hers. Just concentrate on the exercise though. The diet parts in some of them aren't really necessary.

Looking at your log and reading your post, the answer is simple: you aren't measuring properly.

1) 1500 calories in exercise? Are you an ameteur or pro athlete? Because if not, there's not a chance you are burning close to that many calories in a workout. You might be getting 1/5 of that, if you are lucky.

MFP calculates swimming as if you are doing laps constantly as fast as you can, which I guarantee you aren't doing for an hour.

2) "I eat food my husband prepares which I think is healthy." Is your husband measuring or weighing EVERYTHING in the food you eat? Even that tbsp of oil or butter he used to grease the pan? That isn't reflected in your log. In fact, other than today your log generally looks like you have missed entering foods quite a bit in the last 5 days and there's no rhyme or reason to the entries...I can't actually tell what you ate through your log.

3) In the past week you have a couple days in your log that are incomplete.

So the solution is: log stuff accurately and adjust your diet accordingly. The concept that eating too few calories leads to weight retention is a myth. You are eating more than you think and expending less than you think during exercise. It's that simple.

Also, 1200 isn't this magic starvation number even though MFP thinks it is. Many women will need to eat under 1200 calories to lose weight. And I feel for you for that, because I have a hard enough time meeting my 1600 cal/day goal as a man unless I run 3 miles. I couldn't imagine eating 1000-1200 calories, but alas God created us differently.

Eating under your required calories/nutritional needs can make you feel weak, lathargic, and generally crappy. This can affect your exercise performance and how you feel about yourself. It also may make you lose more lean body mass than you want to, which means you won't look as good as you think you will when you get to your goal weight. But you will STILL LOSE WEIGHT until your body runs out of stored fat. There is no voodoo magic your body will perform to stay at the same weight when it needs to consume stored energy (ie fat) to maintain metabolic processes until it is out of that energy source entirely.

So to sum up again, because it's important: Your problem isn't eating more. If you eat more when you are maintaining your weight now, you will gain weight.

The calories in a pound of fatty tissue are not based on a % of your TDEE...it is approximately 3500 calories.

I read an article that talked about a study done on wt loss and eating meals habits. Based on 1400 calories a day, you eat 1/2 of those calories at breakfast making sure to get 5-11 grams of protein. Then 400 - 500 at lunch and 200 - 300 at dinner - no eating in the evenings. I started it to reduce wt and cholesterol and at first I could hardly stuff in the 700 calories of food in the morning, but now it's ok. And it seems to really work by cutting down the appetite and giving me lots more energy during the day. I suggest you try it for wt loss. I have been doing it for 3 weeks and I've lost 3 lbs which is more than my goal of 1/2 lb a week. And I don't feel hungry or deprived of food - I even eat ice cream at lunch some times and have a glass of wine. It doesn't even feel like I am "dieting" I eat so much food in the mornings it's ridiculous!
Try it!