measuring vs weighing

Bumping for replies - That could have been written by me, although I weigh most of my food whenever possible!

Another 68 lbs to go.

You selected 2 lb weight loss goal weekly?

You selected sedentary?
Do you truly have a 45 hr a week desk job and commute, and outside exercise a bump on a log?

Why creating a bigger deficit by eating back only half your exercise?

For food when you eat the package, do you at least do the math on how many servings per package, because "about 2" isn't close enough?

I doubt bad food logging could overcome a 1000 cal deficit, unless just dishonest with food logging in general.

When was your last diet break?
Though, in reality, you are on one right now. You are eating at maintenance right now, because no loss or gain.

Scary huh, because that means to lose, you must eat even less. Can you eat 1000 less than right now to get that reasonable 2 lb weekly loss amount?

Might be time to destress your body and increase calories up to where they likely could be, letting system speed back up.

You've likely done this to yourself, so you have no actual deficit in place right now.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/heybales/view/reduced-metabolism-tdee-beyond-expected-from-weight-loss-616251

So, if I find no changes for months now (about 3 months) such as the scale isn't going down, measurements aren't going down, and clothes fitting the same, is my problem that I'm eating more calories than I think because I don't weigh my food? Is weighing verses measuring that big of a difference?

yes.

I have read how a lot of people feel about plateaus (that most often you are eating more calories than you think or burning less calories than you think). Bottom line no real calorie deficit. I do use a HRM with chest strap and I do not eat back all those calories, usually about half. I measure all my food but do not have a food scale. I am honest in my logging. I do change my workouts about every 5 to 6 weeks and always drink lots of water. So, if I find no changes for months now (about 3 months) such as the scale isn't going down, measurements aren't going down, and clothes fitting the same, is my problem that I'm eating more calories than I think because I don't weigh my food? Is weighing verses measuring that big of a difference?

Weighing can make a big difference compared to measuring, especially with calorie dense foods. When you measure your 1/4 C of cheese, it could easily have an extra tablespoon heaped on top, giving you 140 calories instead of 110; a tablespoon of peanut butter can easily be 1.5 or more tablespoons giving you 300 calories or more instead of 200 calories. The last two times we've had pasta, my weighed portion (divided cooked weight by # of starting servings) has been closer to only 2/3 C and not the 1 C you often see touted. Maybe we like our pasta more al dente, I don't know, but if I measured it as 1 C cooked = 210 calories and really 1 C cooked = 280 calories, it all adds up.

You will also want to make sure you are choosing the appropriate entry from the database. Do you know how many boneless, skinless chickens come up and how wildly they vary? I've seen them at anywhere from 50 calories for 4 oz cooked to over 200! Look at the NI for YOUR food and make sure you choose the one that is appropriate or create your own if you have to.

For the best accuracy, I also recommend using the raw weights for meats and even high calorie veggies. If I like my steak rare and you like yours well done, if we both start with a 12 oz steak, I could end up with 9 oz of cooked steak and you could end up with 6. If we logged ours by cooked weight, mine would appear to have 1.5 times the calories yours has, but that wouldn't be accurate. Sure, yours might be slightly lower in calories with a gram or two of fat cooked out, but for the most part, the only difference between our two steaks would be water content (and taste, of course). This could mean the difference between logging a 350 calorie steak instead of a 550 calorie steak.

It can sound a bit tiresome, but I've found that weighing foods is so much easier than measuring them - less messy, too.

In my experience measuring is terrible. Example: I was getting some tortilla chips and salsa last night and actually weighed the salsa. The grams of salsa were WAY different than when I simply measure 2 Tbsp. Luckily salsa is only like 10 cals per serving but still. WEIGH EVERYTHING!!!! (When possible, of course...)

As you lost weight, have you been changing your calorie goals?

Yes, I would weigh if I were you. Here's an example as to why... Last weekend I was making waffles. Simple recipe. I was only going to use measuring cups when making it and put it into my recipe builder based on that. Good thing I changed my mind! the serving size for my whole wheat flour was 1/4 cup (32 grams) but when I precisely measured out my 1/4 cup of flour, it really weighed 45 grams. that's a big difference, especially if you are really using 1-2 cups of flour.