SOO STUCK! please help!

Quick question. Are you accurately measuring/weighing the food that you eat?

I was in a similar situation a few years ago. I tried to lose a few pounds over 2012, but my vision of portion sizes was absolutely terrible. I would believe a 3-cup bowl filled with cereal is filled with only 1-cup of cereal, and I would log in my diary that I ate 1-cup of cereal. Long story short, I ended up losing maybe three pounds during my endeavor, and I ended up gaining it all back plus an additional 30 pounds over the next year.

Unfortunately, due to some medical issues, I now need to know how much of a food I am eating in order to determine how much medication to take with my meal. Now that I am accurately measuring and weighing my foods, the pounds are starting to come off a lot more easily, and I know that my diary is a lot more accurate of what I am eating now compared to my first attempt at this weight loss journey.

Looking at your diary, you don't seem to be weighing your food. Also, I see some generic entries. The homemade tomato soup...is that a recipe you entered or did you pick it from the database?

I wouldn't worry to much about the cheat meals if they happen once every few weeks.

So over a year and quarter you put on 20 lbs. That means you're eating an extra 100-200 calories / day. Find a way to cut out 300 calories / day from the way you're currently eating and you'll start losing.

Should i invest in a food scale?

Yes! Weigh all solids and viscous foods (like peanut butter, etc.). You want a food scale with the option to tare out the container. So for example, you could put a bowl on the scale, tare it out, and add your food and get the weight that way. For smaller quantities of foods (butter, peanut butter, cheese), I use 1cup glass prep bowls that I find really handy. I have like 10 of them in my cabinet. I put one of the small little bowls on the scale, tare it, and weigh my food out accordingly. It helps tremendously.

Hey!
Firstly, gorgeous horse in your pic, looks like you were having fun. I tried to get back into riding having been into it really heavily as a teenager. On my third ride, the horse bolted in a field, jumped a 1.2m gate on to a road. I made it to the road, then fell off, smacked my head, hip etc.. Needless to say I've only been riding again one more time, I was stiff as a mannequin, and I only went to save face. Any tips for regaining confidence?! It's strange as I didn't mind all the falling off as a teenager..

Sorry, I digress!

Looking at your diary, I think generally you eat well, plenty of whole foods in there and an impressive amount of fresh fruit and veg. Possibly replace some of your cereal-based/ carb meals with lean proteins and fat to the same energy value, as this may help you to . By choosing low fat natural or Greek yogurt (not the 0% fat flavoured type as it's full of sugar) instead of flavoured yogurts you can save 100 calories for the same quantity of yogurt. Maybe add a few chopped berries for flavour if you find it too bland.

I would reiterate that you should measure your food and do away with measuring in cups, stick to grams. I guess you live in the UK. I bought a scale from the Argos Value range for only about £8. I've worked out that it measures to an accuracy of +/- 0.5g. It's absolutely worth the money, though when I found myself measuring out exactly 100g of lettuce, I figured I had gone too far. It's definitely worth it for measuring rice/pasta/starchy vegetables, proteins, yogurt from larger cartons. Well, anything really.

I'd also say be careful with using generic nutrition information for meat. Even with leaner meats such as chicken there will be differences in terms of muscle/fat portions in the food depending on how it was farmed and produced, and the cut of it, so it is best to refer to the actual container wherever possible.

Make sure you are measuring cooking oils when used.

I don't know if you drink alcohol, but that is also something to watch carefully.

By all means enjoy treat meals and alcohol if you want to but keep a record and prepare for it. I tend to find it easier to create a deficit in advance of a party/ meal out by spending an extra hour at the gym or other form of exercise that day than try to compensate afterwards. Most importantly, for me, I enjoy my time out a lot more when I don't feel guilty about how I'm overindulging in the process.

I think it really will be as simple as saving 100-200 calories a day. Measure your food out for the amount you typically choose, then reduce your portion sizes by 10%. I bet you won't even notice the amount being any smaller.