I'm at my wits end.

You have gotten great advice from all the posts here. I will add to the "see a doc". You may need ur thyroid checked along with a full blood panel. You may need to see a specialist like an Endocrinologist (sp?).
Sounds like what u do should be working, but you don't know if there may now be an underlying medical issue that needs addressed.

For the first Sunday, there was a barbecue that was being held all day for me and a group of friends. There wasn't a way to count anything. I used the smallest paper plate there and ate sparcely. The second Sunday was my boyfriend and I going out to try to save our relationship.

Let me see if I get this straight...


Your boyfriend and you are on the relationship rocks because of your weight (as stated in your OP).

So you go out to eat...to save the relationship?


Do you see the disconnect in logic, here?

And even if you are at functions involving food, you can always log similar foods in the database. It may not be accurate, but at least you'll have some sort of baseline. Same goes for going out to eat. You could have chosen a chain restaurant that has nutrition info available. My point is: you always have options. Always.

You're young, do you drink alcohol? That really messed up my calories when I was your age.

On that little food, you would lose weight unless you have a VERY strong metabolic issue. Just be sure you are being 100% honest with yourself and your logging. From my own personal experience I know that being depressed about my weight can lead to secret binging, and that ruins a diet even when you're careful 80% of the time.

I. Am. Being. Honest. The only times something went in my mouth when I didn't count it and measure it strictly [I make sure to use a knife and scrape anything extra off the top off the cup] were the two Sundays I told you about.

I don't drink. On a regular basis the only liquid I consume is water and non - fat milk.

I do do marijuana recreationally. It's legal in my state. I strictly don't eat while doing it.

Well then you have your answer. There must be something medically wrong. Don't be scared, metabolic issues are treatable, but if you're telling the truth you won't get anything more out of this thread. See a doctor and maybe a dietician. We've basically all told you the same thing. Good luck.

Meals like Friday, when you had spaghetti, would be much less accurate with just measuring cups. Pasta and cheese are better measured with a scale. Also, did you not use any ground beef for the spaghetti? No butter? 350 calories seems so low for a dinner like that.

I do have a scale which I sometimes use when I don't think the cups will be accurate. I use it for noodles specifically. It's a crappy little $5 one. All I did was make the noodles, mix in the sauce, added the cheese, and then baked it. Baking it added more flavor.

go onto amazon and look for kitchen scales. i think i paid about $15 for mine, it's digital, and weighs in grams, ounces, and pounds/ounces.

i had the same problem you seem to be, where i was using volume measures for dry ingredients, or for things that don't measure very well like broccoli florets or sliced mushrooms. i keep the scale by my other daily-use kitchen implements (mixing stuff, knives, cutting boards, seasoning stuff), and i also have a magnetic shopping list pad of paper and pen attached to the fridge on the other side of the stove. when i'm cooking, i weigh/measure ALL the ingredients and create a recipe with that day's date on MFP. so my diary says things like "chickbrockmush 9.15.14" because dinner was a chicken/broccoli/mushroom casserole that has no prescribed recipe, other than what i want it to be that night. i divide by portions and log accordingly.

once i started doing that, things got easier.

For the first Sunday, there was a barbecue that was being held all day for me and a group of friends. There wasn't a way to count anything. I used the smallest paper plate there and ate sparcely.

the only way you wouldn't be able to count your food is if you were blindfolded, and someone else took a plate of food, threw it in a blender, and force-fed it to you through a straw. if you know what foods you took (hamburger with bun, mustard, ketchup, lettuce, tomato slice, etc) then you can count them. MFP has a smartphone app that lets you log food on the fly if you need to. and worst case scenario, take a picture of your food and then log it when you get home.

The second Sunday was my boyfriend and I going out to try to save our relationship.

if you went out, especially to a national chain restaurant, then you can look up the food you ate. somewhere, somehow, someone will have documented the nutritional info, whether that's from the restaurant's website or from someone who logged it into another food database. you can then log the food you ate, even if you have to estimate a little bit if you either didn't finish everything or you customized the order a little. worst case scenario, you can get close by using another restaurant's version of the same meal. there isn't going to be much variation between caesar salads, hamburgers, steaks, or grilled chicken breast sandwiches.

We went out. We did things all day. We ended up eating. I still kept my portions small, but no. I didn't count. Yes, I already felt incredibly guilty about eating out and having fun. Thank you for bringing that up. However, when you're trying to get your mind off of the thing that's making you depressed, I.e. my weight, what makes you think we want to spend the day thinking about that? Desperately counting things that could be like what I'm eating, instead of relaxing and trying to get into a better mindset?

There's no need to feel guilty about eating out. This is a lifestyle change, and you can't expect to never walk into a restaurant again, can you?

What we're trying to say is, missing days, measuring cups instead of scales, you're eating more than you think. You can still estimate those things you ate and go about your day. However, the most accurate thing to do is weigh EVERYTHING you make and log EVERY bite you take.

Sheesh. Give the girl a break!

I don't imagine it's easy to lay yourself bare in front of complete strangers when you already feel like a failure...and having your honesty questioned on top of it?!

I get that most of you are just trying to help, but let's not kick the girl while she's down huh?

*steels herself for the onslaught*

I am truly telling you the truth. Yes.

I wasn't accusing you of lying. I'm suggesting rather that you might be eating more then you think you are. In fact, you are almost guaranteed to be, otherwise your results simply are not explainable. What about the days you don't log?