Just feeling disgusting!!!

If you open your diary, I can take a look and be able to offer some help. Generally speaking, you should try to keep track of your fiber and sodium intake as well. Consistency is key and sometimes you wont see a change for a while and then a consistent drop... you just have to stick with it.

Please don't be so hard on yourself - You need to realize that you don't have much to lose... so it is going to be a slower process. I know it sucks - but that's just how it works.

What is your goal loss per week? If it's 2 lbs (or even 1 lb) you should drop it to 1/2 a pound per week. That will up your allowed calories - It sounds crazy, but you may just not be eating enough for as little as you have to lose. The body is VERY stubborn, and tends to hold on to those last 5-15 pounds the most.

Your food diary's private - but you're likely to get a lot more advice if you open it up. Chances are, there are things you can tweak that might help you start losing.

Are you using a food scale to weigh your food? Are you using a heart rate monitor to accurately measure & log your calorie burn? Are you eating back your exercise calories? Are you logging everything you eat & drink? Is your sodium level below 2,300mg every day? Is your activity level set correctly? Did you take your measurements at the beginning of your lifestyle change?

You do a lot of exercise! Do you log this and if so do you eat back some or all the calories?

I know how your feeling. I have struggled with weight all my life, never got so overweight but usually 15-20 pounds over what I would like to be. I'm short so a little extra weight is very noticable (and most of my extra wt is in my midsection- I should say ALL of it!!! ). I am getting frustrated here as well, I lost 5 pounds pretty quickly on here and haven't lost any more. I work out at least 6 days a week- I do the treadmill, I jog outside, pilates, dvd workouts- to always try to keep things different. I typically eat my 1200 calories and also some of the calories I burn daily yet my scale won't move, and honestly I havent seen much of a difference in how my clothes fit or how I look in the mirror either, I def noticed when I lost the five but now I feel like I'm stuck the last 3 weeks. I eat healthy, I'm in the healthfield and I am very aware on what kinds of foods you should eat ect... I drink a ton of water. When I look back on when I actually was able to loose that last 10-15 pounds the only way it came off was when I went on the Atkins and pretty much totally cut out carbs. I was actually able to get down to a good weight. I've tried WW and this plan and I just can't seem to loose that extra 10-15. I am on the birth control pill which I'm going to stop (I'm on it for heavy periods ect.., not for b/c) I wonder if that will make any difference??? So know you are not alone!! but we need to keep the faith right!! and keep trying! I'll send you a friend request.

Open up your diary and let's take a look!

Look at all the advice you've been given in your dieting - figure out what you follow and what you don't. If you don't follow advice because its dangerous then don't follow still, if you don't follow because it makes NO sense then try to see their side, if you don't follow because it sounds like it should make you gain (like eating back exercise calories - looks bad until you go against conventional wisdom and see the real point of it) then maybe you need to try one of those things for a few weeks. Something isn't working. Maybe you need to take a second to start over. Start from day 1 and read the important links on the board with an open mind and let it all sink in, then reassess your portions by weighing them and measuring them, then get that new enthusiasm and log every single thing with an OPEN diary - remember that you don't open it so people can judge you, you open it so people can help you. A lot of people have been doing this longer than you and have great success, maybe you should email a few and friend them? Ask them to take a peek at your diary?

Then go out and do something to make you feel beautiful - get your make up done at a makeup counter, get your nails done, get a massage, buy a new outfit. Make yourself feel great over a cup of tea and a good book. Watch your favorite movie. And tell yourself that you, in fact, are not disgusting. You are a wonderful person who happens to look pretty damn good. You have 15lbs that you'd rather not have. Some of us (myself counted) have hundreds of pounds we'd rather not have and we're not disgusting. If we're not disgusting then you must not be either You just remember, you are beautiful no matter your weight and if you lose those 15lbs you will not be more beautiful, you will just be smaller.

Assuming that you:
1. Drink enough water
2. Accurately account for your calories by measuring EVERYTHING that goes into your mouth
3. Don't have a medical condition like a thyroid problem

I have the following suggestions for you:
1. For two days, eat your "maintainance" calories. That is -- the amount of calories that it would take to maintain your weight with no deficit.
2. Shoot for a weekly average RIGHT AT your goal, sometimes going 200 over, sometimes going 200 over. But you shouldn't just always be under and sometimes way under because then your average is too low.
3. If you still don't have success, change your goals. If you are trying to lose 2 pounds per week, go to 1.5. If you are trying for 1.5, go to 1.0. And so on. Your body can only handle so much stress and maybe the fact that you're not losing weight despite the fact that you're doing everything "right" means that your body is giving you feedback that you're stressing it too much. It's not uncommon for people who are within 10-15 pounds of their goal weight to only have 0.5 pounds per week to lose.

I think this thread here by Steve is a GREAT resource for someone in your position:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/113609-relatively-light-people-trying-to-get-leaner

HI Christine - try not to feel disgusted - plateaus happen to all of us. I peeked at your diary and I do think that maybe your sodium intake is probably what's holding you back. Sodium is found in almost everything - and in ALOT of foods that you wouldn't expect - the amounts are frightening.

I'm on a low-sodium diet to help control my blood pressure and I'm only 43yrs old. Starting Nov 18, 2010 until now, I've lost 33lbs by using MFP and by tracking my sodium. (Of course I have way more weight to lose than you do - at least another 90-100lbs)
But I religiously read all labels on every food I buy or consume. And I only have 30-45 min a day to exercise and that's usually a walk over lunch hour.

To see if sodium is the problem - try really focusing on limiting the sodium for a week or two - see if that makes a difference??

It's hard, but nothing in life that comes easy is ever worthwhile - and you are worth the effort!!
If you have questions or need help choosing a low - sodium menu plan - send me a message - I'd be glad to help!!

((HUGS))
~~Prairie Rose