Seeking help please!

... 151.8 sounds pretty good for someone your height. I'm at 19% body fat when I get down to 145, and I'm about 3" shorter than you are.

I've got similar stats but I'm 155 today. Taking a few days off for Easter and a short camping trip canceled out a month's worth of results and then some. I'm still battling back. I'm going to guess that both of us are experiencing water retention from working out, if not some actual muscle growth. (I'm focusing on lifting heavy as I can w the Strong Curves program, plus some running intervals.) I think we both just need to be patient and careful w tracking. Eventually the scale will start to move down. FWIW, my goal is 135 or 140, depending on how I feel when I get there. That should be a comfortable weight for me, based on past experience. But remember that you are already at a healthy weight, even if you are high fat or want to work toward an aesthetic goal. It just means it will take longer. We canprobably expect to see 1/4 to 1/2 pound a week over time, but it won't be linear.

Are you weighing in grams or ounces? Weighing in ounces is not very accurate.

With as many people as there are who say they weigh and measure everything and still don't lose weight, I don't have much confidence in people's ability to use a scale to come up with an accurate calorie count. But whatever your calorie count is, it is too high. Reduce what you are eating and you will lose weight.

2 things:

I'm seeing lots of bars and meal replacement shakes, and lots of things that should be occasional treats.

Also, your calories are all over the place... 1779, 2030, 2331, 1920, 1994, 2094, 2300.
What is your actual calorie goal? Eat that, or slightly less. Ignore exercise ("net") calories.

But you do generally seem to have some decent amount of fruits & veggies, as well as lean protein, so that's good.

It seems like you go out to eat a lot. Nothing inherently wrong with that, but when you eat restaurant food you really have no idea on the calorie count. The company may post nutrition information, but if the person preparing your sandwich is generous with the meat and mayo, your sandwich could have way more calories than listed.

tlw7 wrote: »

I go to chickfila 1x a week and jasons usually 1x (when it's just me and the kids). Not too often and I make sure I run is part of my workout on those days. Don't think that's the reason I not seeing any changes on the scale. My arms are more toned so maybe I have gained a little muscle but I still feel the wt should be coming off.

We've told you several things you're doing that cause people weight, and you don't think that any of them are the reason (even though they are true).

So what would you like the reason to be?

tlw7 wrote: »

ive been tracking my calories and busting it with home crossfit workouts (push-ups, sit-ups, lunges, burpees, etc) and also running.
I've been under in calories and have watched for the last 2 months.."you will weigh this much in 5 weeks." My weight hasn't moved. Lost a tiny bit, gained back a tiny bit over easter but really there has been no change overall in 2 months. I have a vacation at the end of June and need some changes. I'm 5'8" 151.8.

I dropped to 143 (lowest ever!) this summer with just running..marathon training and really only ran 3-4miles 2-3x a week with a longer run on the weekends. No food tracking at all. I also thought about it today, I was breastfeeding at the time but not very much, maybe 3x a day.

Anyone have any suggestions? Thank you

Hi TLW,

I have looked at your diary and here's what I think is going on.

I think you are unintentionally eating more than you realize by underestimating your calories. This happens when you don't weigh your food and take that extra walk to research correct calorie counts. MFP has so many different calorie estimations that it's hard to figure out which is correct. I usually read packages and research at the USDA website.

You have 6 ounces of salmon at about 260 calories, which would make it about 43 calories per ounce. Salmon is actually about 58 calories per ounce, which means that 6 ounces would be 348 calories.

You have one half of oatmeal at 150 calories. Is that dry or cooked? Always weigh things like oatmeal dry. Also, 1/2 cup of oatmeal does not necessarily come out the the same as the oatmeal in grams. In other words, a half cup of dry oatmeal generally has more than 150 calories.

I notice a lot of general entries in your diary, which means you most likely don't weigh your food. I encourage you to buy a cheap food scale and use it for everything you eat, I guarantee you will see the difference. Make sure your measure your liquids, and don't forget to log every single thing you eat. For example when you make a sandwich or a salad, weigh and log everything separately.

As for exercise, because of your height and weight, I am not so sure you calories burned are overestimated, BUT I do notice you log your circuit training. Is this weight lifting? Circuit training/weight lifting should only be logged at 1 calorie because the calories are too difficult to estimate. Log only cardio.

I hope this is helpful to you.

tlw7 wrote: »

I've opened the diary. Also, I weigh and measure all of my food. I don't even take one nibble or animal cracker from my kids bc I don't want to track it.

I did not see this before I replied. However, your diary does have some mis-estimations in them as noted in my post above.