@Ari112233, that surely is frustrating!

I've never had my metabolism tested, but Mifflin St. Jouer estimates a BMR of around 1180 for me. I don't know about RMR. But as for your maintenance, that doesn't sound far off from me.

I'm very pleased to say that for three weeks in a row, on my weigh in day I have seen a drop. About 1.2 lbs total over three weeks. The best part is that this is about what I would expect to see based on my past history and calculations! As far as I can tell from the math, my average numbers are off only about 200 calories, which I figure is a reasonable margin of error. I could easily be off in my logging by that much, or my activity monitor could be off by that much, or a combination of the two.

I did go last week for my yearly checkup, and I asked for a thyroid test. I don't expect anything abnormal there because I really don't have any other symptoms other than difficulty with weight and being colder than my family (which has been the way I am all my life. That is not a recent change!). But they are all male, so there is no way to compare their bodies to mine! In any way! (Gotta love living in the man cave!)

Anyway, it is so refreshing to actually see a correlation between my intake and my weight, instead of it just being crazy.

I am still finding it pretty difficult to eat under 1400, though!!

I don't know if this is the placebo effect, or if there are other factors, etc. But let me throw out these observations:

After one large dose of D3 (I am to take a large dose daily) the next morning I noticed a marked difference in soreness. This is even after a long run--I am trying to build my running back up after being a bit sporadic because of winter weather and trying to focus on strength more. But Monday afternoon I ran for almost an hour (with a few minutes walking break here and there), which is a good 15-20 minutes, at least, longer than normal. Ordinarily I would have been extremely stiff on Tuesday, but although I was stiff when I first got up, I didn't have the continual sore/stiff feeling for the rest of the day. Didn't have it today either, and I ran on Tuesday evening too. (Just 30 minutes. I couldn't resist. The weather is just too perfect!). Now, today I did some strength training, so we will see what tomorrow brings, but if I am still less sore, I am calling it a win! For years I have been sore pretty much all the time, but I blamed it on my mild lupus, my workout schedule, and getting older. So we will see!

As for the appetite, it seems to be tamed down a bit too. I easily stayed under 1400 yesterday, but then springtime means better produce and less processed stuff, so again, there are many factors. But TOM came yesterday, and normally he brings unquenchable appetitie. It is not even really hunger, just an inability to feel satisfied! And that was just not present. Today was not too bad, either, and I didn't eat nearly as healthy today. I'm still under 1300 after dinner. Room for a small treat or a bedtime drink maybe!

I don't want to get too hopeful, since what I am reading is inconclusive as to whether supplements actual help relieve symptoms, or just slowly build levels up without much noticeable change.

But if I could live with less pain and tiredness, wow! It would make upping my workouts easier. Maybe it wouldn't be such a struggle to fit in both strength and cardio. And maybe I would move more in general! Today I actually got in my step goal without my workout. That rarely happens. But today was a really busy day.

And I'm not really complaining about the way I feel. I've just brushed it off as being a busy working wife/mother of an active family. Because every woman I know who works both at home and away from home is pretty much stretched to the limit and exhausted. Especially when there are kids involved. So feeling tired and sore really is not something I have worried about. After all, I've earned that tiredness and soreness!

Monday report--weight steady at 132 from last Monday. Waist up .25. Calipers steady, as far as I can tell. This is good, since I'm still dealing with TOM and mid week last week I hit a new post loss high of 133.8. That night my waist bloated 4 inches! I seriously looked 6 months pregnant with my stomach looking larger than my bustline (which is not insubstantial!) I'm not even sure how that is possible! But it is.

I do continue to feel less sore and achy and I definitely have more energy. I really think that may be the vitamin D. The hunger really is better too. Except for one TOM day last week when I wanted to eat everything without stopping. That is such a miserable feeling! Again, not even true tummy rumbling hunger, just an inability to feel satisfied, even after eating.

I am hopeful for next week as the hormones settle down. At least right now I feel like I am where I was, instead of having to backtrack, progress wise, and that is really helpful psychologically!

Also, after looking back at my records, I have to confess that the biggest reason I am still struggling is that there are too many days I go over my goal. I do think I am on the right track with staying under 1400 as a goal for slow loss. Several here have confirmed it, @heybales spreadsheet confirms it, several online calculators confirm it (some say stay under 1300), my results and record keeping confirm it. The facts are staring me in the face. But my records show that over the last 14 weeks, I have averaged under 1400 only 4 weeks. And yet I am disappointed that I haven't lost more?? I have to confess that I've not been realistic! Now several of those weeks I was purposely eating at maintenance, but still, I don't always see the forest for the trees. (Or maybe it's the trees for the forest! I never could quite get that one right but you guys know what I am saying!).

Also, I've gotten sloppy with logging. I feel like I do a good job estimating, because I weighed and measured for so long, but I've checked up on myself several times last week, and I am slipping! It is so easy to accidentally eyeball a slightly larger serving. So back to checking EVERYTHING, I even weighed my 1/2 tbsp of peanut butter this morning!

So two goals-
-stay under calorie goal (I will add in calories beyond planned exercise, since I am still slowly building back my running--also, my MFP settings are pretty meaningless. I am figuring my goals in my head as I still have my account hooked to misfit for now. I just know to stay under 1400. But seeing those misfit numbers really helps inspire me to move more, so I leave them linked--as an aside, I think misfit is great at estimating non exercise activity, slightly overestimates cardio activity, and underestimates lifting/strength. So I think it sort of evens itself out over time)
-clean up logging (again!).

Another drop again this morning!! I am back to my end of vacation weight from last August! Now if I can get back to pre vacation weight, and then drop a few more. . . .

The best part is that I have been averaging just over 1500 calories a day! And my moderate meals are keeping me full, for the most part, until afternoon, which is a definite plus! There is a huge difference in satiety. Before starting the vitamin D I would often have an extra waffle at breakfast (I make whole grain protein powder waffles and freeze them. Now I'm full after the normal two waffle serving. Which comes in just under 200 cals before you add toppings). I know the hunger hormones play a part in that, and one of the first things I read about vitamin D was that it helped them to work correctly. I would definitely agree.

The only thing I can figure out about the rough patch this winter when I seemed to be gaining while eating 1500, is that my logging got sloppy, and for a good bit of my "check my TDEE time" I was snowed in and really inactive. I was still doing some sort of workout every day, like a dvd, but the intensity is just not as great as a run. I did, for the most part, keep lifting too, since you can easily do that indoors, but that doesn't provide a huge burn. But I used my snow days to lie on the couch and read and watch movies and catch up on the whole season of "Homeland", etc. not burning many calories there!

One wrinkle that has me frustrated--I have been relying on Misfit heavily to set my daily calorie goal. For some reason, it won't report to MFP now. I've contacted both companies to see what is going on. I have seen a few posts from others having issues too. Hopefully this can be resolved quickly. But, in reality, I know my numbers well enough to do this just using MFP.

Also, I'm thinking of asking for a body composition analysis for Mother's Day. I would love to really know what is going on inside! Where is the best place to go for this, and what is the usual cost? (That may knock me out, with saving for college for two boys, etc. . . .)

A wonderful thing has happened, and I think it must be the vitamin d supplementation, based on what I am reading.

My appetite has totally changed. I'm completely satisfied suddenly, while still eating moderately for my body size ( I've not run the averages for this week, but I have ranged from just under 1200 to just under 1700 for the past five or six days). And I'm continuing to lose slowly. This week my weigh in day was off because I had to lift late in the week, and I was still pretty sore this morning. My rest day this week is going to be tomorrow, so I will be interested to see where I am at after that. (Schedule is crazy right now.). Mid week last week I had a really nice dip.

But the best NSV is the appropriate appetite! I thought it was perhaps a fluke, especially since a couple of days I had long runs and had quite a few more calories to eat. But it has been like this for about 5 days! I'm sure the hormones will affect it monthly, but this is still a huge improvement.

As I've been reading, I've come across a question--some say don't start a recomp until you are under 24% bodyfat (for a woman). I've also read some similar things about bulking, but that is not in the plan for me right now, maybe never! I read of others recomping at much higher numbers, also. What is right, or maybe I should say best? Or possible?

@DaniH826 --I think I might actually be able to learn to use my appetite as a guide, since it now seems to be regulated more properly! Yesterday I went to a bridal shower with all kinds of lovely things to eat, and I didn't eat a thing. Because I WASNT HUNGRY! Not being hungry is a NSV. And not eating when I am not hungry is also a NSV! There are so many times in the past when I have eaten simply because it was available, or tasted good, or was what everyone else was doing, etc. But this time, I really didn't want anything.

As for family meals, it is not usually a problem of eating with them when I am not hungry. It is much more holding off the snack monster until it is time for dinner, which tends to be late at our house. I grew up in a farm family, and we simply DID NOT EAT DINNER until the men folks were home and had showered, etc. and during the harvest and planting times often that meant dinner after 9 pm. So culturally/psychologically for me having a family sit down dinner is very very important. My husband usually arrives home about 7, and we eat now between 7 and 7:30. Even that means a long stretch between lunch and dinner (and my lunchtime is prescribed by my work schedule. Most days 11:30.).

I am still seeing the scale move very, very, very slowly down. Loss of 0.2 lbs this week. And my average intake was 1550. My misfit TDEE wasn't as high this week,though. Schedule was off, so workouts were off. Plus, for some reason my lifting workout made my lower body so sore this week I could hardly walk. I had to skip a run on the day after and just walk very very slowly. It took three days to get rid of the soreness this time, and I ended up lifting only once because of the soreness. I'm not sure why it was so much worse. There WAS a lot of leg work, but I really hadn't increased weight this week. I think it may have been the Bulgarian split squats that had not been on the program in several weeks.

So, for 8 weeks straight I have seen the scale drop now. That is probably the longest sustained drops I have had in almost three years! In 8 weeks I have lost a total of 2.2 lbs.--that is slow, but I am very encouraged. I am seeing my arms continue to lean out (probably the last place I need to get smaller, unfortunately) and they look good, and overall I seem to look trimmer, clothes fitting well, etc. waist went down 1/4 inch last week, but was up 3/4 inch today. That seems so strange to me, that I have lost weight but see very little change in the waist. I do have some water weight on me this morning though (wedding ring is a little tight).

One more thought--I keep reading so much confusing info about running. One article will say it is good, another that it will kill you, another that women near or going through menopause shouldn't run, etc, etc So much conflicting information is frustrating. I have thought of posting a question, but there is no way I would post on the main forums---the bloody melee that would result would be completely unhelpful. But I'm not sure where to post such a question. Is there a way to search the groups? Surely there has been a post about running pros and cons on this group. This seems to be a pretty balanced place. . . .

Anyone want to post a link?

Anyway, I'm not thinking of stopping running, since I do believe that the most important is finding something that you will continue to do, and running is it for me. But I do want to be smart. And do it right, because I plan on doing this for the rest of my life. And HIT running doesn't seem to do it for me, as far as the enjoyment/psychological benefits, etc. it becomes yet another thing on my to-do list. So far, a nice long slow run has not become that for me! I actually look for ways to get a run in! (And long for me means more than 30 minutes, less than an hour. Nothing crazy. Speed is about 11 minute miles.) I do like biking and swimming too, but the convenience factor for swimming makes it less desirable for me--except in summer--and biking in our city is a death wish! Too bad, because biking is like the "non exercise" exercise.