Frustrated and confused

An open diary would help see what you were eating and logging. Diary / Settings / scroll down bottom left set to "Public".

Also tell us something about yourself like height / weight / age / gender / medical issues

You need use a food scale and be careful of which entries you select out of database. Are those your recipes?

I took a look at a few weeks of your diary; you go over your calories by hundreds quite often. On top of that, you don't appear to be weighing anything you eat, so the days you go 300 calories over you could actually be over by 500+ calories. There are other days where you have gaps in your logging. Days where you just have coffee and a protein bar and only 600 calories are eaten for the day. Is that the case or did you just not log the rest of the day? Your logging needs to be tighter than what it is from what I can see. My guess is that unless you've gained weight, you've been eating at maintenance.

I have to agree with much of the sentiments here. Guesstimating leads to frustration which is what you are feeling. You don't have to purchase an expensive scale, but for clarity you should get one. It helps BIG TIME! I would also suggest that you do body measurements. The scale will not reflect inches lost.

Finally - And I KNOW this will not be a welcomed thought YET it is the KEY. Be completely honest with yourself. DON'T DIET but track everything. The first step in healthy eating/living is being truthful with yourself. Sometimes we are not eating enough other times we are eating too much. The key is if you guess or "omit" then you really don't know.

YOU CAN DO THIS and you will see the changes you are looking for.

luckilyunique wrote: »

I got sick with a stomach virus (some of the missing logs) and well I was lucky you just get something in. Yeah, I'm going to buy a food scale today hopefully. I didn't realize that not weighing could make that big of difference. I am a single mom on the go and sometimes i just go for what's easy. Thank guys for making me take a closer look at things. Didn't realize a few things that I thought were small could cause this.

One last suggestion: you're aiming for health as well I assume? Try adding more fresh, whole foods. Vegetables, fruits etc to your day. Good modeling for your kids as well.

luckilyunique wrote: »

5'5", 130 lbs, 32, female, thyroid but it is in check. I have the tire so to speak, I want to be ready for bathing suit season. I also use a Fitbit. Will admit I do go over some, but usually not by much and it's on healthy foods. I also over guess on the amount of food because I don't have a good scale, so I'm probably not eating as much as I log but I want to be on the safe side.

Diary is now public!

Thanks

You body does not give a fig about whether you go over on "unhealthy" foods, or "healthy" ones. It does not make any difference if you put too much butter or Nutella on your toast, or eat more of that pineapple or no-sugar-added oatmeal.

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10213155/a-guide-to-going-out-to-eat

Nobody's going to point out that muscle does not weigh more than fat, or that the OP didn't gain muscle while eating at a deficit? Nobody?

ETA: Agree with all the suggestions to tighten up your logging and weigh all food. That chart posted up-thread is pure gold!

Christine_72 wrote: »

I've been doing little test over the past week, trying to guess the weight of things, and I failed dismally.

Calamari- My guess 150g, scale weight 280g

Ceaser salad- My guess 35g, scale weight 80g

Rib eye Steak- My guess 260g, scale weight 480g

I could go on and on :blushing: My point is, get a food scale and use it for everything!

Lol, at the start I was the same, guestimating things, surprising how wrong you are with things.
Also with the recipes, I find the recipe finder can be off with Cals, so I add all the ingredient cals separately, then divide by however many serves I get from that dish.