I can't keep comitted

I suspect your nemesis is salt. With such quick up and downs it can't be fat...it has to be water retention.

Can you open your diary for us?

2 lbs/week is probably too aggressive. Set your goal to 1 lb per week, that'll give you more calories, which drastically increases your chances of sticking with it. You may also want to consider what you're eating. All you need for weight loss is to have a calorie deficit, but the fact is, for the same amount of calories you're gonna usually get a lot more chicken than you are pop tarts. As far as accuracy, sometimes logging is as much art as it is science. Make the best estimates you can when you don't have choices as precise as you would prefer.

Sued0nim wrote: »

Stop making excuses, weigh your food, enter your own food if you can't find it

Or stay overweight

It's a choice only you can make and only affects you

Quoted for brilliance - it's a tough love message but bang on the money.

Maybe try sticking to just maintenance calories for a week and then do a very slow loss so that you don't feel too deprived. It doesnt matter if it takes a whole year. The time will pass anyway.

The want for change must outweigh the want to give up. And until you've reach that level...it's going to be an endless cycling of serial starting. Best of luck.

Agree with the comments about "can't". All the things you claim you can't do the rest of us manage to do. It takes a bit of effort and wanting to do it is all.

You can't keep track- why not? Just enter everything you eat into your food diary.

You can't measure everything you eat- why not? Get a digital scale for home and for work too if you need to. If you can't measure because you eat out a lot then maybe you need to stop that and bring your own lunches and cook your own dinners, but even most restaurant food calories can be found somehow.

You can't find an accurate food in the database- why not? There are a few inaccurate entries but those get pretty easy to spot and generally a correct one is in there. Try using the bar code scanning feature, searching for the specific brand, using entries marked with a green check mark... I can usually find an entry that works.

Make a bit more effort and find ways around the obstacles that you face.

I have the same issue. 1700C/day. I lost 10lbs the first what, two weeks, then put on 12 lbs then that fell off now I'm slowly reducing. I've lost 17lbs so far. I'm very heavy set as well, very large bones and just turned 64. My weight loss is not dramatic, but my clothes are getting looser and looser. I'm 67 days into MFP and I exercise, what I consider to be hard, 5 days a week. I'm not giving up. I HATE being obese. Hang in there!! (we have to be in calorie deficit of 3000C/week to lose one pound of fat so I understand.)

(1) If you cannot find the exact food to log, find the version highest in calories and log that one.
(2) If you are gaining the weight right back that makes me think you are not doing enough "heavy" weight training.
Weight training is "more important" than cardio, at least until you hit around 10% body fat. *
(3) Always do cardio after you lift or on days that you do not lift at all
(4) Try a different calculator for your BMR/TDEE for a few months.
Most calculators over-estimate the calorie expenditure from exercise.
Search for "This Is the Best Macronutrient Calculator on the Net". I like that one and it is easy to use.
(5) Experiment with changing your macros for a few months. 40% carbs, 40% Protein, 20% Fat is a starting point.
Around 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight is a good target, as others have said.
(6) Be consistent and mentally remind yourself when you are making food choices
(7) Do HIIT instead of Steady-State cardio
(8) Aim for around 1 lb per week. Much more will threaten your LBM.
Stop thinking about getting results "soon" and start thinking "long term".
(9) Find a solid weight training program (Wendler's 5/3/1 [531], Starting Strength [SS], StrongLifts 5x5 [SL5x5], Bigger Leaner Stronger [BLS]) and stick to it.
If you want to cut body fat then BLS might be your best starting point.
I like 5/3/1 for overall strength and simplicity, but the later workouts can be grueling if you are cutting; great for bulking phases though.
Wendler's 5/3/1 is deceptive because the beginning workouts seem too easy.
SL5x5 workouts can run "long" and it basically turns into Starting Strength after a while.
Starting Strength requires you to eat and eat like you are a 18 year old kid on the football team every day and is not really meant for people who are pushing 40 years old.
BLS has a bit more focus on "aesthetics" -looking good, ripped and buff- with overall strength being somewhat secondary.
All of these lifting programs are designed for free weights and focus on big, compound lifts - squat, deadlift, press, bench, etc.
(10) Avoid "body building" or "bro science" workouts until you have a solid foundation of actual strength.
(11) Do not change your workout / calories / macros and expect to see any real results for at least 3 weeks.

* I know some people may disagree with this. It is not my intention to start a debate but adding muscle mass will have a larger effect on your body fat percentage than simply "cutting fat".
Even presuming you could always manage to "cut fat" without losing any muscle at all, simple math demonstrates that weight training is often a better "bang for your buck" than cardio.
Additional muscle mass also raises your BMR, making "fat loss" somewhat easier.

By the way, all of this goes for women as well. Feel free to check out "Thinner, Leaner Stronger", it is BLS but re-written for women.

I am not an expert but I was a certified personal trainer in the 90's (for whatever that means) and I have used all of the programs I mentioned here - with the exception of TLS. These recommendations are what have worked best for me.

YMMV - Your Mileage May Vary