hitting a plateau it seems

When was the last time you changed your calorie goal? Are you weighing your food and using correct entries?

You still haven't really given enough information for anyone to answer your question, but the answer is either 1) you are eating more than you think, so get a food scale and weigh everything, or more likely, 2) weight loss is not linear, so stay the course and things will start moving again. Or both.

Lots of things can affect weight as measured by the scale, without actually meaning that you aren't making progress, including water retention, food waste in your system, etc. Did you eat a lot of salt recently? Monthly hormonal changes? Change your exercise routine? Travel by air recently? Change medications? In general, the answer is to just keep plugging along, and trust that the scale will eventually show your progress. If it stalls for a month or so, then I would suspect that you are eating more than you think, and try to figure out where the extra calories are coming from.

If you eat back your exercise calories, consider eating back no more than about half of them, as most people think that MFP overestimates how much you burn from exercise.

Furrlicious wrote: »

Maybe I'm not eating enough

Nope. That is never the problem. That whole "starvation mode" thing is a myth.

Taking antibiotics always makes me temporarily gain a pound or two or maybe it's the infection that causes it - hard to say. I have a nasty sinus infection going on and have gone up 3 pounds in the last 4 days. I know I haven't overeaten so I suspect it will come back down when I'm better.

And eating more is never the answer to not losing. That wouldn't make any sense.

You've had some big losses - could just be your body adjusting. Keep tracking and staying on course for another couple of weeks and I suspect you will start to see the scale go down again.

Furrlicious wrote: »

I have cheated a little, but just watched my portions.

I just had a bar of chocolate but I didn't cheat. Make sure you log everything. "Just watched my portions" does not suffice to guarantee accuracy. Portions can drift in calorie amounts. Eating a twinkie is fine. Not counting it isn't.

Yes i am aquiring some exercise points.

TBH I wouldn't even bother counting these at least until you've got some pretty high work capacity. Unless you're doing some serious endurance work, sticking to just counting calories being eaten is much simpler.

use mfp database on calories by searching the food n logging it in. Ive been on plateau for two weeks. Ive also had to take an antibiotic for personal reasons too.

You could be retaining water or something. Weight loss isn't always linear.

Maybe I'm not eating enough

No, that's not it. It sounds to me like you might not be counting your portions accurately, and may be overestimating exercise expenditure, and/or also may be overthinking a two week period (antibiotics, hormones).

But when in doubt, clamp down on the rigour of measuring your calories. Weigh those portions, don't presume you're expending much in exercise, and don't cheat - just count the extra twinkie. Then see what happens and adjust calories downwards if there is no change for another couple of weeks.

Then the next time you seem like you're plateau, you're completely sure of your energy intake, and know *exactly* what to do if it holds. If your calories lost you 2lbs last week, you can be fairly confident you haven't stalled this week no matter how much water you retain - but only so long as you're certain you're really intaking the same amount.

I think aloff our bodies go thru phases. First we lose weight then we go thru a phase where we aren't losing rather we are toning and building lean muscle.
Also as a though: have you considered increasing your exercise.

mhutton37 wrote: »

If you're using exercise points or calories burned as part of your daily diary..stop. I notice the numbers in my diary but I don't use calories expended from exercise to justify eating more. First of all, the numbers are just an estimate. But if you want to use them, I'd recommend using them as just another weapon in attacking the fat cells. What works for me is I imagine I'm at war with the excess fat cells in my body and every day I've expended calories via exercise, I've won that day's battle.

A good sign is that you've remained at the same weight..you're not going the opposite direction. Keep at it..force yourself past your comfort level and stop using exercise calories to consume more..you'll reach your goal if you stay focused and stick to your plan. Remind yourself all the hard work and sacrifice will be worth it when you reach your goal!

MFP is designed for you to lose weight without exercise. That's why it's expected that you eat your exercise calories back. Yes, they can be overestimated, but that's why it's suggested to start by eating only half of them back and adjust up or down based on your losses over the next several weeks.

I understand that but I'd recommend reading this article on the research done by eating back calories burned from exercise..vitals.lifehacker.com/why-tracking-calories-from-exercise-may-sabotage-your-w-1702505447

For those who don't want to read the entire article.."The problem here is that people tend to simultaneously overestimate calories burned from exercise while underestimating calories consumed. Accurately calculating calories in vs. calories out is a difficult skill to learn and estimating these numbers may persuade you to make food choices you wouldn’t have made otherwise.

So while exercise may physiologically decrease hunger and increase your overall calorie deficit, lumping everything into the language of “calories” psychologically encourages you to eat more calories than you burn.

And in fitness, when physiology and psychology go head-to-head, psychology almost always wins."

Do you have your activity level set accurately? My age/weight stats were similar to yours and I have never eaten 1800 calories a day -- few exceptions (holidays). I work a desk job, so I have my activity set at sedentary. Also, don't eat back your exercise. This is just extra credit toward your weight loss.

Weigh and measure EVERYTHING that goes in your mouth!!! This is not optional if you expect good results. If I eyeball a glass of wine, I will pour 10 oz and call it 5 every time. Also, that steak I had for dinner looked like 4 oz to me and was really 7... Those two hiccups together could be 300 calories in one meal. If you a single similar miscalculation at lunch and breakfast - that is 600 calories a day or 4200 calories a week... Every calorie counts!