Looking for some REAL advice! HELP!!!!!

Sounds like you're loosing fat, but gaining muscle. Since muscle weighs more than fat, the scale won't show a drastic change. Scales don't measure how fit you are, so don't get hung up on the numbers. Focus on how your body has been changing overall

Note: About muscle weighing more than fat, I realize that a pound is a pound(it sounded better in my head lol) I meant pertaining to the amount of space it takes up on your body. A lot of fat can weigh as much as a small amount of muscle. This leads to discouragement to a lot of people who focus on the scale.

I never have a zero balance on calories but consider it a good day if I am within 100 on either side. I've only gone over twice, but kept them inside of the 100 over.

I know last week I had some issues and while I was underneath in calories all week, I was over in sodium almost every single day That could be something for you to look into.

If your clothes are fitting better and you're feeling great, I would suggest measuring! You could be losing inches that the scale just doesn't "see".

Sodium is too high (way too high), because you are eating mostly fast food.
Protein: too low
Carbs: too much
Not enough vegetables or/and fruit.

I would suggest (since you asked) that you reduce your sodium intake, reduce your simple carbs, increase protein and add more fruit and vegetables to your daily meals.

We should still eat carbs but not the ones coming from pizza or white bread and white pasta. Go for beans, brown rice, sweet potato and whole grain pasta as much as possible.

Keep up with your exercise routine and don't give up. You will get there.

Good luck!

My fix for sticking with the food choices I should be having (vs. those that are convenient) is to have the same thing, with some variation, each weekday for breakfast and for lunch. Weekends I mix it up a bit because I'm not at work and can do some more creative options, such as a larger brunch vs. breakfast and lunch. Yes, I am a wild and crazy person!

Each weekend I go to Costco and buy a colorful assortment of fresh vegetables that are good in salads--snack size cucumbers, pea pods, red, orange and yellow bell peppers, a big tub of mixed greens, and a big bowl of pre-made fruit salad. Once a month I get a 24-pack of Light and Fit yogurt (80 calories). I hard cook a few eggs and cut and freezeleft-over portions of grilled chicken or other protein from dinner into 2-3 oz package. I get a good variety of flavorful salad toppings, such as muffalata, yogurt/cucumber/dill sauce, etc.

Then, depending on how busy my week is going to be, I either make several large salads on Sunday night (leaving out the protein source until the day I use the salad), or make one the night before. Take-out containers from Noodles or McDonald's salads are perferct for this. I also pre-portion 2 c servings of mixed fruit. When I leave for work, I grab a yogurt, the fruit and the salad, add the protein source, and the dressing or topping. I often put in my work lunch bag a hard cooked egg or some high quality, tasty cheese. I haven't actually done the math, but I would estimate that my lunch salad probably costs about $1.00, so I'm saving money as well as calories.

I weigh or measure everything I eat at home, and have added a few recipes so I have those ready to go as well. I'm moderately lactose intolerant so I can't drink much milk, but have discovered that vanilla soy milk is a very good protein source and makes a tasty shake when blended with ice cream. It satisfied my sweet tooth and adds a protein boost, which I was told to increase.

The portion size is really really important and choosing the correct version of the food in the database. When possible, I use MFP's UPC scanner on my smartphone to scan the actual food item. Even then, the portion size can easily trip you up. My weight loss isn't great, but it's happening, which is the key.My clothes fit better, I'm able to wear most of the ones I had packed away from my last low weight, and as I've posted before, when I feel discourage by the amount of weight loss I look at the pound of lard in my pantry leftover from Christmas baking and visualize 5 or 10 of those slabs coming off my body. It immediately makes me feel a lot better.

I have hypothyroidism, so it's an ongoing challenge to achieve weight loss even at 1200 calories/day, so I do have other "mind games" I use to keep me feeling positive when after 1-2 weeks, all I show is a quarter pound lost. Stick at it and be 100% honest about everything little thing that goes into your mouth. It's amazing how little tastes and corners of crackers, etc., add up!

don't be so concerned with what the scale says as we woman know our weight can fluctuate every day because of fluid retention, whether or not it is that time of month etc. If your clothes are fitting better and you are losing inches then you are fine. I wouldn't even bother with the scale, since it really be so different every time you get on it, but go by how you look and how your clothes are fitting

How tall are you that you need to lose that much weight? Also, medications can screw up any weight loss/diet plan. Also, make sure you're not going too low on your calories, and are keeping up with exercise.