Must be doing this wrong

Are you tracking your calories? I went through the same thing...thought I was eating well, thought I was exercising enough, and soooo frustrated that I couldn't lose any weight. My dr. told me "you're eating too much". And I said "No I don't think so". His reply: "Trust me, try counting your calories..." And I did, and it worked. 26 pounds down in a little over 2 months. Wish I'd done this years ago.

Edited: just saw that you are tracking your calories...sorry I overlooked that! I second the suggestion about not eating back all exercise calories and see if that works.

Hi, Please get your thyroid checked. If you have a thyroid problem you will keep gaining weight no matter what you do - at least that's what happened to me. Now that I am on medication, MFP is working for me. Good Luck

I agree with Janet, try not eating back all of your exercise calories. On the days i exercise I give my self a little leaway so i don't feel deprived but I don't eat back everything.

Start tracking your sodium and sugar intake. These are silent diet killers! Too much sodium can make you bloated and retain more water and too much sugar can slow your metabolism down. In addition, try to only eat back half of your exercise calories instead of the full amount until you start to see some weight loss, then work back up to eating most of them back. What time are you eating dinner? Eating too late can slow your metabolism too. One last suggestion is to just push through it... I've seen plenty of people on here who are at a standstill for a month or more until suddenly it just starts shedding off once your body gets the hint that this is a forever change!

Watch that sodium!

Good luck

weigh and measure what you eat, then track your calories, also, don't eat your exercise calories back entirely, leave, say 300 calories to spare, since MFP overestimates calories burnt in exercising and most people underestimate their caloric intake if they eyeball their portions. you may well be over your calories most days.

Forgot to mention, ARE you going by what MFP is saying your exercises are worth? They drastically overdo it with some exercises. I would invest in a heart rate monitor or try and keep track of your average heart rate and plug it into an online calculator such as this one: http://www.shapesense.com/fitness-exercise/calculators/heart-rate-based-calorie-burn-calculator.aspx

You think you're watching your calories and balancing exercise with it, but you could be accidentally eating too many calories back since you think you're burning so much more. It sucks to think that we are burning much less than we thought, but we gotta do it right!

I agree with Janet, try not eating back all of your exercise calories. On the days i exercise I give my self a little leaway so i don't feel deprived but I don't eat back everything.

This is what I do too. I don't plan to eat back my exercise calories but I if there's something small I want then I'll go head and eat it. The little something is never all my exercise calories though. Everyone is different. You just have to figure out what works for you.

You may not be doing anything wrong, rather than repeat everything that's already been said, I was wondering what sort of excercise you are doing. If you're building up muscle you may weigh heavier even though you're losing fat because muscle weighs heavier than fat. Keep plugging at it I'm sure you'll win in the end.

Yes muscle IS heavier than fat. You are thinking about this completely wrong. Of course an ounce is an ounce, but it takes more fat to make up that ounce! A pound of feathers weighs the same as a pound of steel, but steel is obviously heavier than feathers! This seems to confuse a lot of people...

Unfortunately, weight loss isn't a one size fits all journey. If it were, it would make losing weight a lot easier.

I am the same height as you and when I was right around where you are a year ago when I got really serious about weight loss, working out, eating better, etc.

I didn't start off tracking calories. I simply read labels, ate less, ate better and worked out. I didn't lose weight very quickly and boy was I frustrated. I started doing more and more research and realized that I may not be eating enough. So, I slowly increased my calories and started writing down what I was eating in a day. I found that I wasn't consuming more than 1700 calories or so in a day.

After extensive research, I found that I may not be eating enough. That because I work on my feet and was working out nearly everyday, 1700 calories probably wasn't enough calories for my body. I found out what my BMR was and I multipled that by my activity level and found out - I wasn't eating nearly enough calories. I kept upping my calories and when I got to 1900, I finally saw a small loss. Upped again to 2000 (these are all NET calories) and went from 167lbs to 150lbs in like 5 weeks. I ate 2000 calories from Sept 2010 to May 2011 and I maintained my 150lbs. When I upped again in May, I lost another 7lbs in one week. I now consume between 2200-2500 NET calories a day and I am maintaining at right around 145lbs (I go from 143-147 depending on water retention, time of the month, etc).

It is very possible you simply aren't eating enough. I know it goes against all we've learned about weight loss, but it is very possible (I'm proof that not everyone can lose and live on 1200 calories a day!). Your body NEEDS fuel in order to function properly.

I would check and find out what your BMR is. I would then multiply that by your daily activity level (this does not include exercise - this is simply how active you are in a day. A desk job would make sedentary - working on your feet would make you active) and see what kind of calories you should be consuming. MFP has my calories FAR too low for me. When I don't eat enough for too many days, I see a gain on the scale. I can not explain it to you - but it happens. When I don't eat enough, I gain weight. Weird, but true.

Don't be afraid to step out of the box and try something new. If what you're doing isn't working, what do you have to lose by trying something different?

Edited to add: I took a look at your diary - are you drinking water? Some days it says you had 4 glasses and some days you haven't logged any? Are you drinking enough water? Water is crucial to help flush your system out.

Good Luck!

One thing that I learned on MFP is... do you measure your food or weigh your food? There can be a discrepancy if you are using measuring cups. Using a food scale to weigh your food would give you more accurate measures.

first, I want to say that you have made some truly healthy decisions. Even though the scale has not YET cooperated, these healthy changes are making some positive benefits to your health. I believe that.

second, I've read several times that not all calories are created equal. while the number 1 goal should be creating a caloric deficit, there might be some foods you're eating that work against weight loss. I looked at your diary for the last week or so and I'm going to suggest something to see if it makes a difference. either cut out, or reduce to 1 or 2 days, your grains and processed food (this means those cakes, pizzas, pasta, and taco bell). replace these items with more lean protein like fish, chicken, ground turkey/chicken, low fat ground beef, bison, protein mixes that don't have much sugar, etc. I'm not suggesting a low carb diet, but I would recommend reducing your carbs to about 100 grams a day and bumping up your protein, and cutting out or significantly reducing the food I listed.

don't lose hope.