How does my Diary look?

You need to eat more.

I tried "cycling" my calories for a few days and that has helped me.

Are you drinking water and not recording it - It is really important. Sodium is quite high as well.

You probably don't want to hear this, but you are eating too many carbs. And 30 min of running every day is too much. That much stress on your body is flooding your system with cortisol. The carbs are triggering insulin, and that causes you not to burn fat.

Check out www.MArksDailyApple.com. Try it for a couple of weeks and see what happens.

To lower sodium, rinse your canned veggies before eating. Eat more whole foods, less processed foods, EAT MORE! You're not supposed to eat less than 1200 calories a day. You will not get enough nutrients, and you can mess up your body doing that. Your body could go into starvation mode, which means you'll hold on to EVERYTHING you eat (I know from experience), it could mess up your metabolism, your menstrual cycle, etc. It's not healthy.

Good luck to you!

I'd say your sodium looks pretty high.. If you like quick convenient veggies (like the canned string beans), try getting the steam in the bag variety, then (lightly) season to taste. Steamed veggies taste much better anyways!

Also, definitely try to eat all of your 1200 calories daily. I saw that you had more than a few days at around 1000-1100 calories, even days where exercise was factored in. I'm not saying force yourself to eat all of them, but try and eat more just so you have fuel to bring it in your workouts.

Great job for hanging in there despite not seeing a change yet.. Give it time - you'll see progress!

I'd really recommend drinking more water and like others have said cut back on the sodium.

You probably don't want to hear this, but you are eating too many carbs. And 30 min of running every day is too much. That much stress on your body is flooding your system with cortisol. The carbs are triggering insulin, and that causes you not to burn fat.

Check out www.MArksDailyApple.com. Try it for a couple of weeks and see what happens.

To be exact, I run/walk 30 mins 4 times a week.

And I'm consistently under my carbs.

You are but it isn't the right kind of carbs. Bt of course this is our opinion. I definitely think 1200 isn't enough. Even at my lowest weight with constant exercise I would eat 1800 a day and still lost

I personally don't think your sugars are all that bad. I consistently eat way more sugar than that, mostly from fruit, and I lose weight still. I would consider a sugar free yogurt though! Try some Greek yogurt! it has a much higher protein content!

I would probably look into mixing up your exercise with some strength training. Running alone will burn calories, but strength training will also tone your muscles and make them work more, burning more calories. Also, don't get hung up on not losing for one week! It happens. If you work out extra hard sometimes, your body will flood your muscles with glycogen and water.

Also, I don't think 30 minutes of running is too much. Do you see fat people winning the Boston marathon? I strength train 3-4 times a week, but I run/jog 30 minutes or more every day. You have to listen to your own body and adjust accordingly. There's unfortunately not a single formula for everyone.

Don't be afraid of the carbs, but do be mindful of them. Too much of anything can be bad. That goes for all things and not only carbs. I would probably up the protein amount. You want at least 1 gram for every pound of lean body mass. You'd probably want to shoot for at least 100g/day. Personally, I eat at a 40/30/30 ratio of carbs/fat/protein. It works well for me. The extra protein helps to maintain your muscle mass. You want to lose the fat and not the muscle! More muscle means a higher RMR and we all want that!

Also, I know it's scary and seems counter productive, but you need to eat more. I'm shorter and weigh less than you, but I'm eating more. You are medium to tall height, so you are going to need more fuel to keep your body going. A lot of people will say starvation mode is a myth. This is true and false. I think the confusion comes from the misinterpretation of the condition. You aren't starving, but you aren't losing either. If you don't fuel your body enough, you'll subconsciously slow yourself down. you won't fidget, you'll sleep less efficiently, you'll get tired more easily, or not be able to work out as hard. This leads to an overall slowing of the metabolism and burning fewer calories. Try upping your calories by a couple hundred or so. Give it a fair two weeks of adjustment time. You might initially gain a little simply because there is a larger volume of food in your body, but after that, you should start dropping again. You'll have to work around it a little, but you'll eventually find your body's happy place.

Also, you may already be doing this and just find it tedious to log like me, but drink lots of water! Aim for a gallon a day! A well hydrated body will always work best! Good luck!

My best guess -- plain and simple - you're UNDERESTIMATING your calories.

When adding food to your diary never underestimate, always overestimate if you're unsure.

It is a classic dieters error - overestimating exercise and underestimating cals.

I disagree. Most of her food is pre-packaged and pre-weighed, and if you look, some of her food is weighed out to a tenth of an ounce. That sounds like she's aiming pretty hard for precision to me. Exercise might be over-estimated, but 50 calories difference a 1/2 tablespoon of butter might make will not account for being over 200 calories under goal.

My best guess -- plain and simple - you're UNDERESTIMATING your calories.

When adding food to your diary never underestimate, always overestimate if you're unsure.

It is a classic dieters error - overestimating exercise and underestimating cals.

I disagree. Most of her food is pre-packaged and pre-weighed, and if you look, some of her food is weighed out to a tenth of an ounce. That sounds like she's aiming pretty hard for precision to me. Exercise might be over-estimated, but 50 calories difference a 1/2 tablespoon of butter might make will not account for being over 200 calories under goal.

Yeah - it's just a guess - she has it laid out perfectly but that can be as simple as just clicking on the one that 'seems right' in the list they provide on this site - if you know what I mean?

Anyway, I was just throwing it out there.

Surely none of these responses are for me?