Kia Ora! quick question :)

The protein levels on here are very low - you can easily up them quite a bit.....from memory you can go to 1.5grams per 1kg of lean bodyweight.....so I changed my goals to much higher protein....

I count calories, veggies and exercise. Eating the right amount of vegetables seems to naturally balance out my cravings for extra fats and carbs, it makes me feel more energetic and that helps me get enough exercise, which also lowers my cravings and stress. Also, it's easier to keep track of "did I eat 3-5 servings of vegetables? did I get out and sweat today?" than all the numbers of carbs, sugars, fats, etc. Keeping it simple keeps me more likely to stay positive and stay on track.

Oh, one more thing - when I did WW before it kept my fats very low and I ended up with my good cholesterol too low. My skin and hair got very dry too. My doctor said I should eat more healthy fats from fish, soy beans, nuts, etc. I find that if I go over the fat recommendation of MFP by a little bit, but everything else is right, I still lose weight and my cholesterol has gone back to healthy.

When I first joined, the first month or so I lost ten pounds while only focusing on caloric limit. I stopped losing (I wasn't exercising at all, in case you wonder) and gave up. I joined back up. Now I've been hardcore watching my calories for months and have had to fight to lose five pounds... most of it I've been stuck or working super hard to lose even half a pound. The calorie deficit isn't always perfect, because I have to figure out why I haven't lost weight in months. It could be too much sodium, not enough water, not enough protein, I exercise all the time so its not that. I am ALWAYS under my net because the days I work out hardcore make up for the few I go over a bit. I'd suggest just watch calories and if you hit a plateau you will have to start to pay more attention to the other stuff like me.