Frustrated and starting to cheat!

I looked at your whole diary and these are my thoughts: If you are too busy to make healthy food choices, which happens, you probably are not measuring things like the fast food. I dont trust portions that restaurants give me, so dont count on those waffle fries being and exact 3 oz. the fruit cup maybe. 1 oz extra can be a couple hundred calories. It also looks like you have a major sweet tooth and that may be your comfort food. Thats ok, but you have to make sure you keep that in check when you are stressed.

And remember, if you fell off the wagon a little bit, that's ok. IT HAPPENS! Just get back up, brush yourself off and go back to what worked.

I need a like button!

Are you sure you are being 100% honest about your calorie intake? I know that sometimes when we're busy or our minds are on something else - we guesstimate our calories (and are often wrong). Doing this once in awhile won't cause any harm really, but if you've been doing it consistently for a few weeks or even a month -- well, it can start to add up. Remember that it takes 3500 calories OVER your maintenance to gain a pound - and while that seems like a lot (and is...) if you aren't weighing/measuring food properly, it doesn't take long to add up. A few hundred off this day and a few hundred off that day and so on ... it can easily end up causing a gain.

All that being said, everyone's body is different. The numbers that MFP gives you and even online calculators give you is an estimate. It isn't set in stone for every single person. If what you're doing isn't working, don't be afraid to tweak things until you hit on what works for you.

Weight loss is really all a numbers game and those numbers vary from person to person.

I don't believe making bad eating decisions here and there is going to make you actually gain weight in fat. Unless you have an absolutely horrible metabolism. What you're probably doing is retaining water due to a higher sodium intake.

Life get's stressful. Give yourself a break. I bet you start being easier on yourself about everything, and it'll be easier getting back on the wagon!

One thing to always keep in mind is the quality of food you are eating. Not critisizing, I swear, but there is a difference in a Chick-fila chicken breast and a fresh breast baked at home. Processed meats and grains are some of the worst things you can put into your body. I try to avoid them but in todays society its all but impossible to cut them all the way out, unless your a millionair and can hire a personal cheff.


Another thing to keep in mind is that having just moved you have been doing a lot of heavy lifting and such. You may be building some muscle. Weight is not the only way to track your progress. I keep track of my weight and all other measurements. As long as my measurements keep going down I dont worry too much about weight. A pound of muscle is something like three to four times as dense as fat. So you cold be gaining wait while loosing fat.