Rant: It's Week 4

2000 calories seems like a lot for a woman even if you are active...
I agree that you should eat more meat/vegetables and cut out the extra carbs and sugars. Granola bars are basically candy. Junk food is ok as an occasional treat but it seems to make it into your daily diet.

Water - drink lots of water. I never believed it until I increased my water intake to a minimum of 8 glasses each day.

Good luck and keep on keeping on. It will happen.

How much of a difference were you expecting in 4 weeks? This isn't a quick process. Just keep going at it and it will eventually happen.

I'll second the more water and more fruits and vegetables in your diet. Both will help fill you and increase your fiber. I always track fiber on my diary so I know what I'm getting. Try to always fill half your plate with vegetables at any given meal and I think you'll find that the craving for carbs goes down. Then make sure the grains you eat are whole grains. All that will help you to cut down on the bad calories.

It all takes time, which is frustrating, but you *will* get there. Keep up the great work!

If you are always hungry, try ditching the carbs and go for more healthy fats, lean protein, and fiber (vegetables). For the same amount of calories as your high-carb ~400 cal breakfast, I have an omelette consisting of 3 eggs, 1 60g link of chicken sausage, 125g of zuchinni, 25g spinach, and another 50g or so of other vegetables, plus about an ounce total of milk/cheese. I eat that at about 7:30 am and am good to go until lunch, about 5-6 hours later. Healthy, nutrient-dense is what you want.

Also, weighing your food is much more accurate than measuring volumes (thus my stuff is all in grams above). Get a kitchen scale and you'll be more precise.

I'd like to suggest that maybe you are doing 2 things incorrectly-

1.) you are under-estimating your calorie intake or over estimating your calories burned. If you are in a caloric deficit you should be losing. Period.

Or

2.) you are overtraining. Edit: what I mean by that is not allowing a sufficient amount of time for muscle repair. You mention constantly being sore. If you are not allowing proper time for muscles to repair how are they getting stronger? They are also likely retaining a **** ton of water.

You would be surprised what counting every item that you intake and exercising 3 times a week can do.

It's gotta be your caloric intake. I highly doubt it's water related to water after four weeks (c'mon you guys!).
You are either eating too many or way too little (starvation mode).
Let's assume you are eating too many: it's simple math = eat less than you burn and you have to lose weight. That's why we all can "sneak" orios and stuff, as long as you stay under your caloric intake, you are good. (although, you might want to make sure you are getting enough of everything healthy!!)

I would suggest taking a hard look at your BMR, TDEE, etc and adjusting them. (http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/512956-tdee-what-is-it-and-why-you-should-not-eat-below-your-) is helpful.
If that is too complex, just try dropping your daily caloric limit by 250 cals, stick that way for a week (that's about half a pound a week less). See how you are from there, and then drop another 250 if necessary. But don't shoot for losing more than 2 lbs a week.

And yeah, be careful eating back your exercise calories, yeah you should but usually "calories burned" is usually generous on MFP, so be conservative.

You SHOULDN'T eliminate carbs completely. Use your MFP goals for it as a guide, just MAKE SURE you are getting enough protien and not too much fats.

I would go into your goals and change your carbs/protein/fat ratio to 40/30/30 and really bump up your protein. If you can, ditch the gnc shake for a lower calorie one with much higher protein. Mine is 100 calories a scoop with 22 grams of protein. Fills me up a lot. You have a nice selection of foods! Try not eating back all the calories...I did that too and couldn't lose even though I was busting *kitten* at the gym. A food scale is very affordable. Under 20 bucks. When you are able to, definitely give that a try. I'm sorry you're having a hard time. I totally understand!

My husband and I had gasteric sleeve surgery in December. We learned so very much about nutrition that I had never thought of. There are two giant helpers! One is the order that you eat your foods. Protein first, then non-starch veggies, then fruit, then starches and bread. It really helps you fill up on the right things first so you don't eat as much of the "other" choices. The hardest one to learn was NOT to drink with meals, including 10 minutes before and 30 minute after. By not drinking you don't wash your food through your system faster. I honestly thought it was crazy and I couldn't do it, but when I spoke with the Nurse Practitioner (sp) she told me to give it my best and I stopped feeling like I was starving all the time! For me the sleeve makes my tummy "prime real estate." SO every bite counts. Also, a behavior counselor said this. Hunger is not accuratly measureable. Think of eating as nutritional oportunities and set measureable goals. Ex: protien count, calories, limited carbs. Good luck to everyone this is one of the hardest things I have ever tackled!

well since you posted, I'll offer some suggestions....

1) Honestly I've found with myself and most of my friends that they put in the bare minimum effort when working out at the gym. And often times people think they only need to do the bare minimum for 30 minutes and they are good. I started taking classes and it has been my saving grace....I realized that I wasn't pushing myself as hard I could, and a huge key to weight loss from exercise is getting your heart rate up for prolonged periods of time. I only started seeing results when I was working out for an hour or more at a time and working out hard.

2) I peeked at your diary and you have a LOT of carbs and extra sugars in your diet that you could cut. It's not necessarily for everyone....but maybe you need a drastic diet change. Not merely cutting calories but changing how you put food into your body all together. Again, for me, I only started to see results when I started eating RADICALLY different.

good luck

This is soooo true!! I still eat the same amount of calories but the last couple weeks I have really watched my salt intake and lowered my carb intake. A friend of mine that is on here, she has lost a lot of weight and looks amazing. I asked her what I should do to help me lose weight and she said for sure watch my sodium intake and also to set my food diary so that it is 40% Carbs, 45% protein, 15%fat and 2500 sodium. Since I have done this along with upping my exercising, I try to burn 500 or more calories a day and do a lot of cardio and I have noticed a difference. My friend also told me to eat my carbs in the morning or at lunch but after that try to limit your carb intake at supper. Good luck and hang in there!!!!