I'm just writing things out here, thinking out loud, so to speak. If you have any advice/ideas or wish to commiserate, I welcome your comments.
I have been slowly changing what I eat and how much over the last six years. It's resulted in a 60-lb loss. What I'm bumping into now is a group of issues that make losing weight really hard for me (type 2 diabetes, PCOS, IR, menopause, hypothyroid). I'm blessed with great cholesterol and triglicerides. I'm not a tiny woman, and all those BMR calculators tell me I can eat a lot more than I do and still lose weight. It's all garbage!
This is what I'm doing these days with regards to diet...
At 2 a.m. I eat about 10 almonds (to keep from having morning blood sugar readings get too hight).
For breakfast I cook some veggies in a little olive oil and then poach an egg to have with it, about 30 mintues after I get up.
I have a mid-morning snack of almonds, but only if I'm going to exercise.
I have big salad with fish or chicken at lunch with some olive oil and lemon for dressing. I may have an avocado at that time as well.
I have a piece of cheese and some walnuts for a mid-afternoon snack.
I have a portion of protein with two or three cooked vegetables at dinner, dressed with olive oil.
It's important for me to control my blood sugar. If I don't eat in the morning, my blood sugar just keeps going up until I do eat. If I overeat in the evening, and if I eat too late, my blood sugar will be up too high by 5 a.m. If I don't have the almonds in the middle of the night, my liver will dump glycogen and my blood sugar will be up too high. The mid-morning snack is necessary to help maintain my blood sugar. Lunch tends to be my biggest meal, especially on days when I work out. I eat most of my protein and carbs then because that's when my body seems to be able to maintain blood sugar within the right parameters.
If I cut calories at lunch, especially protein, I go nuts all afternoon. I have serious munchies! And that's when I go for a big oatmeal cookie at Starbucks. Whether I eat the bigger lunch or go for a small one and add the cookie later, the calories are about the same.
I just have a hard time cutting more calories. This is important because I won't lose weight at anything over 1700 calories. And I won't shed but a few ounces unless I cut below 1400 calories. But I am hungry if I eat below 1500 for more than a couple days and I tend to make up for it over the next couple days.
Intermittent fasting is out, due to blood sugar issues. Juicing is out for the same reason. Can't have oatmeal in the mornings.
I am getting advice from diabetes people to increase my fat intake. I am getting advice from others to cut fats even more than I have. I am adding chia seeds to my foods, an ounce or two a day, because it helps me get my fiber intake up since I'm not eating grains or legumes. (That stuff affects my blood sugar adversely too.)
I'm leaning towards cutting back on olive oil in the morning and evening. I'm getting plenty of fats in the avocado, nuts and lunchtime salad dressing, plus the meats and the fish oil supplements I take. I may cut out coffee since that will also cut out the cream I put in it. But I need another hot beverage to replace it with. I may switch out the cheese and walnuts, but not sure with what. I can't eat fruit, not even with nut butter. I can do celery with almond butter. I may be able to do a protein shake as long as the carbs are really low.
I may cut back the portion of avocado. I can easily eat a whole one, so I'll cut that by half for now.
You're right about the olive oil. That stuff's healthy but it's probably where a LOT of your calories are coming from. And the avocado as awesome as those things are they are just packed with calories. I remember reading somewhere that half an avocado a day was recommended in general as a whole one can easily be over 350 calores, but I can't be sure.
One thing I found out is that a good salad may not even need dressing if you put the right stuff in it I put roasted red peppers and banana peppers in a salad recently and did not have dressing. It was totally fine and tasty! Any veggie that leaves a bit of juice can work.
I've also done the same to get a tasty lunch of grilled chicken and veggies. Throw everything in a bag in the morning before work, make sure there's some "juicy" veggies in it, take it out at lunch, dump it on a plate and nuke it, and voila! yummy lunch
How do you feel about tea as a hot beverage? I abhor coffee but I did need some sort of hot beverage to keep me warm during the winter so I opted for tea instead. I find it doesn't need anything in it.
The first thing that jumped out at me was the olive oil, it seemed like you used it a lot. Unless you are using a scant amount, that might be more calories than you realize?... My mom had diabetes and we hardly ever used it. We generally used olive oil pam for cooking things in. Youre likely getting enough good fats from your avocado, nuts and suppliments. Even as a diabetic, though, my mom still ate fruits.. She tended to lean towards a Glycemic Index or a South Beach way of eating, and it helped her stay more 'even keel'...
As far as your creamer in your coffee, can you use non-dairy? Or a low cal version? Or maybe not use it, ween yourself off it? I'm a tea and coffee drinker and I've gotten to the point that I don't use milk in my tea at all and I'm down to 2T of creamer in my coffee. I use the premeasured coffee mate little tubs, so I can count them.
What are you doing for exercise? 1400-1700 isn't a lot of calories for your height but your diet seems pretty balanced, maybe a tad much olive oil. Can you work in like a 30-40 minute walk 3-5 times a week? My loss tends to be slow and I bloat pretty badly without exercise. I think you need to burn more calories, not necessarily cut them out of your diet.
hey! looks like you have been provided with some solid advice already, but here are my 2 cents.
1. Olive oil: replace with pam. 2. try water grilling instead of even pam.
3. How do you cook your veg? with olive oil i presume? Use pam, or steam. Do you use sauces? Do you count the sauces?
4. Are you measuring properly?
5. Are you tracking every lick bite and sip?
6. Coffee is fantastic, it it a diuretic, and a appetite suppressant. Do you use sugar? I went from double double (about 250 cals total) to a double double- 2 milk 2 sweetner (65 cals total).
7. while i am anti-nuts/walnuts/avocado/cheese for the most part while you are trying to lose weight, i understand that these help to regulate blood sugar. i would cut the cheese. where there is avocado in your salad- you no longer require olive oil.
8. what kind of cheese do you eat? sharper cheeses - those that are stronger, you need less of them, and i sub in things like blue cheese as salad dressing BUT THIS SALAD CANNOT HAVE AVOCADO.
I cut way back on the olive oil, cut my avocado in half, I cut back on the nuts and the cheese. I ate more vegetables (without added oil) to fill me up.
And then I cooked some dinner for my kids. Burritos. And I tasted some meat and some beans and cheese...about 350 calories worth! Because I was so hungry!
I agree with 4star in that your diet seems nicely fine tuned to keep you satisfied and to control your blood sugar, so if you want to have a better calorie deficit try to get it through moving a bit more instead of cutting calories. This can even be as simple as dancing around the house while doing chores, or small bursts of exercise squeezed into your day wherever you can find the time. You seem like you really have a lot of things figured out already, so I have no doubt you will figure this out too. Good luck!
Ways to cut more calories?
as awesome as those things are they are just packed with calories. I remember reading somewhere that half an avocado a day was recommended in general as a whole one can easily be over 350 calores, but I can't be sure.
I put roasted red peppers and banana peppers in a salad recently and did not have dressing. It was totally fine and tasty! Any veggie that leaves a bit of juice can work.
I'm a tea and coffee drinker and I've gotten to the point that I don't use milk in my tea at all and I'm down to 2T of creamer in my coffee. I use the premeasured coffee mate little tubs, so I can count them. 
