I posted something similar to a different board before I found this section, but didn't get a reply. Just looking for some help.

I've been on and off ( probably more off) counting calories since last June when my son was born to try to get rid of the baby weight. I was breastfeeding him at the time so I didn't really focus too much on the calotie counting, just ate whenever I was hungry.

I lost from 205 to 185 by January. But now I've just bounced around 185 for the last couple months. Each time I lose a little I gain it back. I'm focusing more on the quality I'm eating and workout around 3 times a week and walk about 3 miles a day. So I feel I'm getting adequate exercise for the most part. So I'm thinking the food and calories might be my hook holding me back.

Ive seem different opinions on calorie reboots and metabolism resets. This seems like it would help me.
Any opinions on where to get more info or how to go about doing this? I'm ready to get on with losing the other 30 odd pounds.

I think it's just quite hard sometimes to keep the focus. I have lost and gained back before just because I didn't stay accountable & continue to count those calories. Sometimes, it's hard to keep accountable/focused when you have a lot of other stuff going on. I don't know much about reboots or resets, sorry.

Are you also measuring quantity? My big problem was too much of a good thing!
I'd suggest starting with a good online calculator to get a target calorie range, measuring your portions for a while until you're sure you're portioning accurately, and logging your food into a journal of some sort so you can see it all in black and white.

Good luck in your restart and congrats on that baby boy!

I agree. I sometimes forget about counting or just have to fix whatever is avaliable in the kitchen already. But I've been trying really hard lately. Hoping eventually it pays off.

Edit - Ive started to weigh the heavy calorie stuff like pasta and meats. I dont worry to much about the fruits and veggies normally. I just found a food journal app for my phone.

Hopefully I'll actually be able to stick with it this time.

Congrats on the 20+ lb loss! The amount you are exercising is enviable! You are probably right about the caloric amount - the expert calorie counters on the site can better judge that, I just wanted to say welcome!

And congrats on the baby. Keeping up with your kids is a NSV reward in itself!

I would take a good hard look at your calorie intake again. If you keep losing and regaining the same few lbs, I would guess that you have extra calories sneaking in their somewhere, just from my own personal experience. Also - don't forget to measure your body. With all that walking your doing, surely you must be losing inches if not weight.

I second the point about inches vs. weight.

Also, one of the big things I keep in mind, and you'll see it quite a bit around here, is: "Diet is for weight loss, exercise is for fitness!" So you're probably very right about it being an intake problem. It's great that you're trying to stick to quality foods (I'm guessing you're referring to the less processed, more whole foods?), but if you do plan on calorie counting it's going to be very important to track pretty much everything you're eating and the quantity (it can also be important to keep track of your macro-nutrient intake - I don't focus too much on these, but I do make sure I'm not consuming too many carbs).

I would also check out one of the BMR calculators online, although they aren't 100% accurate, they give you a good idea of what a good calorie range is for your height, weight, overall goal, etc. There are a lot of people here that are "calorie counting experts", at least I think of them that way, and they'll probably be able to help you out a bit more.

Good luck!

Yes to quality meaning less processed foods. I used to be a total processed junk Foodie, but I'm getting better!

I haven't measured in as much as using a tape measure, but I don't feel like my clothes are fitting much better. I'll have to see if I can locate a tape measure!

Thanks for all the advice!!