Okay girls, I've been at this for awhile now and cannot seem to lose anything. I have cut what I used to eat almost in half, cut out the junky foods (occasionally I allow myself a treat) and make sure I exercise at least 4-5 days a week. This is a typical day for me:

AM: Carnation Instant Breakfast with Fat Free milk, tablespoon of Benefiber, and a tablespoon of flaxseed oil

AM snack: La Yogurt Lowfat (variety of flavors)

Lunch: half a sandwich on pumpernickel bread (usually turkey) with a wedge of Laughing Cow light swiss, accompanied by an apple/watermelon/some kind of fruit

PM snack: Laughing cow light swiss wedge on a wasa cracker

Dinner: varies, usually chicken (never fried) with salad, spinach, brown rice

I very rarely eat an after dinner snack since I eat at around 7:30 in the evening.

I work out right after work every day, usually a half hour to an hour of cardio and weights, and go for a few walks per week in addition to this.

Compared to my previous eating and exercise habits, it's a pretty big change but I'm not noticing any progress. I will occasionally go off plan with a couple slices of pizza or when we go out, but I rarely get anything really bad for me.

Any ideas what I'm doing wrong? Am I just not exercising enough??

Sounds like you eat the same things and do the same things.. You body may be used to that routine and needs a change... Change what you're eating and when your eating.. Ramp up for fitness 1 or 2x per week and see if that prompts any changes...

Good Luck.

Have you tried entering your daily food intake into a site like fitday to really track your calories and how it breaks down between fats/carbs/proteins? You may not be getting enough calories, or you may not have the best mix for your body. I'm waaay too much of a newbie at this to give advice on what to do with the info once you have a couple week's worth but I know there are folks here who can give you good advice.

I'm aiming for 1400-1600 calories a day, more toward the high side now as I know I'll have to go a bit lower as I get closer to my goal. I am aiming for a split of about 40% carbs, 35% proteins, and 25% fat. This seems to be working for me - I have energy, I'm not going hungry, and I'm losing about 2-3 pounds a week right now. Your numbers will be different of course but having some firm daily goals in mind will probably help.

Good Luck! (the folks at the calorie counter section have been very very helpful to me - I highly recommend dropping in there!)

I got stuck around the 165/160 mark, and I am shorter than you. The scale just would not budge. I went exercise crazy just for one week (the start of The Biggest Loser’ challenge). I upped the amount of exercise and the intensity, I did about 11 hours in that week, and the scales started moving again. I only did this for a week, and then went back to my normal routine (but more intense) and the scales have continued to move. As marathon mom, said you body is probably used to doing the same thing. You need to remind it who is boss! Make it work this week, like it has never worked before! Teach it a lesson!

Yeah, even though I'm not very experienced in this area myself, I agree with the above posts. Friends of mine who have told me about when they've been trying to lose weight in the past have said they "hit the wall" on their way there. The thing they did was to either increase the amount of workout for a short time, or change the way they were working out. Yoga for aerobics, jogging for swimming etc. (:

I agree with the other girls about switching up the exercise regime. Also, have you tried consuming less sugar? I'm not sure how much sugar is in the Carnation Instant Breakfast, but I see on their website they have a no sugar added products as well - perhaps you could switch to that? Also, lowfat yogurt may not have fat, but it does have a lot of sugar. I've switched to plain yogurt, mixed with Torani sugar-free syrup and stevia or splenda. Since I've switched, I've noticed a difference. Hope this helps!

I was in exactly the same boat but untill I started counting calories. You can be eating way too many or too little without realising it.

Something to also look into is actually catering to your body type- it's something thats usually done more in bodybuilding- but will help dramatically....If you are a true endomorph- you are not doing enough cardio- and make sure you're doing it properly- you want to be able to sing along with your favorite song while breaking a sweat- too little oxygen halts the burning of fat. If you are a true endomorph that holds onto weight, then you need to do more reps with lower weights... rarely are you any one type- but definitely do the research... it may help you

Ignoring the scale for a moment, have you noticed your body toning up in the last four to six weeks? If you are doing enough to actually build more muscle, then it's possible your weight may not change, you may just be replacing the weight of body fat with that of lean muscle mass, *this takes a bit of time, so if you are just now working out- this won't be the case* I would stop doing weight training every day and do a serious hour to an hour and a half of cardio and resistance training- i.e. push ups- stuff you can easily do in your home.

Another possibility is you may be over-dieting for the amount of exercise you are doing- You may not be giving your body enough carbs and fats to handle the extra exercise thus halting your bodies burning of stored fat as energy. Because it honestly sounds like to me, you aren't giving your body enough healthful foods to make up for the work you're putting into it. I'd replace your cheese and cracker snack with a portion of bright veggies... The worst thing we can do when dieting is work against our bodies...

You may want to increase your vegetables. Also your calories look like they could be on the low side.