Yeah, so I’m unsatisfied with my weight loss progress. Here is my brief dieting history. About two years ago, I was around 185. I joined weight Watchers but did it for like 2weeks and gave up because the points system drove me nuts and I turned into a nightmare. I would lay awake some nights adding up points(ehem… calories)and subtracting fiber content. I lost like 2lbs maybe the whole two weeks because I was subsisting mainly on Weight Watchers products which by the way are so high on Carbs. Then I got into fasting(only one meal a day)and then lost about 10lbs in a month. Then I couldn’t continue the fasting but I felt so much better and was so motivated that I decided I can do this. Then I started researching about nutrition and exercise and learned a great deal of information. I put some of it to practice and lost another 10lbs. Then I joined Sparkspeople and exercised like a crazy person(I used to aim for 1000 calorie deficit a day) and lost another 13lbs. I then naturally got burned out and stopped. Ever since then(and that was January)I keep losing and gaining the same 2-3 f-ing lbs. I’m down to 150 then back up to 152-3.

My thing is I hate following a DIET period! I don’t want to do ATKINS, SOUTHBEACH, WEIGHT WATCHERS, etc. I want to eat healthy and I do better counting my calories. But then again, I don’t want to obsess over EVERY calorie and measure it, write it, review it, regret it and hate myself for it. So this is what I have been doing. I eat around 1200-1400calories a day: three meals and 2 snacks. This is what I eat a typical day:

Breakfast(8:30): Two cups of coffee with two teaspoons of half &half and Splenda= 40 cals
Atkins Protein shake or my own protein shake= 160
NO SNACK
Lunch(12:00): Chicken Salad(lettuce, one small baked chicken breast, cucumber, 1/8 a cup of almonds, 1 teaspoon of reduced calorie dressing)250-300 or a Lean Cuisine(290) or homemade Brown rice with chicken(300).
Snack(3:00): small orange=50
Dinner(6:00): Rice with chicken and steamed veggies(400-500) or High Fiber Tortilla wrap with chicken or fish with Mayo, olives, cheese(400) with tea w/ splash of milk(we add a lot of sugar in our tea) 100.
Snack: one cookie, or another cup of tea, a piece of chocolate. I save about 150-200 for this.

On the weekends I will eat a bit more. I also exercise. I do Jillian Michael’s fitness videos a lot!
My workout schedule is as follows:

M: Banish Fat Boost Metabolism
T: No More Trouble Zones
W: The 30 Day Shred level 2&1
Th: Banish Fat Boost Metabolism.
These are about 45-50 minutes intense workouts. So please help. As you can see I work hard. So no loss in 3 months is no good. Thank you girls in advance. This place is awesome

Maybe watch your sodium intake, consider that you are a woman and you have a period that will affect you, also watch your fat intake.

Well, I have a confession: I am a calorie counter who does not count calories. What I mean is that I aim for a certain number every day, have a pretty good general idea of the calorie counts of different foods and stay on track. I will add up my calories at the end of the day and I’m always pleased. I worry more about the type of food I’m eating than the calories, to be honest. And I’ve lost some weight…so I just tell you this so you know that you can lose weight without following some super restrictive, time consuming diet. I’ve never kept a food journal. Ever.

Just from looking at your diet…I say make an effort to work in some snacks. It really does help keep your metabolism burning. I try to keep my meals small enough that I can afford two healthy snacks in between each of them (yeah I eat 7 times a day). It just…works. For me, that is. I know it’s not doable for everyone.

Don’t get discouraged…it might take some time to find something that works for you. You might have to try every “diet” or plan out there before you find the one that you can live with and accomplish your goals on. It’s worth it, right? There has got to be something out there that will work for you and that you’ll enjoy! Keep plugging along…

(And that was all just my personal advice…everyone has different needs and will have to find what works for them)

You mentioned "eating a bit more on the weekends". How much more are we talking? I know it doesn't take much for me to ruin a week's worth of good work on a Saturday, so I have to be careful on the weekends especially.

BatgirlAmy,
I do watch my fat intake but sodium? How do you watch sodium? I cook my lunch and my dinner(except the days I’m super busy. On those days, I eat a Lean Cuisine or Smart ones. I make sure there is at least a serving of veggies, 4 grams of fiber and less than 300 calories) so I add a little if ANY salt to my food. I don’t eat ANY fried anything.

ThickNPretty,
That’s exactly what I do. I have a pretty good idea of how much calories I’m eating. I don’t want to try a restrictive diet because I know I wont do well. I did Atkins for like 5 days and I lost my mind after that! I went to every chain restaurant afterwards to “check” out their desert menu. Seriously, all I could think of was sugar, sugar, sugar and banana! Ughh.. it was UGLY.

When I say I eat a bit more on the weekends, I mean about 200 calories more or a slice of bread with a teaspoon of peanut butter more, or a small latté more.
Thank you girls!!

Sodium is a killer for me, as well. Those Lean Cuisine meals are full of sodium - I think the daily recommendation is 2600 mg - but I find that if I eat over 1500 mg I retain water.

I don't follow a "restrictive diet" - I just manage my calories. I use Fitday, but some days I'm better than others - like ThickNPretty said, a lot of the time I just enter it at the end of the day - I know what range I want to be in and I can pretty much do that without the constant tracking, I just do it to do it and keep me focused, but that's just me.

Are you drinking enough water ?

Maybe try to mix up your work out routine, as well.

I am very much like you. I wanted to rebel against strict structure, no Atkins or South Beach or even obsessive calorie counting. And I was doing great, I lost 30lbs just by having an idea of my calories and eating healthy food.

Then I hit a plateau. I added exercise (I was late in the game on starting that, lol), and all of a sudden quit losing. So after a month, I sucked it up and joined caloriecount.com. I told myself, I will obsessively measure and record for ONE week, just to see if I can see what I'm doing wrong. I ate my normal foods, and just recorded them. I realized that I had a pretty high sodium intake and a low overall calorie intake. I was eating about 1250/day. I then upped my calories for a few days to 1600, and caloriecount.com helped me get the most balanced foods I could. I have dropped 3lbs this week after a month of not losing anything.

I still don't obsess and measure everything, I know what 4-6oz of chicken looks like, so I don't weigh it. But I do record everything and try to be as accurate as possible. It really doesn't take that long, 10-15min/day. I prefer to plan the night before, and then I can figure how much time I want to spend exercising and such. I also weigh in everyday to see what works and what isn't working. Like I said, this has been my most successful week of weight loss since I started, and it really isn't as painful as I thought it would be.

So maybe just try recording for a week. Caloriecount.com, and I'm sure other websites, also allow you to add in your exercise so you can see what kind of deficits you're having. I was having 1200cal deficits everyday and not losing an ounce. I now have 400-700cal deficits and I'm losing steadily again.

A lot of the frozen meals are very high in sodium. Check the nutrition info.