I am seriously ready to pull my hair out here. Since Oct. 12th I've been working hard at being OP (calorie counting combined with moderate - lower carb).

Back when I started the doctor put the fear of God into me so I started off at about 1,000 calories (most of the time less). I did this for a few days before the hubs really started getting onto me about not eating and developing really disordered thinking about food. He was right.

So, I increased my calorie limit to a logical and healthy 1200 - 1400 calories per day. I'm usually closer to the 1200 end of the spectrum. I log everything. Every bit, lick, taste and sip that crosses my lips. I measure everything. I've only had one day in two months when my calories were over 1400 (they were 1600 on my birthday).

In the two months that I've been at this I've lost about 20 pounds. I say "about" because I've been gaining and losing the same 5 lbs or so for the last several weeks. If I drop my calorie level to 1000 or less, I lose. If I keep it at 1200 or so, I start the cycle of gaining and losing the same couple of pounds over and over again until I'm ready to scream.

I know "about" 20 pounds in two months really isn't anything to sneeze at but that loss came about as a result of the days when I was super low calorie - any sustained calorie count at 1200 or above always nets a gain. I'm going back to the doctor next week and I'll say something to him again but this isn't my first time around this particular tree. Like every other doctor and every other time, he'll just shake his head and look disappointed and shove another eating plan pamphlet at me, telling me to eat less. Sigh.

I've had my thyroid checked and it's fine. I've got all the symptoms of PCOS but I've never been officially diagnosed. My insurance is awful so changing doctors and going to specialists is not something I want to do unless absolutely unavoidable. Sigh.

I don't know what to do here. I can drop my calorie count back down to 800 - 1000 and I can probably sustain that long term, but if it takes going that low to lose weight at 307 lbs what's it going to take when I get thinner and my calorie needs decrease? I can't go much lower and still be healthy or be able to maintain the plan.

Are you exercising? I suggest increasing the exercise AND the calories. Not by a lot...but I feel like you started out too low. I have no problems with low calorie dieting, except when it's not working. (And no, 20 pounds is nothing to sneeze at! It is working!) But I hear you saying you gain at 1200 and that isn't normal.

I've just gone round about with a similar experience myself. I'm in the middle of a two month long plateau during which I decreased the calories to a point so low I had to take a multi-vitamin to stay awake. I would lose a good three pounds, and then as soon as I ate over my calorie count the pounds came right back.

Just last week I bit the bullet and decided to increase the intensity and length of my exercise routine AND increase the calories. It was a great decision. My energy has returned, I'm no longer starving and I don't think about food. I hate thinking about food...it generally means I'm not getting enough of it! The scale is moving again, slowly, but steadily. I've lost a pound and a half in a week and a half, and I feel like it's a good loss, not a fluctuation loss. I've steadily lost a few ounces every day.

More importantly than that...stick with it. Stick with it, stick with it, stick with it! I feel like you've made weight loss too hard and you're feeling like you're broken, looking to your thyroid or PCOS. I've been there! I always made it too hard, thought I was broken and then quit! And then I decided I really wanted to know where I'd be after a year's time if I just didn't quit. That's what's gotten me through the hard times. I'm not broken and you aren't either. You just haven't found what works for you yet, that's all.

One more thing to try...have you tried eating more frequently? My metabolism likes six small meals throughout the day. It didn't like it when I only fed it three times a day. More frequent meals keeps the metabolism revved.

Thanks! It's just so frustrating to be doing "all the right things" and still have the scale refuse to cooperate! UGH! I've been through this before and my body always does this - for some reason it seems to need a seriously low calorie count before it wants to kick in and drop some weight. It's maddening.

However, I've maintained my calorie count at a "healthier" level and I've been working on incorporating more exercise into my day and hoping that eventually things will even themselves out. I'll mix things up and try adding in more smaller meals/snacks through the day and see if that helps. In the meantime I guess I'm just being whiny because it's been so long and it's SO frustrating.

I'm going back to the doctor next week and I want my blood test results to be better (I keep telling myself my body has to be healthier because I'm feeding it better and treating it better). Also, I want to avoid THAT look the doctor gives me when he sees I've either gained or maintained my weight. sigh. I'll get there - one pound and one nervous breakdown at a time.

I definitely agree with this. Hubs was telling me just yesterday that if I'm sticking to my plan and making good choices then my body will eventually be forced to cooperate!! I just have to stick with it in the meantime (which, I admit, has always been my issue in the past).