thank you all so much for the replies. I think i'll try for the 1500-1600 range. getting alot of numbers.

I dont weigh food, i measure it. It says its X amount of calories for a cup, i measure a cup. sometimes even less; for example oatmeal (cheapo kind) is 150 for a cup, unprepared... i scoop it up put it in my bowl and its just way too much oatmeal... so i take some out ^____^;

im actually gonna buy a cheap ipod when my folks get around to sending me my birthday money from last month (lol), and heavier weights, i've been using the same weights for 4 months now.. i think this is some of the trouble too.

I have a suggestion for an iPod alternative. I bought a shuffle a few years ago. It's wonderful for running/walking/jogging because it's small (some would say teeny, actually ) and it stores up to 240 songs I believe. It doesn't have a screen but you don't need it because you're not watching anything while you exercise, except the road. When I bought mine 3 years ago(?), a new one was $80. You can get the same one off of eBay or for a good discount through the apple store. Just a suggestion if you're tight on money.

Good luck! Hope you see a drop on the scale!

Hummm, maybe some of your problem is actually in your measurements. Every oatmeal I have ever seen, it is 150 calories for 1/2 cup unprepared. If you make several little mistakes like this a day, it can add up to be quite a few calories. 1 cup of unprepared oatmeal is 300 calories.

Anyway, I would double check everything that you have been doing. You have to keep on trying, because if you don't, the exact same thing will happen this time that happened the LAST time you were at 189 If you stop trying you will gain it all back...

If your body just refuses to lose anymore weight, (which I'm pretty sure it hasn't yet) you would still have to continue with what you are doing to just maintain your weight....it's never over.

Jinksie - I've struggled a lot with uber-slow weight loss and plateaus (pretty much all of July and August of this years) and, like you, I'm a calorie counter and regular exerciser.

I've found that what has been helpful for me is (along with measuring food, writing things down) is to try to limit my carb intake and always balance carbs with protein. I also have oatmeal for breakfast but pair it with some almonds and skim milk. Or I'll have whole grain crackers with hummus for a snack, or soy nuts and a bit of dried fruit - you get the picture. Too many carbs can cause an insulin spike - and it's so easy to eat lots of carbs and limit protein because often times carbs (potatoes, bread, brown rice, etc) are fairly low in fat and calories, whereas protein foods can be higher. The Insulin Resistance Diet recommends no more than 30g of carbs at a time, and always balanced with protein, and that's a general rule I try to follow.

I'm still not losing weight fast - I'm averaging a half pound loss a week. But if I can keep that up and do it consisently, week after week, I will get to where I want to be, and I'm happy with that. Good luck - keep up the hard work. It's a marathon, not a sprint!

-.-; you were right. I cant believe i missed that.

Lots of good advice here already; I'm starting to learn that my body has more of a four-week rhythm for weight loss than a one week one - I'll lose a pound or two one week, half a pound the next, and then nothing for two weeks, without changing diet or exercise. I try to eat protein with every meal and snack, too, to keep my blood sugar more level. I also eat three meals and two or three snacks a day, too - I seem to have all the symptoms of hypoglycemia and an ulcer, so small meals all day long work much better for me.

admittedly..... i ate steamed white rice last night and a bowl of dorritos... but surprisingly....... i was down 2 lbs today............................................. ....... i lost 2 lbs after i ate junk... It did this for the last 2lbs too.. whats going on here....? lol perhaps the bad food got my calories up where they need to be to loose weight? o_O

Jinksie, it's possible you might be wrestling with a mild food allergy - look back over your food logs and see if you've incorporated anything new into your diet, up to a few days before you really stalled? Most common aggravators tend to be eggs, dairy, nuts, gluten, and soy. If you dropped suddenly, see if there's something that you didn't eat (as much as 3 days prior). Some food allergies are just low-level inflammations - read: retained water. Just a thought!

im not sure. I drink/eat milk every day. I dont eat nuts (cant stand them), or soy. And i eat eggs regularly.. only one im not sure about is gluten

Oh I think it's pretty safe to say that those Doritos and rice weren't the *key* to those 2 lbs off. I would *think* that it was most likely what you HAD been doing for days (perhaps even weeks) prior to the doritos/rice that *caused* that weight loss. Weight loss (or gain for that matter) is not automatic. I don't eat A on Monday and see the results on Tuesday.

I'm sure those 2 lbs off were the results of your hard work. Keep up that hard work and they'll be many more nice wooshes coming your way. And keep those Doritos incidents to a minimum as well.