I've been doing the diet thing since the middle of January. I eat 5 small meals a day, 300 calories per meal. I also walk about 3 miles per day. The first 20 pounds or so came off pretty easily. The last 3-4 weeks, though, I'm stuck at 196-197. It struck me yesterday that maybe I should try eating a little more and see if that helps jump start my losing again. Today is the first day with my new idea and I added 100 extra calories to my lunch and I plan to do the same thing at supper time tonight. The thing is...I am soooo darn full that I'm not sure I can even eat dinner at this point. I don't think I've even had all that much food today, but I am stuffed. Am I on the right track here? Should I maybe consider eating less?

What I've had so far today:

1 slice of wheat bread with 2 T. peanut butter
7 oz. grilled chicken with 2 T light Ranch dressing
1 c. natural applesauce
1 pc. low fat string cheese
2 granola bars
1/2 c. natural applesauce

My evening meal usually has several servings of veggies with a small portion of protein. I'm just getting frustrated because I'm not cheating and I'm exercising faithfully.

I'm a big fan of changing little things. Since there are so many important aspects to healthful weight obtainment (ooo that sounded good) there's always a little something you can try.

Like your + 100 cals.
or ... skipping along for part of your walk
or ... fiddling with your macros (protein/fat/carb)
or ... incorporating some resistance exercise
or ... changing to 4 or 6 meals
or ... eliminate a few processed foods

The possibilities are almost limitless. Never fear a little stall. There's lots of wee changes you can try.

Your day's menu looks delicious by the way.

One thing that comes to mind is that your exercise has gotten too easy. As you lose weight, you burn less calories from the same exercise. Also, as the body adjusts to exercise it gets easier and burns less calories. You can try to walk faster and increase your distance a little bit. Or add another form of exercise in addition to walking like biking, hiking, sports, dancing, jogging, etc, etc.

For me, I have increased the intensity of my workouts as I have gotten more fit. But I kept my calories about the same. When I was running and 160 pounds I would burn more calories than I do now at 130 pounds. Therefore, I run for longer distances now. And I also "cross train" with exercise that I think of as fun and play like dancing & long walks in scenic places.

Some people report they get more hungry with exercise, but research has found that the increase in appetite is temporary. For me, I'm not hungrier even though I exercise more.

I've though about adding a little bit of jogging to my walk. The issue that I have is that I'm usually wiped out by the time the end of the 3rd mile comes along. I've timed myself and I am typically at a 17 minute mile. I was thinking that the lack of caloric intake was to blame for the tiredness. Grrr...

What about just walking for two miles and jogging for one of those 2 miles? I would do that (if I could jog..which I cannot at this point in my life) until I built up enough stamina to go 3 miles.

Like I would walk for half a mile to warm my muscles up and then jog for one mile and walk the last half mile to cool myself down. After a couple of weeks of this I would then add an extra half mile to my walk.

Just a friendly suggestion.

How's about strength training???? The more muscle we've got the more calories we burn. It is the only known proven thing to increase the rate at which we burn calories. So if you haven't added in that yet, I'd say it's definitely time!!! A simple resistance band is all that's needed. You can google resistance band workouts and a few good ones will come up.

And I am a firm believer if you want to create MORE of a calorie deficit, that ADDING in calories to your day is NOT the way to go. I'd much sooner decrease those calories then raise them, so yes I'd definitely eat less, not more, especially if you're stuffed.

Another thing - I'm not seeing much in the way of veggies in your menu - let your foods work for you. Get rid of those granola bars (glorified candy bars IMO) and applesauce (no real value there). Go with the veggies, veggies, veggies and some fresh fruit.

Kick it up a notch!! Tweak those foods, tweak that exercise - watch that scale go downward once again.