MKROYER - I am going to have to read your post a lot of times to absorb it...and I mean that in the nicest way :)

To address some of it tho, I don't use artificial sweeteners, or butter spray, or chew gum, or even Pam on a daily basis. Those little (or not so little that add up) things aren't in the equation. I don't drink diet soda. I mostly drink water and occasionally seltzer. I use skim and fat free dairy products most of the time except for 2% american cheese.

I'm tracking my calories of everything I eat, even a tomato slice. I do use measuring spoons and cups. I don't weigh meat, but for instance, if I buy a pound of lean beef, I divide it into fours and use that to cook not just for me but for my family. That way, I know what the portions contain.

The only thing(s) I've done differently calorie wise is to embrace the idea that a calorie is a calorie is a calorie.....and go with it. Most of that info can be found on the packaging, and I'm tracking it all. Every bit. Could I have eyeballed a piece of chicken a bit off? Sure. But not so much. I did go buy a scale, so I'll be putting that to use. Also, I went from very strict 1200 to that ceiling of 1400 and I've been closer to it than 1200, which matters too====but still 1400 isn't so high that I should not be losing, albeit much much slower, right?

The funny thing about Tom is that for the past year I've been skipping. The longest was like 4 months-----and then I started weight watchers and on week 2, I got it, then like clockwork the following month. Hilarious. I am definitely perimenopausal. I wish it would stop altogether, and that will happen I'm sure soon enough. I really don't know how this diet is affecting TOM tho--you may have some super valid points on that.

I do appreciate your long post -- I will have to read it again, like i wrote above, a few times to take it all in, and I appreciate your passion.

I'm feeling bratty and whiney. It sucks to feel this way. Also, that darned scale has the power to throw me into a tailspin, so I have been overeating for the past couple of days. That, I can and will admit. I need to regroup and start all over again with a plan of attack, fresh. And that is my plan. After next week, the atwork tour of WW ends, and I won't rejoin. I stopped doing the program in week 9 and lost more on my own calorie counting--and then I will only weigh myself monthly, which I think will help me emotionally/mentally. Ugh, the scale.

Other than the past 2 days tho....nah, I'm pretty sure, like 99.9% that I've been sticking to the program and under 1400 calories daily.

I'll figure it out. Right now, I'm going to reread a few times, then go to bed and think on it.

I'll check out the links tomorrow.

P.S. Thanks to all for your replies and input. Much appreciated.

PLEASE don't apologize. Your post should be stickied. It's super useful information for just about every one of us, and I hope everyone reads it.


OP, I don't have any suggestions to offer other than those you've already received, but I did want to send a :hug:. I know the frustration; I'm a calorie counter as well, and I think I've finally moved past a 5 week stall that was *probably* due to hormonal stuff. Whatever the cause though, the frustration is the same, and I'm sorry you're there right now.

I understand how you feel. I am at a standstill too and cant seem to break it.

*hugs* I know you have been struggling. Just know that we have all been there sometimes, its ok. :)

I'm going to go with whoever suggested before to take a look at your carbs. Maybe try going dairy and/or grain free for a while (notice I didn't say carb free! Just grain free.) ...... I feel 200% better when I do it.

April, Sunshine & Patchy (hiya Patchy!!!) - I am going to write out my new plan this weekend and go parallel world and write a 2nd plan that is low carb as well. Maybe if I write it up deliciously I won't miss the carby goodness as much. I do a salad every day for lunch; I guess I can switch my breakfast back to a smoothie. When I talk "carbs" I mean bread, pasta, rice, potato, grain....so that will be the stuff I focus on reducing in my parallel plan. Maybe I could do one day low cal, one day low carb? Perhaps this is the kick in the pants I need to jumpstart my enthusiasm again!

I'm really glad that I can put it out there on the forum and get some valuable feedback to consider from everyone else's experience and knowledge base. It is sooooo comforting to know we're not alone, right?

mkroyer I reread your post now a few times and went to the link. How sad that the body is such a survival machine that it can undo our efforts when what we're trying to achieve is a good thing! I am definitely going to kick it up at lunch time and take a 1/2 hour walk. <--- that is something that I definitely can bring to the table. My good friend with whom I lunched almost daily has just retired--so I don't have any commitments to detract me from a 1/2 hour to eat, 1/2 hour to raise my metabolism a bit, and I could walk inside and not worry about the elements. That alone makes me so grateful for making my sulking post. :) So, I thank you for the links and your post. Good stuff in there.

So, we keep doing what we do, switching it up now and again, and heading towards a healthier us, right? Right.

For some reason I never got the reply notification on this!

Yeah, when I do low carb I try to keep it to one serving a day and that is it. I don't include carbs from veggies or fruit tho :) Sweet potatoes for example are carbs, but great carbs so I allow myself those if I want one. You can certainly try switching it up (one low carb day, one normal day) but that may be harder because of cravings and sugar level increase/decreases but it might not! You won't know until you try :)

I was just reading something on the daily burn the other day about how wheat affects us and elimination of it can drastically reduce belly fat. That has certainly been the case with me.

Can you keep going with the diet in a boring routine sort of way that doesn't require you to think about it much, and then find something else to keep you busy for the time being, something that you find really interesting and exciting?

@mkroyer

that certainly helped me out a lot! the last month of the school year last semester, i more or less took a diet break (still lost 2lbs) and the month afterward where i refocused, i lost 9.8 doing the exact same things i'm doing now. i couldn't figure out the difference, but your explanation, if true to my situation, definitely helps! i'm going to be on vacation dec 17-jan 15, so i'll probably eat at maintenance that month to get my body going again.

I have this completely non-scientific theory on plateaus that if nothing else might make you smile.

I imagine my body as an authority figure and myself as a child, promising that this time I will stick with the better eating habits and once I do prove myself, poof! My wish is granted and 5lbs are gone.

I tend to lose in whooshes and stalls. I can do everything right for weeks and see nothing but then wham! the scale moves and I finally see it. I try to think of calorie balance as a weekly thing - yes, I have a daily goal that I keep to - but in terms of seeing it on the scale, I think it's more of how the last 3 or 4 days have gone than necessarily the day before. When those whooshes don't come - I start watching my food intake more closely.

I think weight loss has a series of psychological stages. The first ones are the initial excitement over getting started and seeing initial progress. After that, we realize that we've made changes we can't really keep for the long term and try to start rebalancing our lives. This is where we get discouraged and want to give up, but in my opinion it's the most CRITICAL part of being successful with long term weight loss. Challenge these thoughts that make you want to quit and make the commitment to changes you are willing to keep. It's not about perfection, it's about persistance.

Hang in there!! This stage doesn't last very long. Once you cross over with these habits into a more long term part of your routine, it gets easier.