Answers...

So, I thought I would answer a couple of questions to my last post while I sit here and marinate over what I need to do to my closet.  I'm doing some re-arranging for the coming warm weather to make it easier to get to the things I will use the most.  In the old closet, it was a tedious and long chore.  Not so much now!  I just have so much more space and whatnot, it's hard to decide what I want to do.  Anyways, on to questions.

ArEyBee
http://twitter.com/ArEyBee

How many calories are you eating per day? 1200 is the absolutely bare minimum any person should eat, and even for weight loss you might need more than that right now! If you are sitting at 1200 calories each day or below that amount your metabolism might be sending signals to your body that it’s starving and so it’s retaining everything you’ve been eating believing it’s not going to get enough food that day. I’d check with the doctor and find the best caloric count for your current weight each day for safe/healthy weight loss of 1-3lbs per week.

Well, the short answer is I don't really count cals.  I do track them, but I don't really 'manage' them.  I'm a low carber.  So, I keep my carbs under 40g.  But as a result of low carbing and eating mostly whole foods, I usually hit right at 1500 cals per day.  Sometimes I'm up to 2000, sometimes down at 1300.  But for the most part I stay around 1500.  According to the online calculator I use, to maintain my weight based on calorie consumption, I would need to consume 2300/day to maintain.  I'm well under that on average and not losing.

gertiev

I know what you mean. I’m going through the same thing where I exercise everyday for 60-90 mins, I eat a whole lot better now than when I started and still the scale won’t budge!

It could be that we’re gaining muscle and than contributes to the slow descent of the scale (since muscle weight more than fat)

I SO wish that were the case.  But due to my PCOS, I don't do any weight training.  I use my bodyweight, but no added weight.  My testosterone levels tend to be high and I put on muscle like crazy from even moderate weights.  I do about 30mins. of treadmill at a moderate speed.  Then I stretch out for about 15 mins.  If I have time at night before bed, I do some slow, target toning exercises for about 30mins.  There is no way that the exercise I am doing is putting on enough muscle to keep me from losing.

Thank you ladies for commenting!  And incontroltoday, it means a lot to me that you are always checking in on me!  It's the support of this site that is really keeping me sane at this point!  After my little pity party this AM, I decided that I wasn't going to let it keep me down.  I'm angry, for sure, but I don't know what else I could do.  I did feel a bit better after when I went to work out that I tested my body fat percentage.  I am at 30%.  I don't remember ever seeing 30 before except for when I lost weight back before I had my second child.  Which is good.  Realistically, though, that means that I cannot get to my goal weight without losing some muscle if that thing is even slightly close to accurate.  Because 30% of 203 (my lowest to date) is just a smidge over 60lbs.  I was hoping to lose close to that much total.  The more I've thought about it, the mid 150's seems the best.  And I just don't think that is realistic if my percentages are right!  URGH.

I honestly don't know how to feel right now.  Part of me is glad my percentage is low, part of me is sad about the lack of loss, part of me is angry, and the other part of me says this isn't working and I need a break from counting everything.  I just don't know WHAT to do right now.  I know being angry won't help.  And I know binging on junk won't help.  So, I've just stuck with my diet today and even worked out and did my stretching during naptime like usual.  I just feel irritated right now but resigned to stick it out until I figure something else out.