Need Advice, Help and Understanding on what I'm doing wrong?? Slow Weight loss..

I'm 39 and weight 260 and I'm 5'11.

I'm using the MyFitnessPal app and following the 1500cals a day it says I should eat. I work out 5-6 times a week doing an hour of cardio (elliptical/stationary bike). Plus I walk for a half hour each day (little over a mile) during the week.

The first 2 weeks were great and I lost a little over 2 pounds each week. After that, 4/17/12 forward, I've lost practically nothing. Up .6, down .2, Up.8, down .4 and on and on.

I've been trying to lose weight for years. Did weight watchers for years, nothing. Went to the doctor thinking something was wrong since I'm the only human who can't loose on WW...all test came back fine. Went to a nutritionist thinking I just don't know how to eat, she said I was right on target and my eating was great. Been to a personal trainer twice and I'm right were I always am. 

The routine is always the same, first few weeks are great and then it's NADA and I lose my mind and give up.

So I'm here now, trying to not pull my hair out. Is it possible I'm just not eating enough? On average I have a 715 cal deficit each night (this is an average I took for the week, on the days I do the cardio I have about 900 cals left over).

There has to be something that I'm doing wrong, I'm thinking about something wrong? This just can't be, I can't be working out this much and not losing weight?? When I did nothing and eat what I wanted I would maintain my weight. How can I be eating less and moving more and pretty much be maintaining my weight?!!??!?!?!

Any insight would be great. Again, I'm not new to this. I've tried everything, been there done that. I'm now doing therapy thinking that will help. I'm mentally exhausted and want to cry, it's just not fair. 

I'm going on the assumption that you are female?  If you plug your stats into a BMR calculator, it says you burn 1950 cals a day just to carry out basic bodily functions.  This does not include any daily acitivity or exercise.  Basically 1500 is way too low an intake for your current stats.  Try upping your cals to 1900-2000 and I think you will find it much easier to live with and you will start seeing progress again.  Please don't give up!  You would think it was a straight forward cals in VS cals out, but our bodies don't always work that way.

Edited to add:  I don't know where the 1500 came from but I got this BMR calculation from the myfitnesspal site.  It's usually recommended thay you don't eat below your BMR because your metabolism tends to slow down and weight loss slows/stalls when your body thinks it is being starved.

"Again, I'm not new to this. I've tried everything ... I'm mentally exhausted and want to cry, it's just not fair." I've been there too.

Thanks for providing your stats. I plugged them into my favorite diet calculator (http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calc ulator.htm), and came up with: 2856 cal/day to maintain; 2285/day for fat loss, and 2080/day for extreme fat loss. Just an FYI, I used "5x week" as your fitness level (I'm never sure what they mean by "intense").

Something that may interest you is calorie cycling (zig-zag, also shown on this calculator), which varies your daily amount of calories to keep your body from adapting to a set amount of calories.

*cue infomercial* "I've been using calorie cycling for the past two months, and have had a consistent loss of 1 lb/wk" But really, I have been doing this and I've had consistent results (the scale keeps going down and I get an ice cream bar tonight for dessert -- how great is that?). Good luck!

I am not sure I can help but ...

are you keeping a journal for every little thing you eat & Drink?

are you drinking plenty of water (8- 8oz + a day)

are you getting all your nutrients and vitamins you need?

when your working out or excersising is your heart rate up pretty good?

and maybe if all the above is what your doing ...

have only a 500 cal deficit everyday

try eating "clean" fresh fruits, fresh veggies & lean meats protein, whole grains

keep a close watch on hidden salts and sugars.

maybe try lifting some free weights with squats/lunges

and maybe your body just needs you to stick with it all for a longer period of time so try to skip your weigh ins or only jot down once every 10 days what the scale says. but I would not give up on your self.

Good Luck! Stay strong. ~ hth

Thanks so much for your reply tina0367 : ) Yes, I'm a female.

MyfitnessPal is actually really telling me to eat 1440 cals a day. I just always round up when talking about it. I even just logged back in and checked my settings and it still says 1440cals. I'm thinking I'm missing something cause every where I look on this site it's saying I'm not eating enough and it's what you are also saying. It's just nuts to think that the reason for my continued failure is that I'm not eating enough. MyfitnessPal isn't the first thing I've tried with this battle, but maybe I continue to make this same mistake no matter what I have tried???

I really thank you for your reading my post and your advice! I'm going to up my calories and continue on my journey :)

Thanks freddie_mac. It does always help to know you're not alone : )

I just checked out that link and I like the idea of the zig-zag calories intake. That really does make sense and I think for me it might make sense. I know I can maintain my weight without issue, but loosing is pretty much impossible for me for some reason and now with everyone's advice I'm thinking it's the amount of calories I take in. I'm going to increase my calories and do that zig-zag trick.

I really thank you for reading my post and the advice.

Hope you have continues success and I hope you enjoy your ice cream tonight! : )

Thanks hth!

I am doing all those things, but they are good reminders to keep in check!

Thanks for the stay strong, it's hard at times but I know I gotta keep up the good fight!! : )

I know this might sound funny but are you sleeping enough or are you extremely stressed? I can never seem to lose until I am between quarters at school. I do EXACTLY the same thing you are doing, but when I get a week break and sleep 7-8 hours a night and get some "me" time I lose 4-5 lbs that week. It is frustrating! You're not alone out there. Good luck.