New to this can someone help me figure it out...

okay so I have been logging my food in everyday. I havent been logging in my activity though. Because here is where I get confused. What is the whole thing with calories consumed vs burned. I mean I get the whole you want to stay below your target calorie range and not go over more than you burn or you gain weight. Right am I getting that? But okay say that I am unable to work out so I do light housework and the rest of the time I am not able to do much but I still watch my diet --what happens then--will I still pack on the pounds or what? I guess I am just trying to get an idea how to get past this darn plateau I am at. I would love to be at least in the 150's for Christmas time would be FANTASTIC but I am not sure if that is goign to happen. Though it is depressing I jsut think I am doing it right by making healthy food choices...so tell me what am I doing wrong. What can I do to help things along and explain the whole burn vs target calorie thing and I hear ppl talking about deficit--deficit what how do you know if you have a deficit. HELP ME I AM LOST!!!

Your deficit is the difference between the amount of calories burned and the amount of calories you take in (a good deficit for you would probably be 500-600).. I would list you activity level as light..  there are multiple plateau threads in these forums just look around.  but off the top of my head one possiblity is you might not be  eating enogh calories and your body is in starvation mode meaning that it is holding on to calories rather the burning them  aslo do you have free days where you dont count calories but just practice moderation .  also what is your current weight if you dont mind sharing

I had a baby in August but due to the high risk pregnancy and being hospitalized the majority of it I packed on the weight so I went from 135 to 184 now I am at 165-166. Never over though. My activity level is light because I have an injury and my medical condition got me red lighted by my dr for now. I also keep catching some nsty cold bug or something from my kids...its like im a germ magnet currently..lol. But that is the gist of it.

So sounds like you have hit a plateau. How many calories per day do you eat?  I dont know your height but at 5'3" 160 your bmi would be 28.  You SHOULD be eating 1400-1600(this is for a 5'3" female in the 30's at a light activity level) calories per day possibly more then that if you can increase you activity level.  Try building in free days where you dont log calories but still eat in moderation (two or three slices of pizza and a salad for example).