Scale not budging, but the measuring tape is????

I've come down from q 22-24 to a 16-18 since Feb. My scale has been stuck between 246-248 forever but I've consistantly changed shape with exercise. Why isn't the scale moving? I monitor my intake and logs feriously. 

You're probably building muscle - muscle weighs more than fat, so you could be both losing fat and gaining muscle at the same time.  It's normal and having the measurements change is a great thing! :)

Maybe your scale is broken? Really, that shouldn't be happening. You're not gaining that much muscle, if any at all (Probably not any at all). Have you tried a different scale?

A lot of calorie counters don't seem to understand that for most people, it's impossible to gain muscle on a calorie deficit. And they confuse strength gains with muscle gains.

ibez, I disagree.  In my first couple of months using CC, I lost all of 3 lbs, but my measurements shrunk.  People noticed and thought I'd lost 10 lbs.  And my scale wasn't broken.  I excercise every day and do resistance training.  If you are taxing your muscles, they will grow in order to keep up.  Probably not as much when you're on a calorie deficit than if you're not, but they will still respond to stress and repair themselves.  And since muscle is denser than fat, if you're losing fat and gaining muscle, you will shrink without seeing much of a change on the scale.

mrslisamarie, I'm assuming you're excercising pretty consistently?  For me, the scale started moving a couple of months ago after I took a bit of a break from the hard excercise every day.  It wasn't really on purpose either.  I visited my parents for 2 weeks and got in about 5 workouts the whole time I was there.  But since I got back, I've been dropping about a pound a week.

ETA: Also, the weight is generally not just muscle, but the water that the muscle holds.  When you work out, you're depleting the muscles' glycogen stores.  This encourages your muscles to store more glycogen, and glycogen holds 3 times its weight in water.

It's my understanding (from what I've been told on the fitness forums and google, so I make no promises of accuracy) that it is possible to build muscle at a calorie deficit if you are:

A: Magical. Apparently there are a very few people who can just naturally gain muscle at a deficit.

B: New to strength training.

C: Obese. Yep, one of the few perks to it, many obese people can gain muscle mass at a calorie deficit. Quote from melkor from... somewhere on this site: "... at body fat levels above 30%, so having severe obesity means you can build fairly significant muscle even in severe calorie deficits."

So yes, while you don't mention your height, if you're a size 16-18 I assume you have some muscle and that you're getting a pretty good workout. Completely possible that you're building muscle. It IS pretty impossible to do if you're already at or near a healthy weight, hence everyone's immediate impulse to tell you thats not it.

As for eating options, you may either be eating too much or too little. I assume with what you say, you're pretty sure you're not eating too much. The calorie burns and suggestions here are just an estimate. Try changing up your calories for a week or two. Slightly lower or higher, based on what side CC's estimates might be erring on.

Thanks everyone, I am hiking on my property (3 acres with hilly sand) for 40-60 minutes 4-5 days a week and do casual walking throughout my day at work....I'm 5'7 and people I haven't seen in a few months are commenting like I've dropped 100 lbs! Imagine their shock when I tell them I'm planning on dropping an additional 70 lbs

A scale is only a guide to weight loss.  I have read, many places, that a true testament to weight loss is actually measurements.  So, if your measurements are going down, but the numbers on the scale aren't, don't be disheartened!  You are losing weight.  Just not the kind of weight that the scales measure.  They are not 100% accurate and what they do weigh is not always related to a loss or lack thereof.

Keep up the good work!!!

I would go to the nearest chain store (any one that sells a decent range of fitness equipment) and pick up a body fat measurement thing.  All you have to do is plug in your stats (ht, wt, age, sex) and hold it at arm's length with both hands for a couple seconds.  The instrument sets you back about 20 to 40 bucks, depending on what kind of extra gadgets you want on it, but it tells you your BMI and body fat percentage, and mine even tells me if it's high, low, or normal.  That's how I knew I had to do something different with my diet/exercise- the thing stayed at 30 percent BF for about 6 months straight now.  It's still there but I'm working on it :)