California Blond, I re-read your post and I was in the exact same holding pattern and recently, knock on wood, things have changed for me and I'm, knock on wood, loosing again. I have low thyroid and I got on a little more medication. In addition, I changed GPs. To my surprise, she told me to eat 900 calories a day of truly healthy food. It sounds shocking, but the cold hard facts are that if 1200 calories doesn't work and your are exercising and your thyroid is working, you have to go lower. And, you might need to very slightly cut back on exercise...NOT stop though. And maybe try different types of exercises.
I'm using Myfitnesspal and tracking and when I get to goal weight, I'm going to track that too and I am willing to accept that my new maintenance number is not going to be all that high. I just think for me it is a weird combination of medications, menopause, being short....it doesn't really matter. I do know that I feel a LOT better since doing this, although it has taken tremendous discipline. With such a low calorie count, I can NOT eat any sweets and I promised the doctor I would eat lots of veggies, moderate amount of lean meats, no junk food, drink lots of water between meals etc. and doing this has paid off in weight loss, more energy and better health.
I've also taken an informal survey of my "skinny" friends and relatives and have discovered that they either don't use fake sugars or rarely use them. So, I am now only using 1/2 of a Truvia in my coffee and that is all the fake sugar I allow myself. Two half packets of fake sugar...a total of one packet max a day. Since I've done this....my weight loss has IMPROVED! (Knock on wood!) My gyno told me to do this years ago and I didn't do this! I thought it was stupid and too hard. Hmmm.
We had breakfast with some relatives today who have always been slender and have always been mum about how they do it. And they finally revealed they have to cut back to a little below 1000 calories (900?h when they have gained too much weight in order to lose, but also are very careful about eating healthy foods when doing so. So, I don't think this is a huge secret, especially for people over 40. It is what it is. Perhaps some people have slow metabolisms. I'm not sure. And this couple, have actually enjoyed really really good health over the years. They eat more normal/moderate portions the rest of the time, but if they gain, go back to eating very lightly and super healthy until they reach goal weight again and try not to ever stray too far.
Again, I was shocked when this new doctor (from Harvard) gave me such a low number, but in all honesty, I think she was the only one who had the you know what's to tell me the truth.
