I too, have cut out many things in an effort to finally get control of my weight. I am turning 70 next year and have been a “yo-yo dieter” all my adult life. Rather than make this a long comment, I’d invite you to my blog, scroll down to where categories are listed and click on the “Weight Loss” category. There are four posts that will come up, scroll down and read the oldest first, and that will get you up to speed.

I wonder if you are sensitive to sugar in all it’s forms like I am. Sugar makes me crave, and increases my appetite. It takes me three days to get off sugar and detox. After that, things are better. I’m also wondering if the reason why you haven’t lost pounds is because you’ve replaced fat with muscle. Muscle weighs more than fat so if you haven’t gained but you feel stronger, you have, actually, lost fat. It sounds like you have been working very, very hard. Another thing is that maybe you are retaining fluids. Think of fat cells (which, unfortunately, may shrink but they never go away once we have formed them) as cells of a honeycomb. When you burn the fat that’s stored in these cells, the cells fill with water. Water is heavier than fat. So again, if you haven’t gained, you’ve probably lost. (LOL) Don’t give up. Hugs, Ilene (RockWhisperer)