Anne , it could be a function of many things. Are you drinking enough water? Are you eating enough calories?
I've also noticed that at 5'6" you may have set a goal for yourself that is unrealistic. I don't know, I have no idea as to your bone size or muscle mass, and you haven't filled out your age. All of these things will effect what your 'idea weight' should be. Have you measured your % of body fat? You could be a lot closer to your goal than you think.
And yes, being close to goal when you start means that your loss will typically be slower than someone with 100 lbs to lose. This is why it is best to focus on percentage lost instead of lbs. For you 15 lbs will be 100% of your goal; for someone with 75 lbs to lose it will represent a drop in the bucket.
If you'd like more concrete help with what you're eating I suggest starting a Journal in the "bootcamp" section of the forum. Be sure to include as much information as possible, the more we know the more we can help.
Rob :
Testing for ketones really isnt a good way of measuring fat loss. Too many things can effect the outcome when you use those little stix; What time of day you test, if you've been drinking enough water, whether you just ate a fatty meal.
And calories do count, but probably not in the way you are referring. It is important that you eat
enough , not that you limit your intake. Unless of course you're in the habit of ingesting over 5000 calories a day
To safely lose body fat you need to eat to maintain your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR); eating below this will put stress on your body and it will start holding on to things in preparation for the famine it believes is impending. Our bodies do not know that there are grocery stores on every corner. You should be eating 10 - 12 times your body weight a day in calories. Percentage wise it breaks down to about 60-70% fat, 20-25% protein and 5% carbs.
Protein must be enough to meet your minimum protein requirement (.6g x LBM -lean body mass); that is the minimum. Fat should always be higher, because it is easier to make up calories with fat (as it is more calorie dense at 9 calories per gram) and because fat is metabolically inert - it will not cause a rise in insulin. Remember, fat
cannot be stored in the absence of insulin and only carbs will be converted to glucose which in turns causes insulin to be released.
Yes, eating less than you burn is a funtion of a LC plan, but eating less doesnt mean eating 1000 calories a day as so many Low Fat diets maintain. What your body actually uses a day when it is functioning properly astounds most people. I burn over 1600 calories a day by fulfilling just my BMR - and BMR accounts for only 60-70% of the calories I need every day just to function. This doesn't take into acount whether I have an active lifestyle or whether I workout every day. I have lost 60 lbs eating 1800 - 1900 calories a day. Prior to LCing i was "surviving" on barely 1200 a day and gaining weight!
And please keep in mind, posts do get answered, but we can't all be here all the time
HTH,
Nat