Not sure how to get started

Melissaol

I'm 44 weight about 169. I'm not sure how to get started

SueInAz

My advice is "baby steps". Most people who have realized that they need to shed extra pounds come here with a "complete life makeover" mentality mostly, I think, because they aren't sure what they need to do and have been told that "healthy eating and exercise" are the keys to losing weight. The key is actually "eating less calories than you burn". I can tell you that you do not need to spend 3 hours at the gym and starve yourself on "rabbit food" and cottage cheese to lose weight.

My beginning advice is usually to get MFP set with all of your goals and then start logging everything you're eating and drinking. Just that. Be sure to accurately weigh (preferable) or measure your food and overestimate calories rather than underestimating them when you enter them into MFP. Be honest with yourself about what you are eating. Don't worry about being under or over or anything else; just get into the habit of logging everything you put into your mouth including vitamins and gum because it all adds up. You need to spend some time learning about the calorie content of the foods you're eating because, trust me, some things will really surprise you. Weighing and measuring your foods will ensure an accurate calorie account but also acquaint you with what portion sizes for those foods look like. 4 ounces of chicken is a lot smaller than you'd think and 200 calories of peanut butter is, too.

After a few days to a week of logging everything, take a good look at what you've been eating and see where you can make some easy changes to reduce your intake to the calorie goal that MFP sets for you. The high calorie/low nutrition foods will be obvious and you'll get the most "bang for your buck" by cutting them out of your diet or at least reducing the frequency or portion sizes of them. That candy bar and Coca Cola snack at 2pm can be over 500 calories and by trading that for a Diet Coke, Crystal Light or a glass of water and an apple you'll save yourself about 3000 calories each week, which is nearly a pound! Just a hypothetical situation, of course, but a good example.

Trust MFP and the goals it sets for you. Don't try to be too aggressive with that goal, either. The more you learn about how to eat in a way that you are not hungry but can still lose weight, the more likely you are to keep that weight off once you reach your goal.

sheldonklein

Start. Let MFP choose a calorie target for you and start tracking your calories. You'll quickly see how much you need to cut back. Once you know that, you can start making food choices.

Liftng4Lis

MOST important, but a food scale!
Input all of your stats and goals into MFP. They will give you a caloric allowance (you earn more with exercise). Follow the caloric deficit, you lose weight.