Newbie needs help

jessabelle61

hi im new to this been brill app can't believe how much I was eating I need help on what to eat meal time recipes What excercise is best many thanks for anyone that can help

ajarjoura

Hello,
Just started this app this week and I found it makes a person very aware of calories and nutrition. You might want to consider eating whole foods- lots of veggies and lean protein. Nutrient dense foods. The packaged foods take up too many calories. Are you following any type of food plan, like vegan or paleo?
- If you haven't been exercising at all, walking is always good. Pilates home DVDs are good to strengthen your core. So much to choose from-find something you enjoy.

bwogilvie

If you're new to MFP, this "Guide to Get You Started" post is great to read.

To answer your specific questions:

1. Meal time doesn't matter in terms of weight loss, except insofar as it helps you avoid hunger. Dr. Yoni Freedhoff, in The Diet Fix (a good read), recommends a small snack with protein (such as a handful of almonds) between meals, to avoid getting really hungry. Personally, I don't need that. I have a light breakfast and lunch, and get most of my calories from a late afternoon snack and from dinner. I've lost 64 pounds. Others prefer a larger breakfast and a lighter dinner.

2. You can find plenty of recipes online. I like Epicurious.com. CookingLight.com has some good recipes, too. You can use the Recipe Box feature of MFP to calculate calories per serving.

3. The best exercise is one that you enjoy and will keep doing. I cycle, run, hike, and walk, because I enjoy them all. When there's snow on the ground I also do cross-country skiing. If you haven't exercised at all, walking is great, and you can do bodyweight exercises for strength (Mark Lauren's books You Are Your Own Gym and Body by You are decent).

MKEgal

jessabelle61 wrote:

can't believe how much I was eating

Being aware of the problem is the first step to correcting it.

Here's a newbie help post I did, which has links to helpful info such as sexypants, proper logging, goal setting (weight, calories, macros), motivation...

Your ticker says you want to lose 42 lb. It would be reasonable to expect to lose 1 lb per week at first, though that will slow as you get closer to goal. To do that, cut 500 cal per day from what you had been eating. (That's your total calorie goal, not net. Ignore net, ignore exercise.)

I need help on what to eat meal time recipes

This calculator will tell you not only your BMI, but how many servings of various foods to eat to maintain that weight. If you put in your healthy goal weight, that will give you the basics of what to eat to get there.
https://www.bcm.edu/cnrc-apps/healthyeatingcalculator/eatingCal.html

My favorite recipe site is Taste of Home. Everything is delicious, and most recipes are easy. If you hover over "recipes" in the top menu bar, then look to the top of the far right column of the menu that pops up, you'll see "healthy recipes". These are lower in calories, fat, etc.

Meal time is up to you, whatever makes you feel best.
Eat about half your calories for breakfast to lose the most weight (see the last half of this post for the studies).

What excercise is best

Cardio burns the most calories per minute of effort. Start walking.

But you want to include some weightlifting (even just body weight exercises - go to youtube or google) to maintain muscle mass & shape up what's under the fat, so you'll look great once the fat is gone.