Hello and here goes day one

Feistychick68

I hope like everyone else to be a success. Battled with weight for most of my adult life. I currently weigh a sexy 220 and feel terrible about myself. I'm a 46 year old woman going through many changes and I hope I can forget my problems and lose weight for me. I wish all of you well and hope I can stay focused.

taco_inspector

Day one is a good place to start -- the only thing wrong with it, is that day one could'a always been sooner.

If you're objective and honest about your logging (healthy skepticism about calories burned can help too) , you'll make progress toward your goals.

Lemme know if ya need a little help or encouragement along the way; I'd be happy to offer what I can.

Now, on to day two...

Feistychick68

Ty so much for the encouragement. I'm really hoping I stick with this and don't fail. Do you religiously count everything? Sometimes I find I try so hard when counting calories if I can't figure a food out I give up and get sick of it. Pre packaged food seems easier to count than ur own meals...

Chucks1118

You'll do ok

taco_inspector

Feistychick68 wrote: »

Ty so much for the encouragement. I'm really hoping I stick with this and don't fail. Do you religiously count everything? Sometimes I find I try so hard when counting calories if I can't figure a food out I give up and get sick of it. Pre packaged food seems easier to count than ur own meals...

Like Chuck says -- You'll do fine... (you will, just keep at it).

Really, (and this may stir a few people up)... We all didn't wake up "overweight" one day, it's been coming for years. Don't be overly anxious to get all "clean-eating", over-exercising, and up-tight about finding what works best for you. Go slow; take small steps and you'll get great results.

For the logging stuff, I try to log everything -- The MFP food database is REALLY quite large, but often I eat things that aren't in the database, so I'll 'guess'. My guess is usually something that is exactly what I'm eating, but has been entered by someone else.

For example, I go to this little mom&pop Mexican place at the end of my street; there is no way that their food has been accurately entered into the MFP food database, so I find something that is. I order chips and Guacamole-- There are probably hundreds of "chips" and at least as many Guac's that are in the database. I use the one that is closest and go with that. Is it 100% accurate -- NO, not at all. It does give me an idea about what I just fueled my body with, and logging something won't leave my numbers artificially low for the meal. If I find two "chip" listings that are about the same, I'll often go with the higher calorie one, just to be sure I'm covered, but that's just a personal approach to this "cheating" practice.

For me, getting started is a lot about learning what various foods contain, and actually seeing what you're eating. With that, logging everything (even my half-a$sed substitute foods) is very relevant. I'm building the logging habit, AND learning about what "Chips and Guac" (or whatever) offer my body; all without leaving my numbers artificially low. I use this nearly every Saturday when I get an omelette at another little local place, I know it's 3-medium eggs and some veggies... so I can find the eggs and veggies, or kinda "lie a little" and find a database entry for a 3-egg veggie omelette and use that.

It's an OK way to get started and begin thinking about what's going in...

Depending on how much you'd like to loose, logging "nearly equivalent" foods (lies) may not work well. I Began wanting to lose 60lbs (off of ~280) or something, so a little inaccuracy here and there isn't that bad. If you're tiny, and trying to drop 10lbs off of a 120lb frame you will want to be more accurate. Similarly, as I approach my goal weight, I'll need to be more accurate.

But this is day one, whatever you log today is better than you did yesterday... and tomorrow will be even better. Take baby steps to get used to logging, and to the tool... then tighten-up your discipline and logging.

Day at a time... Baby steps --- You will do OK...

suruda

I agree...just get started and log everything the best that you can. If I have a sample of a Frappuccino in Starbucks I log it...how? Well, I will look up a Frappuccino and just put a small percentage of one down. Is it 100% perfect, no BUT I think it is better than not counting it at all.

Live your life, log everything...that alone will help you look objectively at where your calories are coming from. Then it is easier to determine what is worth it and what isn't. the other night I met some girlfriends for happy hour...I had a few calories to spare. Could have had a beer but I decided I was hungrier than thirsty so opted for iced tea and a snack.

You can do this!

Feistychick68

Thx I will do my best to keep an accurate log. It probably is the key to success. Thx for the reply and advice!

Feistychick68

Stan that was awesome. You made me feel more relaxed about logging. I do have a lot of weight to lose... Your advice about finding an equivalent is better than not logging anything. Love that idea Ty.

taco_inspector

It's not me, it's this place (MFP)... plenty of good and decent people (and others) that are in the same place as we are that have some thoughts on how they're working through everything.

MFP is based on the concept that the number of calories fueling your body, and the number of calories your body needs as fuel determine how (and if) your weight will change. More in that out = you gain weight. Fewer in than out = you drop weight. Pretty straight forward, and there's all kinds of other assumptions and formulas that seem unimportant at first, but may be of more interest later...

Your part is honesty (with yourself) and accuracy for data entries -- and these will come as time passes; totally nothing to worry about today. Just hang on and get started...