new to counting caloric intake

habdullah01

This is all new to me. Struggling trying to balance food in. Enough to be healthy.

gramarye

I found it all really overwhelming at first. I found counting and measuring portions without creating a deficit really helpful. After a few weeks of just observing my food patterns, it was easier to find places where I could cut out unnecessary calories, as well as see what sort of things triggered overeating. (This last part may not be applicable to you.)

You'll see this a lot of the forums, but it's very true: Buying a food scale is an immense help. I measured with cups/spoons before I got it and lost about a third of the weight, but it got so much easier to visualize and understand when I got the scale. I can better eyeball now (though I prefer not to, lol) because I know what 113 grams or 4 oz or whatever looks like with my dishes.

It'll become second nature before you know it!

PinkPixiexox

It can be quite daunting at first! We've all been there so you're not alone.

I'm assuming you know how much you are supposed to be eating which is definitely a start. The MFP barcode scanner has been really useful and made logging my food very easily. If you can buy an electronic food scale, then do as there are some foods that you'll need to weigh to determine portion size.

Foodwise, you can eat what you like as long as it stays at or under your calorie goal. Try and make balanced choices as this is just a general good habit to get yourself into!

Use the forum's if you are ever confused about anything! You'll get a lot of help and support here.

habdullah01

Thanks for info

kevinanderson520562

Everyone has their own tips and tricks. For me some of the biggest changes was not going out to eat and zero fast food. I replaced almost all meat with chicken and I eat a lot of soup and salad. Salads can be killers though if you add too much junk to it, they just become healthy looking junk food.

anniecg1

This is just the 2nd week for me and we were away for the weekend. Lost 2pounds this am though,
I made chicken parmasean from the skinny ease recipe and it was great and hubby liked it too. I am also leaving nuts and craisins out of the salad and only use one tsp of olive oil and tangerine vinegar on the salad. I feel like this will be a long process for me but it is inspiring reading these messages