Hi newbie please help

shivs263

Hi I'm new from Northampton any help would be appreciated. I want to lose two stone. Do you have to put in cups of teas and I cook from fresh so do I need to add everything?

Yes I need help

juliet3455

@shivs263 The stock advice I give is to go read the Stickies in the Forum's as there is a lot of good information that will help you.
This whole process is a science experiment and you are the subject of study, so take your time and continue to reach out to the MFP forum's for advice and feedback.
If you have a registered dietician available through your local Health services it's well worth the visit.
One of the best piece's of advice I received from the Dietician at our local Hospital was " Don't Drink your Calories".
It's so easy to consume a lot of calories with low nutritional value, a piece of fruit is better than a glass of juice, Iced Cappuccino's, Milk Shakes etc are calorie bombs.
It will take you a while to learn what works for you so be patient, work on one or two things at a time and they will become routine.

If you go to the Getting Started Message Board you will see a list of posts at the top of page 1 that have Announcement and Closed below them these are commonly referred to as the Stickies. The one titled Most Helpful Posts - Getting Started (Must Reads) is exactly what it says.
This concept of Sticky posts applies to all the Message Boards/Forum's.

Here are some of the direct Links.

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10300331/most-helpful-posts-getting-started-must-reads#latest

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10300319/most-helpful-posts-general-diet-and-weight-loss-help-must-reads#latest

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10300312/most-helpful-posts-food-and-nutrition-must-reads#latest

http://blog.myfitnesspal.com/a-beginners-guide-to-your-metabolism/

http://blog.myfitnesspal.com/quick-easy-guide-creating-calorie-deficit/

There is also an evolving forum about Old Posts that is a good resource.
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10260499/i-like-old-posts-and-i-cannot-lie/p1

TeaBea

Plain tea is zero calories.....so no, I never log it.

Cooking - most everything does get added. There is a recipe builder here. I won't add a pinch of spices, but do add almost everything else. If I'm making a salad, I will guess at the greens....but measure the other veggies. Because as you get closer to goal, the deficit becomes smaller. Incorrect calories will stall your weight loss. A digital food scale will be the most accurate.

Here's a list of really helpful posts:
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10300319/most-helpful-posts-general-diet-and-weight-loss-help-must-reads

cqbkaju

Here is a very simple bit of advice:

Start using pounds or kilos instead of "Stone" when thinking in terms of / referring to your weight.
Using 14 pound units of measurement is really abstract and inaccurate.
It also encourages you to mentally equate weights when comparing your progress or goals in relation to others.
Problem is 14 lbs is a big gap. Use kilos or pounds. Always.
12 Stone (for example) doesn't tell me anything unless I know that is almost 170 lbs or 77 kg.
Marginalizing your goals is by using Stones is a bad habit.

You want to lose around 28 lbs, not 2 stone.

Also, read and apply "Thinner Leaner Stronger" by Mike Matthews so you understand the basics of diet, nutrition, fitness, and exercise.
https://www.amazon.com/Thinner-Leaner-Stronger-Building-Ultimate/dp/1938895312

Accept that this will probably take longer than you want.
Realize that your weight will fluctuate up and down.
Come to terms with the fact that you need Discipline to reach your goals.
Losing 1 pound per week on average is a reasonable goal.
The closer you get to your goal, the harder it will be to lose more weight.
"Motivation" is not good enough, especially for long-term results.

Weigh and log EVERYTHING. You are almost certainly eating more than you realize every day.
You didn't gain 30 lbs overnight by gorging yourself once or twice.
A mere 250 extra calories every day (just 1 bottle of soda or a single bag of chips) adds up to two pounds of fat gained every month - 24 lbs in a year.

Last bit: Open up your food diary so people can make suggestions.

shivs263

Thanks for taking the time to reply. So I put in my dinner tonight I made fresh Spag Bowl but as I added it myself it's 602 for the whole lot but I ate a quarter of it so how can I show that please? The whole recipe was 602 in total thanks