Greetings Everyone, I'm A Newbie! What's working for you?

tdaviscole

Hi guys, I'm Teresa Cole. I'm new to the group and new to holding myself accountable for reaching my fitness goals. I'm using an app that helps me lose 1 pound a day while still eating a decent amount of food. I'm eating a lot of vegetables and drinking a protein shake every day. I've also purchased a spin bike so that I can work out at home without the extra stress of trying to fit working out into my schedule. The hardest part is my cravings for salt and sugar. Eating used to be something I looked forward to but now it's pure fuel, nothing more. I've found that I have to be all in or all out. I really can't do the in between because I just backslide. This journey had caused me to find other things I like to do more than eating like hiking, cycling, reading, blogging, ext. I even changed the way I date. Instead of taking me to dinner, let's go for a hike or go bowling. . .there is more to do than just eating. I just decided that I'm going to change my life and I actually like being able to breathe, fit into my feminine clothes, and feel good about how I look and feel. I've truly learned that if I eat it then I have to wear it and nothing tastes as good as being fit feels. I'm excited to be here and I've joined to be sure I stay on track and to be inspired by others and their fitness journeys. Feel free to comment and tell me what's working for you and how you're shedding the pounds!

smoofinator

Sounds like you've got a good start, though I think you mean 1lb per week rather than per day, which would be an alarming and unsafe rate of weight loss. Definitely take a few minutes to use the MFP guided setup to determine the appropriate calories based on your weight/height/age/goals. Also, here's a not-so-brief list to get you started.

1. Read the stickies (most helpful posts) at the top of the forums (really helped me hone in on what I was supposed to be doing, and realize how hard I was initially making it for myself): https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants/p1
   https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10634517/you-dont-use-a-food-scale/p1
2. Log everything you put in your mouth (solids and liquids, gummy vitamins, coffee creamer, etc.) Everything. Ev-uh-ree-thing. And be honest! There are tons of incorrect entries in the MFP food database. Do you really think that jelly donut only has 100 calories? No. So don’t select that option when you type “jelly donut” in the search bar.
3. That leads to… select the correct entries in the database (compare to the food label) or add your own entry so you know it’s accurate.
4. Weigh your food! Measuring cups and “eye-balling” can be way off (see helpful link above) and consider that packaged foods can be deceiving as well! I’m looking at you, Skinny Pop. The package might say 28g, but I’ve never had a bag with contents weighing nearly that little!
5. You won’t weigh the same every day, so don’t freak out if the number on the scale goes up. Read this too: http://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations/
6. Be patient! No, but seriously, be patient… for real. Losing weight healthily (and, ideally, permanently) takes time. Some weeks will be better than others. The MOST you should aim to lose per week is 2lbs.
7. Don’t over restrict! Pick a calorie goal you can actually stick to day in and day out. There’s no point in being hungry all the damn time… you’ll eventually crack. Increase your chances for success and pick a way of eating that you can commit to. I’d be miserable on 1200 calories/day, so I set my goals accordingly (lose 0.5lb – 1lb per week) and eat more… because food is good and I’ll still lose weight, even with a smaller deficit.
8. Binges happen. Relax. You won’t gain 5lbs of fat after one day of stuffing yourself. Read this, and calm TF down: https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10603949/big-overfeed-ruins-everything-nope/p1

There are a lot of other things I could include, but start with the fundamentals. If that’s all you do, you’ll lose weight.

Good luck!

LyndaBSS

The things that work best for me:

1. Log everything I eat or drink.
2. Eat real foods, no processed foods.

kzusters

Well done and good start. And I can agree with smoofinator. They are good points on were to start and stay in control. Healthy isn’t for 30 days or so, it is for life. I did try different type of diets but I always end up cracking up and very quickly, because I love latvian style food. Which means there are quite lot of carbs and the food most of the time is warm. And most of the diets usually are greens and some protein, salad style so it is cold.

Now I restarted my journey and decided to try to eat everything as I have just do more tracking on size and with help of mfp tracking calories.

One thing I learn if I desire chocolate go for it, but don’t eat it all. But if you eat it all never mind start over again in morning. Because as you said you are carving sugar and salt so you might end up binge eating it and after giving up. But instead you could have little piece of chocolate now and then you won’t have carving for it so you will feel better and more happy and there is less chance for binge. That’s just my opinion and experience, hope there is any help in it. Have a great day 😉
[edited by MFP mods]