Just jump in?

HealthyChubbyMe

I haven't gone shopping so I just have my food, my plan is to just follow the calorie goal MFP set up and start, do I need to pay attention to macros? I have a food scale, should I be using it this early in to my weight loss? I am a bit overwhelmed.

lynn_glenmont

Just focus on the calories first. Once you get comfortable with that, you can start thinking about what other things you want to track. Other than calories, I just try to make sure I get enough protein, fiber, and iron. I almost always get more than enough fat, but if I didn't, I would track that, too. I find it much more helpful to pay attention to things I want to be sure to get enough of within my calorie budget than to worry about limiting things other than calories.

L1zardQueen

Lynn is right. And start using food scale now. It will get good at eyeballing food portions.

age_is_just_a_number

Start with making one small change. Track your metrics, then make another small change.
Congratulations! You’ve already made the first small change — downloading this app and using it to track your food.
Just track your food for two weeks. See what you are really eating and what it is made up of.
Do your weights and measures in the progress area, so you can see the changes.
After two weeks, take a look at your calories, look at the days you ate more, how did you feel, what choices did you make, what could you have done differently, are there any trends? Then select the next small change. Eg., if you put two sugars in your coffee, then start only putting one sugar in your coffee. Get used to that change, then two weeks later, start putting half a sugar in your coffee. Get used to that change, then two weeks later don’t put any sugar in. In this way, you make small changes that are sustainable, and you lower you calorie intake.

Good luck!

Diatonic12

Jump on in the water is fine. Learning how to use your food scale right out of the chute is a good strategy. Measuring cups and a food scale.

I met you on your other thread. Think of it as those WLS newbies have to do. They're required to track every bite and ounce of food. They start out with a medicine cup. We can learn how to moderate ourselves with food by tracking our portions. Don't overthink it. You'll get the hang of it in no time at all.

freda666

Weigh everything and log before you eat, that way you have control over portions vs calories.

And ditch the measuring cups if you use them, as they are unreliable for most foods. Just use the scales.

Personally I do not worry about macros at all and just eat a variety of food in what I believe to be a sensible and balanced way.

Carp614

Diet is more important than exercise by a long way, so starting by just being aware of what is going in seems like a logical first step. If you're feeling overwhelmed, then don't sweat details until you are feeling more confident.

The name of the game is to get in the game anyway you can. That's how I see it.