I'm newish to MFP

motheroffour1970

Hey im newish and looking to lose weight, any tips would help esp logging food and understanding this forum. I'm post menopause and struggling big-time..
Understanding macros is confusing for me.

lpwest3

So what I'd say is don't be overly concerned with macros right now. Log in to MFP on your laptop and click "Goals" then "View Guided Setup".

There you can put in your information and it'll give you a realistic calorie goal to stay under each day.

I would recommend setting your weight loss goal as 0.5lb or 1lb per week initially until you are comfortable with logging each day.

Don't be tempted to try and eat dramatically under those calories as that will make you fail faster, just try and eat the calories that you are given.

Eventually, you can be concerned about the other macros, but for the start, just focus on logging everything and staying just under the calorie goal.

Don't beat yourself up if you struggle along the way, consistency over a long period of time is the key

sijomial

Here is a link to a very informative guide to macros in plain English.
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/819055/setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets/p1

But do agree with above poster you don't need to do or understand everything all at once - calories are king for weight loss! Keeping it simple has a lot of advantages.
Also agree that choosing a modest rate of loss is a good idea. Far too many people condemn themselves to misery and failure by being too aggressive and picking fastest rate of loss whether it is suitable or sustainable.

As for food logging....
Log everything that contains calories, both food and drinks. Water logging is entirely optional and unless you struggle with staying hydrated it's really not important.
Measuring cups and spoons are not great options for estimating quantities as calories are in relation to weight and not volume. Many find using a digital food scale very revealing as to where their calories are coming from.

The food database is mostly crowd sourced and of very variable quality to check the entries you use against your packaging. It gets a lot easier in a short period of time as you will start to build you most frequently used items.

cmriverside

There are many women on this site who are pre-menopause, and post-menopause. I just want to encourage you that menopause does NOT affect weight loss.

Just read the first two posts above this one, log your food and study your FOOD page daily and you'll learn. It's all about consistency over time, and maybe some exercise. You don't need to exercise to lose weight, but it does help.