Tips on getting started

Question

Hey everyone! I’m brand new to this app, and actually brand new to health and fitness all together! I’ve been pretty healthy my whole life and the last 5 years I’ve gained a significant amount of weight and I just feel terrible. My weight gain has caused terrible depression, I have no energy and I’m extremely unmotivated. I’ve decided that stops today! I’m trying to start my fitness journey to loose weight, get healthy and most importantly I just want to feel better. I’m new to all of this, meal planning, calorie counting/deficits, logging meals, petty much everything on this app! If anyone couldn’t give me some advice/tips on getting started I would greatly appreciate it! Thanks so much!

Lietchi · Answer

My advice would be to stay small and build from there. Don't let yourself get overwhelmed!

Step 1: start logging your meals as they are - calorie counting can take a bit of time to get right, I once looked back to my first weeks of logging and wondered how I made any progress at all 😆

* The database is crowdsourced, so take your time finding accurate for database entries (check against the nutrition labels or the USDA food database)
* Avoid anything 'generic' for example '1 slice of cake' or '1 cup of chili' - choose entries with weight units and if you prepared a meal yourself, use the recipe builder or meals functionality to log the ingredients rather than using an entry for a prepared food from someone else

Step 2: go through the goal set-up to get your calorie goal (choose a moderate weight loss rate, going fast is counterproductive) and try to stick to that while eating your usual foods. Through logging your food, you'll discover which foods are more or less calorific and more or less satiating, which will give you ideas on how to tweak your diet to stick within your calorie goal.

Step 3: you can start thinking about being a bit more active and getting some healthy habits going. Here as well, take it step by step. Just getting a certain number of steps, drinking a certain amount of water or raring a certain amount of fruit or vegetables can be a good way to get started.

If you're struggling with life in general and building good habits, I recommend the app Finch  It sets goals for habits rather than focusing on progress on the scale, which is a frequent issue for people trying to get healthier.

qzv6vkpvcm · Answer

hello! If I could give you one advice would be to be consistent and stick to it no matter what! Keep logging your food and counting calories and stick to your goal. Hopefully you’ll get there and feel better about yourself 👌 best of luck, you’re not alone we’re all here on a journey! Keep the faith 💪