New, never tried to lose weight before, advice needed

cbwill0220

I am new here and this is my first serious attempt that trying to lose weight. I am not extremely overweight but I am well on my way there and have finally realized that I can't eat whatever I want, not workout, and expect to stay small anymore.

A little bit about me.... I am 23 years old, 5 ft 1 in, and 144 lbs at my highest weight ever. In high school I was extremely athletic with an extremely muscular build for being so short... people used to call me a beast even though I was tiny. I always hated my body and felt embarrassed by it because I wanted to be stick skinny like all of the "sexy" girls in school. How young and dumb I was... I'd give ANYTHING to have that body back!!! I was a size 2, 125 lbs and you could see nearly every muscle in my body.

A little over 3 years ago, my boyfriend passed away and my entire life was uprooted. I lost all of my friends because I just wanted to be alone and before I knew it, I hadn't spoken to anyone in years. I drank every night... if not an entire bottle of wine (sometimes 2...) I'd throw down 4-5 22 oz. beers. I'd also eat 1-2 fast food meals a day and drank soda like it was water. No wonder I've gained so much weight.

I want to change my lifestyle and get my old body back, if that's even possible (I'm 23, not 18 anymore). I'm not one for scales because even at my smallest size ever I still weighed more than most of my friends and it was because I was all muscle. So I'm trying not to pay much attention to the scales but rather how I feel about myself when I look in the mirror.

When I stated MFP - I started out with a goal of 1,000 calories per day on a low-carb diet. I stopped drinking alcohol and all other beverages. Water only. However, as I've read more threads and websites, it seems that 1,000 calories per day is too low and will not help me lose the weight I want to. So now I plan on a goal of 1,400 calories per day and a 45 min. cardio workout 4-5 days per week plus strength training.

As I said, I've never done this before. I've never worked out, I've never dieted... I just played sports and ate whatever I wanted. But now that I'm older, I realize I can't do that anymore as an adult.

I plan to post a before picture for my own motivation.

Friend me, message me, whatever --- I need a fitness pal : )

meeper123

1) do not set your goals too high ( aka losing 2 or more pounds a week) the reason: If you start at 1200 calories expecting to loose 2 pounds a week consistently you are giving yourself no were to go. To keep losing weight at a consistent rate you will need to keep either lowering your calories or burn more calories. At a certain point ( and in those that do not have much to lose like you) this can cause plateaus that are hard to recover from. These will ultimately slow down your progress.

2) there is no such thing as a demon food. No you shouldn't live off cookies and cake, but if you eat a cookie or cake don't have a cow. You want to keep off the weight right? Can you really see yourself never eating the food you love ever again? Instead learn to portion and eat with control. Enjoy the food it is there to be eaten

3) Buy a food scale as soon as possible. They are not too expensive ( mine was 16 bucks). The reason the number one reason most people have trouble losing weight on this site is they do not accurately log their food. Measure it and be diligent! Every taste, nibble, sample. Don't be ashamed even if you go over log it!

4) Don't get hung up on the scale. It will go up and down daily if you weigh constantly you can get very discouraged by the "lack" of progress. Weight is not the only indication of success! Measure, take photos, or even set milestones for yourself.

5) Move your butt. I know it sucks and at first it can be very daunting. But if you find yourself having a hard time with this start small. 10 mins a day can build to great things. Besides that was 10 mins you were not going to be using anyways right? Could be in-between commercials to just running up the stairs to work rather than using the elevator. You have to create your own time sometimes.

6) forgive yourself. You will mess up. You will make mistakes. You will go over and you will fall down. You have to learn to get back up and keep going.

I have made every single one of these mistakes int the 470 days I have been on this site. I hope that I have saved you some heartache and maybe helped you get there a bit faster than I will. flowerforyou

jacksonpt

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/976981-welcome-to-mfp-don-t-worry-there-s-cliff-notes

airdale8263

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/976981-welcome-to-mfp-don-t-worry-there-s-cliff-notes

read what he has to say....will give you great guidance!

Welcome to MFP.

zanyzana

Wow, you are in such a great position! You're young, you haven't abused your body with diets before and could quite easily get your fit body back if you DONT go all gung-ho with diet mentality. I really hope you have success! My tips are:

* Focus on what you need to ADD to your regular daily diet, not on what you need to remove. So try to eat 5 serves of veggies every day and 2 serves of fruit. Google the dietary guidelines for wherever you live, and focus on meeting these. You'll feel so much better if you eat wholesome, yummy, healthy foods that give you the nutritional requirements your body needs

* Move for at least 30 minutes most days of the week. If that's too much for you now, slowly build up to it. If you enjoyed physical activity a few years ago, return to what you loved the most. And do fun things too, like roller skating or bike riding. Your body is your friend - don't "whip it into shape" but let it slip back to it's preferred shape by letting it have fun.

* Minimise empty calories like sugary drinks, sugary foods and alcohol. They don't feed your body or soul. BUT don't demonise them. They are just fun treats, so treat them like that. If you crave something, have it, but in a small, manageable portion. This will help you to avoid developing a binge mentality. No food is bad. But some foods are "sometimes foods" and other foods sustain your body.

* if you are hungry, eat!

* Eat foods as close to their natural state as possible. Treat highly processed foods as treats - sometimes foods. Your body will thank you.

* At your height, probably aim to eat about 1500 to 2000 calories a day, but I wouldn't advise you to focus on this side of it. Focus on meeting the daily requirements.

* Take it easy. Don't give up if you have a fatty-boombah day, just get back to healthy the next day. This is for life, not a quick fix. Please learn from my experiences as a 47 year old who has been dieting since 13. You don't want to hurt your body and soul like I have over the years; just plod along, listening to your body, having fun, being fit and active.

* Good luck, and be kind to yourself. You've had a hard few years and deserve a break. And big hugs - what a horrible experience for somebody so young xxx

meeper123

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/976981-welcome-to-mfp-don-t-worry-there-s-cliff-notes

I have that one book marked a very good post indeed