A few newb questions...

Thunderhart

Hey all, first off, I just wanna say what a wonderful community I have stumbled upon here.

Secondly, after many years of feeling fed up with how I look/feel, I made the jump into weight loss. My journey only officially began on Sunday, but already I'm feeling great! Call it motivation or whatever, I'm sure it'll wane in time. But this time I'm serious about this, because it is a serious problem.

Okay so my questions are: I am worried I'm not on the right activity level... I currently have it set to sedentary, but I've been reading various posts on here, and it's made me worry that I've set it too low? then again I do sit around the house for most of the day. Basically my day consists of: running after my backyard hens (heh more like checking on them now and again, walking around the garden for a few mins, sometimes I'll dig a small patch of dirt over for them) obviously there's household walking, doing the dishes ect. In the afternoon I'll sit around watching TV or whatever, until bed. I'll take the dog out every other day too but I've logged that as exercise at the minute.

Second question: I understand I want to lose 2lbs a week, but I'm struggling to eat to my deficit. I'm always slightly under. I'm kinda worried about going over, but the thing is, I actually get pretty full up on things. I've thought about just eating a slice of bread with some spread on or something, just so I hit my target. Is it okay to be within maybe 500 cal of my target intake? I should be eating at 1000 cals deficiency according to MFP. I find that too easy.

At the minute, there's little to no veg in the cupboards (aside a buttload of onions and a few potatoes) but next time I shop, I'm planning on cutting the bad stuff out and adding way more healthy things. I'm pretty excited for that! So I guess I'll have plenty of fresh veg to snack on next week.

A little note on a few things about me; The past few years I've wanted to start to lose weight, I've always told myself I can do it and that there's plenty of time to start. I wish I hadn't told myself that and just took the dive straight away. I'll probably always kick myself for not starting sooner, but here I am so I guess it's all good. I know, again, I'm only nearly a week into this, so I'm still off the high of starting my journey. Let me tell you, I feel great! the first few days were a struggle, but I always live by the rule of three. It took three days to settle into this way of life. In fact it was yesterday when I started to realize I can really do this. I actually felt full by the end of the day. As I said above, I'm sure these feelings will wane, I'll have bad days and good days. I'm determined to stick to this.

I suppose I should come back down to earth, it has only been like 4-5 days! I know I usually get over excited about stuff and I know for a fact I'll start to struggle a few weeks in. Mostly because of boredom I think. I'm a boredom eater. I should really start getting back into my hobbies (I love to draw!) or start exercising more to soak up that time... The long nights of winter are such a drag. (at this minute, the gym is out of the question due to time restrictions and costs.. I hope to change that though.)

So any and all help is appreciated, thanks for taking the time to read this very long and blabby post, heh, I look forward to meeting you all and carrying on my journey to a new healthier and better me!

SezxyStef

Okay so activity level ...if you are sitting most of the day that is fine.

As for hitting calorie goals just keep it above 1200...make sure you are not hungry and you are fueling your body.

That being said MFP has it set so you will lose 2lbs a week so the extra deficet will increase that and that could lead to losing the weight too fast. I would try to get as close as you can, but to do that you need to log accurately..to do that you need to know exaclty how much you are eating...you do that with a food scale.

Try not to use "generic" entries.

Your exercise calories need to be eaten back to a certian degree. Most say eat 50-75% of them back.

If you have issus getting food in try higher calorie options or add in "treats" like ice cream if you like it.

sunwoman79

The fact you are even thinking about what to do and loose weight is a great start. I was a horrible eater, like fast food 4-6 times a week. What worked for me is not to limit myself. If I want fries I am going to have them, just in moderation. I always have fruit in my house because the closer it gets to bed the more I want something sweet.

As for working out I just went back to the gym. I read an article that says as long as you are breaking a sweat you are doing something right. So I am sticking with that. And if I loose I loose, if I don't I don't. It is more important that I feel better.

We are all works in progress

Thunderhart

Okay so activity level ...if you are sitting most of the day that is fine.

As for hitting calorie goals just keep it above 1200...make sure you are not hungry and you are fueling your body.

That being said MFP has it set so you will lose 2lbs a week so the extra deficet will increase that and that could lead to losing the weight too fast. I would try to get as close as you can, but to do that you need to log accurately..to do that you need to know exaclty how much you are eating...you do that with a food scale.

Try not to use "generic" entries.

Your exercise calories need to be eaten back to a certian degree. Most say eat 50-75% of them back.

If you have issus getting food in try higher calorie options or add in "treats" like ice cream if you like it.

Thanks for the advice! I never thought about eating a little bit of ice cream at the end of the day.. I think I'll try that, a little treat here and there isn't bad right?

The fact you are even thinking about what to do and loose weight is a great start. I was a horrible eater, like fast food 4-6 times a week. What worked for me is not to limit myself. If I want fries I am going to have them, just in moderation. I always have fruit in my house because the closer it gets to bed the more I want something sweet.

As for working out I just went back to the gym. I read an article that says as long as you are breaking a sweat you are doing something right. So I am sticking with that. And if I loose I loose, if I don't I don't. It is more important that I feel better.

We are all works in progress

Thanks hun Yes I definitely want to get into the habit of going to the gym, at the minute though money is tight, I used to ride my bike a lot however when I used to work, so maybe fixing that up and getting back into the saddle so to speak is probably my best option for exercise right now, and it's free! Thank you for the advice

parkscs

A little note on a few things about me; The past few years I've wanted to start to lose weight, I've always told myself I can do it and that there's plenty of time to start. I wish I hadn't told myself that and just took the dive straight away. I'll probably always kick myself for not starting sooner, but here I am so I guess it's all good. I know, again, I'm only nearly a week into this, so I'm still off the high of starting my journey. Let me tell you, I feel great! the first few days were a struggle, but I always live by the rule of three. It took three days to settle into this way of life. In fact it was yesterday when I started to realize I can really do this. I actually felt full by the end of the day. As I said above, I'm sure these feelings will wane, I'll have bad days and good days. I'm determined to stick to this.

I suppose I should come back down to earth, it has only been like 4-5 days! I know I usually get over excited about stuff and I know for a fact I'll start to struggle a few weeks in. Mostly because of boredom I think. I'm a boredom eater. I should really start getting back into my hobbies (I love to draw!) or start exercising more to soak up that time... The long nights of winter are such a drag. (at this minute, the gym is out of the question due to time restrictions and costs.. I hope to change that though.)

The trick is to find an array of foods that you enjoy and that satiate you even at your caloric deficit. Honestly if you're going hungry all the time and eating things you don't enjoy, you're setting yourself up for failure. What your diet should look like is largely up to you and what you prefer. Some people crave certain things and if they can't have them, they're unhappy. If that sounds like you, you should probably consider "making room" in your daily/weekly calories to enjoy those items. For me, I find I'm happier when I'm always satiated and I've never been prone to cravings or a sweet tooth, so I tend to stick with unprocessed foods like meat, veggies, nuts, flax seed, etc. Everyone's different in this regard - don't be afraid to experiment and I wouldn't trust anyone that tells you their diet is "best" for you.