New here..and I need major help.

Erin29ga

Hey guys...I've had MFP in my phone for awhile now but I havent had the motivation to use it..LOL! Until now! This is my first day eating BETTER.I have a good bit of weight that I want to lose...How much exercise should I get each week? Do you guys eat enough that you're not walking around starving all day? Any cool websites with good recipes? Any advice you can give me for getting started? BTW, My name is Erin and I'm 31. Thanks!

4legsRbetterthan2

read these:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/974888-in-place-of-a-road-map-2k13

jcubedatund

I really like the recipes on skinnytaste.com . Most of the ones I have tried were very yummy and my fiancé has requested them again and again

Tuili

Welcome Erin!! I hope you success and this MFP community is the absolute best for support and help!

When I started, I wasn't sure if I could trust myselft to make good choices, let alone portion control. I knew I would do better with a daily menu of what to eat. I found "The Shred Diet" by Dr Ian Smith very helpful to me. Its only 6 weeks and was a wonderful starting off point for me. It seems very sensible, normal everyday foods, portion control, tells you how much to exercise every day, and you are eating all day long. You won't go hungry. The book is easy to get, Barnes and Noble, etc and is inexpensive. It has quite a few pages of 100 and 150 calorie snack ideas/recipes and several recipes for soups and shakes. After the 6 weeks, I had a very good idea of proper portions, and healty choices to make.

I'm just saying this worked for me to jump start my weight loss. Not sure what kind of strictness you are looking for.

raetwssrae

I was always one of those that hated the idea of counting calories. Part of the problem was that I am a lover of home cooked meals, but never knew how to add up the correct amount of calories per portion. That's what I really like about MFP. Just enter the recipe in and the number of people you're feeding and bam! it's all in there. I agree with another poster who suggested skinnytaste.com. Love the recipes there. I also am a huge fan of feastie.com. Loads of different bloggers post recipes there. You can do a search for healthy and get a lot of results for great tasting food, and even low cal desserts if you're willing to spend a little extra on some ingredients. As for exercise, I'm using couch 2 10k. You can get the app for free on your phone for the whole program and it's wonderful. It's essentially intervals of running and walking, and depending on how fast you start, day 1 week 1 you can still cover close to 2 miles in about 30 minutes. I'm on week 4-5 right now and am almost up to 3 miles total, burning about 350 calories a run. My boyfriend and I also like hitting up the gym in our apartment complex for the weights. Building muscle is essential to losing weight, imo since muscle mass increases your metabolism in a nutshell. Results aren't going to happen overnight, which is the most important thing to remember.

I also use another app called pact to help keep me on my goals as well. You download the app, agree to a "pact" to exercise however many days a week you choose, and give them credit card information. If you don't make your agreement, they charge you an amount chosen by you. If you do, they pay you based on the other app users who didn't make their goal. That app along with MFP have done me the most good.

Good luck, and feel free to friend me for support!

Erin29ga

Thanks so much guys!! Lots of new info and apps to try out! Feel free to friend me...I need all of the motivation and accountability that i can get!

TVISmith

I really like the recipes on skinnytaste.com . Most of the ones I have tried were very yummy and my fiancé has requested them again and again

I second that! Skinnytaste.com is wonderful for nutrition and taste. I make most of my meals from that website. I also have the Biggest Loser 30 day jumpstart book and there is a lot of great things in that.

Chickaboo2014

Hey guys...I've had MFP in my phone for awhile now but I havent had the motivation to use it..LOL! Until now! This is my first day eating BETTER.I have a good bit of weight that I want to lose...How much exercise should I get each week? Do you guys eat enough that you're not walking around starving all day? Any cool websites with good recipes? Any advice you can give me for getting started? BTW, My name is Erin and I'm 31. Thanks!

You should try to exercise 30 minutes everyday. You can do it 10 minutes at a time, 3x a day as long as you get your heart rate up and it stays up there. As you get stronger you'll want to do more than 10 minutes at a time. And eventually, you'll want to do more than 30 minutes a day. Once you get there, you can throw in a day of rest.
I work at a sedentary job and didn't do any exercise at all. January 6, 2014, I started out doing the above and eating healthy. Now I work out 6 days a week for 30-90 minutes a day; depending on how much time I have, etc. This includes walking at lunch time if there is nothing else that fits in. I measure and log everything I eat and drink. I stay honest with myself and MFP motivates me. I am halfway to my goal. I've lost 16 pounds with 16 left. You'll be so happy with yourself very soon if you stick with us! Good luck!

cartow

. I found "The Shred Diet" by Dr Ian Smith very helpful to me. Its only 6 weeks and was a wonderful starting off point for me. It seems very sensible, normal everyday foods, portion control, tells you how much to exercise every day, and you are eating all day long. You won't go hungry. The book is easy to get, Barnes and Noble, etc and is inexpensive. It has quite a few pages of 100 and 150 calorie snack ideas/recipes and several recipes for soups and shakes. After the 6 weeks, I had a very good idea of proper portions, and healty choices to make.

Me, too. That diet worked well for my husband and me!

sdaniels4

I am getting ready to start this program as well. Using this week to "practice" and trying to follow the eating schedule as much as I can. Need the weekend to stock up on good choices. My son and his fiancee are also following this program. We are all trying to lose what we can before their wedding in July. Wish us luck!

Sue

terrainstar

Welcome and Good Luck!

One of my tricks is too use a sandwich plate for my meals rather than a large dinner plate. I honestly eat anything i want to eat. within the calorie range i have chosen.
It's easy to eat properly if you just use portion control.

I do my best to stay away from refined flour and sugar and processed foods

I do not eat "diet" foods they are not helpful in losing weight at all

we all know what a reasonable portion of something is

we all know that its not sensible to eat a large bag of potatos chips

someone told me once to watch how average weight people eat and to eat like that

I want to be an average weight person so i am eating like an average person not an obese person

you can pretty much use any recipe you like, it is easy to reduce the fat, sugar and salt in most recipes

I have a couple of recipes i have made over in my recipes section on here

stay strong and eat well

xmichaelyx

Everyone has already posted all the information you need to get started. Here's some additional advice:

1) Find exercises you LIKE to do and do those. Everyone has an opinion on weights vs. cardio, but the most important thing is to find the routine that you'll stick with.

2) Exercise at the same time every time you do it, so that it becomes part of your routine.

3) It may take a few weeks of trial and error, but find the foods that you like and that fill you while still remaining under your caloric goal. (At this point, I could easily eat 1500 calories per day and never feel hungry. But I don't want to!) (I should also add: Fats and protein will make you feel full; carbs will make you hungry. Choose your foods accordingly.)

4) Don't be afraid of cheat days or cheat meals. Some people don't do them; some people do. Both is fine. Just stay under your weekly calories.

5) Never think about this as "going on a diet"; think of it as a lifestyle change.

Good luck!