New and sooo confused...

hungryhefer

Hello all..Ive just recently started using MFP thanks to a wonderful app on my phone..I just get soo confused about what i should and shouldnt be doing..Too much cardio vs too little cardio..Too many cals vs not enough cals..its so frustrating..I dont even feel like i can drink water correctly anymore..lol..I want so badly to get into shape and feel good and feel good about myself..Id prefer to be able to do it without going mad in the process..Calgon take me away!!!

kathrynthomas5

don't dispair - it took me quite a while to get into MFP but now I am addicted. Stick with it and before long you will be on your road to weight loss. Don't stress too much, even if it's just helping you learn about serving sizes, exercise calories etc it's a start.

Pebble321

Don't overthink it, everyone is different.
Why not start with the "standard " recommendations - eat the net cals mfp suggests, drink 8 glasses of water a day and exercise as much as makes you feel good. This is almost certainly going to be a healthy lifestyle change
If this isn't working in a month or two, then you can start worrying about details!!

hungryhefer

Thanks I appreciate the words of encouragement..

suavequeen

I would advice that you use this to start monitoring what you do and see where you are at. Then as your comfortable with mfp you will use it to guide you. I found it interesting to see what i do as the norm... taught me alot about myself and I've learned to re-train my way of thinking about food and exercise.

scott24

The biggest thing is simply accountability/honesty. Log everything, do your best. All I've done is cardio (swimming, walking, some running last summer) and the weight keeps heading in the right direction. Where I've failed is where I've gotten lazy. A day or two of not logging turned into a week - and then a month (or two). The system works! You just have to trust it, and be honest. See how many days you can keep a streak going while staying under your calorie goal. Watch out for sodium. You can customize your diary so that you can focus on different aspects of your diet. I focus on fiber (making sure I get enough - and I actually set mine higher than the default setting) and I watch my sodium (I'm a diet pop junkie unable to TOTALLY give it up, but at least I can keep an eye on it).

Feel free to friend me. I'm not falling off the wagon again - at least not until the snow falls!!!

Postlethwaite

There are as many ways to get fit as there are bodies out there that want to get fit. Keep it simple, build on experience. Keep notes, and stick with what works for you. I am focusing on a few goals at a time, and doing plenty of reading and interacting with people who know better than me.. and their good advice and positive habits are wearing off on me!

RissaDean

Since this is such a lifestyle change, start out by changing one thing at a time.

Usually the easiest/most permanent thing for people to change is what they eat. Start by making yourself log EVERYTHING you eat. Those 2 crackers you had while making dinner? Log 'em. That handful of M&Ms you had because you needed a lil something sweet? Count 'em and log 'em! You will probably be amazed at how much you are really eating in a day.... I know I sure was!

Re: water - you probably have a "normal" type of glass that you drink out of every day.... Count how many of THOSE you have in a day. Every time you re-fill, log the one you just drank. So when you fill up your glass first thing in the AM, don't count that one....count it as "one" once you finish it and come back for a refill.

Once you get into the habit of logging everything you eat, start playing with the excercise thing. There's a HUGE debate on MFP on whether you should or should not eat those earned excercise calories back, and the only thing anyone can agree on is to do what works for YOU. Well, everyone also agrees that you should probably get a heart rate monitor and not really trust MFP on calories-burned, but it's working ok for me so far.

I don't really excercise that much - I'm not a gym person...I *might* walk around the parking garage with a friend on our breaks every few days - but I do work out in my flower beds/garden almost every day. I log that, and usually eat those cals back.

Take things one day - or even one meal - at a time, and remember that we're here to support each other and make this permanent change. We can do this!!!

Jenlynphi

Join the club. I am confused too but anything that we are doing that is healthier for us is better. I've lost 18 pounds and then got off track during Spring Break and can't get my body to lose anymore. I'm on my last ten and it's taking forever. Feel free to add me as a friend. I can be a great cheerleader. Good luck on your journey.