New... hoping to stick to it!

newjes2012

I'm 28 and I'm 5'2 and I weigh 160 lbs. I want to get back to about 130 lbs to be at a healthy weight. I always start and last like a day, lol. Any tips????

jesscaponigro

The more you track, the more it becomes like a second nature. They say it takes 21 days to build a habit, start that way. Also, motivation helps, check out some of the success stories, they are pretty incredible. I have been doing this for 30 days, and it's becoming second nature to me. Plus I have a pretty great support system with my MFP friends. Feel free to add me!

krystle_swope

It's all about you! If you want it bad enough you will stick to a plan and make it a routine! I was about the exact same measurements as you when I started in July and now I am down to 135. I eat 1500 cals a day and workout minimum 4 days a week. Make sure you are aiming for reasonable long term goals, and not short term. Good luck! xoxox

jackyb03

Find a fun way to exercise and try it with a friend. The gym gets boring .. treadmills and elliptical machines .. BLAH. A friend and I started taking pole fitness classes . Most people immediately get a dirty image but it's completely the opposite .. Pole Fitness is about having fun and is for women of all ages and sizes to help us get get fit, increase flexibility, improve posture, tone up, burn calories and improve confidence. I am stonger now than I've been in years, I am slimming down (almost two sizes already) and it's so much fun ..

Also, track what you are eating .. you will be amazed at the extra calories taken in everyday.

newjes2012

Today is my first day tracking - doing so good so far!! It's only 2pm here. I also have the week off from work so the opportunity to snack is more likely. But I don't really have any good snacks at home, so yay! lol.

My bad habit I need to break is I eat fast food way too much.

I have a gym membership I never use, lol. I do have a friend who has been trying to get me to do hot yoga with her. I might try it.

The pole fitness sounds fun! I will see if we have any of that around here and maybe my friend will be up for it too. Thanks everyone.

andezz99

I just started using this site a few days ago and I think its great for staying accountable to yourself, especially logging the meals and exercise. I used to be very fit 185 from 213, then i raised my weight to to 195 but at 7% bodyfat. My key back then and I hope now is to

1. break your meals into smaller but more frequent times. Try eating 6 times a day your calorie allotment. They keeps your body working all day metabolizing your food intake and you will notice that you are not as hungry as you may be between the major meal breaks.

2. If you can start your day with some kind of cardio work out for 45-60 min a day, walk, run, bike, elliptical at the gym etc. You will burn more callories. If you lift, don't start on an empty stomach, you'll feel week and discouraged.

3. Food choices are important, and if you start plugging in fast food items into the MFP calculator, you'll see how quick the calories go. Try to wean yourself off the fast food, maybe just a once a week treat. Also, the biggest waste and waist of callories are drinks, alcohol, starbucks, soda, etc. These are all a big waste in my book. No nutrition but loaded with calories.

4. When you eat your meals, make a fist, that shoud be the amount you eat at these small meals mentioned above.

5. Tuna is your friend, and most lean means, they fill you up longer and provide muscle.

6. Streghth training, especially for girls will eat up your fat and get you in shape faster then anything. Most women are afraid they will look like bodybuilders but that is BS. Unless you are using steriods, you have nothing to fear when it comes to weight training, you'll look great faster, not thin but toned and healthy.

I wish you luck and hope you give some of these suggestions a try.

TXchris

Track everything and be careful that you don't undereat. I know that has been my problem in many of my past attempts at losing weight. When you cut your calories too far you slow down your metabolism and you also burn out from being hungry. I restarted 30 days ago with an entirely new approach and it is working amazingly well.
1) I would like to lose 2 lbs a week but would be ok with less if I could lose steadily long term, so I set my goal at 1.5 lbs to give me a little wiggle room. I am hard and fast on not letting my net go over that number... I've only gone over twice and both times were by very small amounts.
2) I exercise daily. Some days more and some days less but always some.
3) I eat a minimum of half of my exercise calories almost every day... an sometimes I eat all of them.
4) I am really honest with my log. If I eat it, it goes on there. If I walk and am between speeds, I round down and take the lower caloric burn estimate. I don't count things like cleaning house in my exercise because I was doing that before and not losing.
This is working beautifully for me. In 30 days I am down 9.7lbs and have been able to eat around 1500-1700 calories a day because I've burned 15,071 calories being active.

Best of luck to you. Hopefully this will give you some ideas of how to use MFP to your best advantage.