Need direction!

SayWhatAshley

Hi there! I am brand new to this website, and very excited about it.
I really dont think I grasp how exactly to eat. How many calories should I betaking in each day?
I am 226 right now 5'6", at the biggest I have ever been, I am very discouraged. My goal is to be 140-145

I just dont know where to Start!!!
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance,
Ashley

lmelangley

When I started, I let MFP determine how many calories I should eat and then I started logging each and every thing I put in my mouth every day, throughout the day. I then took a couple of weeks to look at trends - I tend to eat smaller meals in the morning and afternoon and a large meal for dinner. Once I realized that was how I normally ate, I started modifying what I'd eat - replacing the bagel with cream cheese in the morning with yogurt (greek, with a higher amount of protein than sugar) for example. And, I REALLY started paying attention to portion control, which is my biggest problem. Took a little longer for me to start losing weight, but making the changes slowly at first gave me time to understand how I eat and to make modifications I could live with. I look at this as a way to become healthier over time. It's not a race for me to lose the weight.

That being said, there are a lot of people who jump in with both feet and never look back. I think you have to find out what works for you. The only secret is patience. You'll have a few bad days - but they'll get fewer and fewer as time goes on. And, you'll hit a few plateaus. But, with patience and help from the forums, you'll get past those, too.

Welcome to the journey.