I'm a newbie too!

EdibleEm

Well here we go, a new year and a new outlook. I have struggled for years and years with my weight but it always seemed to bother others more than me. I was recently discriminated against with respect to employment and found out later that the hiring manager had made some comments about the fact that I am obese. I think my view of my body has been distorted and I have always thought that if I can keep up and stay active I am fine. Recently I realized that is not the case. I keep gaining weight and I am at my biggest ever. I have never been a fad dieter and I don't buy into the 'think is in' mentality but I know that in order to be healthy I need to loose some weight. I also know that I have not set a good example for my son. We are very active, sports, hiking, etc but I am not teaching him how to be conscience of what he eats. We both need to learn that skill. I have explored the site and I think the calculators will help me with motivation as you can see what is going in and what you are burning up.. a visual reminder is an excellent tool to help me stay focused. I have been successful with weight loss in the past, lost 60lbs once but it was when I was off of work and I had all day each and every day to work on a menu, prepare foods, go to the gym, etc. but as soon as I was back to my regular life, I gained it all back Realistically I need to learn new habits and make weight loss and management a part of my every day life, not a special event! So here is to a new year with the goal of working on self care and stress management and here is to the hope that comes with starting something new!

BrenNew

Well here we go, a new year and a new outlook. I have struggled for years and years with my weight but it always seemed to bother others more than me. I was recently discriminated against with respect to employment and found out later that the hiring manager had made some comments about the fact that I am obese. I think my view of my body has been distorted and I have always thought that if I can keep up and stay active I am fine. Recently I realized that is not the case. I keep gaining weight and I am at my biggest ever. I have never been a fad dieter and I don't buy into the 'think is in' mentality but I know that in order to be healthy I need to loose some weight. I also know that I have not set a good example for my son. We are very active, sports, hiking, etc but I am not teaching him how to be conscience of what he eats. We both need to learn that skill. I have explored the site and I think the calculators will help me with motivation as you can see what is going in and what you are burning up.. a visual reminder is an excellent tool to help me stay focused. I have been successful with weight loss in the past, lost 60lbs once but it was when I was off of work and I had all day each and every day to work on a menu, prepare foods, go to the gym, etc. but as soon as I was back to my regular life, I gained it all back Realistically I need to learn new habits and make weight loss and management a part of my every day life, not a special event! So here is to a new year with the goal of working on self care and stress management and here is to the hope that comes with starting something new!

Hi, and welcome to THE best site on the web! :flowerforyou:
Between the easy to use food counter (which by the way is SUCH an eye opener!) and all the wonderfully supportive members, you WILL be able to lose the weight that you want to, AND, it'll "almost" be easy doing it!
I recommend logging ALL your foods BEFORE you have them, rather than later, as it tends to lead to better food choices. (not to mention you'll know if you've got enough numbers left to have a night time snack, like I ALWAYS try to do!) Some people also like to weigh and measure some things, such as meats, rather than just estimating and possibly being WAY off! :noway:
Don't go making the mistake that if you have LOTS of numbers left at the end of the day that you'll lose even faster, because that DOESN'T happen. Feel free to read any info about the site in the "help" section at the top of the home page. And also, under "recent forum topics", and "view all", then "general diet", and check out the first few threads. They'll really help you understand how MFP works.
Before coming here, I had tried just about EVERYTHING out there, including hypnosis, TWICE, and nothing really worked until MFP!
Also, drink LOTS of water, it REALLY DOES help! :drinker:

EdibleEm

BrenNew- thanks for the welcome!