How do I start?

sonjajenl

Hello to all. I was looking in the success stories and seeing pics of people losing like 80 lbs in a year. And I so want to be there a year from now. I am now signed up using MFP, and really watching my calories. I need motivation, encouragement and some wisdom in what to do or how to start. I think I want to walk as my exercise. I am a teacher and can walk after school while I'm waiting on my kids to get out of practice.

lilme_2k

Feel free to add me too....we need all the motivation we can get.

sarasmiles124

Feel free to add me to.

When I first started I had a lot of pain in certain joints and I found it harder to stick to a meal plan. I did it, but I had my days where I would have a cheat meal every now and then. Once you start seeing the results though, it just pushes you to want to see more. Good luck!!

laserturkey

Walking is excellent! It's been 90% of my exercise and I've lost 54 pounds since mid-January. Don't be in too much of a hurry to lose the weight, though. I think it's better to do things gradually in a way that you can live happily for the rest of your life. No need to starve yourself or be deprived of your favorite foods. Just enjoy things in moderation and focus on being healthy.

AliciaStaton

Hi welcome to MFP. We all need some help and encouragement and this site is great for that. I have been lucky with the support on here, some are here to lose weight, become fitter and enjoy life. Free feel to add me if you want

gaj87

My tip - try not to do everything at once. Start with small steps and add more as you go. Remember that it is a life change not a quick fix. I've lost 71 in just over a year. My ticker only shows the weight I've lost since joining MFP.

Starting weight 186
Current weight 115
Starting size 18W
current size 4
height 4'10.5

Good luck and keep moving.

Alicia7519

A month ago, I was trying to figure out where to start. I want to lose around 75-80 pounds. I needed help to get started so I started seeing a health coach. She started having me set weekly goals. She set the first one which was for me keep a food diary, so I joined MFP and that has helped me keep on track. The food diary on here is great. So is the support that you get from the friends that you make on this site. For the next goal I had was to come up with a schedule of my daily activities, and to make time for exercise. The third goal was to exercise for an hour a day, five days a week. Exercising had been a huge problem for me because I hate it. I despised PE when I was in school, so to get me to exercise is a futile battle. I kept using the excuse that I was too busy. My problem was that I had not scheduled my exercise time. Making an appointment with myself to exercise is working. I like yoga and swimming, so that is what I will do for awhile.

Besides the goals that I made, I also came up with little weekly goals such as to give up potato chips, drinking eight glasses of water a day, cutting down on sweets, and reducing the amount of regular cola drinks. I am having hell with the last one, but the others were easy to do.

If you take time to do break down this challenge of losing weight into goals, before you know it, you will be eating healthier foods and exercising. What you have to keep in mind is not to beat yourself up if you overeat. Just start over the next day.

Apazman

here are a few tips that I found to work for me:
1. Make MFP your home page
2. Log in EVERYDAY, read the message boards... post.. Keep your mind actively thinking about it.
3. Don't try to change too much at once, Implement 1 change every week or so. Little tweeks over time seem to work best or at least better than butt load of change all at once
4. Always be honest. We al fall on our way to the top, be honest, no one is judging you here... we all support eachother
5. Keep trying new things until you find what works for you (It took me a while to find my plan and it works great for me but I wouldn't push it on anyone else)
6. Its easier to lift weights than the burdens of carrying weight.
7. take it one day at a time.
8. Have a cheat day or meal, where you eat what you want
9. Try to talk to yourself as if you are talking to your child or loved one. Often times the thing we need most is to be a better friend to ourselves.
10. Smile.
I don't wish people good luck, I never had it and don't need it! Luck doesn't get you through this... hard work does!

cmriverside

As with everything, there is a learning curve.

You didn't learn Calculus in first grade, and you won't learn it all in a week here either.

Just start.

Start by logging all your food. Study your patterns and habits. Try to eat a little better tomorrow than you did today. Move a little more today than you did yesterday.

Drink some water, sleep eight hours. Repeat.

Baby steps, a little bit at a time. If ou try too hard to be perfect, you'll get overwhelmed, and you may give up.

VogtAndrea

You've started! Take your time and figure out how to make all the sections of MFP work. The database has over 40,000 foods / entrees in it and you can add to it if you can't find anything comparable. The cardio exercises can be added to as well.
Just be realistic with your goals.
I have been to specialists, dieticians (yes, plural) but the decision finally had to be one that I made for myself and was honest enough with myself to know that if I didn't stick to changing my lifestyle, I'd be in worse shape or die. That was almost 60 pounds ago though this will say 16 because I didn't join MFP till I'd already lost 40+ pounds.
I honestly couldn't walk across a mall parking lot without being winded and having my heart pounding in January of this year. Sometimes I have to keep reminding myself of where I was to keep working hard at it and that I never want to be in that place again.
MFP offers what alot of people don't get and that's built in accountability. You are totally accountable to yourself and can use its reports to document that accountability with others. (in my case my bariatric specialist, my family doctor, and the dietician who can offer suggestions that might help to keep levels where they need to be). Once a month I create reports, print them and fax them to my specialist. My family doctor gets to read them if he's concerned about any one portion of what I'm doing or my lab results.
There's great motivational support here if you grow a good support group around you.
You're more than welcome to add me as a friend if you'd like.

moseler

WELCOME! I am also a teacher and began this journey about 18 months ago. As of today, I have lost 94 lbs. I began by just tracking my eating habits... not changing anything, but logging everything for about 2 weeks. That really gave me the perspective of what I was doing wrong... in my case, no exercise, high fat and carbs and low calories were the culprits. After a few weeks of just tracking, I began trying to stay within the calorie, carb, fat and protein parameters set for me on MFP. After I lost about 30 lbs., I began walking my dog, then walking the neighborhood, then outwalking my poor old dog. I joined a gym after losing about 60 lbs. and started just cardio... finally, moving up to incorporating strength training as well.

I go to the gym at least 3 mornings per week... my gym opens at 4:30am so I go for about an hour Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I know it sounds crazy going so early... but I am a morning person and working out in the morning does a few things:

1. gets my energy level up for the day
2. I feel GREAT all day because of the work out
3. It doesn't take precious time away from my family... my youngest son plays sports after school and I am a Football Mom...
don't want to miss out on practices or games or helping with homework for that matter. As a teacher, you know how our job
tends to steal those moments from our family as it is... so I really didn't want working out to take anymore time away from them.

As you begin to lose, this site will automatically renegotiate your macronutrients for you... taking calories, etc. away as you lose to ultimately bring you down to around 1200 calories a day... this sounds scarey... but I assure you it is a slow process so you won't feel like you are starving because you will already be making changes in your diet naturally.

Don't rush this... you didn't gain 80 lbs. in one year... so, don't expect yourself to lose it all in one year. Although the scale is an important component in tracking progress... it can be a double edge sword. You will have days where you weigh in and it says you've gained two pounds... but don't freak out... it is NORMAL for your body to fluctuate on a day to day basis... you aren't failing as long as you are logging and eventually exercising... The scale is not always our friend because it cannot tell you if you have gained fat or are retaining water due to sodium or something...

Drink your water... it will help you flush out the water retained, help with digestion and sometimes helps curb those cravings.

Eat a healthy breakfast EVERY morning... if you start your day off right, you won't feel hungry, you might avoid those cravings and it will be easier for you to stay on track.

AVOID cafeteria food... it is NOT healthy, no matter what the government says is ok to shove down our childrens throats... it is higher in carbs, fat and sodium than you think. I pack my own lunch everyday and log it in before I leave in the morning so I am not tempted to eat that nasty pizza they serve every single day. If you must eat at school... check to see if your district lists their menu nutrition for each day... mine does and that is why I KNOW it is horrible food.

Over the next year, you will be able to identify your trigger foods... those foods that make you say, "Oh well, I just blew my day, might as well eat this whole bottomless bowl of chips and salsa!" When you find those, try to avoid them if possible or limit them to maybe a treat once a week... and if you choose to have them... BUILD THEM IN to your daily log so you can get back on track the very next meal. One meal doesn't have to blow your entire day... just that meal... you always have a chance to get back on track by making better choices the next time you eat rather than waiting for the next day. Make the damage minimal and manageable.

My trigger foods are cupcakes or all things chocolate... I have a hard time saying no after just one bite. So, I try not to eat them at all... of course there are birthday parties and cupcakes in my classroom... I just look at MFP to see if I can fit it in and if I can't, I don't have it... if I have room, I might treat myself occasionally. I refuse to live my life without the occasional cupcake!

Finally, be patient. This is not really a diet... it truly is a way for you to educate yourself on what you can do to change your habits. You will be successful if you stick with it... change is hard, but no one said the things worth having are supposed to come easy.

You are a teacher... you are a lifetime learner... you know the more effort and time you put into your craft, the better and more rewarding the results. Research, hard work and diligence always pay off in the end.

Good luck to you! Feel free to friend me.

brendajs

Hi there!

I'm hopeful, too, to lose 80 pounds! I have been yoyoing between WW and MFP for a couple years, which is probably a big part of my NON-success! I recently decided to count calories with MFP and have lost 6 pounds so far. It's a slow go for me, but I am excited and inspired by the success stories I've been reading here!!

I lost over 65 pounds on WW nine years ago, but they all came back...and brought friends. I know what it takes to be successful and am in that "I did it once...I can do it again" frame of mind!! But...because I'm 9 years older now, things (and me!!) aren't moving as fast as they did before.

I'm learning to retrain myself to counting calories instead of points. Exercise is my downfall as well. I have also chosen walking as my main form of exercise....to start!! I love Fall and walking outdoors is great but I live in Minnesota, so that will not be the case for long!! I also like using the Leslie Sansone Walk Away the Pounds DVD's. This is good as it's "walking" but it also adds additional movements for arms, etc. I used her DVD's when I lost weight before and really did firm up...more than I would have done with just walking alone.

I am waiting for it to warm up alittle more and will be heading to the park for a walk! It was 27 degrees when I got up at 6:00 am today!! Yikes!! Too soon for that!!

I wish you the best of luck on your healthy lifestyle change! You, or anyone else, are welcome to add me! I know that having someone that can relate to what you're going through really helps!!

Have a great day!!

:flowerforyou:
Brenda

felblossom

Hey, I'm a novice here as well. I joined 3 weeks ago.
Start off just doing what you've always been doing, and see where that lands you calorie-wise. You will very quickly see which meals work fine, and which don't. I quickly realised that my lazy quick fix pasta dinner that I would have several times a week went way over my DAILY recommendation, so that one's out!
Walking is great and a very convenient form of exercise. I get on average 60 minutes daily from just transportation - walking instead of taking the car/bus/etc.

It can take some time getting used to getting the amounts of food right, especially if you cook without recipes and just add things at random, but you don't HAVE to be on gram perfect - one calorie here or there doesn't change much. Also, something that I did was look carefully at the suggested serving size on the packages. They're usually smaller than what I would help myself to, but I find that my body got used to eating the smaller servings, and I feel comfortably full as opposed to completely stuffed after a meal.

ktsmom430

My exercise is walking with light weights.
What is working for me, is logging everything, and staying honest with myself. There is no reason for me to cheat because that would just be cheating myself, and I am done doing that to my self.
Best of luck to you. It can be done!

Robin_Bin

Lots of good advice here.

You've already taken the important first step. You decided to change.

And, good for you, you found this site. The help, motivation and support here can be great! Read critically... not every idea and posting is sensible or will work for you. Read kindly, we're all learning how to make changes too. Some people are hurting and lash out or post nasty things... ignore them (or report the posts, if you like).

There are multiple, possible, next steps, but like some others, I recommend taking it slowly, don't try to achieve everything at once. If you are extremely motivated right now and want to jump into the deep end, ok... that may work for you. But if only part of it works out at the beginning, that's ok. Keep what worked and when you're ready, figure out the next piece in the puzzle. If you search these message boards for "roadmap", you'll find several suggested paths.

My suggestion for your next step is to log -- don't try to change what you eat yet, just log it -- honestly and completely. Measure, weigh, read labels and record it. If you're already exercising, record that too. As a side effect you may decide to change or reduce what you eat, (if you don't want to record it, you can't eat it) but don't make that the focus at the very beginning.

Once you've got that habit down, you can look and see your trouble spots. Set your goals -- I recommend starting with MyFitnessPal's guided goals. You may have long-term and intermediate goals. You can add exercise. You can work on portion control. Or maybe you need less calorie-dense, more nutrition-rich foods. At this point you can also see if you're drinking enough water (liquids). Maybe more vegetables? Evaluate and adjust. Pick your next steps to meet your goals and issues. Add new goals or adjust when you're ready.

Don't deprive yourself. If you see this as a short-term fix, it will be. And, you'll be setting yourself up for unhealthy behavior like binges or yo-yo dieting. Think more about your real goals. Do you just want to lose weight or do you want to be healthier? Do you want to be skinny or to look good?

There was a very good thread recently on what you would have told yourself when you first started. I agreed with others who said they would have told themselves to start sooner. And I realized it is taking me longer than I expected, but it's already feeling better than I expected.

Keep at it and good luck!

(Edited to clarify a few points about goals and to fix a typo.)

sonjajenl

Thanks everyone. I have been logging every day and I think that has helped me.