New to program

melschlomer

Hi everyone!

I am new to myfitnesspal and I have some silly/basic questions. I am 5'3 and weighed in at 165.4lbs. I have been doing fitnesspal consistently for only about 6 days now. In order to get to my goal weight I have to stay at 1200 calories a day. Obviously, I cannot go under 1200 b/c of starvation mode so I go a little over every day. My calorie loss is 600 because my MMR is 1800 cal a day. Now I thought I was to watch my calories with this program...simple enough...like weight watcher point system. Now I am noticing I have protein, carb, sodium, etc limits as well. Any suggestions? If I have to watch and calculate all of these then I see me possibly failing....Any suggestions/advice/encouragement?

Thanks a lot
Melissa

Ready2Rock206

Start simple. Watch your calories more closely - but keep the rest in the back of your mind. Down the road if you stall a bit or just aren't losing like you think you should be - then you take a closer peek at those things. Or if you have a day where you're like OMG I gained 20 lbs overnight - peek at your sodium the day before and you'll likely see the cause then you know it's not real weight. But for now I'd say don't make it overly complicated.

Tina0926

Hi!!!

I've been on this site since the end of November and it is awesome!! When I started I was thinking the same things you discuss in your post...but when you eat clean-fruits, veggies, meats, chicken, and all that jazz it just falls into place. I would be mindful of some of the categories because you don't obviously want to go over daily, but I wouldn't worry to much about it. I am over constant in my sugar-from fruit. Give it a chance and I frequent the boards and it rocks!!! If you would like to friend me or check out my food diary it's open: )

Tina

mudonthetires856

Welcome!
First thing is...don't over-think it. Eat at your calories while you are figuring everything else out along the way and then you can make adjustments.
It really seems very complicated at first, but it gets simpler. Read through the forums & you will gain a wealth of knowledge. A great place to start are these threads:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/912920-in-place-of-a-road-map-3-2013
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819055-setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets

It really helps you to figure out your calories. I started out on 1200 because that's what MFP set me at, but it was WAY too low for me. I ended up tired all the time. I'm also 5'3 and when I started I was 175 pounds. I eat between 1500-1700 and still lose.

The protein, carbs and fats are called macros. You don't have to follow what MFP assigned to you. It's actually recommended that you get more protein than MFP is set at since MFP is quite low. Higher amounts of protein help to retain your muscle during weight loss (especially when you add strength training) and foods high in protein help keep you full longer. Once you read through everything and you start to understand it, you can start focusing more on those numbers.

Good luck!

ndj1979

don't worry about starvation mode...the way MFP defines it is a myth...you would have to not eat for 72 hours (really starve yourself) to go into true starvation mode.

you might have better luck calculating your TDEE based on your activity and work out level and then just deduct 30% from that. Then you do not have to worry about eating exercise calories back.

what is your work out regimen like?

You should be building a program around deadlifts, squats, over head press, chin ups, pull ups, etc...and then incorporate that into a three day total body plan where you hit arms/back/legs/shoulders three days a week...and then do cardio about two days a week...once you get to goal weight back off cardio and go for more strength training...

A good carb/protein/fat split is 40/40/30 that is what I have mine set on ...but my goals might be different then yours...

As far as sodium try and keep it under 2500 a day..

remember it is not a diet, it is a lifestyle change..

good luck to you ...

melschlomer

Thank you! This is really helping. I didn't realize that there were these boards until today. Totally awesome! I did weight watchers but one...it costs money and two it was more difficult to find how many points food were. Here...my hubby took me out to dinner tonight and I was able to decide what I was going to eat before I even went. What is also motivating me is Jillian Michaels new book.

melschlomer

NDJ1979: I am way out of shape. I use to be in shape in college then lost it. Right now I am starting low. I am doing 30-60minutes cardio and full body work out three times a week. I do have a bad knee so I tend to baby it...I realized I had to do something when I couldn't get up off the floor without problems or I couldn't walk up my stairs in my house without being short of breath. So, I definitely gotta go slow. I was happy that yesterday I ran at 5.8 for two minutes. Any suggestions for starting slow?

ndj1979

if you belong to a gym, I would suggest getting a trainer and tell them that you want to learn proper form for squat, deadlift, bench press etc...but don't let them talk you out of it....some trainers, for some reason, are deadlift/squat averse....

You can always start with no weight on barbell and then start adding weight. Most olympic bars weigh about 45 pounds...

If a trainer is not an option ...there is a book...'new rules for lifting for woman' that I see mentioned a lot in threads...

You can also join the "eat, train, progress " group on here..Sara and Sidesteel have a lot of great recommendations...

Strong lifts is another program you could look into...

As far as running....you could map out a one mile walk/run...run what you can, then walk, then run..when you can run the whole mile...bump it out to two miles..when you can run two miles bump it out to three....three miles two days a week combined with total body training should suffice for weight loss/strength gains....

melschlomer

NDJ1979: Wow...Thank you for all those suggestions. I do get one trainer session a month with my gym. For a while I felt like I was wasting her time. You have a lot of good advice. Thank you!!!