newbie on the site... :) any advice?

I really struggled to lose 2 1/2 pounds in a month. Then I joined this site. In one month, I've lost almost 9 pounds despite the fact that I'm only supposed to be losing 1 pound a week based on the cals it gives me and the exercise I do. I think being held accountable for your food and exercise is very helpful. I also cut back on the exercise to 30 minutes 3 times a week, which caused the scale to really start moving in the right direction. After a month, I'm now doing 30 minutes 3 times a week and 40 minutes once a week. I think going from nothing to alot of exercise caused my body to not know what to do. It was really holding on to those pounds for some reason.
Welcome and good luck to you. I hope you have great results like so many seem to have here.

Protien, protien, protien....and fiber! Watch the carbs...protien and fiber keep you feeling fulll, carbs will make you hungry in an hour or two. Eat back your exercise calories, so you don't feel cheated...and if you NEED a Reese's cup today, have it , but log it and exercise it back out! WEIGH everything...get an electronic scale that has grams...if something says 1/2 cup or 28 grams...do the 28 grams...not 27, not 29, 28 grams...it is real tough to cheat when you weigh by the gram...and I mean everything including the butter on toast! And most importantly...be kind and forgiving to yourself...just remember, there are few of us who are perfect about weight loss, we are all just practicing and trying to get it right...sometimes you are going to slip and fall, just like when you learned to ride a bike, but if you get up and try it again, you will hopefully get where you want to be...even experts fall...just watch the Olympics if you don't believe me!

Track, Track, Track...it's sooooo amazingly easy here...the majority of anything you eat is alread in this food selections...so can't be any easier. ALSO, become addicted to it....make it a priority to get it entered...and never leave anything out. You WILL be amazed...truly. Sounds as if you're doing all that hard work of exercising...and eating all the calories you just burned. Anxious to see your progress!!!

Hi, I've just started my profile, I do lots of exercise and I don't seem to gain weight but I never seem to lose it either, and from my suggested calorie intake on here I'd say the reason is eating too much!! Hopefully this food diary will get me where I wanna be any tips? I've never really properly dieted before, I go through phases of eating healthy then slacking so advice would be great!

xxxx

That is exactly my story too! I have been very active between exercise and outdoor activities and eat healthy foods, but no matter how hard I worked out I continued to gain weight. I , like you, would have the occasional phase of craving junk foods, but overall I don't have much of a sweet tooth, and rarely hit the fast food places and I NEVER have junk food in the house. So I decided to count calories and immediately the pounds started to drop off! I am now only 5 pounds away from my original goal weight after 9 weeks of using MFP. So this week I decided to set a new goal, of which I am 10 pounds away from . I am still eating the same foods I always ate, just smaller portions. I measure EVERYTHING. And I just got a heart rate monitor so that I can accurately account for the calories I burn during exercise.

I have learned so much from this website, check the message boards for valuable tips on fitness, nutrition, and the occasional recipe for sneaking in a low-cal sweet every now and then. Good luck! I think you will find the same success as I have. If you like, you can add me as a "friend" and we can keep each other motivated!