I honestly feel like I can't do this.

I never had success with weight loss until I began paying attention to all areas of my life. Mind, Body, and Spirit. If I just focus on the calories and dieting, my spiritual weakness and mental chaos will drive me back to my old behaviors: comforting myself with food and other things. I can't develop new behaviors by only addressing one area of my life. Try making diet a part of an overall change of mind, body and spirit. Exercise the body, exercise the mind, enlarge your spirit. Step out of your comfort zones. Good luck!

First off don't give up!!! And I agree with everyone else up your cals-my biggest challange is night eating-I have a sleep disorder so I am up late each nite ( I am now making myself go to bed earlier even if I lay there an yea dream about food) an I had developed a horrible habit of eating at nite only: this is what I have chg since starting in Sept-I make weekly goals for myself-I take away one bad put one good in-I try to eat a healthy but more filling dinner at nite-I am working towards 6 meals a day spread out thru the day-somedays I am on target somedays I am not-I just keep trying to improve daily-I work out-because I have fibromyalgia there are days the flare ups prevent this-but I don't give up an as soon as I can I start moving again-my exercise time has already increased since starting-I hate this the most-I am learning to cook-no more pre-pkg foods-no more fast food-an when those temptations hit an yes they still hit me daily I go look at my goal outfits an my disgusting "before" pix an tell myself do you want your life back? Do you want to be healthy-some days I still give in but they are getting fewer an fewer-your body will adjust if you don't give up! You really can do this-cheering for you

The beginning is always rough, don't beat yourself up over it. Accept the fact that this isn't going to be easy, but it's soooo going to be worth it. Instead of starting your diet right away, maybe you need to come up with a plan first. Make a list of all the foods you love, crave, and keep in the house. Look up the nutritional values for each of those foods. You might be surprised at how many calories/sodium/etc. are in each. Make a list of alternatives for each of those foods that you can actually live with that are healthier choices. Taking the time to have a game plan will help you succeed. By the way, that's a great picture of you in the red shirt. Print it out and stick it to the refrigerator for motivation. And remember - this is a process. It won't happen overnight, but it WILL happen if you invest time and effort into it.

Yes...YOU CAN DO THIS!!!!!!!!! Don't say that you can't. You are going to have some tough days...it happens to everyone. And this is a lifestyle change....this isn't something that you can do for just a period of time and then you don't have to do it anymore. You have to be mentally ready to make the necessary changes in order to obtain your goal.

First....eating 800 is too little....I know there have been a lot of people that have said that here....but it's true. The minimum should be 1200....at the least. I also have seen someone else on this thread post a link to determine how many calories you should be eating each day. Be sure to use that.

Second....you don't have to deny yourself anything because that will just make you want it more. You want to have that mac and cheese....go ahead. Perhaps you can find a recipie that will make it a bit more healthy....or don't eat an entire box of it. You just have to adjust how much you eat. Want the hot dog....OK...perhaps eat it without the bun or find a turkey dog. Don't deny...just be smarter on the choices you make.

Third....when you get those hunger pangs.....drink water, take a walk, call a friend, do something for at least 20 minutes to see if that pang has gone away. Sometimes it is a signal of being dehydrated....that's why you need to drink water. Ice water is better.
Then if in 20 minutes if it has not gone away....then grab something that is fiberous...that will fill you up.

Fourth....don't get discouraged. When you first start out you actually might gain some weight before you loose it. What is key is taking your measurements....you could be loosing inches....

Fifth....exercise, exercise, just move! Now does this mean that you need to go to a gym? No...it can be as simple as taking a walk. I have a very bad back and my exercise choices are very limited....but I walk. I love to do Leslie Sansone's Walk at Home DVD's....you can get them at Wal-Mart, Target, or find some used copies online at Amazon. You can do up to 5 miles in one hour of walking at home. And trust me...you do get a workout....and all you need to do is walk.

Finally, sixth......be good to yourself. As I said before, do not get discouraged if you do not see immediate results. For every small milestone do something special for yourself....a manicure, pedicure, something small but you would consider a small reward for your efforts.

YOU CAN DO THIS!!!!!!! DON'T GIVE UP ON YOURSELF!

did the OP possibly mean she went over her daily intake by 800? if so, that's a totally different story.

:noway: ruh roh!

800 calories by midnight??

only 800 calories?

That is my breakfast and lunch usually. Then I have snacks and dinner too. 800 calories is not nearly enough for you to feel satiated. Of course you can't stop thinking about food, that's because you are HUNGRY.

You don't have to starve or go on some radical diet in order to lose weight. All you have to do is stop overeating. There is a BIG difference between gluttony and starvation. It's called normal eating.

Eat breakfast.
Eat a morning snack.
Eat lunch.
Eat an afternoon snack.
Eat dinner.

Exercise 3-5 days a week. I exercise daily but that's just me, I NEED my morning walk at least to get me going for the day.

I understand you are a night owl, but maybe consider going to bed at an earlier hour so you are not up in the night battling this demon?

Eat 1500 cals a day and workout! You'll slim down in no time.

my advice: go to a behavioral therapist. they can teach you great ways to fight the behaviors you're displaying. good luck dear- its extremely difficult.

Good luck

You can do it, sweety!

I find that I needed to get into rhythem, for both sleeping and eating- it makes managing ones body easier!

As everyone's saying, hit at least 1200 calories net but always try and get as close as possible to your target. If it means it, remove the treats and nibbles in another room to where you generally snack or just so out of the way it's not at all easy to go get them. Try to remove sugar rich foods from your diet and go for fiber and protein as they fill you up for longer- also make it a bit of a ritual when you're cooking or preparing your meals it makes you appreciate them more then just a random bag of chocolate you got off the shelf.

When I stayed up till two or three am (playing world of warcraft!) I tended to snack to stay awake- when I started sleeping at a more regular time (going to sleep at about 11pm waking up about 7am) meant that I got the right amount of time and I avoid the nibbling hours.

I had a hot dog with bun yesterday. It fit in my diary no problem. Eat the foods you like when possible. It's important for me to feel satisfied. I don't always eat super healthy but all in all it works out pretty good. Start educating yourself on calories. The longer you are here the better you will get. Allow yourself to make mistakes. We all do. The more you log the more you'll learn. I am a night owl and I eat at midnight...no big deal.

I felt the same way when I first started in July. I had a belief that I couldn't possibly lose weight because my metabolism doesn't work like it should. I have a sluggish thyroid, too, which doesn't help. The good news is that if you consistently work the MFP program, you will lose weight. I'm pretty sure I didn't lose a lot of weight in the beginning, but I've had steady weight loss over the last three months and I'm really happy about that.

Maybe you could click on the "goals" tab and re-set your weight loss goal for one pound a week or 1.5 pounds per week for now. You need to be really patient with yourself, too. Your plan needs to be so sustainable that you could do this for years if you had to. I tried a 900 calorie plan a few years ago and felt so awful that I had to abandon it. Give the MFP plan a chance to work.

You can do this--and you're worth it. Add me as a friend if you'd like.

Go to bed earlier and eat AT LEAST 1200 cals

I do not know your height or RMR but I'd have to sort of agree with this comment based on what you are saying.

Even though 1200 is such a stupid number to get stuck on. What you need to eat for a deficit is relative to your RMR. If you are short you really don't have much room for up compared to the 1200. If you are taller you will have a higher RMR and can go up or down and still be in a deficit (way above 1200) so you can lose no matter what. All that matters is a calorie deficit.

To tell everyone eat more is wrong.

To tell everyone to eat less is wrong.

To find the exact amount of calories for you to be in a sustainable calorie deficit is correct. Some people can handle a deeper calorie deficit than others. Some people have emotional eating disorders and it comes into play. Even a small deficit puts your body in a state of flux with hormones and such and everyone is different.

You just need to find the correct calories for YOU to be healthy and sustainable and and still lose weight. It might require some experimentation and tremendous patience. You can always notch up and down by 100 until you find what is sustainable and still allows you to lose weight.

If you have emotional eating issues than you are not going to be able to handle such a deep deficit and if you eat to low it will backfire. A better strategy is to eat at a shallower deficit, and sometimes give yourself a break from the deficit and eat at maintenance. This is not going backwards, but eating to low and then binging because you can't sustain it is going backwards. It's better to stay forwards even if it is slower. The tortoise wins this race in the end.

Your body loses weight in chunks, not linear. I have found that you can do everything right and your weight loss seems to plateau but if you are patient and keep exercising and eating at a deficit (however slight) you will lose it, it will suddenly "whoosh". There are so many variables for the scale; water retention, digestion, hormones, allergies, sodium, carbs, water intake, DOMS, inflammation, the list goes on. People mistakenly think they lose or gain weight when they eat more or less because of these fluctuations.

Losing weight requires tremendous patience. You will not lose it when you want it or where you want it. The body does its thing. Some apparent plateaus can last a month or so. You cannot make it happen faster. You must focus on two things; calories and exercise. Nothing else matters. Scales and metrics don't matter. The day in and day out grind of exercise and calories are all that matters. It is not very exciting until things fall into place. You get your victories and you ride one victory to the next.

The scale is a trend tool. The scale is good but put it away and only check once a week and only use it as a trend tool. It will fluctuate, it does not matter. Take front side and back progress pictures at least once a month. You will see differences that the metrics won't tell you and it's that little bit of NSV that will keep you going until the next victory.