ANYBODY PLEASE HELP VERY CONFUSED HERE!!!!

Hi Jen,

I know it's overwhelming, but I find that there have been some very helpful people on this site with TONS of resources on hand. I personally love Jillian Michaels' books and was able to pick them up at the library (broke teacher here!). Her information seemed to match up with the Mayo Clinic (www.mayo.com), which is a highly esteemed medical resource.

Regarding the calorie goal, yes, you are supposed to be striving for that number. The calorie number already takes into account your weight loss goals. However, if you don't hit it exactly or go over, don't beat yourself up about it. My former nutritionist said a +/-100 calories is still pretty dang good.

I have had difficulty doing this as well since I'm transitioning to a vegan diet and the foods are lower calories. I believe the trick is to add healthy fats such as avocados and nuts to your diet. Did you have a sandwich for lunch? Awesome. Do you still need more calories? Add avocado to the sandwich or eat an apple with peanut butter. It seems counter-intuitive to be eating more rather than less to lose weight, but it's about eating nutritionally dense foods frequently to avoid going on a binge later when you're all stressed out.

I like to weight myself once a week in the morning. I like to do this on Fridays so I can spend a bit more time trying to figure out what went wrong over the weekend (Did I not get enough greens in this week? Was I stress eating? Did I "treat" myself to something and it started a downward spiral? etc.). Your weight actually fluctuates throughout the day due to water intake and your muscles expanding, so it's best for your mental health to do it in the morning; when your body weight is at its lowest.

I hope this helps and good luck on your transformation!

Very true! Meal planning is essential! I try to make 3-4 meals on Sundays to have ready throughout the week. I tend to make large batches and freeze half.

Of mfp said you have a goal of 1500 calories, u want to eat that many calories. Don't fill up on "pringles" and say that is your 900, then eat 600 in meals and junk. Stagger your meals do where your eating healthy 400/500 calorie meals. And you will see results. . Your body runs off of 1200 just in sleep mode. So you need to eat those and a bout 400 more on top of it. That's how i do it. I'm set to 1700 a day. As for the weighing in part, i weigh myself completely naked in the morning after i pee. That's what is known as your true weight. I, only weigh in 3 to 4 times a week. I'm trying to build muscle, not actually lose weight, but drop fat. Ps. Alot of you're weight at night is from water weight. Your weight is said to fluctuate 2 lbs during the day due to small changes taking place in your body.

So would my accurate weight be 235.8? And I am trying to plan my Mel's out the night before eating lots of fruit and veggies and snacks through out the day. I bought 100 cal packs of cookies and a ritz snack mix trying to reach calorie intake goal... Problem is by eating 3 meals & three snack throughout the day I don't find my self very hungry to re-eat the calories I burned through exercise. I completely cut soda and tea out of my diet and drink only water... That's extremely unusual for me and I think my body is still adjusting. I must admit I don't cook and do eat A LOT of prepared tv dinners that just need to be warmed up is this bad for me?

Cookies and crackers have lots of calories but lousy nutrition, feed cravings, and give you insulin spikes that undermine your weight loss.

Try things like whole milk or cheese - protein and fat. Very satisfying and more calories than I can normally eat. Eat some brown rice or good whole wheat bread. Have a fig or two.

Some toast with butter and a glass of orange juice is 500 calories. It isn't hard to add calories to a diet - or we wouldn't be here. Make them count.

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Learning to cook is a such a wonderful investment in your health and also your pocketbook. I highly recommend Cook With Jamie - http://www.jamieoliver.com/tv-books/cook-with-jamie

Great yummy recipes (though lots of calories). It's made for people who love to eat and don't know how to cook.

Or try the cookbook I bought for my 12 year old son: The Around the World Cookbook (http://www.barnesandnoble.com/listing/2686950300520?cm_mmc=GooglePLA-_-Book-_-Q000000633-_-2686950300520&cm_mmca2=pla&r=1)

Every single recipe has fewer than 5 ingredients, made for kids to make, and is delicious. I haven't found a bad recipe in it.

Yep, I usually plan my meals a day ahead. Also, cooking your own meals is a plus because you can eat healthier that way and avoid processed foods which are usually laden with salt and other undesirable chemicals and preservatives. Good luck, just stick with it and you'll get the hang of it!

I have a question to everyone please... These may be stupid questions but I'm new to this whole calorie counting thing. Well I guess it's a few questions... 1. How can you reach your daily calorie goal? Used to I could eat I don't know how many calories a day...I might would gab a can of Pringles and eat the whole can (900 calories) now I'm not even reaching my daily goal. 2. Am I supposed to be striving to reach that goal or do I need to stay under (suggestions please ... Goals set up to lose 1.5 lbs per week) 3. When do you weigh yourself for most accurate results? ( I was so excited for my weight loss I had to weigh myself this morning just to see the numbers down this morning it shoed 235.8 when yesterday I weighed and I was 240.5...which one do I trust?) PLEASE HELP!!!! I am totally confused!!! Thanks in advance!!!! Please add me also as a friend!!!! I really appreciate all the support I am getting from all of my friends on this site that I am not getting in from my personal friends!!!

1. Discipline, log everything, dont snack

2. Hit the goal dont go under it or over it

3. Same time of day consistantly... morning you are at your lightest

There are no stupid questions...it takes a little while to get the hang of things!

You don't have to eat "diet" food and "low fat" everything. I had a hard time at first eating all of my calories because lean meat and veggies are low cal which means you are eating a lot. After a while, I relaxed a bit and added "regular" food back in to my diet. So I added some butter to my broccoli, cheese on my salad, sour cream on my potato, etc. I found it helpful to enter my meal before eating it, then I could see if I had room for the "extras".

You don't have to eat exercise calories if you don't want to. That's a much debated topic in here. I don't generally eat them but it's nice to have them in case there is something you really want or if you are hungry.

TV dinners aren't the most nutritious meals, but I eat them occasionally because they are so convenient. Perhaps trying to make some meals in advance and freeze them would be a good option for you. I like to do up a big batch of chicken breasts in the slow cooker and freeze them individually. Then I can haul them out to add to a salad or have one with steamed veggies. You end up with a bigger more filling meal for less calories!

You should try to get as close to your calories without going over... Kinda like the Price is Right! LOL

I weigh daily, but only record it once a week. I chose Friday for my official weigh in because I tend to be pretty healthy through the week and a little more lax on the weekend. So Friday is my "low" day after being good all week. I weigh first thing in the morning, after using the washroom and before I eat or drink anything (want that number as low as possible!).

This is how I do things, but you need to figure out what works for you. Take all the advise in, toss any you don't want, keep the stuff that you think will fit you. There isn't a right and wrong way to go about this. The most important part is finding something that fits your life so you can maintain it for the long haul. Good luck on your journey!

Jen,

A few recommendations:
- Set your goal for the week, not by the day. As others have pointed out your weight changes daily and things that you've eaten the day before will impact your weight for that day.
- Weigh yourself daily as it's important to collect information everyday on where you're at in relationship to your goal. By doing this you'll likely discover patterns in your habits that are affecting your weight.
- Getting started is often the hardest part and you've already done that; the next hardest part is having realistic expectations about how quickly the weight will come off. If you're committed for the long term it will come off. Remember, you didn't gain all of this weight in the last week so you won't lose it in the next week either.
- Counting calories can be challenging due to the need to collect everything that goes into your body. Often nutritional understanding and portion control is more important that simply just counting calories. The calories that you put into your body have a complex effect on your weight. Plan a healthy meal with the right foods and use portion control to ensure weight loss.
- Last but not least. Friends and Family can be your best support network. Tell them about your goals, talk to them when you're feeling challenged and try to stay away from people who don't understand or care about your weight loss goals.

Remember, it all starts with what you do today.