Too much pressure?

Your goal calories should already include the deficit needed for weight loss. You generally should eat back at least part of your exercise calories. Your net should equal at least 1200 calories most of the time. Enjoy something to eat. At least get some fruit or something low calorie to munch on. that works even when you are close to your goal. Also, it will be ok to go over your goal sometimes... Just make sure you average at or below that goal calorie intake.

Good idea waiting for the new year -- hard to get started with those holiday meals and snacks all around.

Best wishes on your journey.

"Burn more than you take in"...no duh. Losing weight is (simplistically) just basic math. If you take in 1000 calories and burn off 1000 calories, you won't gain or lose. So this is why people say that magic phrase. What they don't bother saying is attitude, persaverance, determination, support, food types, etc, etc, *all* play into the math...both how much you take in and how much you put out.

To address your questions, you never want to feel hungry. If you do...eat. But don't eat that pizza, or ice cream, or that Del Taco $4 deal. You need to eat smarter. There are things you can find that can stop the hunger and not hit the calorie intake too hard.

Also, if I may be so bold, watch your sodium too!!! This is a hard one. The more overweight you are the more you're headed for heart issues...aggravated by sodium. I try to use garlic or various spices to try and compensate. Don't cut it out as much as possible...you'll go nuts! But do try and bring the amount you take in down as well.

Hope this helps at least a little...

Like nearly everyone else, I suggest you eat up to your calorie goal. You should also eat back your exercise calories. I am always careful about eating back those exercise calories because it is hard to be super accurate about how many calories you are burning during exercise. I know that the treadmill calorie count compared to my heart rate monitor count can vary a lot.

You will be hungry, especially during the beginning. One thing to try is to break those 3 meals into 6 smaller meals. Fill the house with healthy snacks for those times when you just need a little something. Just a suggestion.

Good luck on your journey!

First of all, the stuff that everyone else has told you has been great. I just want to address the "other" issue. It sounds like you have some pretty negative people in your life. They probably think that they are helping but they will make it worse for you, not better. The best way to handle these people is to educate yourself and when they grill you about it, give them "actually" statements.

(Example: Someone says, "Are you sure you really want to eat that. I saw you eat 6 times already today."

and you respond with...

"actually, I have not over-eaten at all today. I have such-and-such amount of calories left. If I try to starve myself, I will definitely quit, so I am going to take this slow and make sure I eat enough calories to keep me satisfied while making healthier life choices. It seems like I have eaten a lot because I like to spread my calories out throughout the day and eat LOTS of healthy foods rather than a small amount of high-calorie foods. In the end I have had less calories eating 5 apples than I would with one slice of pizza")