THE answers to THE questions

I'm someone who has never really paid attention to labels or tracked what she ate. As of last week, I've turned a new leaf and have tried to keep record of everything and I thought I was doing awesome by staying under or very little over my reccomended calories. The idea of earned calories baffled me. Why would I want to eat more,? I'm trying to lose weight, it doesn't make sense.

This thread has helped me understand that if I continue on this track it will not help me in the long run because my body will begin to store fat because it will think it is "starving." Just because I need the extra calories, I resolve not to use them on things like soft drinks & sweets and things with little to no nutrional value. (though on occcassion, I WILL reward myself, in moderation, with such things.

welcome. Reward your body often with good food and exercise...it will love you for it. And then, ocassionally, reward your body with not so good food. Everything in moderation.
This site has been so helpful. I look forward to sharing my successes with others and hearing their's as well. My best friend friend, who I have known literally from the time I could walk, joined this site today. I will encourage her to read this thread as well.

i just don't get it - why am i not losing - just checked my reports and i have only lost like 1.5 pounds in the last month - I am always under my cal's but not by too much - i leave a little in there for the cal's i miss through the day and for just calorie mis-calculations - i exercise 5-6 days a week - i am not gaining but i am not losing - eating well, at least i think so, need some help here mfp friends - getting a little bummed about this - my food and exercise logs are public so feel free to take a look and pass on some advice - thanks!!

Your food intake looks good...pretty balanced, IMHO. You may want to consider tracking your added sugar. I find I bloat up if my sugar intake gets too high. (I myself don't worry about fruit and milk sugars, but some do)

I notice from your ticker that you're around ten pounds over your goal weight....so I'll ask you a couple of questions:

How did you pick your goal weight? Have you considered picking a goal size? Some free advice from my trainer: when you get close to your "magic number weight...the scale is essentially useless". Instead, why not concentrate on measurements, or a goal pants size? If you're exercising, you are probably carrying around some muscle mass. My goal weight for a flabby version of me would be about ten pound lighter than my current goal weight. I have a friend who is exactly the same weight as me, and I wear a dress size that's three sizes smaller than hers. Try to shift your focus from weight to size. (it will prevent the crazies...)

Also, what are your goals set at here? Lose one pound a week? two? or half a pound? The less you have to lose, the smaller the sweet spot of deficit is. Consider setting your goals to half a pound a week and see what happens.

Let me know if you have questions about my questions. Feel free to PM me. :flowerforyou: