Need advice, new.

I'm on 1200 cals

been on this site 3 weeks, however have lost weight on myown

wk 1 loss .800gms
wk 2 loss.800 gms
wk 3 loss 1.2 kg

i exercise and eat those extra cals I have no worries with that amount of cals, I'm only short 5'2

each to their own, if you can get to know your body it helps

Right, you're new so ignore the post about "don't eat on 1200 calories" blah blah. You don't need to get into that until you understand the site more. Just log you meals, food, snacks and drinks. Drink more water and log exercise. Set yourself a goal to do at least 30mins a day. This will help you lose weight. After a month and a bit? Once you've got the hang of it. Ask about TDEE and BMR. Then you can work out your NEW calorie goal that would work better for you.

If you start to feel as if you're starving? Bump up your calories but because your new, your body will feel weird and that because it's accepting the change.

As for exercise, using the boyfriend's bike would be great. As well as possibly buying 30 Day Shred a fitness DVD you can do at home. Just start of slow, the more weight you lose? The more exercise you'll be able to do.. remember that. Slow and steady wins the race.

Ah, you're not alone on the lack of confidence Kaylee. I myself don't feel happy with how I am and can't wait to be slim. You're not a monster, you're beautiful and even your boyfriend can see that. Doesn't matter how you's met, you's are in love right? He's going to support you 101%, just tell him you're aiming to lose weight.. you're on this site and explain that you'd love to use his bike. Plus also have his support.

As for the low budget, just eat more veg's that'll help you lose weight. Go to local markets and buy vegs there. As for the protein if you're like me? Can't afford meats.. buy a protein shake. I currently steal some of my boyfriend's when he's around mine. But when I got money I'll be buying myself a sack to make sure I get enough protein.

Look I'm no expert, far from it. I ask for advice all the time on here.. but just sharing my knowledge with you. Good luck.

in 4.5 months on 1200 calories, I lost 16 kg.
(For who say you shouldn't eat only 1200 : Am I a super man ? )

You say you like carbonated drinks, that will most likely kill your weight loss considering they are full of added sugars and cals. What I would do in that case. Do you like fruit punch or lemonade? Grab crystal light packets and put them in your water. Tastes the same and instead of 150 cals a glass, it's 10 cals. If you like it fizzy, but it in club soda Also, make little changes to your diet. I have said this before, but, instead of chocolate, I switched to special K chocolate crisps and granola bars. Instead of ice cream I eat skinny cow ice cream sandwiches and skinny cow cookies and cream truffles, I took dressing and cheese off of pitas, sandwiches and salads (exp lite ranch, I just portion control my lite ranch), for my cheese cravings I eat one string cheese. I cut down my cals for egs (which are very good for you) by using egg substitute. 30 cals an egg instead of 70 and no cholesterol with all of the protein. On days I lift, sometimes I will get a protein shake and herbal tea for breakfast instead of a meal.
Eat every few hours and try to eat more protein and fiber, it fills you up longer. ALSO LISTEN TO YOUR BODY! If you bored eat a lot, try and drink water first to see if you are really hungry. If you just need a good taste in your mouth, I suggest the crystal lights or gum.
Another thing I like to do is I switched my workouts to the morning before I do anything else. I get up and have a granola bar to get my metabolism started, head to the gym for an hour. I do 20 minutes of cardio, 15 minutes of abs and anywhere between 10-25 minutes of lifting. Then I follow immediately with a protein shake and herbal tea OR 3 eggs (egg substitute) a slice of whole wheat toast and a banana. I have been losing quite steadily the past few months, but I do not have much left to lose.
PLEASE do not go over board or stress about your weight loss. It's a journey. And when things get rough or I don't want to work out, I set mini goals for myself (such as, 1/4 of a mile more! Just hit 300 calories burned, Just do one more set, You can bench that bar one more time!) (And usually, if I do this, I end up doing even more than my mini goal :bigsmile: ) and tell myself to look at all of the people who can run longer than you, or can wear the pants you like. It helps a lot.
GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR JOURNEY!! and I hoped this helped a bit :happy:

Hi,

I'm Kaylee. I joined yesterday and just getting the hang of the site. I was just reading a post where people shouldn't eat at "1200" calories because they won't lose weight. Yet MFP set me at 1350 calories. That's just 150 calories extra, should I be worried?

I also would like advice on exercise. I'm a person who doesn't go out, because I lack confidence and feel as if everybody's judging me out in public. Also hate busy places and in central London.. that's hard to get away from. I'm a size 22 and just feel like a huge blob of a monster walking about. So what exercises could I do at home?

Also, I don't talk to my family and I have no friends. Only a boyfriend, who keeps trying to drag me out with his mates but I just can't go cause I'm scared they'll judge me. Plus I met my boyfriend via a dating website.. that's how much I hate going outside. He lives with me and he has an exercise bike, I'm thinking of asking him if I can use it to lose weight.

Another question I have, is there anything you recommending I cut out or even eat more? I'm on a low budget money wise so I doubt I'd get enough protein for a start.

I'm probably going to repeat some of what others have said, but just wanted to add my agreement.

As you're looking to lose more than 100 lbs, aiming to lose 2 lbs a week is realistic and healthy. 1350 sounds a fine place to start. When you have larger fat stores, you can get away with having a largeish calorie deficit. As you get closer to a healthy weight, it's best to change your goals so that you're aiming to lose 1.5 lbs a week, then 1 lb a week etc. So, no - don't worry. Sometimes, people stall, especially when they're restricting calories for a long time. One thing worth considering is having a "diet break" every now and then - every few months say, where you eat at maintenance for a couple of weeks, and then go back to losing. You can read more about that here: http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/the-full-diet-break.html Of course, it doesn't hurt to eat at maintenance for a while at any point, if it helps psychologically to have a little break. If you find 1350 too restrictive, and you feel you might not be able to sustain it, then you could increase it bit. Most of us are desperate to lose the weight as fast as possible, but slow weight loss is actually not a bad thing.

There are definitely things you can do at home to exercise. There are lots of exercise dvds you can do, if that's your kind of thing. There are also free videos on the internet - youtube has lots. Definitely ask your boyfriend if you can use his exercise bike. That will give you a good cardio workout. Also, google "body weight exercises"; doing some resistance exercise is definitely to be recommended.

As for cutting things out, I would recommend, especially at the beginning, not cutting out anything in particular. In my opinion, one of the hardest parts about losing weight is actually sticking with whatever changes you make. So many people make radical changes to their diets and then find that they can't sustain it after a few weeks and go back to "normal". The beauty of calorie counting is that you can eat what you like, just log it and make sure it fits your goals. As you keep logging, you will probably find that you want to make other changes here and there. Eating more protein is one thing that helps a lot of people. It helps to keep you fuller, and helps your muscles repair themselves from the exercise you'll be doing. Eating more fibre will help keep you full too, and try not to cut your fats too low. Fats are essential for health, and foods with fat in are more satisfying. You don't have to go low carb, and it's not something I would personally recommend, but carbs are less important than protein and fats. Drink lots of fluids to keep well hydrated. What has also worked for me is to keep eating all the foods that I like. One of my favourite foods is chocolate, so I have some nearly every day. Not a huge amount, but I don't always restrict it to "one square of dark chocolate" either. It's all about balance, and making changes that you can live with long term.

Lastly, it sounds like you've got pretty low self esteem at the moment. That's something to definitely work on right from the beginning. One thing they don't tell you about weight loss is that you don't suddenly start liking yourself when you lose the weight. Self esteem really does come from inside. Start treating yourself kindly. I can understand not wanting to go out, but try to change that. Take baby steps, but try not to isolate yourself, as it makes things a lot worse. You're not a monster. Being overweight doesn't make you a horrible person, and honestly, people won't be judging you anywhere near as harshly as you're judging yourself. Being overweight doesn't mean you're a freak. There are lots of people your size, and much bigger, who go out and are confident and outgoing. I was in your position once, but I realised that I was shutting myself away because of my own lack of confidence and fears and self-loathing. I realised that people saw me in a completely different way to how I saw myself. All the fears were in my head. Of course, some people are judgemental, but that's true whatever you look like. Some people just aren't very nice. Most people don't give two hoots what other people look like.

Your boyfriend wants to take you out with his mates - I bet he's desperate to have you get to know them, and I'm sure they'd love to get to know you too. I'm sure he wouldn't want you to meet them if he thought they'd judge you. Why would it matter to them if you're overweight? He's happy to be with you, and that's all that matters. They want to know you as a person, not your body. Take advantage of the opportunity to make some new friends.