help-advice much needed

Yup. Remember, this is a life change. If you diet, you plan on going back to eating something else and you will start to gain weight back. Make a change you can live with forever Good luck to you!

That's not a lot of food variety. I'd be bored. Make sure you're getting enough calories for all that exercise.

"**will be eating only baked chicken, tuna, yogurt, mixed veggies, cottage cheese, egg whites, wheat crackers with tuna, some fruits. with water and (1) red bull for energy.**"

alright. you are going to face a LOT of haters.

But my question to you is: Can you only eat those things for the REST OF YOUR LIFE?! Think about it. I hope as you spend more time on this site you realize more achievable and healthy goals. :flowerforyou:

^^ This. I think if you continue on MFP and read some of the awesome posts (some are not - trust me!) on the forum, you will realize that your long term goals will make this very hard to sustain. It took me a few months on here to realize I needed a plan that I could do standing on one foot with an arm tied behind my back, whistling. I recommend reading some posts on excessive cardio and fueling your workouts correctly. Good luck. I sincerely wish you success!! :drinker:

You have great goals. Make sure you are eating enough to fuel all your exercise. Have you looked at e TDEE calculator? Better to lose slowly than fast and possibly gain it all back later. I would agree with the other poster - don't cut out all the things you enjoy - this is a journey not a sprint.

Eat whatever food you want, just try to get plenty of protein (think of MFP's number as a minimum) and hit your calorie goal. Eat back your exercise calories.

I do a couple of hours of cardio per week, on the days in between lifting days. That's plenty for me.

What kind of lifting program are you doing?

Thanks everyone I am just starting out, and this advice was much needed. I am wanting to loose weight and build muscle and tone my body. I dont want to get super skinny and float away. I have time in the mornings, lunch break, and afternoon and I want to do something positive with my time and not be lazy.I am vert DETERMINED!! Just want to do all this in the right way. I dont know much about working out I just figured all the cardio would achieve the weight drop and not take forever.
The foods is what my husband eats as he is very much in shape and only cares about protein to build muscle. So I figured I could eat the same. Any suggestions on foods?

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/974888-in-place-of-a-road-map-2k13

Yes. This. Read it. Read it ALL. Stalk people's diaries. EAT FOOD.

My main suggestions would be to give yourself at LEAST one day of full rest (walking and stretching are allowed but no cardio or weights) to allow your muscles to recover. As for the types of exercise, I'm a runner and I LOVE to run... however, you should put in some cross training to reduce your risk of injury. Cross training would be activities that use your muscle differently than running i.e. biking, elliptical, rowing, Zumba class etc.

As for your weights there are options. I personally find that splitting my workouts into muscle groups rather than total body workouts gets me the most bang for my buck, plus then I'm not sore all over every single day. You can start out with Upper and Lower body splits, or go farther and split it into chest and back, legs and abs, arms and shoulders etc. Make sure you don't work the same muscle group two days in a row. Also, pick a weight that's challenging. By challenging I mean that you can complete 10-15 repetitions of the exercise and by the time you reach 15 you should not be able to complete another rep with good form. If you're using super light weights and can do a thousand reps you're not going to see the gains that you want.

Food.... ESPECIALLY if you're going to be doing that much cardio you need to be eating more carbs than just veggies and wheat crackers. Go for whole grain and stay away from white processed pastas and breads. Carbs are the main source of fuel for cardiovascular exercise and if you're not eating enough of them you'll feel tired and drained. Protein is important for muscle building as well. stick with lean meats such as chicken and fish, but if you're a meat eater don't completely cut out red meats as they are high in iron and women need iron especially during that time of the month. You can also get good sources of iron from beans, legumes, fortified cereals, and spinach. I personally love steak so stick to lean cuts like sirloin to cut down on fat and calories. Try to eat a rainbow of fruits and veggies, don't just stick to three or four kinds like you find in frozen bags of mixed veggies. Stay away from canned stuff and try to get as much fresh as you can.

Don't let yourself get discouraged if the number on the scale isn't changing. Take measurements to track your progress as well, sometimes the scale doesn't change but your body does.