I'm new, and this is so hard!

I've never had any luck with diets or diet clubs and decided to give MFP a go about two months ago and its working for me the lbs are coming off. Give it a chance one McD breakfast is not the end of your efforts.
Log everything you eat in, a few days of seeing in black and white in front of you what you are putting inside of yourself might shock you into being stronger. Does that McDonalds breakfast make you feel as good as getting on to the scales and seeing the lbs disappearing and your clothes feeling looser? I bet not.
I am eating what I want, just not eating as much. If I want ice cream I eat it, but maybe only 1/4 cup instead of 2 cups. Pizza, I eat it, but go for a lower calorie one, and cut back a little bit the rest of the day. If I've had a high calorie day, I make something low calorie for the evening.
Dont be so hard on yourself you are only 3 days in. Keep at it and add me as a friend if you want, and I'll try and keep you on track and support you as much as I can.

barb

It's hard to know what to do without data. I would recommend just eating "normally" (for you) for a couple days and logging it. Doesnt matter if it's 1000 or 10,000 calories .. just log it accurately. After a few days, you can look at your logs and start fine-tuning, a little bit at a time.

if you try to do everything at once, it's going to be far more difficult to stay in it for the long haul than refining your diet a little bit at a time.

Gather Data - Analyze data - Make Adjustments - Repeat.

Here are things that have worked for me

1) Save calories up all day for the thing you want most. Have it at the end of the day. WHen you want to eat transgressive bad foods all day, remind yourself the treat is there and you will get it at 7 pm or whenever.

2) BE FULL. Eat a lot of food. You can eat a lot more fruits and vegetables than chips. Put fat on your vegetables to make them savory and the fullness will last longer -- Buttered squash or green beans in Buitoni reduced fat pesto are not a lot of calories, and the pesto or butter makes them wonderful. Add 4 ounces fo lean protein and you will stay full a long time.

3) Drink a crap ton of water. Have a water cup with you alla time and drink it. Keeps you full and makes your skin pretty because you are nicely hydrated.

3) Creep on other people's diaries. A huge part of getting HWO TO EAT AND LOSE WEIGHT through my head was to look at real people who were succeeding and see that they DID blow it -- go WAY over on tequila or cake -- and then see them get back on the horse immediately, next meal, not even next day but immediately, and seeing their success over time. Like I had always HEARD about YOU CAN HAVE TREATS AND STILL LOSE WEIGHT but to look at what actual successful peopel were doign and emulate it was VERY helpful.

I hope this helps!

Are you planning meals for yourself? If McDonalds breakfast is a habit, then you need to replace it with something else…something healthier! Don’t look at it as ‘depriving yourself’ of something great, but instead, realize that you could be giving your body something BETTER instead..

Willpower and want go hand in hand. You have to WANT to lose weight, feel better and be healthier more than you WANT the few minutes of pleasure from eating crappy food (which is going to lead to guilt and feeling bad). If you can stick it out till you see some results, it WILL get easier (and your cravings will subside too)

There’s nothing wrong with having something you love here and there, but if you’re just 3 days in and already feel like giving up, maybe you need to step back and reevaluate how badly you really want to make a change….

Hang in there..give this a fair shot..you can do it! :flowerforyou:

Yes, getting started is the hardest part. Also what is hard for me is when I take a break and am on vacation or away for a couple days, getting started again is hard.

Make a commitment to log as accurately as possible for 2 weeks. Seeing it in front of you will help you come up with a plan that will work for you.

I am not an expert but what I believe is if you have a decent amount to lose don't worry as much about the macros and just focus on the calories. If you need some treats to get you through, just make room for them. I have made it halfway to my goal and really am not eating all that great (clif bars and fiber one bars, eat out once or twice a week). As I get closer to my goal weight I know I am going to have to do better to continue to lose.

If you are going to have a treat, log it ahead of time and build the rest of your days eating around that. If you go over some days, don't get discouraged. Stick with it. You can do it.

I agree with making small changes. Don't think of it as a diet, meaning sometime it will end. That never works for me, it always comes back when I am done with the diet. I am just trying to make healthier choices that I can live with. I know some people won't agree with me, but I eat fast food, but make it work into my calories (at least most of the time, lol) I am not giving up anything that I know I won't give up for life. But I do track EVERYTHING, even if it is not the healthiest or best calorie choice, and even on days when I am way over. And I am losing slowly.

It's hard to know what to do without data. I would recommend just eating "normally" (for you) for a couple days and logging it. Doesnt matter if it's 1000 or 10,000 calories .. just log it accurately. After a few days, you can look at your logs and start fine-tuning, a little bit at a time.

if you try to do everything at once, it's going to be far more difficult to stay in it for the long haul than refining your diet a little bit at a time.

Gather Data - Analyze data - Make Adjustments - Repeat.

I agree! Small changes that you can live with are the key to long term success.

After my 2nd son was born, I tipped the scales at almost 200lbs! I started with ADDING five servings of vegetables and fruit to my diet for a week (with no goal for removing any other food) and tracking, and walking to the end of the road and back (about five minutes.)

As I added the bulky fruit and veg, some of the junk food fell out of my diet on its own. Once I got out of the house to walk to the end of the road, I didn't usually stop before at least half an hour . . . "may as well keep going" mindset.

It takes a lot of patience, but it's soooo worth it. I've been at/near my goal weight for a few years now. I'm strong, fit, healthy and still always improving.

NO WAY could I lose 70lbs - but I lost 5lbs . . . 12 times.

I wish you every success!

1) Get rid of all the junk food that's in your house. Throw it all away. If the temptation isn't there, you can't give in. Eventually, you will be able to say "no" with it staring you in the face... baby steps.
2) Don't let yourself eat out. Get the stuff to make your favorite breakfast sandwich at home... it'll have probably half the calories/fat/sodium as the mcdonalds version.
3) Find a workout that you like. Otherwise... you will fail. If you don't like "working out" at the gym or at home... find a class to take... or dance dvds... or join a club that has a swimming pool. It has to be fun or you will not do it the long haul.
4) Stop thinking that you have to deprive yourself of everything you like. You don't. You can have whatever you want... in MODERATION. I've eaten potato chips nearly every day this week so far.... but I'm working out and I fit it into my macros everyday. Is it healthy to eat potato chips every day? No. This is a particularly bad week for me lol (usually I don't have them in the house... see how that works). But... I wanted them so I ate them...but I made good choices for every other meal.

You're human... sometimes you make bad choices... the trick is to limit quantities...and to MOVE MORE. Good luck... feel free to add me if you need some moral support YOU CAN DO IT!!

I started out thinking like you, then I started reading the nutritional value (especially sodium) and that kinda grossed me out. So I decided to get more serious. I have lost 62 lbs since January. Breakfast sandwiches?? Go on Pinterest.com for recipes. Make your own egg mcmuffins, breakfast burritos, etc, wrap and freeze them. You know what is in them and it's cheaper. The money you save on fast food, put it aside and let it build up. You will be surprised how much you acquire. Then go by something for yourself. That's a nice reward. Don't deprive yourself of something. It feels like punishment. Instead of a 12" pizza, go for the personal pan size. Pinterest has recipes for homemade ice cream w/o using an ice cream maker. For instance: 1 banana, 1 cup strawberries (frozen or fresh), a couple splashes of milk (almond, reg,, skim whatever) put into blender or processor, whip up and it's delicious. Hang around, we are here to help and support each other.

Instead of depriving yourself of the foods you enjoy, start adding healthier options into your day. Eat less of the high calorie stuff less often. It helps to log EVERYTHING you eat, so then you can see where your calories go. Some things that you think of as "bad" might not be so bad after all. I like chocolate too, and found that the really good dark chocolate satisfies me in smaller quantities. I like to eat at Denny's, and now limit it to one night a week. After a couple months I started cutting my meal there and taking 30-50% of it home (which makes my son very happy because he gets to eat the leftovers the next day, lol). I like McDonald's cookies and Oreos, so at first I just ate smaller portions of them. Now that my body is used to healthier eating, I don't crave that stuff as much. Take baby steps and don't beat yourself up about indulging. Just log it and move on.

You don't have to stop eating the food you like.

NO WAY could I lose 70lbs - but I lost 5lbs . . . 12 times.

I wish you every success!
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^^THIS^^...is just about the best thing I've ever heard. That's the way to do it...one day at a time. :flowerforyou:

I want to congratulate you. You're here, and it's a good step in the right direction.
It's going to be hard, but deep down you know you want to do it otherwise you wouldn't be here making the decision.

I can't give you much advice beyond what's already been said, but just taking those baby steps will mean it'll get easier with each step closer to that goal you've set.
As well as having the ultimate goal, set smaller mini-goals that'll make you feel more accomplished and keep you on track.

You can do it

You are more than welcome to join my group":Food and feelings". Emotional eating is sometimes difficult to get under control,but possible. It's important when making lifestyle changes,that you get support. I would be happy to help you in anyway possible and share what I have learned in my "get healthy" journey. You have taken the most important step,coming on MFP and wanting to get healthy. I wish you the best.

To me it's not about what you eat, it's how MUCH of it you eat. I still eat all the foods I like, just less of it. For example I love pizza. I eat it all the time. I just eat 2 pieces instead of 4 and make it fit into my calories for the day. Like today I had fries for lunch! Then I will have a salad for dinner and still have snacks. All within my calories of course.