AM I DOING IT RIGHT? PLEASE LOOK AT MY FOOD DIARY..HELP!

I don't think you're eating enough. You are choosing a lot of processed, higher calorie, or higher fat foods which will cause you to be hungrier, and it is harder for your body to process it so you will hold onto it longer. Try to make one or two healthier choices a day. Try making some of your own meals, instead of a frozen meal, or going out. Honestly, this is the hardest part for me because I hate cooking, but it really, really does make a difference. You will be amazed at how much more you can eat with less calories and how much more efficiently your body will work to lose weight with those choices. Good luck!

I did look at your diary. I try to eat the same thing for breakfast, lunch and snack when I can. I find it makes easier to plan. The great thing about fruit and vegies is they are low calorie. I make sure that I exercise daily with a DVD. I find it helps a lot. You are doing well.

It is great if you are combining calorie intake and exercise at the same time. However, I see a lot of people on here go all out with cutting calories and lots of exercise but then struggle to keep it up.

When decided to change my lifestyle habits to healthier ones, I found it is easier to do it in stages otherwise I would not be able to stick to so many changes at once. I started my life change over about a year ago, the first thing I did was to stop smoking and it took me around 8-9 months to get used to it.

I then focused on my daily eating habits, I did lots of research and I decided that eating the calories for my "goal weight" was the best way to go. This is because the calories I eat now are the calories I need to eat for the rest of my life, I do not want to make more changes down the line, as I would rather get into a routine now. Once I get used to my eating routine I will concentrate on the next stage which will be exercise.

I have actually started to do some VERY light exercising, basically just moving around a bit more. However, I am not going to start regular exercise until my body tells me it is ready for it, which maybe next week, next month or next year. I will start when my body tells me. I also think people exercise too much, personally I think 3 times a week will be enough, it has to be something you can do for the rest of your life.

Patience and will power are going to get me to my desired weight and lifestyle.

So, my advice would be to concentrate more on your eating habits first. Like mentioned by others, eat more fruit, veggies and more lean meat. Cut back on processed foods.

Good luck.

As others have said, you need to eat "real" food rather than processed. You don't need to cut anything out, just reduce the quantities and/or frequency when you have them. Making things from sctach gives you more control over what you're eating, but if you do buy pre-made stuff check what the serving size is - sometimes you look at a packet and it says one serving 300 calories. Then you find the pack is supposed to serve six not four, so you've immediately taken in an extra 150 calories you didn't expect. And you're still hungry.

The important thing is to make sure your lifestyle changes are sustainable - if you cut the food too low and go manic with exercise, you'll get fed up and quit.

What worked for me (with apologies to those who've heard it)

1. Set your profile to sedentary and eat back your exercise calories. As you have quite a lot to lose you mgiht want to start with 2lb a week weight loss, but even if you set it to 1lb you'll probably lose more than that to start with.
2. Try to build in lots of extra bits of exercise - no need to spend hours in the gym if its not your thing, going for walks, DVD work-outs, even things like Wii fitness or Wii Zumba all count! (I love Zumba - its a really non-judgemental class as no-one cares what size you are or even if you're in time!!) Some poeple say the MFP calorie estimates are too high, but I've found them fine - just be realistic about the effort you're putting in (don't put "aerobic - intense" just because you're really tired and sweaty, think about whether you were following the easy or harder version!)
3. Weigh and log everything. If you haven't got a food scale get one, and use it for everything (I'll let you off lettuce!), especially hard-to-measure stuff like cereal and pasta. Really log everything - even that half fish-finger left on the kids plate. Log it or throw it.

You can do this.

It will be a week and a half. I'm looking for ideas on healthier foods as well...

You're just at the beginning, you need to adjust. People have all sorts of ideas about what constitutes "healthy" - low/no carbs, high protein, no/high fat, paleo, vegan - you name it there will be a thread on here about it! No-one has the perfect answer, but as I did used to work for the Govt. department responsible for agriculture and food :blushing: my view is as likely to be right as any

1. Eat 5 portions of different fruit and vegetables a day - the wider range of colours the better. Fruit juice only counts as one, however many servings you have, because you're not taking in the full fruit. Smoothies are better, particularly fresh homemade ones - watch out for sweeteners and thickeners in shop versions.

2. Eat at least two portions of fish a week, one to be oily fish (salmon, mackerel, sardines etc.) Tuna is an oily fish if fresh but not if canned - the canning process removes the beneficial oils (but not of other oily fish - don't as me why, I was a policy maker not a scientist! )

3. Try to cook from scratch as much as possible - yes, this means peeling and chopping things:bigsmile: However, there are many "convenience" foods which are as good as fresh - for example frozen peas, broad beans, tinned chopped tomatoes, frozen or tinned sweetcorn, tinned fruit (in juice NOT syrup) - which can be kept in the freezer or cupboard ready for use. Also frozen or canned fish is a great standby. But make your own sauces, soups, stews/casseroles etc. as far as possible so you can control what goes into them. This is a good habit to get into if you have a baby anyway (try Anable Karmel's recipe books for babies and toddlers - they have great, easy recipes you can make for the whole family, adding salt/increasing seasoning once you've taken out the small person's portion).

4. If you don't have one, get a slow cooker. I'd recommend this with a baby anyway, as you can throw the stuff in when you have a moment and know it won't spoil if you get distracted later - the food will be ready when you are! This is great for things like bolognaise - make a big batch then freeze in portions and cook the pasta fresh when you need it. I also like to roast a leg of lamb, arge piece of silverside or a whole chicken - it just sits there cooking nicely without making the kitchen hot and then you've got beautifully cooked meat to eat now AND freeze portions - I often make up and freeze sandwiches, or else freeze slices in gravy ready for a quick dinner adding rice or potatoes and veg another day.

5. Finally, don't feel you have to give up anything (other than second helpings!). If you want a burger, skip the fries, or do some extra exercise. If you want a doughnut, have just one and make sure you have a lighter meal later. Basically, if you can fit it in yur calorie allowance have it - but make sure you're not skimping on fruit and veg to accomodate it.