New To MFP and have some goals. Please help.

Hi I am 23 and I am 6'3. I played football in highschool and maintained a good weight. Since highschool, I have put on around 70 pounds. I don't do a lot and I went from 230ish and some muscle to 302 today. It's depressing because I can feel my clothes not fitting right and I can't do the things I want to do because of my weight. Does anyone have any solid tips and things that worked for them? I am not rich so I can't eat healthy all the time but if there are certain things I am going to positively stay away from feel free to say it. I need motivation. I can't continue to be like this. It's tearing me apart.

I am open to working out, but I can't afford much because gyms are so expensive.

Any help, or tips would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

You don't have to be rich to maintain a caloric deficit. You don't need to avoid any foods at all. There are no "good" or "bad" foods when it comes to weight loss. Eat the foods you like in portions that allow you stay within your calorie goal.
That's the simple answer. A caloric deficit. Hit your calorie goal that MFP gives you and you will lose weight.

You can also still exercise without a gym. Running, swimming, cycling, bodyweight circuits, etc.
Check out the book (or app?) You Are Your Own Gym and the app Nike Training Club.

Thank you very much for the tips. Is cutting out soda a huge deal? Also, I heard drinking a lot of water will help flush things out of your body and help with weight loss. And is there a certain time I don't want to eat after or anything?

I don't drink soda because I don't like it. If you want to replace your usual calories that you spend on soda with something else, that's completely up to you.

Just make sure you stay hydrated, don't stress about it.

No, meal timing/frequency is solely personal preference and has no bearing on weight loss. Eat whenever you like and how often you like. Whatever you find easier to adhere to.

Hi! I'm Donna, I'm 27, 6' and currently at 176lbs down from around 200lbs. I completely stopped drinking sodas and I honestly believe it has played a major role in my weight loss. Besides being loaded with bad things and TONS of sugar, sodas are HORRIBLE for your teeth. But anyways... I honestly think at least cutting down on sodas would be a good idea if you can't completely cut them out. It's been at least 4 months since I quit and a few weeks back I was craving a soda so I got one. OMG it tasted HORRIBLE!!! I have completely lost my taste for soda. But yeah, sorry for my rambling. Definitely lose the sodas! Feel free to add me if you're interested!!

hey man, welcome. i'm your height, and after college i put on some weight, and one day i didn't like it any more.

you definitely don't need to be rich to eat healthy. most people will agree that it costs more to eat poorly, as you'll mostly be eating and buying take out and pre-packaged food.

i tried the six-meals-a-day for a while, and it did help. not really to "keep my metabolism going," but more to help my with portion control. i'm a big guy, and i like to eat. i like big MANLY meals, so getting used to smaller meals was tough. after i got that under control, i started to have smaller meals in the morning, and save calories for a big evening dinner. but like others have said, it's all about your calorie deficit.

sure, things like cutting out soda and candy, limiting carbs, and drinking more water can help. those are good habits to form. i still have a soda once in a while, and a bag of peanut m&m's.

cardio, like running or biking, can help you keep a calorie deficit. for a bigger guy such as yourself, you might enjoy cycling. you can go further and for longer than running, and it's a lot easier on your knees. i know personally, i can come home from a 40 mile bike ride and feel great!! but coming home from a 4 mile run and i'm spent. when i was bigger, i had some reservations about exercising in public, but on a bike, i figure i was going fast enough that no one would notice or i wouldn't notice them noticing me. i was never a runner, so i went and dusted off my old mountain bike, and figured i'd go for a quick loop around the neighborhood. my first day i did 6 miles. fell in love with it.

but if i could go back and tell me self something, it would be to start strength training. being a former football player, you might already be familiar with the main lifts: squats, dead lifts, overhead press, and bench press. if you can make it to the gym, your work outs should revolve around those lifts. if you can't, do your best to substitute body weight exercises, like push ups, air squats, lunges, and pull ups.

but remember, it's all about little steps. small changes can yield big results.

hey man, welcome. i'm your height, and after college i put on some weight, and one day i didn't like it any more.

you definitely don't need to be rich to eat healthy. most people will agree that it costs more to eat poorly, as you'll mostly be eating and buying take out and pre-packaged food.

i tried the six-meals-a-day for a while, and it did help. not really to "keep my metabolism going," but more to help my with portion control. i'm a big guy, and i like to eat. i like big MANLY meals, so getting used to smaller meals was tough. after i got that under control, i started to have smaller meals in the morning, and save calories for a big evening dinner. but like others have said, it's all about your calorie deficit.

sure, things like cutting out soda and candy, limiting carbs, and drinking more water can help. those are good habits to form. i still have a soda once in a while, and a bag of peanut m&m's.

cardio, like running or biking, can help you keep a calorie deficit. for a bigger guy such as yourself, you might enjoy cycling. you can go further and for longer than running, and it's a lot easier on your knees. i know personally, i can come home from a 40 mile bike ride and feel great!! but coming home from a 4 mile run and i'm spent. when i was bigger, i had some reservations about exercising in public, but on a bike, i figure i was going fast enough that no one would notice or i wouldn't notice them noticing me. i was never a runner, so i went and dusted off my old mountain bike, and figured i'd go for a quick loop around the neighborhood. my first day i did 6 miles. fell in love with it.

but if i could go back and tell me self something, it would be to start strength training. being a former football player, you might already be familiar with the main lifts: squats, dead lifts, overhead press, and bench press. if you can make it to the gym, your work outs should revolve around those lifts. if you can't, do your best to substitute body weight exercises, like push ups, air squats, lunges, and pull ups.

but remember, it's all about little steps. small changes can yield big results.

Thank you very much. Yes the embarrassing thing about it all is that I have put on the weight and people do notice but they are nice enough not to say anything... I am starting to cut out soda as of today. I work long hours so soda keeps me 'up' so to say at work, but I am done with it. I won't drink it anymore. I want to start running, but it is SO hot here, its averaging 95 or so each day, and that would kill me. My calories are at 2300, what the app set me for, and I was wanting to know something...

If I am 302 right now, and I want to cut to 235 in a reasonable amount of time, what should my calorie intake be, and what should the deficit be?

Thank you very much!

i work some pretty long hours myself. nights, days, weekends, holidays, whatever. and at a steam plant, so i sweat a lot and drink a lot of water. so much water, i'm actually not that thirsty during the day. i feel that soda doesn't really quench my thirst.

i drink lots of coffee. i use half&half, and splenda. it's fine. just watch out for a lot of the sugary creamers.

i read somewhere once that an apple has as much energy as a can of soda. so i switched my 3pm soda with an apple, and some almonds, maybe a piece of cheese too. but like i said, i still have soda once in a while. i mean, how can you have a slice of pizza without a soda? or red wine, cuz sometimes i want to be classy.

want to get some junk food? dark chocolate is really good for you. enjoy.