New and extremely sceptical for good reason

I agree with Silent, I don't think this is a "program as much as this is a way of keeping track of what you are doing for yourself. Here you can track all of your food intake, exercise etc. everyday and have friends to help keep you on track and encourage you! This costs you nothing it is totally free. You will get as much out of it as you put into it. I'm brand new to the website but I'm hooked, the people are amazing, and you can set your goals to your personal needs. What more can you ask for?

I live on less money than you do. Silence the violins.

You have a small budget? Well, you have come to the right place. You know why? Because it's free!! Seriously, you don't need to buy diet products, they don't work anyway. What I find that works is having a plan, having the tools to execute the plan and having a support network to help when you get bogged down. You will find all of that here. Be aware, there is a lot of jargon and abbreviations thrown around in herd, don't worry, you will pick up quickly. Here is how to get started, log your food, that's it...just log your food. If you look through the database you can usually find something close to what you have, if not, add up all the ingredients yourself. After you start logging you will get a picture of what you,are eating and how many calories. In the meantime, read......search the forums. Learn what TDEE and BMR stand for and what they are used for. Lastly, walk, walk everyday just a wee bit further thAn yesterday. That's it. Good luck and don't hesitate to ask questions.

To log foods that you make at home is fairly simple. Click on the Food tab, then cllick on Enter New Recipe on the right side of the page. When you cook your food weigh or measure everything you use so you can enter it into the recipe. You can enter the amounts you would cook for the whole family and then enter how many servings. You can also do single serving recipes. This helped me a lot when I was trying to figure out how many calories I was eating. It saves the recipes for you so you don't have to enter them every time. You don't have to pay for a diet program, just eat healthy whole foods and stay within your calorie limit for the day. The best part is MFP is FREE!

I don't believe in gimmicks either. Even if they do work, they don't work forever.

MFP is not a gimmick. It's a way to keep track of food and activity.

I gather from your post that you are having a hard time logging food because it's homemade. I eat a lot of things that aren't prepackaged and I'll tell you what I do. If I am eating a salad, I go through and add each item that I have in that salad. I eat avocados, but not the whole thing. Not only are they expensive, but they are also high in calories. So, I eat either a half or a quarter of one. That way it lasts for at least 2-4 days. When I enter it in my food log, I just do .25 servings or .5 servings of a whole avocado.

It's tricky and it takes some dedication, but it's worth it.

Hope this helps.

Honestly, if you look at MFP as some sort of service and what it can do for you, you need to change your approach. MFP is a tool. It doesn't tell you what to buy, how to exercise, or any of that. YOU need to commit to a healthier you. MFP is simply a tool to help you do that. The tone of your post suggests you just want to sit back and have some internet site prove to you it works. It doesn't work that way.

So, if you are eating healthy, despite your income disadvantages, are you committed to finding out why you have a weight problem? I'll bet you dollars to donuts it's your calorie intake. Want to find out? Start logging your food. Then you'll know.

There's lots of ways to workout for free. Walking doesn't cost anything. Neither do pushups. If you're going to aquafit, why not start swimming before or after? You've already paid to be there. A couple of hours of exercise a week is probably too little, and since I go to aquafit regularly, I know that it doesn't burn that many calories in a session (200-300 at best and that's working extremely hard). I can't see your original post while I am replying, but if you are burning less than 1000 calories in exercise a week and probably taking in more than you need to lose weight, it's pretty obvious to me that you're not doing enough.

That said, you can do this if you really want to, but you have to really want to. It's not easy, it's not fast if you're doing it right. There are no gimmicks. Calories in vs. calories out. It's that simple. Start today. You'll be glad you did.

You don't have to have a lot of money to lose weight. I make a heck of a lot LESS than you do and I have still managed to lose 21 pounds. This site/app is free, you can't get any cheaper than that! I believe it's all in calories in versus calories out and this app helps you keep track.

Why would anyone here have to tell you what MFP can do for you?.......How about this...What can you bring to this community?
You have to want to change for it to work, its free and can only be what you make of it.

Well firstly if you eat mostly healthy home cooked food and you're still not losing/gaining weight then you're likely eating too much.

MFP is pretty simple to use and it's free so you shouldn't have to spend any more money then you are now

1. Enter your stats and figure out how many calories you should be eating for your height/weight/gender to lose weight.
2. Log your daily food intake and try to stay as close to your calorie goal as possible. The recipe builder will help you with the home made foods.
3. Optional (but highly recommended) - throw in some exercise and eat back the calories you burn off.
4. Monitor your weight loss and adjust your plan according to how your body responds.


It's really that simple

have to agree with all the advice here.

i used to diet like crazy and it was a one way train to despressions-ville. in march this year i decided to take back control of my body and loss weight the right way.

if you get your mindset right and you have a positive attitude to getting your life back, then the rest is easy. i don't buy into fad products just getting the right fruit and veggies.

this site is here to allow you to track ur foods. the key to weight loss is simple portion control and exercise. i don't have a gym membership i just go in on days i can and pay on the day, otherwise i walk and jog and run.

the weight will take a while to drop off. 'you didn't gain weight overnight so don't expect it to come off overnight' is the quote that gets repeated often here and its good to remember.

feel free to add me, i offer all my pals support and encouragement

"...when you input daily into your journal it makes you think twice about having that extra snack."

If you need to think of this as a program, or a product to consume, what you receive for your low payment of nothing a day [plus ads] is a tool to restore mindfulness to your eating habits.

The foods you describe, and the cooking you do can be broken down into components and entered by hand, or you can choose something that might be close enough for jazz--particularly at the this early stage--you only need to make yourself aware of what you are eating, when you are eating, and most importantly, how much you are eating.

Just write it down. You may be surprised how even food that is great for you, will still pack on pounds if you eat it by the bag, box, or bushel.

After a week or so, the patterns will emerge. But even the simple act of keeping an honest tally of what you eat in a day will slow you down.

Then you make some decisions about what can or cannot be left out of your meal plan.

But seriously...a lot of the food database under estimates calories/portion (and users sometimes over-estimate how much a portion actually is) and the exercise database over-estimates calories burned.

BUT THAT"S OKAY! In the end it isn't about counting calories, it's about fueling your body enough of the right food to keep the bones moving, the brain engaged, and the tastebuds and tummy happy, yet not quite enough, that the body needs to breakdown stored reserves to make up the difference.

You can fine tune the exact numbers, adjust the inputs, and track with impressive accuracy, fuel in vs fuel burned--and there are some amazing people on MFP who use all manner of techno-wotsits and dodads to do just that.

But for plain folks who are just tired of the way things were and want a change of habit, this site can help by just showing you the general trends, and making you aware once more about what you eat, when you eat, and why you eat.

Be honest with your food diary and you will soon find all the answers you need.

I was skeptical too. I wasted months as a member without actually doing The Thing, thinking I don't need a 'puter to tell me what to eat. Well, 30 days of logging later and I finally understand. The 'puter doesn't tell me anything. I tell the 'puter what I have eaten, and what I plan to eat. It just helps me keep things balanced.

There are so many helpful, knowledgeable, and kind people here. Alas, I am not one of them. I am just a former skeptic who now believes.

Ask questions. Ask for help. Ask for encouragement. Ask for understanding. Questions are free! And MFP will deliver, at no extra charge--right to your 'puter screen; answers, assistance, congratulations, and empathy.

I wish you every success.

Oct 2012 --375
July 17 2013 --332
Goal for August 1 weigh-in--328

I'm still waiting for the "good reason" as to why you're "extremely skeptical." I live on far less money than you and I've lost nearly 50 pounds and I'm still losing. This site is free and all you have to do is log what you're eating. Stay within your calorie allotment. It's simple, really.