New and need help!

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Hi everyone! My name is Diane....I'm a 43 year old woman, 5'4", 212 lbs. and in desperate need to lose weight for medical reasons. I've put all my food in for the past 2 days and it's not going too well. I need help with creating a menu and snacks in order to lose this weight. Can anyone help with my goal of losing 80+ pounds? I need all the help I can get! Thanks!

Replies

  • srudis25
    srudis25 Posts: 65 Member
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    Feel free to add me! Hopefully you can get some helpful ideas for meals, snacks, etc. I do have good and bad days, but always willing to help! :smile:
  • CycleFlow
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    I cant see your diary so I don't know what you are eating so far... but...
    Start by purchasing a food scale, a quality set of measuring cups and a good set of measuring spoons.

    Then focus on whole foods - the things you find around the outside of the grocery store and minimize things that come in packages/boxes.

    Ensure that you are having protein, fruits/veg and healthy carbs at every meal.

    Small changes first.

    If you would like more thoughts feel free to PM me. Of add as friend, you can see my diary.
    :D
  • want2lovemybody
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    Feel free to add me and we can come up with some ideas!!! Im looking to lose 100 pounds!!! SO we can be in this long journey together!! We can do it!!
  • shelialou66
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    Your food diary is closed, so we can't see what you are eating.
  • rajannaicker
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    ok.
    I have done a few small tweaks.
    1. moderate exercising. I have joined a walking group and doing some weekend walking.
    2. I have deliberately bought more expensive treats - chocolates - but reduced the portions
    to just one piece. In my mind the higher quality justifies the quantity.
    3. Min alcohol to like a tot of port every few days. Again quantity vs quality rule applies.
    4. Moved from white coffee to black coffee
    5. Min all sugar related products.
    6. Zero sugar lollies also helps when craving starts.
    7. Plus the golden rule is to prepare all meals including portioning of snacks a day in advance
    so there is no impulse eating

    Above all, stay focussed. I have a one year plan. So I aint expecting miracles overnight.
    It will happen for you in time.

    Cheers

    R
  • earvizu92
    earvizu92 Posts: 320 Member
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    Feel free to add me! 39 year old mommie of four! :flowerforyou:
  • slimjame
    slimjame Posts: 128 Member
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    New friends are always welcome! I am 266lbs; so I can understand needing to shed those pounds! Feel free to add me :)
  • CaptainMilda
    CaptainMilda Posts: 127 Member
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    Hi, feel free to add me :-)
  • adyhos
    adyhos Posts: 6 Member
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    I cant see your diary so I don't know what you are eating so far... but...
    Start by purchasing a food scale, a quality set of measuring cups and a good set of measuring spoons.

    Then focus on whole foods - the things you find around the outside of the grocery store and minimize things that come in packages/boxes.

    Ensure that you are having protein, fruits/veg and healthy carbs at every meal.

    Small changes first.

    If you would like more thoughts feel free to PM me. Of add as friend, you can see my diary.
    :D

    All of this! Also, add me! My diary is open, so maybe you can view it and get ideas for food :) You can do it!!
  • bartman4
    bartman4 Posts: 24
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    Feel free to add me too. I tell people I spent 20 years losing 20 pounds. Basically I was somewhere between 178 and 198 with no particular clue as to why I weighed what I did. I'd recommend the following

    - Log your food. All of it, every day. Make your log public amongst your MFP friends.

    - Pick a target calorie number that you are comfortable with. Mine is 1500. In practise I eat 1500-1800 most days.

    - Get a scale and weigh yourself every morning after you get up and hit the restroom.

    - Pay attention to your two week running average weight. Daily variations will drive you nuts (and don't really matter much.) I use the Fitbit Aria scale combined with Trendweight.com to do this automatically. You can do this manually too.

    - Get a pedometer and try to walk 10,000 steps a day. I've got a Fitbit Zip, but most any pedometer will work.

    - Walk more, eat less. (I lost 20+ pounds just walking. I don't belong to a gym.)

    - Modify your daily calories until you are losing .5-2 pounds a week. Don't try to lose more than 2 pounds per week.

    - Your personal calorie target is probably lower than you think. I started off at 2000 and ended up at 1500 and I'm 6' tall.

    - Your scale doesn't lie. Trust it. You may find you need to target 1200 calories a day to lose at your desired rate. That's OK. If you still aren't losing, it's OK to go (a bit) lower, just make sure you are eating a balanced diet.

    - Share the journey. I've made more progress in the past year than I did in the prior 20. MFP has been very helpful.

    Hope this helps. My advice is worth at least what you paid for it. :)
  • optimisticShark
    optimisticShark Posts: 136 Member
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    Anybody looking for friends, feel free to add me. I am looking for more friends to share motivation.
  • sbrownallison
    sbrownallison Posts: 314 Member
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    Good ideas here... I've had success with concentrating on simple, satisfying foods. I don't mind repeating the same breakfast or lunch, which makes life easier, but I make sure these are meals that actually satisfy. There are people on this site who eat a lot of snack-y protein bars or 100-cal this or that type bar or other food: those, for me as I can only speak for myself, provide no satisfaction and appear to be highly processed products from corporations that are not providing a lot of valuable nutrition. Since my daily calorie limit is quite small, I just don't have room in my diet for this type of food. Plus, if I buy a box of six of these things, I would be left with none for tomorrow, as my cupboard would call out to me. Just like cake... I don't claim to be perfect and have the same temptations everyone else has, of course.

    A scale is very helpful, as it is so easy to underestimate the amount of food we eat.

    As for exercise, I've found it has been key to losing 60 lbs over the last year and a half. As an older female, it just takes both diet and exercise nowadays for me to lose weight. I bought myself a Fitbit, for motivation, and find that it does help me to set goals and keep myself more active.

    I'll friend you and maybe we can support each other in this effort! Good luck!
  • crazybookworm
    crazybookworm Posts: 779 Member
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    Feel free to add me as a friend! Once we start chatting, we can {hopefully} come up with some healthy tips and ideas for you! :flowerforyou:
  • marciebrian
    marciebrian Posts: 853 Member
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    I'm close to goal but am happy to help and support anyone who wants help. Best advice is if it goes in your mouth it gets logged.. gum, mints, everything. Buy a food scale because even though you probably think you can judge weights, you'd be surprised.
    If I can help at all, add me with a Friend Request.

    Best of luck and welcome to MFP :flowerforyou: