I need to lose a lot of weight, not sure where to start.

Weight loss through exercise is a bonus. Your best bet is to reduce your calorie intake and record everything that you put in through the diary aspect of MFP.

You don't need to exercise - this is coming from someone who considers walking up the stairs as exercise.

Although I'm fairly new here myself some other wonderful members pointed me in the direction of the following post to get me started - so I'm just repaying the favour and passing it on.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

Good luck and feel free to send me a friend request if you'd like.

Caz

First of all, welcome to MFP, and congrats on making the decision to get healthy!

Keep in mind that weight loss is about 80% diet and 20% exercise. You could probably lose most of the weight you want to lose by simply changing your diet alone. Many of us look at exercise as simply a way to get to a better fitness level and to increase the amount of calories we can eat every day. Exercise is not a method of losing weight in and of itself.

Make a commitment to logging your food intake here on MFP. Cutting calories is going to be the fastest way to get to your weight goal. Start out small. First just start logging, then look at where your problem areas lie. Do you eat large portions at each meal? Snack at night after dinner when you're watching TV? Eat fast food for most meals? Learning your eating habits will give you a good idea where you can make small changes that will have the most impact. Success breeds success and you don't want to burn yourself out trying to change EVERYTHING at the start.

Make small changes and stick with them like exchanging one sugary drink for water every day. Then two and so on. Trade take out lunches for a salad or sandwich with veggies on the side made at home.

For exercise, start out with walking in your neighborhood. Walking is cheap and almost anyone can do it. Just make sure you have a good pair of shoes before you head out the door. Alternatively, there are a lot of free exercise videos on sites like Youtube, through the On Demand channels of various cable providers, etc. You might also hit up local yard sales, thrift shops or Craigslist for cheap, used videos.

I'm sure you'll get lots more great advice here. Good luck!

caloric deficit (PERIOD) its free and in fact saves you money cause you eat less food

First of all, welcome to MFP, and congrats on making the decision to get healthy!

Keep in mind that weight loss is about 80% diet and 20% exercise. You could probably lose most of the weight you want to lose by simply changing your diet alone. Many of us look at exercise as simply a way to get to a better fitness level and to increase the amount of calories we can eat every day. Exercise is not a method of losing weight in and of itself.

Make a commitment to logging your food intake here on MFP. Cutting calories is going to be the fastest way to get to your weight goal. Start out small. First just start logging, then look at where your problem areas lie. Do you eat large portions at each meal? Snack at night after dinner when you're watching TV? Eat fast food for most meals? Learning your eating habits will give you a good idea where you can make small changes that will have the most impact. Success breeds success and you don't want to burn yourself out trying to change EVERYTHING at the start.

Make small changes and stick with them like exchanging one sugary drink for water every day. Then two and so on. Trade take out lunches for a salad or sandwich with veggies on the side made at home.

For exercise, start out with walking in your neighborhood. Walking is cheap and almost anyone can do it. Just make sure you have a good pair of shoes before you head out the door. Alternatively, there are a lot of free exercise videos on sites like Youtube, through the On Demand channels of various cable providers, etc. You might also hit up local yard sales, thrift shops or Craigslist for cheap, used videos.

I'm sure you'll get lots more great advice here. Good luck!

^ Yep

I agree with everyone above - I've lost 3 stone in just over a year, and I don't do any kind of exercise regime! I've done it purely by counting calories, and carefully weighing and measuring my food to keep it under control.

I do keep active of course, I'll walk into town and back, instead of taking the bus and walk at top speed. I enjoy gardening, and work hard, digging, lugging things about, sawing trees, etc. But I view the exercise I take as a ticket to a treat - like after a day's gardening, I can afford fish and chips and a glass of wine or something as well as just keeping me fit and healthy.

Where to start? Start by logging what you're eating and seeing where the high calories are happening so that you're in control and can choose what changes to make to reduce your calories.

MFP will probably set you a miserably hard to achieve calorie allowance, so it's worth googling TDEE calculator, and trying a few different ones to get a more realistic figure, then aim to eat 20% less.

I don't really have much at my disposal. I have one of those cable workout stations with multiple exercises I can do, a barely working elliptical, and a treadmill that is down for the count due to the running belt being broken, and I can't figure out how to fix it. Is there any way I could work out enough to lose the amount of weight I'd like?

You dont have to do anything just need to be on a caloric deficit

First, welcome. Second, as the others have said, loss won't happen by just exercise alone. It all comes from the diet, it really does.

Example: I restarted my diet on Jan 1st. I weights 225. 16 days later I'm 215.4. I've exercised 0 times. I go home, I play video games and read from about 6pm to midnight then I go to bed.

How did I lose that weight? I reduced my carb intake to less then 30g net and increased my Fat and protein intake. I also doubled my veggie intake.

So find a plan that works for you. I recommend Keto, but you have to find what works for you.

You don't need to exercise to lose weight. Eat less..that's all you need to lose weight. Gym is to shape your body bit later. Deal with fat first.

I started my "journey" 2 years ago, I got Zumba dvds from my library and just ate less, cutting down on sugar, drinking more water. I moved on to Jillian Michael DVDs and after losing almost 40lbs, joind MFP and started counting calories. That was a real eye opener, which helped after I had my knee surgery and couldn't workout for a couple of weeks. What helped me stay on track was taking it slow and not making specific goals, I never had a goal weight or size in mind when I started, I just want to see where I could go. When I reached a size 8, which is a size I was before I gained all the weight and a size I never thought I would ever get back to, I decided I was where I wanted to be. Also you have to have patience, lots of it.

Check out your local library for workout dvds, also Youtube has tons of workout videos, including Fitness Blender, Body Rock and BeFit. I lost all my weight working out at home, never setting one foot in a gym. Exercise is great, but nutrition should be number one.

Good luck.