Discouraged and it is only day 2 - HELP!!!

Aww I'm sorry you're having such an awful time! It all takes some getting used to, learning what are good, filling, low calorie choices for you and what are slightly more unwise.
I'd suggest...
1) Not punishing yourself! It'll be far like you stick with this plan if you're not suffering the whole way through Try finding some healthy choices so that you're not saying "yuck" when you describe what you're eating. Oatmeal with honey/fruits/cinnamon&sugar? Scrambled eggs and toast? For main meals I find stirfrys are a great option. I have 5oz chicken breast, 150g broccoli, 2 carrots, 150g spinach all cooked in soy sauce for about 280 calories or so. You could also add in some noodles (and maybe reduce the amounts of everything else) for something more filling. That bumps you up to about 350 - still pretty low.

2) I plan my meals at the beginning of the day so that I don't have nasty surprises calorie wise when I get to dinner. Obviously it's good to stay flexible, but it gives me a good idea of how I should be structuring my eating.

3) Personally, I hate being hungry! So I have 5-6 mini meals in the day (you can have a look at my diary if you're interested) ... it also keeps me from having too many cravings. In my opinion, hunger= very dangerous when trying to lose weight! That's when the snack attacks come.

4) Consider reassessing your goals. I don't seem to be able to do 1200 calories a day... a lot of people here can, but for me, going up to 1300-1400 makes such a massive difference in terms of my sanity! MFP is a lifestyle change to most people here, and if you're calorie goals are unsustainable then you may well not get where you want to be. That said, it does take time to adjust. I'd play around with calorie allowances and see how you feel. Maybe ease yourself into it by having a couple of hundred more for the first few weeks, then cutting down if you want later.

5) Following on from that point, are you exercising? It's a great way to boost your daily calories and keeps you metabolism revved up. Can't recommend it more!

I hoped I helped a little, don't give up!! Good luck :flowerforyou:

Do not be sad:sad: , there is a rainbow at the end of all this!!!:flowerforyou:
First of all, the more you excercise the more you can eat. You are allowed to eat back some of your excercise calories most people do at least half. For example, if you are allowed 1200 cal a day but you burn 400 from excercise, at the very least you can eat back 200 which would be a total of 1400 cal for the day. Also what works for me are frozen dinners, you can eat some decent ones for around 3 to 400 calories try those for dinner or lunch (a little high in salt) Most of the foods we eat that come from the earth are lower in calories than processed food, try to eat things that come from the earth much lower in calories. Processed food is what puts so much weight on people. Do chicken and fish and lots of veggies, you will grow to enjoy these foods it just takes time to detox what your body has been used to eating. Limit your intakes of breads and sugar, not saying you can't eat them but try eating them early in the day not at dinner. Dinner should be your lighter healthier meal, less time to burn it off. Try eating like this for 2 weeks with excercise, and you'll get use to it and eventually love it!!! Especially when you see all of the results, so WORTH it!!!:drinker:

I did a healthy eating course and that helped me to understand portion sizes. what we actually need and what we eat is very different. we nearly all of us eat far too big helpings of food. i've changed my plates and sometimes weigh my foods to check they are more healthy for me. i try not to restrict too much on what I eat and concentrate on how much.
I loose wight slower than most people, but I hope to live with those portion sizes of food for a long time.
I have got used to eating much less, and even when I try now to eat bigger portions I cann't face it and leave food on my plate. exersize will give you more calories to consume.
And since I've been using this site i've learned not to be too hard on myself with the 1200 calorie rule. I sometimes go a few hundred over and sometimes I go under. but i have learned not to loose heart and give up. It takes a long time to gain weight so we cann't expect to change what we eat for a few days and loose all we've gained, so you have to look at it more long-term. make weight-loss part of what you do now and that'll mean eating more carefully and thinking what you eat every-day.
You will go over, it takes time to re-ajust everything you have been doing to get you where you are now,
but gradually you can change those things. its about cutting down not cutting out completely, and adding new fresh foods to what you eat instead of processed foods take aways and things you know make you gain a lot of weight. please dont be discouraged, you've done well to start. and if you have to restart every day you'll get there, but remember its a new habit your growing into so it'll all take time.

Don't know much about your situation, but I'll give my two cents: I know you've probably heard this, but you should consider cutting out most of your bread servings, especially if you're eating products made with white flour (even "enriched"). Replace your white bread with wheat or whole grain bread. A couple slices a day won't hurt you. Try to limit your dairy products, as they are high in fat and calories and virtually have no real nutritional value that you can't find in a healthier source like vegetables. Even if your'e not into becoming vegan, you should look up stats on the vegan diet to get a good idea of what kinds of great vegetables you could be eating in large amounts to get proper nutrition. You can blend those concepts with your meat recipes and your meals should come out pretty awesome. You'll feel a lot fuller too, with no guilt.

I agree with substituting the whole grain breads/pasta for white, but not with limiting dairy. I'd try switching to lower fat dairy products. If you are using whole or 2% milk switch to 1% or if you can handle it skim. If you are eating full fat yogurt and cheese switch to fat free. I eat yogurt at least once a day and I'm still able to stay within a 1300 calorie goal. The calcium you get from these dairy products is very important for women. There are also all kinds of studies out saying that lower calorie dairy is beneficial in weight loss.

Hang in there... Check out my diary for ideas on low cal meals. Try eating 5-6 times per day. Replace milk with almond milk, use no refined sugars (use stevia instead) or processed foods (deli meats etc). Pork is not good for a nutritious diet either.

I ALWAYS plan my meals the day before. This way I don't deviate from what I can eat, and I know will keep me on track. When I enter it, I know exactly my caloric intake for the next day, this way avoiding disapointment when I would log it after ingesting it.

Keep at it, and take it day by day. Looking at the larger picture is sometimes ovewhelming. Be gentle with yourself - don't beat yourself up...

Once you start logging, you'll have a better idea of the nutrition of the things you eat. One thing, though....you stated you had 1 CUP of dry pasta. Just my 2 cents.....if you really had 1 cup of dry pasta....that is like 3x the recommended serving size. 1/2 cup of cooked pasta is the recommended serving. Just trying to let you see how many empty calories you might be eating. And if you are going to eat pasta, rice and bread, whole wheat/grain is much better for you fiber wise.

Where did you come up with the 1200 calories a day? Is that what was recommended on here when you put in your goals? Maybe try to bump yourself to loosing 1lb a week instead of 2... at least to start with.

I agree with this. Whatever you do needs to be sustainable and 1lb a week is far easier to cope with.

GorillaNJ: The 1200 calories is what is suggested by the sight. I might try and change my weekly weight lose goal if I find this too difficult to follow.

Thank you all for the friend requests. It make me feel better that there is support.

If MFP is telling you to eat 1200 calories, then yes, you should be definitely eating the 300 calories you're burning in exercise, giving you another 200-300 calories a day, which will make a HUGE difference. On the days I don't work out and can only eat the 1260 MFP gives me I'm cranky, but if I can get it up to 1500 or 1600 by exercising I have no troubles at all.

Also, if you only have 20 pounds to lose I'd make sure your goal is set to 1 lb a week. the 1.5 and 2 pounds a week settings are for people who have significantly more to lose.

My food diary is set public if you want to take a look at what I've been eating. I've lost six pounds in three weeks but I've got 3x as much as you do to lose, too.

Don't be discouraged! Eat veggies and fruits for snacks! They are good for you and are very low in calories! For example, if you like fresh celery, it takes more calories to digest celery then it actually has in it! Also, drink iced cold water, it helps your metabolism kick in to higher gear! Good luck and don't be discouraged! You'll be glad you followed through with your goals!