Todays my first day BUT....

Best of luck with your journey! You can enjoy all the foods you have, but in smaller quantities as many have advised!
For me a big turning point was when my dad bought me some kitchen scales! I have never looked back! Portion control is the key!
I found this particularly true of my favourite comfort food, pasta! Also using the app to log everything honestly, its so worth it
Really really good luck, I'm sure you will succeed

You sound like a perfect candidate for Adopt-a-Noob. Check this thread....

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1161976-adopt-a-noob-official-mfp-thread

Many very experienced MFP's are willing to mentor noobies... just because they know what it was like when they first got here.

Read the first post in the thread. There are quite a few mentors who have offered services, fairly recently, so you could start from the last page of the thread, if you wanted, to find someone who might be suitable for you. It's your obligation to find possible mentors from the thread.... ( there's also an updated list in the first post ) and PM them. Don't just post in the thread that you'd like a mentor. That's not how it works.

And, just for emphasis..... I know it's already posted in this thread... but this.....

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

Congratulations on this new life journey!

It's already been said and I'll reiterate. Eat what you have, but log everything and make it fit into your goals for the day.

I would like to suggest a few things I have found that help me feel really successful and not at all deprived: Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches and fudge bars; Skinny Pop Popcorn (4 cups of yummy popcorn worth about 50 calories); Lean Cuisine Pizzas; Dannon Oikos Greek Yogurt (Apple Pie is best); Diamond Cocoa covered almonds in 100-calorie packs; and Diet Dr. Pepper.

Also, I watch my sodium intake because I'm very sensitive to water retention, so I skip all lunch meats (packaged and deli) and buy chicken tenderloins to bake with Mrs. Dash. They are easy to add to just about everything from salad to mac and cheese.

If you go low fat, you'll find artificial sweeteners and carbs added in which can mess with blood sugar if you have issues, so it's better to have less of full fat things, in my humble opinion.

Don't shy away from food, just shy away from huge portions. Get a food scale and weigh everything. Take measurements now and before pictures. Re-take them all every 30 days. You'll be really surprised at the changes!

Lastly, don't be afraid to ask questions and don't ever give up!

Congratulations on making a big change in your life!

I didn't get a chance to read all the replies because there are so many but I can offer a little bit of advice! First my suggestion would be to just use what food you have now and try to stick within the calorie goal that MFP gives you and just begin planning ahead of time.

If you do your shopping only once a month it will be tough for you in regards to getting your fruits and veggies so if you can, can you try and budget so that you have money to be able to split up your shopping so that you can get some fresh produce once a week or once every 2 weeks? Eating clean doesn't have to break the bank, we are a family of 4 on 1 income and with some planning ahead I can usually keep things very reasonable. The one thing I do is I avoid a lot of pre packaged food. I purchase brown rice, Quinoa and Oats in bulk, I buy my chicken or lean meat in the larger portions, you can even buy big boxes of frozen chicken breasts, the only reason I don't is that I don't care for the texture of them, but my husband says there is no difference Then once a week I purchase my produce, eggs, dairy and I prepare my food for the week ahead. I try to shop the outside of the grocery store, not the aisles. try and live by the 80/20 rule. I try and keep things clean and healthy 80% of the time, so when I do slip up or have a special occasion it's not so bad. Yes, calories are calories, but 1500 calories of clean healthy food, is far more beneficial than 1500 calories of packaged and processed food. So each little step you make in that direction will make a big difference to you! Not just your weight, but your heart, blood sugar, cholesterol etc.

As for working out, if it is new for you, just take it easy, start slow and work your way up. Even a 30 min walk every day helps! Each week you will get stronger, feel great and you will want more!

Monitor your progress with measurements and photos, look at them and be proud at how far you have come, share it with friends and family, get that support and encouragement!

Any lifestyle change takes time, if we overload ourselves at the start it can be hard to stay on target, so just take it each day at a time and things will begin to unfold for you! Good luck to you!

I hope you succeed. I decided enough was enough about a year ago and for my first two weeks I simply made it a habit to track everything I ate or drank with the MFP app on my phone. I didn't even moderate anything, I just made it a habit to track everything. I was blown away with how many calories I was taking in.
Then I started using MFP and my doctors advice about intake per day and 74 pounds and 10 months later it's still a struggle but it's not impossible. Time will pass not matter what. One day's indulgence doesn't make you a failure, it's what you do over time that counts.

it's not what you eat...it's how much you eat.

don't view food as "crappy" it's not...it is a fuel for your body.

All food has some value. You will find some people here who say carbs are bad, sugar is bad, fat is bad...imho none of it's bad.

This morning I am having fruit loops with milk and toast with butter for my breakfast.

Just follow a reasonable calorie deficet...in other words don't starve yourself...eat food but be in that deficet that you are given. Log everything you eat and if possible get a food scale and weigh your food as measuring doesn't cut it.

If you want to exercise do so for health and fitness and log it and eat back some of those calories as MFP is usually too high.

I lift weights for my exercise but it's because I love being strong...I however started with short walks...20mins, then did Wii dance for 20mins when it got too cold, then I did some bodyweight challenages, then moved to videos (Jillian Michael's 30 day shred) then moved to weight lifting.

There are tonnes of videos online that are short (fitnessblender.com) if you want to exercise, lots of sites with bodyweight exercises but find something you love and do that regardless what it is.

Motivation for me is all internal...I just want it.

This is great advice. A couple things to add, be patient. You did not get overweight overnight, you can't drop the weight overnight either. The healthy way to lose weight is the long, at times frustrating, slow method of gradually losing the weight. You don't want to shock and over stress your body, because stress generally leads to weight gain. If you have a bad day and go over on your calories, don't stress over it. Don't try to make up for it the next day because you'll just end up hungry and unhappy. If you have a high calorie day, own it, accept it, but keep it to one day. Don't let one bad day spiral into three or four. And DO NOT EVER GIVE UP! You deserve to be happy and healthy in all ways in life! You are worth the effort this takes!

Do not think of this as a diet. Diets are temporary, healthy eating for a healthy life is life long! This is the time to change how you view food and it's importance in your life. Choice by choice, you get to change your life. Pasta, potatoes, white rice....those things are all ok (despite some people thinking everything that contains a carbohydrate is evil) but you have to practice accurate portion control to know how many calories you are consuming and then practice moderation in eating high calorie foods.

Weight is a number. How your body looks and feels and how healthy you are is not driven just by weight. Muscle weighs more than body fat but is smaller. Separating your weight number from your body image is important. In my journey I found it very helpful to track my progress 3 ways: weight on the scale, body measurements and progress photos. You can change the shape of your body without losing any weight. However the progress can be slow enough that looking at yourself in the mirror will not register that anything changed. Take a body pic every 2-4 weeks, so you can go back and really see how much your body has changed. The body measurements, get one of the soft tape measures you can find in a sewing department and then take the measurements in the same locations on your body at a regular interval as well.

You have joined a great site with very supportive and encouraging people who are going through the same thing you are. I joined last month and this is definitely helping me with my weight loss. I am doing it for the same reasons you are, my health. I want to feel better, not just look better. I can't really add anything to the excellent advice you've already been given except that when you get the hang of logging and portion control, and switch to healthier foods.. try to look at your macronutrients. Carbs, protein, fat. Try to meet those goals for even better health and results. Sounds like you eat a lot of carbs, so your protein may be low. (This was true for me). As you increase your protein intake, you feel fuller longer, and the cravings start to disappear. Good luck with your journey!

I'm sending you a friend request.