Trying to lose weight, Unhappy with myself

Sometimes it takes writing things downs (tracking our food on MFP) to truly see how bad our eating habits can be and that is a good thing to see! If we don't see these things then we are not likely to know what needs to be changed.

That is great you are going to school to become a pilot and that you are active! Kudos to you!

Here are a few tips I have to you can use to help get you started (hopefully others will chime in):

*I think a great thing to start doing since you are new is to take a week and just track everything down. It will help you get comfortable with inputting things into MFP (I use the scanner feature via the MFP app which is helpful).
*If you don't have a digital food scale, I would recommend getting one. I was surprised at how much of serving actually is for a variety of my favorite foods. I was eating way too much before.
*Yogurts usually have lots of added sugar. If your goal is to reduce sugar, you can work on eliminating them or opt for plain yogurt with added fresh fruits.
*Water is very important because it helps flushes your body of toxins. When you are dehydrated, it is easy to retain lots of water (thus making you look/feel bloated) especially when your day consists of lots of salty snacks and meals. I struggled with water at the beginning of this year but have finally gotten to 8-10 cups of water. My approach was to shoot for a certain amount everyday (for example, 4 cups a day) before increasing my intake the next week by one cup. Trying drinking just one cup with your breakfast, lunch, dinner, after exercising to get your started. If you don't like the taste of water, try added lemon or some other type of fruit into your water. I have read people using the crystal light packets. A water bottle helps me to keep track of my intake each day.
*Eating fast food can easily rack up your calories for the day in just one meal. A typical fast food meal can run you 1000 calories (most of those calories come from the fat from oils, cheese, meat and carbs from fries, white bread, etc). This is where a nice salad would help fill you up without eating hundreds upon hundreds of calories in one sitting.

These are just my two cents. There are many ways to get started that it can get overwhelming. I hope these tips will help you find your way in a way that works for you and busy lifestyle. Planning meals before helps a lot but it is easier said than done when starting off. I will send you a friend request to help support you. You can do this!

The best advice I can give you is to incorporate oatmeal into your diet. Not instand oat meal, it is loaded with sugar. Use whole oats and whichever sugar substitute you like the best (Splenda, Equal, etc) and add some cinammon.

I promise you that 2/3 of a cup will be a whole meal for you at your size, and it's only 200 calories. Healthy as can be too. It's helped me lose 87 pounds.

Hi!

First off, I would try to eliminate all the processed foods (diet drinks, sugary yoghurts, cereal bars, fast foods, etc.) from your diet and replace them with healthier, whole foods options. Substitute sugary yoghurt for the plain one and add bits of fruit to it. Instead of the cereal bar, make oatmeal (the one that has no added sugar). For your snacks, try to get almonds, sunflower seeds or similar (make sure to get about a handful - that would be roughly 200kcal) plus fruit like green apples or oranges. Instead of McDonald's, try to pack a whole wheat and no-sugar-added peanut butter sandwich or veggies and hummus - or a nice salad with olive oil and vinegar s dressing. Plan a day ahead what you will eat the next day - this helps. If you can, plan a whole week ahead. Eat only half of your exercise calories as I find MFP to be overestimating the number of calories we burn (this is certainly my experience). Good luck!

1200 calories a day is hard for me too! Ok, impossible! Hang in there!