Advice for a hopeless Brit PLEASE !!

1. Decide an appropriate calorie goal...if your ticker is accurate, probably TDEE -10%.

2. Start logging everything you eat, even the weekends.

3. Weigh and measure your food.

4. Rinse and repeat.

Well if you're eating a normal amount, and lifting w/ no cardio, you're probably just gaining muscle

Hi all !! I see a lot of our cousins from over the pond on this site !! and ALL advice is to be valued !! .. here goes ... after breaking both my ankles and having two ops over the last few years I hit the gym in January .. started with cardio and weights but then picked up a knee injury so now just weights .. the thing is .. even with watching my diet (apart from the odd rampage at the weekend !) .. I have put half a stone ON !! DOH !!!! .... Any and all advice wanted ..

I've had major knee surgery on my left and are sue to have the second one done on the right in june. (I still can't to a lot of cardio due to having screws sticking out of my bone so it kinda hurts, they wont be removed until 8 months or more after the second one so its a while to wait)
The first 6 weeks I don't diet after surgery but after the recovery had really started I will diet again as I'm doing no exercise what so ever) just eat the 500 to 800 deflect in your calories, work out how much you burn without doing a lot of exercise.
I did this post for someone elce but it still applies (oh and I'm a hopeless brit too)....

I started eating healthy (getting rid of biscuits, fatty pizza and cutting carbs) once I'd started eating a bit more. I don't count how many carbs I eat or the amount of fat I take in, I just count calories and eat clean.
My plan is pretty much:
-Bread a maximum of 3 times a week
-pasta once a week or less (unless its whole grain) I did begin twice a week but found I didn't miss it as much as I thought.
-used only skimmed milk
-only had sweet things if I was out for a meal and even then I would pick puddings that were slightly healthier (like sorbet or apple crumble as opposed to a massive chocolate cake)
-if I wasn't going out I give myself one treat a week (a packet of mentos sweets are good as they are only 10 calories a sweet)
-got a low fat cook book which has a lot of low calorie foods and a lot of them rice based, so if I need carbs I tent to go for rice.
-i try to only have potatoes 2-3 times a week or less.
-Always have your five a day! Its not as hard as you think.
-don't drink juice (or if you have to limit it a lot)
- I still love sweet things but I don't eat processed sugar, if I want sweet things I have low fat yogurt and honey, or fruit

And you're right for a lot of people making a gradual change is the answer. I definitely didn't begin doing this straight away that's for sure.
So good luck (just know that you should do what works for you) xx

I have heard that muscle is 'heavier' than fat, or is that just a myth?

A pound of rocks & a pound of feathers both weigh the same. But a fit person who weighs exactly the same as a flabby person usually looks better and has a smaller waist.

So take photos & measurements, too. And remember that your weight will fluctuate day to day & throughout the day. So celebrate every NSV (non-scale victory).