This is gonna be hard

How do you find out what your TDEE is? For that matter, what is TDEE? And what are macros? I am very new to this all!

Thanks!!!

Total Daily Energy Expenditure. There are several good calculators available on the internet; scoobysworkshop.com has one that's often recommended.

Macros: Macronutrients = Carbohydrates (sugar is a carbohydrate, as are grains, fruits and vegetables), fats, and proteins.

Fats are not 'bad.' Sugar is not 'bad.'

Try not to chew anything. I read studies then talked to a couple doctors. A lot of weight loss specialist are saying chewing makes the saliva glands activate. Which in turn tells the brain...send messages to the stomach...food time. Try to find something easy to pick up and distract your mind. Music, activity, crafts, reading. Just be watchful of what you are reading. A lot of magazines have a ton of food ads. Not helpful. If you have to snack, keep snack baggies of smart foods. yogurt, carrots, celery, popcorn. If none of those sound good, why are you wanting to eat? Run from the kitchen, Run!

Wait, what?

Thank u sooooooo much everyone for all your advise. I notice a lot of ppl saying 1200 is too low. 1200 is what my fitness pal calculated for me. I am 26 years old, 4'11 and 138lbs

MFP is just a calculator, it just tells you what you tell it. If it told you 1200 its because you told it you wanted to lose weight at an overly aggressive pace. There is no intelligence in the calculator, it just spits back what you give it. "1200 calories" is basically MFP's error message because it refuses to suggest anything below 1200 calories so if you give it info that makes it go below 1200 it just says 1200.

Basically think of it this way. If I went to a calculator and told it "I want to be able to run 30 miles per hour!" it would tell me to go run and jump off a cliff. Then if I told people my plan to fast-running success was to go jump off a cliff and they told me "Why would you do that that is just going to harm you" and I respond "Well its what the calculator told me to do".

It is a calculator, it doesn't have a brain...you are the brain. It is your responsibility to educate yourself on how to properly diet and THEN use the calculator to determine your goals. Being just a calculator it is perfectly happy to give you a diet that would not be good for you if you set it to do so.

Familiarize yourself with concepts such as BMR, NEAT, TDEE, macronutrients, micronutrients and that will be a good start. Right now it is hard because you are making it much harder than it needs to be and potentially causing yourself harm.