Newbie!

Hey Newbie !
I'm a newbie too, i just joined a few days ago.
Well, you know how women on average should consume 2000 calories a day? Well you can customize that to whatever you like (make it reasonable of course) and set a goal for yourself! Based on how much you want to lose, you can customize your goal by making your max calorie intake much less than the usual (to maintain weight), but don't get have the numbers go too low, because it's hard, and when that happens you get discouraged when you can't meet its standards.

I realized that i went a bit over my ideal calorie intake per-day but i put put my max per-day at around 1'300. when you finalize your daily food diary, it says in 5 weeks, u're gonna weigh 'this much' if you keep eating like this. and even though I'm still not meeting my goal, but I am trying, it tells me I'm losing weight! And whenever I look at something to put it in my mouth, I mentally count calories!

1-don't watch what you're eating as much as how much you're eating.
(Eat whatever you like but in small portions.)

2-a really surprising thing that helped me out- I ordered a sandwich and the top bread had something I didn't want on it so I was mad, and just ate the other half. After one half, I realized I was completely full. If you put a small portion in front of you, you won't feel guilty for finishing it. You'll actually be relieved to see that it filled you up!

Sorry for such a long reply! Cut out the processed stuff and convince yourself it's really nasty. Enjoy natural sugars instead. Fruit smoothies, homemade Fruity-ice lollies. Go for it, experiment!
-tamara

welcome glad to have you here -- you will enjoy it, and the folks here are so supportive that you'll find yourself infinitely motivated to keep at it!