Hi there I am Tina from Pennsylvania. I need support and motivation big time. I tend to do ok for a little then I have massive cravings for sugar generally peanut butter and chocolate. I think its emotional eating. I spend atlot of time alone. I am not anti-social I just get paralyzed by my weight. I want to lose 20lbs total. Its not just the number I want to look stealth. I need support truly I do. So I hope I can do this 10 lbs by October 1`. Can someone give me eating ideas.? ways to do it ?

My starting weight was 170
my current weight is 165.4
my goal weight is 145

Hi Tina and welcome to the group, send friend requests to any of the members as most of us have diaries that are open to our friends so you might pick up some tips there. Personally I have been very successful on here and can attribute my success to being very determined and almost always staying within my calorie goals. I am a great believer that exercise is a big factor in losing weight even if it is getting a brisk walk every day, you don't even need to out and do it if the weather is bad outside, just walk on the spot in your house while watching TV, the important thing is to get your heart beating a lot faster than you normally would. This has worked really well for me and I use the extra calories that I burn from exercising to treat myself to whatever I want to eat or drink and trust me anyone who has seen my diary knows I like my alcohol, chinese take aways and chocolate snacks but whenever I am having these I always just make sure to do that little bit extra exercise to keep inside my daily calorie target. In terms of foods I am inclined to stick to certain meals that I enjoy and know they are relatively low calories especially when I am working.

An average day for me would consist of Breakfast: 3 slices of wholemeal toast with very thinly spread low fat spread and a small banana sliced very thinly on top and a cup of coffee (around 380 cals) Lunch: mushroom omelet made with 3 eggs (but only 1 yolk) along with a grilled chicken breast and a sliced tomato (around 350 cals), Dinner: grilled turkey breast fillets (250g), salad, and some baby potatoes that I have sauted in an actifryer with some seasoning and a couple of squirts of frylight (around 700 cals). Now that is fairly substantial eating for a day and would leave me quite full and around 1450 cals for the day. I usually burn anything between 600-1300 extra calories exercising so If I want any additional snacks I eat back about half of the calories I burn exercising. I use a heart rate monitor whenever I am doing any exercising or walking for a more accurate count of my calories burned. I would also use electronic scales for weighing out my foods eaten especially for the first few months till I got a good idea of my portion sizes. It sounds silly but trust me weighing your food is paramount to accuracy in counting the calories and achieving that important deficit that will guarantee weight loss.

A lot of what I have been doing is common sense, read the nutritional value on everything you buy (it will shock you how high some things are!!) but do not deny yourself your favourite foods such as chocolate and peanut butter or you will end up craving them so much you will fail, as I say just find a way to fit them in to your daily calories and try moderation, you may find you appreciate the taste even more when you cut down the amount you allow yourself (i can suck on a piece of chocolate for about 15 mins these days lol) Good luck and don't be afraid to ask anything they are a very friendly bunch in here.