Beginners Advice?!

aogungbola
aogungbola Posts: 3 Member
in Getting Started
Hi,
I'm 18 years old, female, 5 ft 4 and weigh 137lbs, looking to get down to 130

Can anyone help me with a calorie goal to help lose weight?
According to my pedometer app I burn about 300 calories/ day on the walk to uni and from running errands etc
Most days I eat around 900-1050 calories day (since I started uni about 2 weeks ago, it must have been a lot more at home)

And any exercise tips for a beginner?

Replies

  • JenniDaisy
    JenniDaisy Posts: 526 Member
    for starters, eat more damn food.
  • aogungbola
    aogungbola Posts: 3 Member
    How much food? I never seem to have enough time to have both breakfast and lunch because of lectures
  • JenniDaisy
    JenniDaisy Posts: 526 Member
    Well, how much food does MFP say you should be eating? Probably that much food.
  • KarenJanine
    KarenJanine Posts: 3,497 Member
    Read this:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1235566-so-you-re-new-here

    And this:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants


    If you don't have time for two meals, just eat one but you should still make sure you're hitting your calorie goal.
  • KingoftheLilies
    KingoftheLilies Posts: 71 Member
    just to point out, machines including pedometers use METs to calculate your calories burnt. it is not wholly accurate and will probably overestimate what you've burnt

    you do have time to eat. nobody makes work and school schedules without giving students and workers time to eat. so eat.

    and I really hope you're talking about NET calories and not overall calories
  • logg1e
    logg1e Posts: 1,208 Member
    How long have you been doing this, and how much have you lost? I'm confused because your start date appears to be March.
  • aogungbola
    aogungbola Posts: 3 Member
    I signed up in March and never used it, but according to the record I lost 10lbs without tracking food between then and now

    And I only started tracking meals again about 5 days ago and I've lost 1lb since then. I haven't made a conscious decision to eat a certain amount of calories, I'm just eating salads and stir frys and pasta mainly because they're easy which means my meals are usually low calorie
  • debbiephillips5473
    debbiephillips5473 Posts: 5 Member
    If you are walking around campus to classes and eat around 1200 calories a day you should lose slowly. Eat snacks between classes if you don/t have time for sit down meals.
  • logg1e
    logg1e Posts: 1,208 Member
    I signed up in March and never used it, but according to the record I lost 10lbs without tracking food between then and now

    And I only started tracking meals again about 5 days ago and I've lost 1lb since then. I haven't made a conscious decision to eat a certain amount of calories, I'm just eating salads and stir frys and pasta mainly because they're easy which means my meals are usually low calorie

    Thanks for explaining. For what it's worth, I think you've made a really good start.

    In my first few weeks I learned a lot about the following and would encourage you to think about similar:
    - I learned a lot about calorie needs, and how many calories I should be eating. At the moment you are apparently eating slightly too few (this is good news!).
    - I learned a lot about accurately counting calories and using MFP accurately.
    - I tried lots of different forms of exercise and found stuff I enjoyed doing. Again, I learned about recording exercise calories accurately and bought a heart rate monitor.

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