First day tracking and 700 calories over my limit!!!

Don't beat yourself up too much since it is your first day tracking, you will learn how to be more aware of what you eat and number of calories! I promise! Just stick with being diligent and allow some splurge days because we all need some sometimes. I am sending you a friend request so we can motivate each other. Good luck and stay positive!!

There's nothing wrong with simply tracking for a week to get a handle on what you are currently eating and what is contributing the most calories for the least nutrition. That's what I did at first, because I really didn't have a handle on what I was eating.

After that first week, you can look at your diary and start to make some changes.

I can't try to do everything at once or I'd make myself crazy and frustrated. I pick one or two things to focus on at a time and then pick a new focus as the prior ones become habitual. You may find this approach works for you too, but do whatever seems to work for you.

There is a ton of help, information and support here. I think you'll like it and get the results you want!

You can do it. We all fall off. I would love to have you on my support team.

Welcome to MFP! You will love it.

Tracking is definitely the first step -- I didn't realize how many calories I was eating, either. And sometimes I would decide not to eat something just because I didn't want to log it. (is that lazy, or what?)

Best of luck to you -- hope to see you on the 'Boards!

It just takes a little time to get used to eating better the more that you do it the more of a habit becomes. Unfortunately habits don't change in a day, but it is so worth while to put in the effort to change your bad habits! I have a great support system on this site. Feel free to add me as a friend if you would like :-)

Before you started I'm sure it was way over 700 over, so that's probably pretty good. You can do it, and do better tomorrow!

Start small honey! What worked for me was focusing on just two things at first - journaling and eating my 5 servings of fruit and veggies every day. Once I got that down it was a lot easier to add in exercise and make other healthy choices about food. And the fruit and veggies will help you feel full without going over the calorie limit.

I actually started with eating the same way I normally did and just added it in as I went. It was a shocker! Even after I officially started counting, I went over a few days in the beginning. It's hard to start eating less and healthier when you are not used to it. Just keep at it and remember to take it one day at a time. And don't beat yourself up about going over here and there. I don't always hit all of my nutritional goals everyday (and sometimes I go over on calories), just today I went way over on sodium. But it's a learning experience. And as others have said, you will eventually be able to guesstimate how many calories are in something and know whether or not it's worth it. I'm sure a lot of us struggled in the beginning, but look at people's profiles and you can see the progress they've made. I'm sure you will get to your goal too, especially if you are already conscious about your eating habits. Good luck and keep on trucking

I think most of us have done that in the beginning. Think of it as a learning curve. Look at your diary and see which items you could have done without. Use those things as your 'don't' list and the healthier choices you can add to your 'do' list. Try new things daily and weed things out as you go. It will become easy to choose because you will be determined to stay within your daily intake goal.

Good luck! I am rooting for ya!

I started last friday, and was 1150 over for the day. Who knew youre not supposed to eat THE WHOLE PIZZA.LOL