Top 3 things I should focus on?

365andstillalive wrote: »

Start with figuring out your BMR (there's lots of online calculators) so you know how much you absolutely have to eat for your body to function properly and for you to maintain the energy you need to live the life you want.

Eat at a caloric deficit, you'll lose weight. You can find exercise you like down the road, or figure out your macros (how much carbs, protein etc you want) later.

I agree with this. Find you BMR and TDEE. Not sure how much you have to lose, but TDEE-15% or 20%. But, if you change your MFP calorie goals to that number (which I do) do not eat back your exercise calories.

Frankly, if you're just getting started, try not to make it too complicated and take baby steps. Sure you can figure out your TDEE and BMR (whatever those mean, right?) or you can just let MFP tell you how many calories to eat by giving it your goals.

My initial advice to someone just starting to use MFP is to take the first few days and just log what you eat. Get used to the whole idea of entering every single piece of food and things you drink into the tool. It'll give you a really good idea where you're starting from and how much, or little, you're really eating every day. Most people are pretty shocked and it becomes apparent how they've put on the pounds by eating the way they were before.

Once you get used to that, take a good look at the things you've logged and find where you can make some simple changes that will make a big impact. 250 calories in Coca Cola every day, twice a day? Replace that with a glass of unsweetened iced tea with lemon. A Snickers bar every day at 2:00pm? Replace that with a 50 calorie apple. You get the idea.

Try to add one new habit or change every week and it'll be a lot easier to maintain than to join a gym, try to eat 1200 calories every day, cut out all sugar, eat "clean" (whatever that is) all at once and get overwhelmed and frustrated.

Most of all, try to make these changes something you can stick with for the rest of your life. Good luck on your journey!

1) A reasonable daily calorie intake
2) A reasonable balance of carbs, fats, and protein
3) Some regular exercise


Start with those 3 things, then worry about the finer details.

diannethegeek wrote: »

Welcome to MFP! Our boards have just gone through an upgrade, so the helpful topics that would normally be pinned at the top of each board are missing at the moment. If you haven't come across them, yet, I think that these are a really great place to start:

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1235566/so-youre-new-here
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/819925/the-basics-don-t-complicate-it

These are great topics to read! Definitely check them out.

Also agree with not complicating things too much at the start. Keep it simple - calories in vs calories out. Weight loss happens when you consume fewer cals than what your body burns all day. MFP already estimates that for you when you enter your info and they give you daily goal. At 1200, I would aim to meet that goal daily. Personally, I don't like eating below my BMR, so if you want to set a higher cal goal, try changing your weekly loss goal to 1.5 lbs a week rather than 2 lbs.

So get your goal set, then eat your cals. If you exercise, log it and eat those cals back (or least a portion of them). Track your calorie intake and output as accurately as possible - a food scale is a great item to have, and a good heart rate monitor or all day tracker like a FitBit can be helpful for better estimating your burn.

And have patience. One day at a time, do your best each day. If you "screw up", shake it off, log it, and move on. Look back over your diary at the end of the week and see where you did well and maybe where you didn't, and if you went over, was it worth it? Figure out where you can make improvements and do better next time. It's a process! But resolve to make the changes you can stick with for good, so you can drop the weight and keep it off.

Good luck!

Hello & Welcome!

My Top 3 Recommendations:

1. Log EVERYTHING! - Healthy, Unhealthy, Flat-out empty nutrition yummies Log it ALL There's just something about SEEING what we put into our bodies that wakes some of us up. LOL
2. Be Consistent! - Whatever exercise regime or eating trend you want to experiment with just be consistent with it & make sure it is something that you can truly integrate to your life.
3. Grain or Salt - All the members on MFP that I have crossed paths with has the best intentions and would never purposely steer you wrong. HOWEVER, please understand that EVERYONE is different and this whole weight loss journey is rather individual. There are some general things which applies to most, but not all. Always try to keep advice in perspective to how it does or does not apply to you, based on your lifestyle, height, & age.

Best of luck to you!

1. Log consistently and accurately
2. drink plenty of water
3. have fun doing whatever type of exercise you choose

Calories, calories, calories.

How many calories you eat is most of the battle with weight loss. Start with calories. Focus on the macros (fat, protein, carbs) if you can, but its ok if you just need to think about calories at first.