I just feel overwhelmed and don't know where to start.

You need to get into that gym. You have all kinds of anxieties that probably aren't as worrisome as you think. Pick a day, plan on it, and demystify that gym. Ask questions at the desk. Look for friendly faces. I spent all summer telling myself that I was "going to start swimming" without ever setting foot at the rec center. When I finally got fed up with my procrastination and excuses, it was no big deal and I've met some helpful and friendly swimmers. You can do this. Other people have. Why not you?

Weight loss is mostly diet. Enter your stats and set your goal at 1 pound per week, and MFP will give you your calorie goal. Try to eat as close to that goal as you can, not too much under or over. And move more. If you need to, keep it as basic as that!

Other basic things to remember: Log everything you eat and drink, no exceptions. It is the only way to know for sure where you stand. To log accurately, weigh and measure, don't eyeball or trust serving sizes. Don't get too caught up in food rules! What matters for weight loss is being in a calorie deficit: more cals burned than eaten. Good luck!

I definitely know what it feels like to be overwhelmed. I have found that the best way for me to succeed is to pick ONE thing -- JUST ONE -- and start with that.

So, maybe it's calling your gym and scheduling a tour. You don't have to start going yet, just take the tour.
After that, maybe it's focusing on working your way up to eight glasses of water. Add a cup every couple of days until you're consistently drinking eight.
Once that's easy breezy, do the same ramp up with your freggies.

Bottom line, trying to change all your habits at the same time doesn't work for everyone and can lead to feelings of failure, so just pick one. While we're all eager to reach our goals, this isn't actually a race, so you can take it slow and build towards success.

Good luck!

C.

If the gym scares you just forget about it for now. Once you feel like you've done a few things right you will feel more confident

I agree with the above posters who said to pick ONE thing at a time and change it. Don't go into a crazy lettuce-and-celery-only frenzy! Slow, gradual changes are the best way to slowly overhaul the way you are used to eating and turn it towards a healthier way of eating.

It is the same with exercise; you don't need to become a gym rat right away to get in a bit of a workout! You can start by something super simple, like for example: "Every morning after I wake up, I will do TEN jumping jacks. No more, no less. TEN." <--- Then stick to that until it's a routine, then take it further! Best of luck!

I honestly believe this is why people struggle with weight. You realize things have gotten out of control and there's so much information out there and so much stuff you supposedly "have" to do to lose weight. The truth is, you can make it very simple. As others have said, set small goals aka baby steps. Make a list of the things you want to change and maybe even order them by priority if you'd like and work on one thing at a time. Whether it takes you days or weeks to master each step doesn't matter. Be patient with yourself, it will come in time.

Start with the basics. IMHO, getting used to logging can be tough in and of itself if you're not used to it so just write down your food consistently for a while. I think once you start doing that, being mindful of choices just naturally follows. You've already started eating better and can continue on from there as you learn about healthier eating.

Then I think the next goal should be to get to that gym...you're just flat out wasting money that you could probably spend on something much more practical if you think about it. As someone else said, if you haven't had the tour yet, start there. Don't let them pressure you into signing up with a trainer unless you want to. Start simple, pick a machine you're most comfortable with or join a class that looks fun and just do that for a while. If there's another machine/class you're interested in, ask the staff to give you a quick run down of it or ask someone else there who uses it a lot. And trust me, no one really cares about how you look working out - all of those worries are just in your head. Even the really fit people had to start somewhere!

Best of luck!

All great advice above.. I would only add start making small changes, one at a time and before you know it they become second nature.. For example.. I started cutting my sweet beverages out... now it is second nature, I now love the way I feel after drinking water and if I need a little taste I add lemon, or Crystal Light... they have some awesome flavors

YOU can do it...

You've gotten excellent advice so far: babysteps, one new thing at a time, you don't need to exercise to lose weight but it's great for fitness. I'll add a couple of things:

Start by just logging what you're eating right now. It's that simple. Get used to entering every single thing you eat or drink into MFP. Don't necessarily worry about eating the right things, just eat normally. I think you'll be very surprised by how many calories are in the foods you eat on a regular basis. You'll also start to see where you can make some very easy changes that will have a big impact. A 20 ounce bottle of Coca-Cola has 240 calories. If you drank a big glass of water instead of one of those every day you'd drop about 1/2 pound per week just from that change alone! After you've made your first change a habit (a week or so) pick something else to change.

Buy a food scale if you don't own one and make sure you have a good set of measuring cups. Get into the habit of weighing solid foods, and even some liquid ones, before you eat them. It's very difficult to accurately eyeball food portions. What you think is 4 ounces of chicken might actually be 6 or 8 ounces. A tablespoon of peanut butter is not as much as you might think. This will be another big eye-opener. For whole foods, look for entries in MFP that do not have an asterisk because they are from the USDA database, not entered by another user.

Underestimate your calorie burns from exercise and overestimate food portions when you aren't absolutely positive. Fudging amounts and choosing the food entry with the smallest amount of calories only hurts you in the end.

You don't need a gym membership to lose weight. If you can't get yourself to go, stop paying for it if you can. If you're locked in, then get in there and use the treadmill or elliptical trainer at the very least. I'd suggest strength training over cardio, though. When you lose weight you lose muscle along with the fat and water. Less muscle means a slower metabolism so you really want to try to maintain your current lean muscle mass. The weight machines are very simple to use. Sit down and try it at the lowest weight. If it's too easy try the next weight up until you can only do one or two movements on it. Then go back to the weight level before that one and do it as many times as you can without failing (reps). Wait a minute and do that same number of reps. Wait one more minute and do the same number again. You've now done 3 sets of X reps. Move on to the next machine and repeat. The next time you go in, see if you can do one more rep at the weights you used the last time. When you can do 8 reps for 3 sets without failing and with good form bump up to the next weight and start over.

Cardio is great for overall fitness and gives you more calories to eat. I personally run 3 or 4 days each week and lift weights on the days between. If you don't like running (I didn't before I really got into it), find a cardio exercise that suits you. Make it something you enjoy at least a little.

So, that ended up being a lot longer than I'd planned. The main point is, take it slow, add new things one at a time, and try to make your changes sustainable for the long haul.

thefoodaddict wrote: »

Add me & message me. I know what it's like to be too stressed out & overwhelmed to even start the weight loss journey. I can help you tons!

Same here, I am more than willing to help too. You are more than welcome to add me, I love new friends and am always happy to be supportive.

I had a gym membership that went unused too, until I came to the realization that we were all there for the same reason! If someone has something negative to say, they obviously have something they're insecure about!
To start, simply log. It sounds too easy, but thats all it is. Once you feel comfortable, add a workout, walk, get moving. I have a fitbit too, and it has definitely helped!!

Feel free to add me, I love to motivate, and could always use more!!!