Help! No idea where to start?!?

Enter your information into the goal setter on MFP. Then follow the calorie recommendations they give. Log what you eat measuring carefully. I would suggest getting a digital kitchen scale to weigh your solids and using measuring spoons and cups for the liquids. If you do this and consistently eat your calorie goal without going over you will lose weight.

Easiest way for me was find out your target weight. You can find calculators by googling it and they will tell you what your target weight should be when you put in your age and height. MFP will do the rest. Put your target weight in, the date you'd like to lose it by and the Fitness Pal program will do the rest. Plan the work and work the plan. If follow-through's an issue you may want to get some motivational reading. One really good book is Navy SEAL Training: Self-Confidence: Froglogic Field Manual for Adults.

You know what they say, embrace the suck and "just do it"

Warning: Lost post ahead.

Don't try to change everything at once! Some people do well with a complete overhaul of their life, but for many of us, drastic changes are not sustainable.

Pick a goal weight (it doesn't have to be your ultimate goal weight for now, some people like to set smaller goals and then move on when they hit it). Put your information into MFP and choose how much you want to lose. With so much to lose, you could do 2lbs a week. Or you could choose to go slower and go with 1.5lbs a week or 1lb a week. If you go slower, you get more calories in your daily calorie goal. It's up to you.

Here's a guide to how I did it. Hopefully it will help you.

Goal 1: eating within your calorie goal
Once you have a daily calorie goal from MFP, start logging your food you eat everyday. You do not have to change what you eat, just how much you eat. Try to stay within your calorie goal, but if you go over a little once in a while, don't beat yourself up over it. The trick here is to establish habit (tracking your food everyday) instead of trying to be perfect all the time. I agree with the above about getting a food scale and weighing out your portions for solids and using measuring cups for liquids. Here's why:



Goal one is to learn how to stay within your calories everyday. If you are hungry all the time, try to eat more protein and fiber. I also try not to drink my calories, I prefer to eat them.

Staying within your calories will help you lose weight, so don't feel like you have to do anything more than that at first.


Goal 2: Eat to your macros
When you feel like you have a good handle on staying within your calories, you can start focusing on nutrition. By this I mean trying to hit your macro nutrient goals. The macro nutrients are Protein, Fat, and Carbs. If you notice at the bottom of your food diary (on the computer) or under the nutrition screen (on the app), you have a certain number of grams to hit for each every day. Protein and fat are minimum goals (you should try to hit and exceed them), while carbs are just a "leftover" kind of goal. It's ok to hit your carb goal, but it's also ok to be under or over them as long as you're within your calories and hitting the protein/fat goals. I'm not going to go into how to set those goals, there are other threads about that.

Start adjusting what you eat to hit your protein & fat goals. Choose to eat the brand of yogurt with more protein in it (like greek style) instead of the lower protein you're currently eating, etc. Small changes, don't feel like you have to do anything drastic. Don't be afraid of fat. Fat is important to keep you feeling full and for hormone regulation and a whole host of other things. It's ok to eat treats like ice cream or chocolate, just work them into your calories/macros for the day.

I also started paying attention to my fiber at this point (its something I'm still working on).

Goal 3: Focus on micronutrients
Macros are important, but you can't forget about the micronutrients too. Those are things like calcium, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, etc. The approach to hitting micros is similar to macros. Start slowly adjusting your diet to hit these targets.

Goal 4: Exercise
**Exercise is NOT necessary for weight loss. But it is good for you and important for your overall well being. It might be miserable at first, but as you gain fitness, you may find that you love it! Exercise was the last thing on Earth that I wanted to ever do and now I go crazy if I miss a day.**

This goal can be started at any time. The most important thing about exercise is to find something you enjoy doing. If its something you dread, you won't stick to it. Out of the myriad of exercises available to mankind, there will be something that you like to do. Don't feel like you have to take up running because people say to, or do Zumba just because your friends like it. Try new things. It might surprise you, it certainly did me.

If you can't think of anything, start with walking.

Don't stick to just cardio. Strength training is important during weight loss. When you lose weight, you lose muscle mass. Eating enough protein and adding strength training in helps you retain as much as you can while you're losing weight. My advice for strength training is follow a program. Don't try to make it up on your own. Here's a good beginner workout to start following while you read about other programs to figure out what program you want to try:
nerdfitness.com/blog/2009/12/09/beginner-body-weight-workout-burn-fat-build-muscle/

Log your exercise into MFP and eat back your calories. By exercising, you're burning more calories than MFP projected for you, so you really should eat back the calories. Word of caution, the MFP calorie burn estimates are sometimes high, so many people eat back 50-75% of them instead of all of them.


That's it. Sure there are some details that you can get from reading the forums and you learn yourself along the way, but these are really the basics.

Goals 1,2,& 3 can all overlap, but take your time and ease into it. Establishing habit and being consistent is the key to weight loss. If you overwhelm yourself by trying to change too much all at once, you are more likely to give up.

I know it was long, but I hope it helps someone.