Starting a new diet Monday

Oh, and don't do a diet. Diets are temporary. Once you stop the diet, go back to how you used to eat, you'll
go back to the weight you used to be. Make a permanent change in your eating habits & activity level.

MKEgal wrote: »

Here's a calculator from the Baylor College of Medicine which will tell you not only your maintenance calories for any
weight, but how many servings of the food groups you should be eating. If you put in your healthy goal weight, and
use the "inactive" calories (or the 'low activity' setting) it should help you get to that weight healthfully.
https://www.bcm.edu/cnrc-apps/healthyeatingcalculator/eatingCal.html

There are also links to useful info I've compiled here.
Definitely go read sexypants right now.
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How do you to the scale?

Lol the magical land of tomorrow where diets start! Gotta start now! Like the previous poster said, diets are temporary, lifestyle changes are the best way to go and are best for maintaining the weight once you've worked so hard to lose it ! Fruits I. Place of sweets, have you tried baked apples? I love those. I've noticed since cutting most sweets and unhealthy carbs from my diet I actually don't care so much for those things anymore! Sugar addiction is a serious thing! I also always have a bottle of lemon water with me, I use a quart size mason jar with a drink lid/straw and fill it twice a day at least to get my water in. Exercise is also your new best friend!

That Baylor calculator is for children. It frequently gives adults (including me) a really absurdly low maintenance calorie rate, especially if you put in that you aren't that active. Please ignore it. MFP has a perfectly good calorie level if you use it right--specifically, if you understand that its calorie level assumes NO exercise so if you exercise a lot you should eat back some, and if you understand that it cuts 1000 from maintenance for a 2 lb/week goal, so consider whether that's realistic and look at what less aggressive goals like 1 lb/week will give you.

There are also good TDEE calculators at scooby and iifym.com, but that's usually more complicated than most people want to get right at first. (I love the TDEE method, though, but moved to it only after I'd lost over 50 lbs.)

The sexypants link is a really good one.

I agree with those who say just start now, although if you want to spend Sunday meal planning or prepping and are starting Monday for that reason I get it (I think I did something similar when I finally started this time).

One thing I found helpful in the day before planning stage was really to understand what I'd been eating--it made adjusting it to reduce calories pretty easy. Logging a few days (if you have a good memory and can be honest) can be helpful or just write down what you normally do and think about it. For me, it was also helpful to think in terms of a standard breakfast and lunch (I try to bring lunch to work) and a dinner template. I also find it easier to feel satisfied on fewer calories if I don't snack regularly (except for a planned snack, like yogurt at 4 pm, depending on when you tend to get hungry) and if I make meals balanced in the sense of including a good amount of protein (meat, eggs, dairy, beans, or tofu, for example) and some fat, as well as carbs. Also, for me it works to include veggies at every meal when possible.

I like sweets so I'll include a little something after dinner, but cutting out snacks cut out most of the times I might just decide to eat something high cal because it was there or for emotional reasons. (If having something sweet at home means you end up eating it when you didn't mean to, that would be a reason to eat such things in single servings only, and not keep them at home, at least not until you stop having that reaction.)

I'm telling you what has worked for me, what will work for you might be different--I think everyone should be thoughtful about it and then pay attention to how you feel and adjust. At first it's common to miss eating at times you did so I found it helpful to have some low calorie options 'til I got used to not eating at those times, which I did quickly (I mean like carrots and celery, but it depends on you).

For me it was helpful to focus on eating really nutritious meals since that gave me something to think about besides calories, whereas others may find that complicates things (although it's really quite simple) or just isn't interesting to them--whatever works for you.

Ah, I was an 'I'll start on Monday' kind of girl, it was usually accompanied by a pre 'diet' chow down of epic proportions. And I never quite got started on that magical Monday.
Start logging today, no time like the present.

I started on a Monday but started a more serious exercise regime the Friday before. I am down over 35 pounds but I imagine I would have accomplished the same no matter what day I started. That being said there is something mystical about New Beginnings and starting on a Monday. One key I found is to announce to the world what you are doing and make lots of like-minded goal-driven friends on MFP.