Help!

margaretbonita wrote: »

Just started today. Main problem is exercise and night time eating.

Exercise for fitness, log everything you eat and drink accurately and honestly to lose weight. Logging is simple, but it ain't easy. Logging works.

You lose weight by eating fewer calories than you burn—period. So budget some of your calories for an evening snack.

I'm an evening snacker too. Save some calories for later. For me it's high volume. Light popcorn gives me a good sized serving.

Exercise - one thing at a time. Get a handle on eating/logging first ....then add exercise. Start with something simple. I do Leslie Sansone Walk at Home. It's excuse proof for me. It's indoors so I can't complain about rain, I can do it at night, no equipment needed....my only excuse for blowing it off is "I'm lazy"

Read the Announcements at the top of the message board threads. There is great information in them for getting started. Start with this one: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants/p1 and this one http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10097870/the-really-blunt-list-of-things-to-consider-when-losing-weight/p1

Baby steps are key. Don't try to change your entire life overnight or you'll likely end up frustrated and overwhelmed. Start out by simply logging everything you eat. Every single thing. Logging everything makes it easier to see where you can make simple changes that have a big impact. For greater accuracy with calorie counts, weigh solid foods using a kitchen scale and measure liquids that can't be weighed.

Don't "play" with the numbers, underestimate calories eaten or overestimate calories burned in exercise. You'd only be cheating yourself. Weigh yourself no more often than daily and preferably in the morning, after you pee and in nothing more than underwear. Consistency is the goal because our weight fluctuates all day long.

Exercise is not needed for weight loss but it's a good idea if you can do it. The goal should be to get healthier and exercise is an important component. Start strength training as soon as possible. In my opinion it's more important than doing cardiovascular exercise because it is much easier to maintain the muscle you already have than to build new muscle later. When we lose weight it is a combination of water, fat and muscle. If you're maintaining muscle then more of your loss will be from fat!

The measuring tape is a better tool than the bathroom scale for judging your progress. In addition to "Before" pictures, measure your chest, waist, hips, thighs and any other body part you want to track and start recording them in MFP now. When the scale isn't moving your body might still be shrinking especially if you're lifting weights.

Get yourself into the mindset that you're making a lifestyle change and its not something that you will eventually finish. Understand that weight loss is not linear and our weight is not really a solid number, it's a 5 pound range. If you're sticking to your calorie goals, you will lose pounds faster at the beginning than at the end but some days/weeks you won't lose at all, some you may gain a little and others you'll lose a lot. Water comes into play and our bodies are constantly fluctuating how much water they hold on to.