Only 18 years old trying to get my *kitten* together

First and foremost of all, love yourself. Second of all, let me warn you that most of this information is based off of research. I just recently began actually controlling my calorie intake. Now, on to advice. Avoid trans fat because it is extremely unhealthy. Unsaturated fat is a good fat, in fact it can contribute to weight loss. saturated fat is ok if it is not coming from a processed food. Even then, limit your saturated fat intake. Carrots and a bit of hummus makes a good snack. So does avocado. Raspberries and blueberries are good too, and have less than 109 calories. Use whole milk because it leaves you feeling fuller and was proven in a British study to promote weight loss opposed to low fat and fat free milk. Apples and pears also make good snacks. I like to keep my snacks under 200 calories. The more fiber in your snacks and meals, the fuller you will feel. Drink water. Lots of water. Don't starve yourself. Again, fiber. Sweet potatoes are under 200 calories for a 5 inch long potato. There is less fat in toast with jam than toast with butter. Space out your snacks, and again, make sure that there is a sufficient amount of fiber in it to keep you full. I aim for one or two snacks between lunch and dinner because I'm in school for the first half of the day. Eat a good breakfast. This is very important. If you eat a good breakfast, you will snack less and eat less at lunch and dinner. People who eat breakfast are scientifically proven by many studies to lose more weight and feel fuller. Don't eat when you're bored. Tea has literally no calories. It has a few calories if you add sweetener and/or milk/cream. If you're bored, find something to do and/or drink water or tea. A square of dark chocolate will do if you absolutely must have chocolate. Reward yourself for your good work every now and then, such as if you lose ten pounds. Create a realistic dieting plan. The more doable it is, the more likely you are to keep doing it. Greek yogurt and blueberries and/or raspberries is less than 200 calories. Do not skip meals. It will slow your metabolism and make you hungrier, thus leading to heavier snacking and eating more at upcoming meals. Buzzfeed has a really good post about snacks that are less than 200 calories. Whenever you feel like giving up, think of your goal and how you want to feel and/or look when you reach that goal. Create a realistic image. No one is perfect and expecting perfect results will most likely lead to disappointment. If you are in the middle of a workout feel like you can't take another second, remind yourself of how satisfied you will feel at the end of the workout. Listening to music helps. Don't overwork yourself. Start small with something you can handle and do weekly/bi-weekly/daily. For example, you could start at 20 minutes a day jogging and work yourself up to an hour a day. If you are doing weight training, let each set of muscles rest at least a day between workouts, because they need rest to build up. For example, do legs one day, and then arms the next day, and then abdominals the next day. Make sure not to overwhelm yourself because you are less likely to stick with an excersize plan if it is too challenging. If you start small and work your way up, you will probably start looking forward to becoming better at something, such as jogging. This is all the advice that I can think of. Good luck!

phoenixrising644 wrote: »

First and foremost of all, love yourself. Second of all, let me warn you that most of this information is based off of research. I just recently began actually controlling my calorie intake. Now, on to advice. Avoid trans fat because it is extremely unhealthy. Unsaturated fat is a good fat, in fact it can contribute to weight loss. saturated fat is ok if it is not coming from a processed food. Even then, limit your saturated fat intake. Carrots and a bit of hummus makes a good snack. So does avocado. Raspberries and blueberries are good too, and have less than 109 calories. Use whole milk because it leaves you feeling fuller and was proven in a British study to promote weight loss opposed to low fat and fat free milk. Apples and pears also make good snacks. I like to keep my snacks under 200 calories. The more fiber in your snacks and meals, the fuller you will feel. Drink water. Lots of water. Don't starve yourself. Again, fiber. Sweet potatoes are under 200 calories for a 5 inch long potato. There is less fat in toast with jam than toast with butter. Space out your snacks, and again, make sure that there is a sufficient amount of fiber in it to keep you full. I aim for one or two snacks between lunch and dinner because I'm in school for the first half of the day. Eat a good breakfast. This is very important. If you eat a good breakfast, you will snack less and eat less at lunch and dinner. People who eat breakfast are scientifically proven by many studies to lose more weight and feel fuller. Don't eat when you're bored. Tea has literally no calories. It has a few calories if you add sweetener and/or milk/cream. If you're bored, find something to do and/or drink water or tea. A square of dark chocolate will do if you absolutely must have chocolate. Reward yourself for your good work every now and then, such as if you lose ten pounds. Create a realistic dieting plan. The more doable it is, the more likely you are to keep doing it. Greek yogurt and blueberries and/or raspberries is less than 200 calories. Do not skip meals. It will slow your metabolism and make you hungrier, thus leading to heavier snacking and eating more at upcoming meals. Buzzfeed has a really good post about snacks that are less than 200 calories. Whenever you feel like giving up, think of your goal and how you want to feel and/or look when you reach that goal. Create a realistic image. No one is perfect and expecting perfect results will most likely lead to disappointment. If you are in the middle of a workout feel like you can't take another second, remind yourself of how satisfied you will feel at the end of the workout. Listening to music helps. Don't overwork yourself. Start small with something you can handle and do weekly/bi-weekly/daily. For example, you could start at 20 minutes a day jogging and work yourself up to an hour a day. If you are doing weight training, let each set of muscles rest at least a day between workouts, because they need rest to build up. For example, do legs one day, and then arms the next day, and then abdominals the next day. Make sure not to overwhelm yourself because you are less likely to stick with an excersize plan if it is too challenging. If you start small and work your way up, you will probably start looking forward to becoming better at something, such as jogging. This is all the advice that I can think of. Good luck!

Some of this is solid evidence, but most of it is untrue. You don't have to worry about fat intake, really, only calorie intake. There's nothing wrong with processed foods as long as you're under your calories and hit your macros and micros (protein is probably the most important, followed by fat). Drink whatever milk you prefer, or no milk if you don't like it. Don't eat breakfast if you don't want to. Most recent scientific studies suggest that breakfast really isn't that important. If I eat early in the day I feel nauseous and then ravenously hungry, and I eat everything! I just have a bigger lunch. You can eat more than one square of chocolate as long as you stay under calories. Skipping meals won't 'slow your metabolism'. Some people do IF, intermittent fasting, or OMAL (one meal a day) and there isn't really anything wrong with that if it works for you. You don't technically have to exercise to lose weight, but it helps and it's good for you health wise.
OP, eat what you usually eat, just less of it. Make sure you hit your protein goal and have plenty of fruits and vegetables for the nutrients.

Congratulations on getting serious at 18---some people are alot older before they see the light. This isn't complicated, and that's why people don't get it. Plug your stats into MFP. Stay within your calorie goal everyday. If you mess up, don't get down, just try to hit your goal the next day. Buy a digital scale. Use it to weigh all your food everyday. Pay special attention to condiments--oil, butter, catsup, maonaise, etc. Try to move as much as possible and log it into MFP. You will get a higher goal that day (so you can eat a little more). Exercise burns are inflated on MFP. Eat back half your calories given for exercise. See how it goes for 2 weeks. If you have problems, do a search, or come back and ask. Good luck.

Good luck! I hope you get your goals