Some advice/opinions to get started

Welcome!!

start here

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10257474/starting-out-restarting-basics-inside/p1

My advice is this; this more restrictive you make your diet, the harder it's going to be to stick to it. You want to eat the foods you like, but eat smaller portions so you can maintain a calorie deficit. There's not one diet plan that works for everyone. If you want to lose weight and keep it off, you have to figure out a diet you can live with.

If you plug in your stats into MFP and let it calculate at 1 lb. loss per week, is it relatively the same as what you calculated yourself? My suggestion would be to plan to eat at the deficit you want (cut 500 calories, for example), and then eat back some or all of your exercise calories. That way you aren't relying on the exercise to hit your deficit. MFP's exercise calories are grossly inflated - you may want to only eat back about half of those calories to start.

If you eat at a deficit, you will lose weight. If you don't, the first thing I would look at is how much sodium you are consuming. Water retention can make the scale do crazy things. If your salt is reasonable, then look at the accuracy of your logging. Keep in mind that one week of no loss or even a gain is totally normal. Weight loss isn't linear.

I have been eating well and exercising since January 5th, and I am down about 32 pounds. I go out to eat, I have snacks and treats, and I don't often feel deprived. I can tell you that this will work, but you have to approach it like a lifestyle change rather than a diet. Good luck!

Best advice I can give is to start slowly! It's way too easy to leap in, cut down your intake and start exercising and end up hungry, sore, tired and even injured.
Baby steps will get you where you want to go. Trying to 'jump start' with energy drinks, meal replacements, etc, isn't going to help much. You'll feel deprived, and you'll want to splurge. It's better to make small sustainable changes that you can live with- swap out those afternoon cookies for an apple, eat whole-grain cereal and nonfat yogurt for breakfast instead of that big bowl of cornflakes, etc. Little things go a long way in this process.

My advice is to be patient. Take the first two weeks to get your bearings on MFP and become comfortable with logging. Don't be too hard on yourself for the first couple of weeks while you adjust to the learning curve. This can seem overwhelming at first but eventually it will become an every day habit.

I agree with advice about food being most important! I think the best thing you can do is eat portions of food you like within your calorie goals. You can switch to wholemeal pasta or you can just eat normal pasta. Whatever you prefer - this way of eating has to be sustainable for you.

I suggest using a weighing scale to accurately measure everything you are eating. It is amazing how easy it is to underestimate and to eat a few hundred too many calories each day, which really affects your deficit. I weigh everything and am slowly but surely losing weight. I exercise when I can and eat back about half my exercise calories. How much you eat makes the greatest impact on weight loss.

In short. Weigh what you want to eat on a scale. Anything you want. Eat an amount that fits your goals. Lose weight happily

I am your height. I started here at the end of June at 63kg (139 pounds) and by mid-February I weighed 49kg (109 pounds). To answer some of your questions/statements, even though other people have given great answers:


I've started riding my exercise bike and I'm thinking I'll aim for 30 minutes of moderate to intense exercise a day. I also plan on doing some reps of push ups, sit ups and squats!

Good, even taking walks are great. I started out doing 30 minutes of exercise at home and the C25K running program. I also took walks in the park. They all became habits that stuck with me. There's no need to spend hours exercising, but you're doing the right thing by trying to increase your activity level. It's not necessary for weight loss, but it makes things a heck of a lot easier and it is better for your health.


From the number crunching and research I've done I think my BMR is 1740, give or take a few calories. I'm thinking of cutting down to a 1400 calorie diet and working off some calories with exercise to meet a 500 calorie deficit per day.

Sounds good. There may be days when you feel less hungry, but try to net at least 1200 calories, as less could have detrimental effects on your health. If you lose faster than your intended rate and it's more than 1% of your bodyweight, increase your calories a bit.


Is there a way to figure out what macros I should have?

Everyone works differently with regard to what makes them feel satiated. I found that 40% carbs, 30% fat, 30% protein kept me really full. You'll figure this out with your eating patterns.


Has anyone had any experience with meal replacement shakes? I'm considering trying Rapid Loss to get me started. One of my friends had a lot of success with meal replacement shakes, losing 20kg.

Meal replacement shakes are a bad idea. I like to drink a protein shake for breakfast since I'm on the go, but it's just protein powder, almond milk, and fruit/vegetables blended together. No special shake with the promise of rapid weight loss or fat burn. Save your money.


Alternatively, does anyone have any simple meal plans I could take a look at?

I don't use meal plans, but I've heard from others that sites like Instagram are a great source for meal plan/prep ideas.


How long should I wait to expect a change on the scale? If there's no change, what should I look at changing first?

Some people say up to six weeks, but honestly I'd say if you don't lose even half a pound within three weeks then you're probably eating too much. However, pay attention to your cycle; some of us hold onto water weight during ovulation, some during menstruation, and some women hold water weight during both. Your first week you may see a bigger drop on the scale and it may level out for a few weeks.

Good luck!

You want to get in shape and that's awesome!

I think you need to find what works for you and what you can SUSTAIN for a while. It's going to take some time to lose the weight, believe me I've been there and I'm currently there.

Start small and set concrete, realistic goals. I think the biggest reason people quit their diet is because they take on too much, get burnt out, and then stop. I have done it several times. And realize that it is going to take some time. I'm now down about 6 kilos and it took my about 6 weeks. 6 weeks can feel like a long time when you are dieting and it's easy to get discouraged, but if you keep it up you will see results.

So your first step could be something like this:

" I want to lose 10 Kilo's to start. The healthy rate fat loss rate is 1 kilo per week so it will take about 10 weeks."

That's the goal. Then think about how you want to accomplish that goal.

" I have to be at a caloric deficit so that means I have to track my calories. I also have to monitor my weight so I need to way in every morning so I can track my trends over time."

That's the diet. If your goal is only to lose weight then this is all you really need and the area you need to focus the most on. But it would be a little healthier and free up some calories if you threw in some low impact, light intensity exercise. I started walking 30 minutes a day, just fast enough to elevate my heart rate and be a little short of breath and it did wonders.

I do weight training to, but if it's not part of your goals then don't do it. The point is to find what works for you. I hope that helps!