Completely new to this... advice/help?

samwhitehurst1991
samwhitehurst1991 Posts: 3 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm 5'4" female, I'm currently at 158 and would love to get down to 135... as 90% of my life I was never over 120 until 3 miscarriages in 2 years and horrid birth control that did not agree with me. I'm honestly lost on where to even start? Calorie counting? Carb restriction? I don't even know.... any sort of advice or help would be greatly appreciated as I really would like to feel comfortable with my body and not ashamed to be naked around my own husband anymore

Replies

  • Purplebunnysarah
    Purplebunnysarah Posts: 3,252 Member
    You will want to enter your settings into MFP and tell the site you want to lose 0.5-1 lbs/week (you are at the low end of the range where 1 lbs/week is reasonable, so you may want to just stick with 0.5).

    See what it tells you for calories, and try to stick to that. Measure your good so you know how much you are eating. If you find weighing/measuring everything to be off-putting, then at least weigh/measure everything that isn't a low cal vegetable.

    Enter any exercise you do into the diary as well. It will say you can eat more--do so.

    Assess how things are going in a month and adjust as needed.
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    So you are new here? Welcome.. because I am little lazy tonight, I thought I would just provide links that I think you might find helpful.. These are found in the "Most Helpful Posts" stickies at the beginning of the forums.

    http://fit101.org/the-step-by-step-guide-to-losing-weight-with-myfitnesspal/

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/818082/exercise-calories-again-wtf/p1

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1235566/so-youre-new-here/p1

  • samwhitehurst1991
    samwhitehurst1991 Posts: 3 Member
    Thank y'all. I've actually had my account since last year I believe but I've never actually done anything with it at all, or even attempting dieting just whined about my weight for the last 2 to 3 years lol. I've gained 4 lbs in the last 2 weeks, and that was apparently my breaking point to do something about this.
  • Whitezombiegirl
    Whitezombiegirl Posts: 1,042 Member
    My advice on top of the usual diet stuff is to take time for yourself. Stress management is so important for mental, emotional and physical health. Meditation, a good book, a gentle stroll in the woods, a relaxing bath, swim etc. Stress meses with our hormones and can cause us to retain water and increase our appetite. Stress can also lead to emotional eating and apathy about food choices.

    Other tips that work for me:
    Carbs make me hungrier - sweets make me crave more.
    Protein and fat keep me full.
    I think of my calories like a shopping budget. Consider dropping things that are not value for money.
    Artificial sweeteners increase my hunger and my taste for sweet things. Since cutting them out ive lost my taste for sweets.
    Dont stress about the scale and chose exercise you enjoy.

    Im sure there is loads i missed off. Good luck.

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