I NEED SERIOUS HELP

You can literally eat anything, as long as it's within your calorie deficit.

I was 320 at one point. I used Weight Watchers to get my portions under control, then did a primal diet. That eventually morphed into reduced sugar, natural carbs, low sugar baked goods. I'm down just over 100 pounds and finally working on the last 60. Now my diet is calorie counting with lean protein and a 45C/35P/25F macro goal, 1400 calories a day for 2 pound a week loss. I find eating whole foods makes it easy to stay at my calorie target because it takes so much more of them to get calorie density. I use vegan protein powders and protein bars to get more protein in because I have a hard time hitting that macro.

I am a later eater. I now eat breakfast within and hour or so of waking up, then I just kind of eat when I get time throughout the day. One of the things that have helped is making smoothies up in big batches and freezing them in mason jars. I take one down the night before, add my almond milk, protein powder, and PB2. Throw them in my bag with a blender ball and it's good to go when I need it. I also eat a lot of hard-boiled eggs. My diary is public if you want to look for ideas.

The best plan is one that works for you well enough to stick with it. You can do this!!

you can do this I will help u please add me

bee_bee8 wrote: »

The next early step you should take is learn to cook some things. I was never (and am still not really) a cook, I could barely make scrambled eggs. But there is so much you can eat that's super easy to prepare, just do some Google searches or check out Pinterest for easy and healthy recipes. On that same note, find some healthy snack foods you like (some of my go-tos are popcorn and cereal).

I don't think "eat whatever you want/whatever you've been eating" is very practical for you, because that's what got you where you are now. Just eating less of the same foods is probably going to leave you hungry. I think you'll do better if you rotate in some lower-calorie, healthier foods. That way you can eat plenty of food without going over your calorie limit.

The suggestion of learning to prepare food is really helpful. It doesn't have to be complicated stuff - even preparing fresh fruits and vegetables or making a soup will help. Including plenty of vegetables and some fruit in your menu will help too. You can still eat as much as you need to eat so you're not hungry, and it will be more sustainable for you. You will probably also feel better.

Also, I agree that when you eat isn't very important. Whatever works for you. The one suggestion I'd make is not to let yourself get too hungry.

By the way, there's some really helpful advice here. If you haven't read it, have a look.
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10358238/what-other-factors-besides-nutrition-help-you-succeed#latest

Welcome, and best of luck to you!

As others have said, eat what you want as long as you stay under your calorie goal. You will naturally want to tailor your foods to be more filling and nutritionally strong with fewer calories, that way you can eat more volume and still feel strong.

A few of my favorites:
Breakfast:
-English muffin, one egg, one slice deli ham, 1/3 slice american cheese
-1/3 cup (measured dry) Oatmeal with 2tsp brown sugar, & a handful of blueberries

Lunch:
-3 cups romaine, 1/2 avocado, 2 oz grilled chicken breast, 1 tbsp ranch dressing

Dinner:
-3-5 oz protein (fish, pork, chicken, steak), 1 cup brown rice, big side of veggies (green beans, brussel sprouts, asparagus, etc)
-2 or 3 tacos with lots of lettuce (or break one taco up over a bed of lettuce and add a tbsp of dressing)

Snacks:
-Various 100-200 calorie choices (cheese sticks, packet of tuna, greek yogurt, whole fruit, granola bars)

Other advice:
-Weigh everything you eat with a food scale so you know exactly how many calories you are eating (I gave measurements, but you need to weigh those measurements unless they are liquid).
-Log all of your food in the morning so you know what you're eating for the day. If you mess up, and eat a donut at work, you can change your dinner plans to account for it.
-Exercise will help, but it's not necessary for weight loss.
-Don't try to lose too much too quickly. You will get loose skin but you may also be more likely to crash and burn.

Otherwise, you got this. Keep researching and keeping yourself on track.

Phew! Calm down... a lot of what you had questions about are diet fads and myths and nonsense that's been put out to people trying to lose weight. No wonder you're so worried because you're so afraid you'll do something wrong.

As others have said, this site works on calorie deficit. There are some pretty common sense guidelines on macros like proteins and carbs and things like limiting sodium. How you meet your goals and such are entirely up to you. There are some tips and guidelines the community will gladly help you with.

Some people just freak out when they don't know what to eat. This program does not tell you.

A not so bad step is to simply eat as you have been eating for at least a few days. (Yes, really.) Then you look at what you ate, how much, and how it stacks up against your goals. If you can figure out how many calories you overeat, or that you tend to eat a lot more carbs than you should, or that dinner you ate on Tuesday had a LOT more calories than you realized...then you start to know where to change. Or what not to change, too.

Same with exercise (or not).

You are going to make mistakes, it's part of the learning process. It's OK. The nice thing about not having someone tell you what to eat is that you need to think things out and LEARN. And that empowers you to make the best decisions.

Oh, and eat after 7? of course you can. Your body doesn't shut off at 7. That's silly.

I feel a little sad reading your post because you remind me of myself before I started MFP and counting calories. I read all the articles that said carbs are bad, fat is bad, clean eating is the only way to go, processed food is bad, don't eat this or that, eat lots of times a day, you have to exercise to lose weight, don't eat after 6, you must eat breakfast or you will put on weight, set weight, fad diet this and fad diet that.... so exhausting when I think about it now! I totally fell for each and every one of these at some point in my life. This kind of talk makes me a little upset actually because it kept me from losing weight for soooooo long. I would be doing things that didn't suit my eating times and lifestyle. I could never sustain anything for very long.

The only rules I follow now are to record and weigh everything I eat on a scale, and try not to eat over my daily calorie allowance. I also don't keep certain foods in the house because if it's there I eat it all. If I want it and crave it then I have to make the effort to go and get it (this gives me time to think if it is worth the effort and calories). If I eat out then I estimate on the higher end.

I eat what I want and when I want (mostly healthy but including some processed and 'junk' foods). I only have a coffee for breakfast, eat a small lunch (about 11) and a huge dinner (about 5) because that suits how I like to eat. I eat little snacky things way into the night (dark chocolate is my wake up in the middle of the night snack). I even eat again at like 11pm if I am really hungry and count it for the next days calories. I make things up as I go, so long as it fits the calories over the week.

You learn to make better choices like bulking up meals with vegetables, keeping certain foods out of the house, using less oil, adding less sugar (or no sugar) etc. I don't exercise but I have a fairly busy job (not at a desk).

Read these forums, log everything you eat, learn what works and what doesn't and don't put pressure on yourself. Sure we all want to be skinny tomorrow but time, patience and dedication is key. Slow and steady. Good luck!!

Start simple, put height, weight, age etc into mfp, select the amount of pounds you want to lose (upto 2lbs per week). Start logging what you eat, be honest, as accurate as you can and just eat what you normally eat either at lower quantities or same as usual (that will give you a real idea how much you are overeating). Look at it after a week or two, see where you can make improvements. I found small changes overtime is far easier to stick than making some extreme changes from the start.

I'm a kosher vegetarian*. Beyond that, I eat predominantly healthy (not 'clean', though there are probably 'clean' foods in the mix. By which I mean, I don't care whether I eat stuff like Gardein or Yves veggie dogs or Greek yogurt), while making room for treats and indulgences. I also get in at least 50 minutes on a fitness glider (like a ski machine) and/or a 60-minutes walk every day.

This is my 148th day on MFP and as of today, I've dropped 45 lbs. And I mostly don't feel hungry.

You do you. Eat what you like, at a deficit. Experiment with the kinds of foods that keep you feeling full, because that can depend on the person. No reason to cut out the foods you love unless you really can't hold yourself to a moderate portion. And even then, you can still indulge when there's only a 'moderate' portion around, like at a restaurant.

*To be clear, I am not advising you to go kosher or vegetarian. I'm just telling you where I'm coming from. Plenty of people losing weight here eating non-kosher meat!

I had no idea about nutrition or how to lose weight, the following post changed my life:
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants/p1

First off, it's OK. Everyone starts somewhere and a lot of people here started at over 300 pounds and still got down to their goal weight. What matters is that you are getting started, are ready to make a change, and are looking for advice on the best way to make it. That puts you way ahead of people who aren't making changes yet or who are still just looking for a quick fix.

Most of the advice you've gotten in this thread is good. Obviously, weight loss isn't exactly easy because it involves changing what are often lifelong habits, but the facts/science behind it is pretty simple. If you consume (I would say eat, but a lot of drinks are calorie bombs) fewer calories than your body burns throughout the day, you will lose weight. The bigger the difference, the more weight, but if you drop too low you'll be hungrier and can experience health problems because your body won't get the nutrients it needs, and it may burn more muscle than fat.

When you eat, even what you eat, doesn't matter as long as the calories add up. That said, you will stay a lot more full by eating protein and some fat than by filling up on mostly carbs or by getting a lot of calories from sodas and things that don't really register as food. Salads can be good because the greens add a lot of bulk to the meal without a lot of calories, but you'll want to pair it with some protein (grilled chicken or steak, egg whites, beans, etc) and at least a little fat (oil, dressing, nuts/seeds, whole eggs, a little cheese) to help keep you full, and extra veggies can add bulk and vitamins without a lot of calories.

A lot of it, especially at first, will be trial & error and finding what works for you. Definitely get a food scale (around $10-15 at Walmart or from Amazon) & measure portions, because it's very easy to eat a lot more than you realize if you don't. Track your food & your weight and see what you normally eat, and look for foods you like that are filling but not extremely high in calories ,and also try to spot "wasted" calories to cut or limit - things that add up to a lot but that you don't really like that much or feel full from. Use the calorie recommendations from MFP and, after sticking to it for a few weeks, see if you're losing at the rate it say you will. If not, then you may be overestimating your activity level, under-logging your calories, or you may have a medical condition that make it harder to lose weight, which you'll need to adjust for (I have PCOS, hypothyroidism, & insulin resistance, and I've found that I need to eat about 4-500 less calories a day for the predicted results).

As you start losing and changing your diet, you can play with "macros" (calories, fat, and carbs) to see which proportions work for you. For me, I feel the most full and have the least urges to snack, on around 40% carbs, 30% fat, & 30% protein. A lot of people here have had good results from eating much lower carbs, but I've never been able to stick to that and haven't like the way I felt when I tried it. But don't worry too much about getting all that perfect until you are logging and losing some weight just doing the basics.

Definitely learn to cook some - it'll help you know what goes into your food and is a lot cheaper and healthier than trying to buy pre-packaged "diet" foods. For meat, I love the little tabletop George Foreman grill - it frees up my stove for sides & drains some of the fat off, and it's a really easy way to cook. You can google almost any recipe, and usually find advice from other people who've tried it (I didn't know how to cook when I got married, so I bought a bunch of cookbooks at a thrift store & learned as I went - now I ignore the cookbooks and google most of my recipes - Pinterest is also great to find recipes, then just pin or save the ones that seem simple). As you learn to cook, you can also try some ingredient swaps and see which are worth it to you to save calories (plain Greek yogurt instead of sour cream, applesauce for all or part of the oil in baking, turkey instead of pork sausage or bacon, etc).

For breakfast, my go-to is an omelet made with 3 egg whites and 1-whole egg (egg whites have the protein, without the extra fat & calories from the yolk), chopped up veggies, & 1 lite cheese, plus turkey sausages. Or cottage cheese or oatmeal and fruit, or greek yogurt with fruit and granola, or a protein shake (I don't buy "weight loss shakes", just a jar of protein powder and mix it up in a blender with milk and sometimes fruit). For dinner, keep it basic - a meat or protein, 1 or two vegetable-based sides, and some type of starch or grain within limits. Don't be afraid to try new things, but don't feel like it has to be all kale and organic free-range chicken and wild caught salmon, either. With working 2 jobs and traveling/commuting, it's also worth it to know a few reasonably healthy choices for when you have to stop at a fast food place or gas station to pick up a snack.