New and hopeful

Hi there! I'm new here my self. I'm only 17 years old though, but I almost have the same gold as you. Do you workout, or diet?

welcome. one of the most important things to getting healthy and losing weight is your mindset. when my mindset was simply "lose weight", I would get on one of those yo-yo roller coasters where I'd lose weight and then gain it back after some time. my new mindset is "get and stay healthy" and I remind myself of the benefits of being healthy (i.e., more energy, reduced risk of serious diseases that would suck, feel better about myself, run around with my kids, etc.). For the first time, I wrote down my goals and I review them often. Write down your goals and read them daily and whenever you have an urge to let yourself down.

As far as accountability, commit to recording your food every day...even on bad days. for me, if I know I have to enter a food item, I think twice about eating it. and, if I eat it and then see the calories, I think twice about eating it again. I also have friends and family to help me stay accountable as I've given them permission to ask me if I really want something that might be unhealthy. Saying this, I do allow myself some treats...but I do not do so on a daily basis (except for my recent 5 day birthday celebration...you only turn 40 once).

Have only been exercising. I do a lot of walking. I don't eat all that much (I think), but I don't keep track of what I'm eating either. I tend to go most of the day without eating until I suddenly realize I'm starving, then I eat whatever I can get my hands on. I drink a lot of sugary drinks to that I need to cut out. This is why I 'm hoping the counters really make a difference for me. Do you exercise, diet, or both?

proper nutrition is 70-80% of the weight loss equation. Exercise will help you tone up....but until you lose the fat, you are simply building muscle below the fat. Building muscle fiber can help fat loss, but proper nutrition is way more important.

The eating plan you just described is not ideal. most folks recommend eating 5 or 6 times per day to keep your metabolism rate high. also, starving yourself will NOT lead to fat loss. your body goes into starvation mode if its not getting enough calories and starvation mode means storing everything as fat...not good. foods with a high sugar content are stored as fat....and they create cravings for more sugar. same with sugary drinks. drinking lots of water is the best thing you can do for your body. reducing or eliminating packaged and processed foods would help big time. the folks who lose weight in a healthy way are those that spend more time planning and preparing meals using natural foods more often than processed foods.

I agree small meals 5-6 times a day, you should also be eating your weight in protien a day if not more if your tring to build muscle, eat lots of veggies and drink lots of water most important.
I work around the fitness area and see people who can run and work out to high extent but don't change what they eat and drink,
So therefore their weight stays the same and they are just keep going around and around in circles.
Stay away from juice ( so high in sugar) and restrict the amount of tea and coffee, milks not a bad option but light milk as it can count as your protien.
Try and get enough sleep each night.
These are all important steps and go hand and hand with exercise and try to incorporate some weight training as it keeps you metabolism burning all day plus you get a tone body.
And most of all enjoy what you do makes it so much more easy to work out........
I also use another site ( bodybuilder.com ) love it for my work outs as I love weight training.
Good luck with your journey's