Obese newbie, wanting to join motivational challenges

Hi,

A simple 500 calories deficit is enough for good weight loss.

This will work with or without exercise.

The key to any diet is knowing exactly how many calories you need on a daily basis, and just eating under that number).

First you need to workout how many calories your body needs in a day (Total daily energy expenditure).

Weigh yourself first thing in the morning.

Input your data in this website www.tdeecalculator.net
Choose whichever activity level is closest to yourself.

Then click the cutting calories button (under the macronutrients heading), this will give you your starting calories, and what you need to stick to on a daily basis.

Try to get as close as possible to your cutting calories every day, a little over or under is fine but no more than say 20 - 30 calories either way (stick to this bit).
Don't equate eating under your calories with faster weight loss, this will just lead to failure and probable binge eating.

Foods to eat:

Absolutely anything you want, Just weigh and track everything you eat and drink inc milk in tea & coffee etc. (don't add calories back in when you've exercised, MFP will ask if you want to do this).

Check your TDEE on a weekly or daily basis, because it obviously drops as your weight comes down, and adjust calories accordingly in Myfitnesspal.

If you want quicker weight loss you can obviously add in cardio and or resistance exercises, not only will this help build muscle but it will also create a bigger calorie deficit.
If you were to do this I would recommend just a 30 min incline walk on the treadmill or walk outside at a steady state.

Drink plenty water, at least 2-3 litres a day.
It's important to drink more water whilst dieting, not drinking enough will cause you to retain it, not only that, toxins called persistent organic pollutants, accumulate in fat cells, which get released into the bloodstream when dieting and burning fat.

And that's it, just carry on until you are at the weight you want to be.

Good luck and I hope you have a great holiday.