HELP! I have no idea what I'm doing..

Hey! I have basically the same stats as you (5'3, 182lbs) and the way I see it is, you can eat 1200 calories per day whilst doing excercise to burn it off; you have to work off more calories than you consume to lose weight.

Sorry if that doesn't really help...

But basically I am trying to cut my calories down as much as possible and also doing workouts 4 times a week and walking everyday. Hopefully it will work!

It can be confusing. Just follow the recommendations such as workout time and calorie intake. Log all of your meals and snacks, as well as your exercise. The site will calculate everything for you. When you work out you will notice that you are allowed more calories, and yes you can eat those additional calories. The site has already calculated the amount of calories you need to eat to lose weight safely. You can eat too few calories.

There are 3500 calories in a pound. To maintain your weight your current weight you would need something like 2300 calories a day. You would lose weight without exercising if you reduce your calories. But, when you exercise you burn even more calories causing a larger deficit that will cause your body to pull the extra needed calories from your stored fat cells. Your BMR is the calories burned, you burn calories even if your sleeping. It is energy used. Your BMI is your body mass index, and that determines if your at a healthy weight. Hope this is helpful. And if anyone feels I mis-spoke or gave incorrect information please feel free to correct me, I am self taught and have room to grow!

Julie

Food: think of your car. It won't run without gas, and you won't run without fuel either. If you filled out your profile here at MFP, to reach your goal, MFP actually does the math for you. So generally a 1200 calorie is the average for loosing weight.

I will tell you right now, there will be times you go over that 1200 calories count, but if you do, its ok, get back on your new life plan not the next monday, or the next day, but the next meal. If you look at success stories here, you will get the picture real fast.

Exercise: log your exercise daily. Exercises are on the top naviagation tabs. Add in your favorite exercises. So for me, I routinely walk the dogs, work out on the treadmill, do weights and yoga. Log in what you do every day. Start small, because small changes will net you big results. So today if you can walk 15 min, log that, in a week bump it up to 20, then 25 then 30.

For maximum weight loss, do cardio and strenth training. Carido burns the fat and strength training will boost your metabolism, tighten your skin, and build musle. You want to have musles. I follow a strength training program and it works for me. I do upper body, mon, wed, and friday, and lower body tues, thurs, and sat.

If you have questions, just ask, you will get a bizillion new friends helping you. We have all had help so this is our way to play if forward. Anyone reading this post, feel free to friend me.

Why MFP works, besides logging in daily calories and daily burn, is the support you will find here. Don't be shy, ask questions and enjoy your journey. You are on the first day of the rest of your life. Have fun, enjoy and good for you! You are most welcome here.

your welcome, and thank yo for the compliment.

At the top of this forum section are several posts marked with the red push pin icon. Those are "stickies" that are always there. You should read all of them, but I suggest you start with "Posts you want to read again and again" and "Newbies read me".

These answer all your questions.

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