Day 1 - New to myfitnesspal

Welcome, all those tips are right here. Glad you have joined us.

Hi Kim

Welcome to MFP, you'll find plenty of support on here. good luck with your journey ;0)

Andie x

You will LOVE this site! It has a great database full of food items that makes it so easy to keep track of your calories. This site has helped me tremendously and you'll find a lot of supportive great people here that will encourage when times seem slow and give you victory cheers when you lose, Keep logging....that's the main thing you've got to do and it will make you think twice before you eat something bad. Stay honest and accountable and stay under or at your calorie goal each day and get in some workouts at LEAST 3x's a wk. Good luck and best to ya! You CAN do it! Just remember to have patience! That was the hardest thing for me. I started on July 9th, 2011.

I totally agree with Butrfli,. This place makes Success happen and pretty fast too. Welcome Kim!

I don't do well with 1200 cals. I can manage with 1300 and have lost 12 pounds.

Welcome to MFP!!!

This site is the only thing that has shown results for me. Some things that I have found useful:

- took it slow...I didn't try to change my whole life at once, just tackled one thing at a time. I started just logging without changing anything, then tried drinking more water...then staying under calorie...then adding in exercise...and so on.

- added some friends (great if there is someone you actually know, but not necessary!) and made my diary open to them. Keeps you accountable, and helps you to think twice about eating that "insert your vice here".

- explore the site - there is lots here! Like to write? Start a blog. Enjoy a challenge? Join one on the group forums. Enjoy leadership? Start your own group! Need inspiration? Check out the success stories forum! You can fine tune your own goals, record various measurements, track all kinds of different nutrients, the list goes on and on.

- log EVERYDAY. This is probably the most important thing for me...Even if the day doesn't go well - log it, own it, and learn from it!

Good luck and enjoy your journey!!!

Hello everyone!
Really need to lose 20lbs. myfitnesspal has said to eat 1200 calories a day. I'm fine until 6pm which is when I start eating too much . . . I work at home and am at the computer almost all day. It's really hard to not to reward myself with food and wine at the end of the day. I am so impressed by how much weight you have all lost. Advice please

Nothing derail's progress like feeling hungry...Some possible ideas:

- readjust your weight loss goal. If you go down to 1/2 lb per week, you will get more calories to work with. Better to have slower progress and feel satisfied (and stick with it) than fail completely because you are so hungry!!
- exercise and log it! It will give you more so that you can eat more!
- drink more water!
- eat slower...give time for your brain to get the message
- if you need that little reward to keep yourself motivated, then do it. Just make sure that your choices allow for the room.
- stock up on veggies - low calorie so you can eat lots, and good for you!
- you can also manually change your calorie allotment...perhaps you can slowly work your way down to what MFP has suggested - give yourself a chance to adjust. I know it is a lot easier now than when I first started (sometimes, I have to make myself eat more to make my quota - I'm nursing, so I don't want to mess with my milk supply...)
- MFP offers lots of flexibility, so just try something different and see if it works...and if it doesn't, change it again

Welcome! dont set My fitness Pal to 1200 as a start.
If you are in it to win it, do the research and know what YOUR personal stats are.
Use the tools at http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/.
The BMR calories tool is the most important one!

HUGS!