i'm new and i need help

Hello and welcome! I have been on this site since March 2011 and successfully have lost 40lbs with MFP's help ( 18lbs previously after having baby #2 Dec 2010 so 58lbs total.......not a whole lot but slow and steady....I log on faithfully everyday and exercise 5-6x per week at home. Losing weight is frustrating especially if you have a lot to lose and it is not coming off fast! Everybody is different! I have learned you have to do what works for YOU! Keep changing things up....workouts and food! I have adjusted my calorie intake a million times and if you have 100lbs to lose 1300 calories is definately NOT enough! I have 35lbs left to go to be at goal and I eat 1650 calories per day...I watch my sodium and have lowered my carbs. Drink your 8-10 cups water a day too! I am no expert but have been doing this a while! Don't give up....you will go thru many plateaus in your journey!

I think the 1300 calories is too low as well - I started out less than you and it gave me 1270 b/4 exercise. I have gained and lost at least 1 or 2 people throughout my life plus having multiple belly surgeries, including a C-section. There is no quick fix - sadly. I did Phen-Fen back in the day and dropped 50 pounds quickly and gained it all back. I read somewhere a person should have 150 minutes of exercise per week - it is good for your heart. So that is sort of my informal goal. I would be happy to support/friend you as I have lived my entire 59 years with a weight problem. Hang in there - but do exercise! Especially cardio.

I am turning 55 next month and FINALLY have gotten to my goal weight of 135! I went from 205 pounds and a size 16 to a size 4 - 6! And I am 1- "old", 2- did it passing through menopause, 3- work at home behind a desk, and 4- have had hypothyroid disease since age 19 and on medication for it. 5 - not an exercise maniac; I mostly walk just twice a day. I lost 70 pounds!

What has been most beneficial to me? In a nutshell: eating better calories such as those from whole foods - real veggies and fruits, whole grains, and eating very few things from boxes, jars, and cans. I eliminated junk food (obviously they call it junk food for a reason!), saturated fats, sugar, and white flours, white rice, white pasta, all refined grains. When i got rid of the white flour and sugar my cravings went way down low. Instead of food driving me to it it uncontrollably, I was able to pass it by with just the desire to eat it but I could live without eating it. My eating habits didn't change overnight, but I did get an epiphany from People Magazine - How they Lost Half of Their Size issue. The upshot of the articles secret? They never gave up. I had always given up. This time I knew I wouldn't.

My best tips for you are:
1 -Make manageable changes in your diet and life. Change things slowly one by one. The object is to succeed, not to set yourself up for failure. (think of it as learning anything new. You don't learn math by starting in calculus. You don't learn to exercise by running a marathon. You don't set your calories for 1000 and eat just celery and water, either. DO FOLLOW the MFP calorie guidelines including eating your calories. Whatever amount you are eating NOW is way more than the amount MFP will tell you to eat so you will lose. Also be prepared to have nothing or little happen for a month or so while your body is in revolt! It doesn't know what is happening so it wont lose. But have faith. IT WILL!

2- Make a list for yourself of what you are WILLING TO DO versus what you are NOT WILLING TO DO to succeed. My examples are: Diet: I will not join Weight Watchers or anything like that. I will not do and Atkins diet, that doesn't mentally work for me. I would rather cut out all junk food, white flour and sugars. I would rather do the Dr. Oz book YOU; ON a Diet. I will eat real food. For Exercise: I will not run - EVER. I will not join a gym - EVER. I will take walks around the neighborhood and I got a dog just for that purpose. He needs to walk and will give me company to make me walk. I will find some exercise videos to do at home in my own time. I will also ride my bike and take opportunities for occasional hikes or other active things like that.

3 - Your past performance (like the stock market!) does not necessarily predict your future performance. I have failed at every attempt I ever made to lose weight for the long run. Might have had weeks or months of success, but never years. I waited until I was 49 looking at 50 to finally get serious. I got serious. I still had to learn how to keep it off. I lost 53 pounds steadily over 8 months, but then thought I didnt' need to COUNT CALORIES anymore and gained back almost 20 pounds in a couple of years. It is possible to succeed at this if you approach it as a lifestyle change. Any "temporary" changes in your eating habits will have temporary results. You have to mean it when you want to lose weight to keep it off. I started my diet and exercise lifestyle changes 5 years ago. FIVE YEARS AGO! I just hit my goal last week. FIVE YEARS you may say? SO what? Five years passes anyway. Might as well put the time to good use. And guess what else? After you lose the weight now you have to keep it off. It doesn't magically stay off. You'll need to work at that, too. By the way, I only lost 1.1 pound per week ON AVERAGE when I first started. The last 30 came off but took OVER 1 solid year of hard effort. 1 solid year. Don't be in a hurry. Any loss is good!

4- YOU CAN DO IT. but the real key is to NEVER GIVE UP. EVER. If you backslide, fine. Everyone does and they are lying if they said it was easy. If it were easy, everyone would be thin. For whatever reasons your plan isn't working, REFINE YOUR PLAN. DON'T GIVE UP! That is the best way to fail - by giving up. You already know how that works! You are not stupid. You have the internet at your fingertips. Read success stories right here if nothing else! These people have already done it! They are experts. They all went about it a different way. Pick and choose things that will work for you that make sense for you.

Best of luck to you. Success is yours if you don't give up!

Hi hun, this is my first week and I lost 4lb. Are you sure you have your daily activity level set correctly? Can I ask how much you currently weigh? I started at 207lb and have a calorie allowance of 1320 (working to ratio of 2lb a week)... So question number one, are you eating enough?

Number 2, with the calories given for exercise, if you feel they are too high (some sites are) and you feel that your daily activity level is right, perhaps just eat half of your cals earned through exercise?

Calorie counting is really dieting basics, if you have things set correctly then you cannot fail to lose weight if you stick to it.

x x

Great job! This is my first week I hope I do as well.