New and I am crappy at this! Any suggestions?

Hi there.

Probably the best thing you can do to start is just log everything you eat. You will learn a lot (like you did with the McD's frappe) about what you eat and the calorie content. This will enable you to start making decisions with lower cal options being one consideration.

I'm with you on granola bars. Too many calories and not filling at all. But I have learned that a boiled egg is pretty filling, as is a fresh plum or some celery with Frigo string cheese. Not that you need to eat those things, but by logging what you eat and doing some label reading and reading on MFP, you will find a lot of satisfying foods that are healthier than what you may be eating now.

You might even learn that two cookies is enough. You don't have to give up everything you like, but you will probably choose differently and "save up" for things you really want.

You can get a ton of help here. Cruise the forums for people like you and people who have been successful, friend them, and learn from them. Good luck to you.

The only thing that helps me in my lifestyle change is that every day in a new day. don't beat yourself up over misstakes! I try to do something new and better each month. This month i'm trying to exercise 5-6 days a week. Next month maybe i'll watch my portion size and work out 5-6 times a week. It's all about moderation. I know i'm going to have pizza on Friday or saturday, so for me that means I watch extra careful during breakfast and lunch so I can splurge alittle bit for dinner. As for whey protein, I find it tastes great in smoothies. I add lots of fruit, greek yogurt, or whatever you want and it really tastes great. My favorite is Vanilla because you can add that to just about anything and y ou don't really taste it. My husband loves anything chocolate, but he drinks his whey protetin just with water or milk. If you don't plan on using a lot of whey protein then Jillian Michaels is best i think. But, if you plan on using lots of it, I would check out GNC or Vitamin Shop and look for their HUGE containers. They are usually $50-75 dollars, but they last a while (My husband drinks Whey protein everyday and it usually lasts him 2-3 months). Good Luck.

p.s. i'm still not 100% awesome at this. We all have issues. The trick is finding out what works and sticking with it. Add me as a friend and we can help each other out on both of our journeys! Friends really do help!!!

Hi,

I was introduced by a friend who sucessfully lost 30 lbs. following Dr. Mike's 17 day diet. I knew that I had 30 lbs to lose and was concerned about my health after being told by my doctor that I was pre-diabetic and cholestrol was high and if I did'nt make any changes soon I would have to go on medication.

April 11, 2012, I purchased a book by Dr. Mike Moreno, called "The 17 Day Diet" since I began on the 11th I have lost 7 lbs, and have lowered my cholestrol 20pts and reduced my glucose signifantly! The book is amazing and I am learning about a healthier life style. I highly recommend his book to anyone!!

Where are these recipe threads? are they the ads on the side

Some things that have worked for me:

One is that I "set" the calories per day fairly high (higher than recommended for the amount of weight-loss I wanted). I've found that I wasn't motivated to plan for a certain number of calories, but I was motivated when I saw that I came in at, or below (often below) the calories per day I set. I often did this by increasing the calories I used for exercise, rather than decreasing the calories I used as intake.

Another is that I *set an additional food goal*. I wanted to add 10-20 more grams of protein per day (I like texturized vegetable protein, because it's crunchy on cereal; it's soy-based). As a breast-feeding mother, you should consider that you need to take in more protein for the little one.

Another is that I log all my activity. Pedometer, stair-climbing, home yoga, strength-work, etc. The program will deduct the (presumed) calories you use against your daily total (which, in that case, should be set high) when you log it in. You can set your personal exercises in the menu, just as you set your personal "meals." You have young children -- you should see how many "steps" you take per day before you beat yourself up about not doing more exercise!

The basic principle is that I add, not subtract, and do something, not nothing. That is, it's easier to develop a habit of *action*, to *do* something, but hard to stop doing, or not do, something.

One more: I took a picture of my evening meals, whenever they were not "standard", were from a restaurant or made by a friend (or your husband, bless his heart!). That way, I would remember and could enter the information later. It wasn't so important to get it all right, but to record it at all was most important.

I agree with most responses...simply logging every bite of food is enough to get you started. I've found that putting the food in immediately is most helpful, don't save it for the end of the day. Also make yourself look up the nutritional info BEFORE you even take a bite. You'll quickly find your appetite reducing.

Granola bars are fairly pointless. They are high calorie, low nutrition, and tend to only keep you full for an hour. Oatmeal is a much better option and will keep you full all morning. I keep a box of the high fiber, instant flavored stuff in my desk at work and eat it while I check my email in the morning. I also add Chia seeds which have too many benefits to list but are extremely helpful to any dieter.

Water is the next key. Before eating anything I always drink at least 10 ounces of ice cold water. I also drink 6-8 ounces of water before eating any second helpings. That gives your body the time it needs to realize you ate so it tends to help a lot. As for the cookie habit...same thing. Log each cookie and have a glass of water between cookies. Only take one cookie at a time and make yourself get up and walk to the kitchen to get the next one. If your hubbie cooks high calorie meals it's important to practice portion control and fill up on veggies and protein, skimp on the carbs. Use myfitnesspal to look up the actual portion sizes (for instance rice is only 1/2 cup prepared...most people eat well over a cup as a serving).

I understand the exercise issue. Could you take the babies for a walk (or run)? It's a great way to spend time with them and you can teach children so many things outside. Point out and name the animals, colors you see, shapes! You can play "I spy" and use some baby sign language. (Can you tell I work in education?). Diets don't work well without exercise...you'll plateau really quickly. Maybe you can find a friend or neighbor that would like to join. Having someone to diet and exercise with is great. If you don't have anyone friend some people here...it really does help with motivation.

Best of luck! You've taken a big first step. Stay dedicated and don't get discouraged. You'll plateau every five weeks or so which is just a signal to change something (walk faster, add ankle weights, switch your diet to higher protein etc.).

Hello, well you did take the first step, and that was to get on here. lol. I don't want to tell you what to do. but I can tell you what is working for me. I set my calorie intake at 1200 a day. sometimes I meet my goal other days, I eat under my goal, I am still learning as well. lol. I am doing the Whey Protein Shake in the morning, which you can buy at Wal Mart. I bought the chocolate one which is pretty good. one scoop is 140 calories but 2 scoops is 260 calories. they both count as a meal. but I figure 140 calories in the morning is not enough so I eat a banana, or a boiled egg. and that gets me over 200 calories. but then I go to the gym and workout about 1/2 hour later. and I am there for about an hour doing cardio. treadmill is my favorite. just giving everything I have. I also take a vitamin B12 in the morning for energy. after the gym I do my errands till about noon, then I come home and have a salad, and my water, followed by house cleaning, more errands. then my daughter gets home from school, and we cook dinner together I try to stay away from the breads and pastas. once in awhile its okay but not all the time. then her and I go to water aerobics on tuesdays and thursdays, or we just go for a walk around our neighborhood. I try really hard not eat past 7pm, and just pushing that water. I know it must be hard with little ones and working. life is stressful, Just try to make time for you. if your hubby does all the cooking, maybe he can start cooking in olive or coconut oil if he frys. maybe switch to grilling and baking adding more herbs and spices, and less salt. I hope this helps.

I have found that if you take a bite of the granola and suck on it versus chewing it gives you the sweet sensation and lasts longer. It does have oatmeal in it so it's not as bad as cookies and usually is about the same amount of calories as 2 cookies. If the weather is bad, go to the indoor malls to walk with the kids in the stroller, take healthy snacks for you and them both and keep drinking your water. Good luck!!