1st post. Needing some motivation..

If you take up a sport that your diet needs to be good for then that could be the way around it. Then you get the exercise and have the line 'but I neeed this for soccer/football/basketball etc you don't have to be a top level athlete to do something. This would give you best of both worlds here

I joined MFP a few days ago and am excited about the prospect of losing weight as I monitor my calorie intake and exercise regiment. I signed up to run in the Columbus half marathon in October. My goal is to finish in less then 2 hours and 15 minutes. It is a modest goal but achievable. I need to loose about 15 lbs to make my running easier.

I am looking at using the P90X training program. It looks intense. As for motivation, it comes from within. No one has ever motivated me. I simply set a goal and go out to achieve it. Good luck to you!

Families are always a difficult one ...

It's hard you say without knowing you all personally, but generally speaking parental opposition tends to come from:

1) Feeling offended. In my family, not eating what's been cooked for you is a massive insult! All you can do is explain why you've made that choice - but know it may take them a while to come round to it.

2) They think it's a phase. Oh, how many times I've heard that! If you manage to stick with it for longer than a couple of months, you may find they get more accepting.

3) Guilt. Guilt about their own lifestyles (even if they don't want to change!), or guilt about the lifestyle they've inflicted on you. Unhealthy eaters tend to be validated by other unhealthy eaters - having someone in their midst trying to make better choices can make them uncomfortable.

4) Worry. I don't know how much you weigh or if you really "need" to lose weight, but having a teenager who suddenly wants to diet can set off major alarm bells for parents. Especially if you're just having a sandwich for dinner! Dads in particular can get angry and yell because they don't know how else to approach the subject.

So in conclusion? Stick with it. Make sure you're making healthy choices that are right for you. When your parents see this is a permanent thing, maybe try to talk to them about what you're doing and why. Don't try to convert them - you need to accept what they do is their choice, the same way how you live is yours. But in time they will come to understand and, even if they don't like it, will try and support you.

Sod your family don't listen to them. It's ignorance and they should want the best for you. They should want you to have a healthy happy life. Keep your goals in mind and imagine how good it will feel to achieve them.

You can do it. It's hard for everyone.

Proper nutrition is important. There's no real denying that in the long term. However if your family is not willing to change their meal types you could try just eating less of what the rest of your family is. So for example if your family was having fried chicken for dinner only have one piece instead of two. While this is still not the healthiest of meal choices you've just cut your calories in, for that group of nutrients, in half. Your parents see you eating with them, so less of a reason to criticize, but you're still reducing your kcal count.

Hope that helps,

S,

Dieting is a word you should drop from you vocabulary. If you want to keep the weight off, you need to make permenant changes to your diet.

A peanut butter sandwich for dinner would have me raising an eyebrow as well, honestly. You can still enjoy food and lose weight, and as you're young, you have the metabolism to facilitate a good amount of food. I wouldn't be surprised if you could lose weight eating 1800 - 2000 calories a day.

Three things to address; when you say 'tone up' do you mean increase muscle mass, or lose bodyfat to reveal what muscle you have? One requires a caloric surplus, the other a deficit.

Secondly, you should invest in a tape measure and take regular progress pictures. According to my scale, I haven't lost an ounce but I train at high intensity with heavy weights 3 times a week and am working on a small deficit to preserve my lean mass. Despite that, I know I've lost FAT because I am seeing improved muscle definition and noticing small changes especially around my belly, where I store most of my weight.

Weight really isn't that important. The only person that sees it is YOU, but everyone else can see your body shape.

Thirdly; healthy food is not lacking in flavour. Fruit is amazing. So many different flavours and textures. Some vegetables are even palletable. And lean meat, cooked properly with a little EVOO is fantastic. Smoked salmon is delicious, but not something you would usually think of as 'diet' food - the healthy fats and high protein content make it perfect, though. If they were eating fried chicken, why didn't you grill it or fry it in a pan with some olive oil?

There are two main ways to use MFP - how it was designed, as hotlinked by Bobby_Clerici, or by customising the goals to suit your own plan, which is the approach I use. The information for the latter can be found on my profile.

Formulate a sensible, long term plan. Stick to it. Improve your body and health. Win.

I just joined today and i will be the 1st to tell u family is hard to get around when they down what you r trying to do good for your self. I had a hystorectomy 10 months ago and 8 yrs ago i became very ill that caused me to gain alot of weight and then i had to have the sugery. I have since gaind 50 lbs and my husband hates that i am trying to work it off and my kids r my support. I am here if u need support i know how it feels . U can do it and when u do remember it will b that much better for u when u know u did..:happy: :happy: