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Fuel your body with the correct amount of calories. The timing of your meals and snacks is irrelevant. Make this easy for yourself: - set a goal to lose 1 lb/week on MFP with a sedentary activity level. This will give you the number of calories you need to eat each day without any exercise. - when you exercise, eat back…

This is the way we do things as well.

This. If you're just getting started, it takes awhile for your body to adjust. Start small and keep the weight loss goals reasonable (usually 1 lb/week). Also, eat back some (up to half is usually recommended) of your exercise calories to fuel that.

Krista, congratulations! Running your first 5K is a major accomplishment. Don't worry about the time. My first 5K run took 50 minutes on the treadmill. You did great.

You can do this, Danny, and will get lots of encouragement from everyone.

This. You have to have told MFP how much weight per week you want to lose. It will then calculate a deficit and tell you how many calories you should/can eat per day.

I agree. Don't look at the big picture. Have smaller goals of losing 5 lbs (for example). Concentrate on finding sustainable eating habits that will stay with you for life. Weigh all your food, learn to recognize the portion sizes by sight, learn to recognize your triggers and how to balance parties & such things into your…

Start at sedentary and monitor your weight loss for a month or two. If it's consistently more than your set weight loss goal, then up your activity level. It's difficult to determine activity level because everyone's definition is slightly different. It takes a little while to get it right but you can do this.

Well done, everyone! These are all great success stories. HappyCampr, if the beans were green in colour, they are either lima or broad beans; if they were in the brown or tan range, they are fava beans. Happy Holidays everyone.

With 10-15 lbs to lose, have your goals set to losing a half pound a week. On non-social days, either exercise a bit more & don't eat the calories back or eat a little bit under your daily calorie goal. This will give you a reserve for the nights when you socialize. Instead of looking at each day as a separate entity in…

Losing weight requires determination. How do you define hard? If you mean that you're always hungry, it may be that your weight loss goals are too aggressive. If you mean that you're tempted by all the sweets of the season, then, yes, it can be hard until you find a good balance (and one week into this program hasn't given…

Life is full of memorable moments. Enjoy them; they bring happiness. Time with your granddaughter is precious. Perhaps, for the holidays, you can change your goals to maintenance. This way, if you stay under, you lose some weight; if you maintain, you at least don't gain weight. Also remember that a few days of eating…

Hi everyone! I'm Petra. I usually run 3x a week; I'm a 5K runner. Lately I haven't been getting my runs in due to Life and my running is struggling a bit. But I run as often (per week) as I can right now and will pick up whatever I lose over time. I doubt if I will ever run a half marathon but have run 10K twice now, which…

Congratulations, Orphia! There's nothing like the feeling of running that first 5K stretch! Well done! Winnie, I trained on the treadmill as well and still use it through the winter. Keep going. You're doing great.

New member here, too. I'm not a hard-core runner. I started running only a couple of years ago and try to get out three times a week. I tend to run 5K, sometimes as much as 8K. I enjoy it but will never be a marathon runner. DrywallPainter, take it slow and pay attention to your ankle. Make sure it heals right. Your…

The closer you get to your goal, the slower the loss will be. You've only got 6lbs to lose and a good rate would be a half pound a week. Patience. It will happen. Keep up the good work.

That's great! Achieving a goal is quite an accomplishment. Keep at it. You can do this 3x a week. Well done!

That's good advice. Also, set your weekly weight loss goals to something reasonable and not too aggressive & restrictive. Welcome to MFP!

Loss of toe nails could mean shoes that are too small. Running shoes should be 1/2 size bigger than your usual shoes. You need lots of room in the toe box to accommodate the swelling of your feet while running.

Tankinis are great. To gt an idea of the options, you can mix & match tops & bottoms at Landsend.com .

I enjoy the Inspector Gamache series, too....but not so much this last one. Despite that, I'm still looking forward to the next book. I'm currently reading Almanac Of The Dead by Leslie Marmon Silko. Dark, but very good so far.

Aim for a sustainable 1lb/week weight loss plan. It'll take about 40 weeks to get there but it'll be manageable and not stressful.

I'm not sure. I never counted my everyday life activities, so I'd set my activity level to sedentary and see what happens. It doesn't matter, though. Keep your activity at lightly active and monitor your progress for a month or longer. If you're losing weight at the rate you expect, you're properly set. If you're losing…

MFP is set up to give you daily calories based on your entered weight loss goals without any exercise. That's where the 1200 calories comes from. It's calories to eat without exercise. When you exercise, you have to fuel that exercise. You do this by "eating back" your exercise calories (the 250-350 you list). However,…

I don't know how good this cookbook is but if your library has a copy it may be worth checking out: Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld The recipes "hide" veggies in them, from what I've heard.

I recently finished two books: Timbuktu by Paul Auster, which I thought was really well done. I haven't read Auster's books before and will look up some of his others now. Blood And Bone by Chris Bathory. This is an interesting murder mystery book with a touch of humour. It's a little bit like the Stephanie Plum books but…

Check to see whether your weight loss goals are too aggressive. With 20 lbs to lose, 1lb/week is a good setting. I also like a snack after work and before dinner. I plan on a sweeter fruit such as grapes, where I get the feeling of having had a sweet treat (and I have). Look through your diary to see whether there are…

Toasted Rice Green Tea is one of my favorites.

Set your goal to lose 0.5 lb/week and eat to that limit. The weight will come off in a healthy, sustainable method. The closer you are to your goal weight, the less you should aim to lose in a week. You could start out losing 1 lb/week but cut back to 0.5 lb/week when you are within 10 lbs of your goal. If you exercise,…

This. Eat less of the high cal options and more veggies on the side, but eat the same meals as the rest of the family. MFP is all about finding the balance within your calorie allotment in a sustainable, everyday manner. It can be done. You can do this.