Aa
how? where do i begin?
hi! thanks to you people who responded..
i hope you will continue to inspire and serve as my motivation to start the year right..
how should i start?
where do i begin?
and most especially...how do i keep myself motivated??
thank you for welcoming me here..!
i hope you will continue to inspire and serve as my motivation to start the year right..
how should i start?
where do i begin?
and most especially...how do i keep myself motivated??
thank you for welcoming me here..!
Please accept our warm welcome to the WL&D community. You've met Barb and, from the post above, StarryNight23, who have provided you with some great advice.
MedHelp is coming with a food journal; it is in development. They are dedicated to helping us achieve and maintain our health and have been working intensely to provide us with new and improved tools to do so.
You can use your journal or the journal in your weight tracker to record the foods and calorie content and then record your total calorie content daily in your weight tracker. I'd be happy to help you find the number of calories you need to maintain your weight. From that point, you need to create a calorie deficit of 3,500 to lose each pound. This can also be done by implementing exercise and that is where the exercise tracker comes in quite handy. A website I use frequently to provide me with a food's calorie content is calorieking.com .. it's pretty straight forward.
We're also working on creating a Health Page for How to Get Started .. watch for it in the next week or so.
Very best wishes and so glad you are here!!!
((Hugs))
Ranae
MedHelp is coming with a food journal; it is in development. They are dedicated to helping us achieve and maintain our health and have been working intensely to provide us with new and improved tools to do so.
You can use your journal or the journal in your weight tracker to record the foods and calorie content and then record your total calorie content daily in your weight tracker. I'd be happy to help you find the number of calories you need to maintain your weight. From that point, you need to create a calorie deficit of 3,500 to lose each pound. This can also be done by implementing exercise and that is where the exercise tracker comes in quite handy. A website I use frequently to provide me with a food's calorie content is calorieking.com .. it's pretty straight forward.
We're also working on creating a Health Page for How to Get Started .. watch for it in the next week or so.
Very best wishes and so glad you are here!!!
((Hugs))
Ranae
COMMUNITY LEADER
Hi and welcome to the community. I had to go back and read your original post. It would be easier if you add to the same post each time, rather than starting a whole new one, then we don't have to keep switching back and forth to see what's gone before. But that's ok - you'll get the hang of things.
Have you been to see your doctor to make sure that you don't have any medical issues that might sabotage weight loss, such as thyroid, pre-diabetes/insulin resistance, etc? And that you are healthy enough to start an exercise program? Make sure you do that.
I read the post by StarryNight23 and thought she pretty much said it. She's right that diets don't work usually and if they do, it's only for a short time and once you go off them, you gain back all the weight. There are websites that will help you calculate your calorie needs, and have food trackers so you can keep a food journal. Spark People is a good one.
Start out very making very small changes - like cutting out one soda per day or something like that. Start writing down everything you eat - again spark people is a good place to do that - there you can figure out how many calories you need each day, start a food journal, and they have calorie counter and almost everything you need to get started. I've read that MedHelp is going to come up with a food journal, but don't know when.
Make sure you eat healthy things like fruits, veggies, protein, fiber, low fat dairy, etc. Get all the food groups. Protein and fiber fill you up faster and take longer for your body to break them down, so you stay fuller longer. Eat several small meals each day rather than 2-3 large ones as smaller frequent meals will help keep your blood sugar stable and help control cravings. Make sure you get some protein and fiber with each meal. Avoid things with white sugar, flour, rice, etc and opt for items with whole grains instead. Be careful of things with artificial sweetner, including diet sodas, as they can actually sabotage your weight loss by making you crave sweets. Best to drink water, green tea, etc. I use stevia instead of sugar for sweetner.
Also, make sure you get some exercise. If you aren't used to exercising, walking is a good way to start. I recommend that you get an inexpensive pedometer and wear it daily to see how many steps you are walking. The recommendation is 10,000 steps/day, but you could start out with say 2500 and add an additional 500 steps every day. You can also check out your cable tv company as many of them have a designated exercise channel. It doesn't really matter what type of exercise, you start out with, so long as you do something. I just did a post earlier this evening regarding yoga, which I recommend for anyone - you might check out the post called "Yoga Anyone". Some cable companies also have a yoga channel. Again, start slowly and work up as you gain muscle.
As far as motivation - you can find that right here with us. We have games, challenges, etc that are fun. You can log on and vent any time you are frustrated or things aren't working for you. You can log on and brag every time you lose a pound (or two or more).
You've already taken a huge step by asking for help, now that we've given you some ideas to get started, keep coming back for support and motivation. Good luck.
Have you been to see your doctor to make sure that you don't have any medical issues that might sabotage weight loss, such as thyroid, pre-diabetes/insulin resistance, etc? And that you are healthy enough to start an exercise program? Make sure you do that.
I read the post by StarryNight23 and thought she pretty much said it. She's right that diets don't work usually and if they do, it's only for a short time and once you go off them, you gain back all the weight. There are websites that will help you calculate your calorie needs, and have food trackers so you can keep a food journal. Spark People is a good one.
Start out very making very small changes - like cutting out one soda per day or something like that. Start writing down everything you eat - again spark people is a good place to do that - there you can figure out how many calories you need each day, start a food journal, and they have calorie counter and almost everything you need to get started. I've read that MedHelp is going to come up with a food journal, but don't know when.
Make sure you eat healthy things like fruits, veggies, protein, fiber, low fat dairy, etc. Get all the food groups. Protein and fiber fill you up faster and take longer for your body to break them down, so you stay fuller longer. Eat several small meals each day rather than 2-3 large ones as smaller frequent meals will help keep your blood sugar stable and help control cravings. Make sure you get some protein and fiber with each meal. Avoid things with white sugar, flour, rice, etc and opt for items with whole grains instead. Be careful of things with artificial sweetner, including diet sodas, as they can actually sabotage your weight loss by making you crave sweets. Best to drink water, green tea, etc. I use stevia instead of sugar for sweetner.
Also, make sure you get some exercise. If you aren't used to exercising, walking is a good way to start. I recommend that you get an inexpensive pedometer and wear it daily to see how many steps you are walking. The recommendation is 10,000 steps/day, but you could start out with say 2500 and add an additional 500 steps every day. You can also check out your cable tv company as many of them have a designated exercise channel. It doesn't really matter what type of exercise, you start out with, so long as you do something. I just did a post earlier this evening regarding yoga, which I recommend for anyone - you might check out the post called "Yoga Anyone". Some cable companies also have a yoga channel. Again, start slowly and work up as you gain muscle.
As far as motivation - you can find that right here with us. We have games, challenges, etc that are fun. You can log on and vent any time you are frustrated or things aren't working for you. You can log on and brag every time you lose a pound (or two or more).
You've already taken a huge step by asking for help, now that we've given you some ideas to get started, keep coming back for support and motivation. Good luck.
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