Hey everyone. I haven't ate all that well my entire life and I've finally decided to do something about it. I wouldn't necessarily say I'm fat (even though BMI calculators say I'm obese).

I'm a male, 5'9", 205 pounds. I've been eating a lot better and exercising more over the past 5-6 weeks and I've lost anywhere from 10-15 pounds depending on which scale of mine I use. *sigh*

I recently moved back home for the summer and since I'm not in school and don't have a job currently, I'm not very active in my daily life. I hear a lot about how walking/running for a mile or two a day is really productive and can go a long way but I feel that because I don't do much outside of working out that I need to work out longer.

This past week I've taken up a fitness diary as well as a daily food diary to try to keep track of what I'm doing. My exercise consisted of walking at 2.7/3.0 MPH on a flat surface (my cheap treadmill can't elevate) for an average of 63 minutes a day. Aside from that, I try to do about 400 jump ropes and 100 jumping jacks a day.

Due to the fact that my schedule is so out of whack I usually only eat one real meal a day. It has nothing to do with trying to skip meals in order to lose weight but it's because I get up at 3PM (i know i know) and dinner is the first thing that I have. I usually eat dinner at about 530 and then eat some sort of snack at 11 and over the course of the week I've ate about 1400 calories and 33g of fat per day.

I guess I'm not really coming on here asking why I'm not losing weight because I am but basically just looking for some tips and information on how to improve what I'm doing. A couple questions I have:

- After cutting out soda I've become really fond of diet snapple. I look at the label a couple times a week to make sure but it says 0 calories, 0 sugars, 0g of fat. Is it really as healthy as it says it is? What's the difference between that and water?

- When should I be weighing myself? I've read a lot about how I should weigh myself atleast 2-3 times a week but is there a specific time or after a specific event? Normally I weigh myself after I eat at night but I do that every time so as to remain consistent.

- What's the deal with scales? I have one analog scale that I've had for awhile and it currently says that I weight 200 pounds. My digital scale says that I weigh 204.5 pounds and I just got that one a few weeks ago. The digital one seems pretty inconsistant though because I've stepped on it and it said one thing and then changed when I stepped on again a minute later.

- How do I know how many calories I'm burning when I exercise? My treadmill has a calorie counter but doesn't factor in things like weight/gender/height. I saw a post about it on this site but the link doesn't work anymore.

Thank you all for reading

ive wondered about the water thing too,though to be honest I drink nothing but water anyway now and ive got used to it after 6 weeks

as far as weighing yourself if you do it under the same conditions it dosent matter when,but you should be lighter after you have been asleep

Scales are just a pain in the backside I tend to look for shifts of about 5 lb rather than relying on one number.Last week throughout a day I weighed anywhere from 305-313 depending on the time and day,this week I weigh anything between 299-307,as long as the trend is downward dont worry too much about a deadset number.

I use a digital scale and I dont like it,for some reason I dont like just seeing a number pop up I'd rather see a needle go round ,pathetic I know. but by the same token I cant see the point of paying £20 for a good set of scales just to make me feel better and make up for my insecurities, its not like another scale is going to tell me I'm suddenly 250 and the digital one was lying

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i would recommend weighing yourself in the morning before eating and after going to the bathroom, based on my own experience. this will probably be the most accurate weight to track your progress by. depending on the mass of the food you eat until the end of the night, there will be fluctuations on your scale that reflect this so i wouldnt go about weighing myself at night because it wouldnt be a correct account of your loss.

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My Food Diary

Hi there I see you are serious about getting back into shape I think electric scales are a bit more accurate but if you'd want to know your exact weight you'd have to hop into one of those huge water tanks while scientist work out the exact body weight you have and who has the time and money for that. Weigh yourself just after you pee in the morning. Keep away from any processed foods and if you can afford it eat organic fruits and vegetables, avoid anything that says diet on it these things contain more chemicals than the non diet foods

You should try to avoid any diet drinks. Just recently on some of the news channels they talked about diet drinks and how people actually start craving sugars after diet drinks.

You also need faster metabolism to lose weight, so eating smaller meals to lose weight is a lot better than 1 real meal. When exercising, you should also eat protein (helps with building muscle) and lots of fiber loaded foods. These two combined are going to help tone your body!

Congrats with losing weight!

Research shows that weighing at least once a week is helpful in losing weight. (Those weighing every day lose the most weight.) Also, daily weighing also has been shown to help with keeping the weight off. Try weighing yourself at a similar time. You’ll weigh less after you wake up and weigh more as the day progresses because you’re eating and drinking. Scales can be a nightmare. I agree with gbone in going for a range in your weight, especially when using different scales.

I agree with onlinegal in eating more smaller meals instead of eating only once to help with your metabolism and blood sugar.