Hey everyone! I am a newbie on the boards, please take it easy on me!

Well here is my story....I pigged out on hotwings and fries too long..Now my butt looks like a hot wing! (LoL). I am 25, 5'6 224. My goal weight is 140, did I mention I am female.

I sit at a desk all day and stare at a computer screen, so i have office butt too..Any advise is greatly appreciated.


[/I]

uniquesoul, People on here use a a lot of different diets & we all seem to lose weight. You need to pick what works best for you. The one thing I would do is make room for exercise & don't start out to fast. If you start out to fast you may think exercise is to hard & quit or hurt yourself. You need to be in this for the long term so start slow on exercise.
I count calories I have 1,500 calories a day. Also I exercise at least 5 days a week.

Chip

I am on the slimming world diet, and it works for me because i find calorie counting limits how much i can eat in a day!
I have been a synchronised swimmer for 10 years now (and realistically im not going to progress any further whilst still being fat!)

Your exercise seems healthy! i dont think i could possibly do 6/7 days! thats commendable in my books!

Goodluck

Sophia, Im for any diet where I can eat what I want. I always thought calories in calories out. 3,500 calories less than you need & thats one pound.

Chip

Troutman
I think i understand what you mean.. ive never really known much about calorie counting if im honest! I find it too confusing (although im sure its simple). So if a female was on a diet, how many calories should she intake a day? or is it more complicated than that? and does body size/height matter?
Sorry for all the Questions

Hi all,
Counting calories is easy. I use fitday.com to count all my calories. It's a free account. Then counting calories becomes second hand. All you have to do is keep them under or at your desired amount. This really helped me to understand.................Cabana

I used to just go to those free calorie counter pages to check up once in a while what I eat.. but then I realized that I'm giving myeslf way to much slack that way. What you put in your mouth REALLY does matter and because it takes a deficit of 3500 calories to lose a pound you really do have a daily limit. So by writing down what you're eating and how many calories you've taken in you can see what kinds of foods are just empty calories and what foods are important and have lots of protein and vitamins, etc. in them. It really helped me cut out bad foods and stick to a diet more. Ofcourse it's not for everybody - everyone's different so counting calories may not be fit for your weight loss program. It's really not as hard as you think once you get into it though.

Well We Are Around The Same Weight So Maybe We Can Go Down Together!

If any of you decide to count calories, I will let you know what I do. I tend to eat the same foods over & over again. So I wrote the calories of those foods down & posted them on my fridge. So when I'm dishing up my food I can see how many calories.

If you write down what you eat, you will lose weight. If you quit writing down what you eat, you will not lose weight as fat. Because you will lie to yourself.

Chip

i don't usually write down what i eat, but it hasnt seemed to make much of a difference because i have a good memory! However i might start because at least i can sort of evaluate why i lose more weight eating certain foods in my diet.. hmm.

Your on the right track! Food reacts to people differently! It took me a long time to realize that.

And even if you have a good memory, it really is good to keep a log of what you eat and how many calories you consume. And if you are really changing your eating habits to be "healthy" and lose weight, that will also help you to avoid what they call those "empty calories"----For example, you cant sit and just eat 1200 calories worth of twinkies all day and expect to be healthy and lose weight.

It is good to focus on eating a little of everything from the food pyrmid. It's true, alot of our menu's are repetitive, but it helps to get over that initial hump--and then variety is an option once you know what your limits are.

What has helped me is eating strong, lean proteins (which is usually chicken) and 5 or more servings a day of fruits and veggies. And believe it or not---all those fruits and veggies can be filling! The protein helps to keep you full longer! I also try eating something reasonable for breakfast (protein bar-whole grain ceral) Good luck on your journey--once you start you may want to post a diary!..............Cabana

Sometimes writing what you eat helps you quit the snacking or nibbling that you think doesn't hurt your diet - when it really all adds up and definately does!