Hey everyone!
I am new to this site and need some guidance ! Im 224 lb 25 years old and looking to lose about 80 pounds. I see a lot of you have been getting amazing results. I was wondering what kind of plans you all are following. I don't know where to start with my diet and need all the help and support I could get.

Emma

Hi Emma! I started at about the same weight and I'm 25 also. I'm new to this too, but I joined weight watchers and have lost 13+ lbs with it in about 5 weeks. Don't get me wrong it wasn't easy, but it's doable. I personally have a hard time motivating myself to go exercise but I know that helps make the weight loss process go faster. Good luck!

Well, a diet plan really depends on what types of foods you like and what you can do without. However, all diet plans come down to calories consumed vs. calories burned to lose weight. Personally, I just use the MyFitnessPal app to keep track of my calories and weight.

I've tried to cut out sugary drinks and soda, sweets, and refined carbs. I've also made it a point to add some fruits and/or veggies to every meal. I don't like the idea of not being allowed to have foods I like, because I'm a total foodie. Therefore, I allow myself to eat anything I want, but if its not good for me, I make the portion very small.

Hello! I started losing weight in 2012. So far, I have lost 105 lbs. I do Weight Watchers, which I think is a good program because it gradually decreases how much you can to eat in a day, while also giving you 49 extra points for every week to use however you want. This allows you to get used to a better diet, while also giving your body time to adjust to a slow reduction of calories in. This way, your metabolism doesn't get all wonky like it would if you tried to jump to eating 1200 calories a day right away or something.

Additionally, with Weight Watchers, you can eat whatever you want. As your points allowance goes down, you are forced to make better choices in order to spread the points out. But at first, you have a lot more freedom than on most diets. By the time you get down to a lower points allowance, you have learned how to "spend" your points in a way that works for you and helps you lose weight.

Here are some helpful tips to get you started on losing weight, whether you choose Weight Watchers or not:

1. Give up/cutback on sugary drinks! This is the biggest one, because it is the one that shows instant reward. Try to limit the amount of soda (diet or regular), sweet tea, sugary coffee drinks, fruit juice, sports drinks, etc. that you drink. The sugar and high fructose corn syrup in these drinks breaks down into fat in your body almost instantly.

2. Drink water! You can drink it with those flavored Crystal Light packets or in green tea, but drink a lot of water. You will pee a lot, but you will be losing all the water weight you have stored up at the same time. Water keeps your kidneys healthy. If your kidneys are working properly, then they have a much easier time metabolizing your food so you can drop the weight.

3. Eat fiber! Fruits, veggies, beans, oats. Some of these are more calories than others, but try to pack as much fiber as you can into your diet. This will make you have to use the bathroom again, but trust me, you want what you put into your body to come out as quickly as possible! I also buy Fiber One bars (they're delicious) and high fiber breads and cereals to add more fiber to my diet. A good bread is Healthy Life 100% Whole Grain bread - 35 cal and 5g fiber/slice AND there's no high fructose corn syrup added! Kashi GoLean High Fiber cereal tastes pretty good with some bananas mixed in, and there's 10g fiber/cup.

4. Avoid white carbs like white rice, sugar, white bread and fried foods as much as possible! This might not be feasible at first, but just limiting the amount you eat of these things will help SO MUCH. Exchange these things for brown rice, Truvia/Stevia/agave for sugar, 100% whole grain bread (not "wheat", "multigrain" or "9 grain" or whatever. WHOLE grain. The rest is just white bread in a fancy dress), and baked foods.

5. Move around more! You don't have to start doing Cardio Insanity 4 or whatever, but walk more. Walk as much as you can. Walk to restaurants to "earn" your meals there. Park farther away in the parking lots and walk to the stores. Get up every hour on the computer and jog in place for 60 seconds. It's almost spring, grab your iPod and walk a half mile. Try challenging yourself to gradually increase the length of time or distance you walk in a week. Just keep your body moving!

Hope these tips help! I know that you can do it. If you have any questions, feel free to message me. Good luck!!

Oh, and one more:

6. Keep a food journal! Write down absolutely everything you eat. You can do this through Weight Watchers or MyFitnessPal or SparkPeople or tons of other places. Include every single chip or Hershey's Kiss that you eat. This will help for two reasons: it will make you more conscious of what you're eating so that you stop to think about the food you're taking in, which will hopefully lead to more mindful eating. Next, it will help you identify trends in your body, so that you will more quickly figure out which foods make you gain weight and which make you lose weight.

I second everything epicskyline has mention, well said epic...

I'm new on here too and I'm going to second the eating fiber thing, very important! When you eat healthier its almost like your body doesn't know what to do without all the garbage moving it along :X

I love epicskyline's post! This is the basic pattern I've been following too. I add veggies where my bad carbs would be. Watch out when you're eating salads they are deceptive little buggers. A big thing I've done is taking control of everything I eat.... Ok most of what I eat. That means less eating out, but more exciting recipes to try. Plus, now this may make me sound slightly hipsterish but its making me feel great, I only eat products if I can identify or pronounce what's in the ingredients.

I hope this helps. I'm a newb too, and I've found this a great place for support and ideas.

-I've cut out sodas completely
-I have my cheat days where I drink like one can of soda, have a very sweet coffee drink, eat chips, eat candy, etc.....Like one thing of it though in that day so I don't lose my brain cells from the cravings.
-I've been eating healthier or just eating less of the foods that I love the most.
-I try to eat a fiber one bar every day.
-I drink more fluids....I've been drinking a lot of crystal light.....I'm not big on plain water.
Exercise! exercise! exercise! I change up my work out about once a month because they start getting boring after a while.

Epicskyline!

IanG!

To make the transition from no soda - all water I had to trick myself. Well for one I was super determined to make this work for me. I got tired of how I felt, so I made a plan of attack. Drinking water is SO important! You have to drink a lot of water to let go of excess water in your body. So, I made sure to substitute crystal light for a sugary drink snack. It tastes like koolaid and tricks your mind! eventually you'll use it less and less.

****electrolytes are very important****

If you get a sports drink make sure it's GATORADE ZERO. All others have sugar or do not have what they claim on their label. Electrolytes help with your muscles - Charlie horses suck.

Welcome and good luck!
I count calories because its free and easy

Hi Emz226,
I always told myself not to deprive myself of anything! So I don't and once a week a buy a SMALL pot of ice cream (or whatever you like).
Plus regular exercise (for me anyways) always helps with cravings! It sucks at the beginning but keep it up and it gets better every week, especially if you are losing the weight! Good Luck!!