Newbie who had a 'reality check'
 

I'm new here, and new to calorie counting. I always said I'd never count calories, that it would drive me nuts.

However, being overweight is driving me nuts. I realized over the past few months of trying to "cut back" portions and "make better food choices" that although I know what the better food choices are, I have no idea of how many calories that translates into.

Just three days of counting calories proved to me that I have seriously been overeating,even when I thought I was being "good." Wow - what an eye opener!

Looking forward to learning more from everyone here. The success stories are so inspiring!

Blessings!
Michelle

Welcome! Have fun!

Hi Michelle!
:welcome: to 3FC! :)
One thing that I have found to be invaluable is logging everything into the food journal on Fitday.com. The account sign up is free. They also have an activity journal where you imput you daily activities. Then they compare and graph how many calories you have eaten compared to how many calories you have burned. You can also set weight goals and they graph that for you too as well as having a page to record your moods, in case you are an emotional eater. You may already know about Fitday, and may already have an account but I just thought I would mention it as a tool.
Best wishes on reaching your weight loss goals.

Judy

Good luck Michelle - I read someone here had the quote:
Being overweight is hard
Maintaining your weight is hard
Losing weight is hard.
You have to pick your hard.

I email that to myself every other day or so to get my mind refocused :)

The online tracking is a great tool! I did start to use Spark People, and that was when the light bulb went off. I think my husband is getting a little sick of hearing how many calories are in everything we're eating :D

This was a tough weekend - family reunion yesterday and a wedding today. I tried to just do small bites and portions of the best choices, but I was still amazed at how fast it added up.



Michelle

Welcome to 3FC Michelle!! greatt job on the weight you've lost so far weight loss is always a great accomplishment! you have come to the right place for the best support you can get, the ladies here are the best! they are always helpful and this site is full of so much info on everything that has to do with weight loss.

Welcome & Good Luck on your journey :D

Hi Michelle and welcome!

I wish you the very best with your weight loss journey.

Thanks, all! I'm excited to continue - and finally prevail!:carrot:

It's really sad how many calories are jam packed into basically everything. Makes you want to make the most of your allowances.

You'll find success this time!

Hi and welcome to 3FC.

Good luck with your goals.

Hugs
Michelle

I'm in the same boat as you! I've been trying "awareness" instead of calorie counting, in the hopes that making better choices about foods and portions would help me, but it hasn't worked at all. After two months, I have only lost about two pounds! So, this week, I decided to start calorie counting properly.

I started a log on FitDay (I found out about it from here) and I'm hoping it will be helpful. I realized that, eventually, I might be able to recognize healthy portions and choices intuitively, but, right now, I need to train myself to see them objectively. :)

I hadn't realized how many times I mindlessly ate something throughout the day, until I committed to logging everything. Yikes!