This is my story. And unfortunately, I have to stick to it!

I was a chubby kid on and off. I started out rail thin, and then gained slowly here and there until boom, by the time I had hit 23, I was 214 pounds. I never wanted to leave the house. I was so depressed that I just cried and my life suffered very badly. I am only 5'1, so every pound I gain is very obvious. I decided to do the Atkins diet and successfully lost about 50 pounds. Yay! But in the past 4 months I have gained weight and am now at 175. I could strangle mtyself. I have decided to lose weight by counting calories so I don't feel so worn down all the time. Atkins worked great for me, but I am not able to sustain that lifestyle and I will just gain everything back.

So here I am, counting my little heart out. I hope to find support and encouragment here and am looking forward to getting healthy the right way! I have nothing against low carb dieting, but it just doesn't make me feel very good. So here goes nothing.

So does anybody have any tips or advice for me? I welcome it all cause I am a newbie.

~Rikku

Welcome, I am new here also so I can't tell you much about calories but I can tell you this is a great place with alot of very smart people. Its a great enviroment very supportive. Wish you lots of luck!

Here comes EVERYTHING! I am a calorie counter, and it is the ONLY way I, personally, have been able to lose anything more than about 20lbs. Welcome to your new life - you can LOVE it!

Don't try to change everything at once - baby steps, baby steps. Just count for now - later you can think about your balances of protein, fat and carbs, sugar and sodium intake and so on. It can be overwhelming to try to focus on everything at once!

Remember, you don't have to eat food you don't like, and you can have a little of everything, in moderation!

Post lots so we get to know you, and !!

Heather

I can tell you this -- I just joined yesterday, and have already received tons of valuable information and advice. I am only 5'2" so I hear ya on every pound being very noticeable.

I have decided that calorie counting is the ONLY way to go -- for me anyway. Good luck.

Welcome! I'm new also, but not new to dieting and calorie counting.

You'll be fine, sounds like you're doing very well already!

Welcome! Read the sticky for Frequently Asked Questions. Full of valuable information to get you started. Then just post questions and answers, tips, and motivation will follow. You can do it!

Welcome to all our new members.

I second what Heather already said - take it one day at a time. You don't have to be perfect from the start.

Calorie Counting is a great way to develop life long habits. But beware that it and these boards can be addictive!

I log everthing and visit often to keep on track.

Again, Welcome

Lori

I always thought I knew what was good and bad and how much I could eat to lose weight... and that's all well and good but it doesn't hold you ACCOUNTABLE for slipping up.

So now I calorie count. I felt like it would be OVERWHELMING b/c for the fresh foods that don't come w/ Nutrition Fact panels, I didn't know calorie amounts and I didn't want to weigh things, look up amounts for fresh foods, etc etc.... but that's why I LOVE LOVE LOVE Fitday.com (didn't know about it until I found out about it here)b/c they have standard calorie counts for MILLIONS of foods and you don't have to know it on your own, just look it up.

I love it b/c if I know I'm going to be having a not-so-good for me meal that night, I will figure out how many calories I can afford to eat during the day. So if it's a big meal, I make sure that I pick lots of low-calorie foods to eat for breakfast and lunch (lots of veggies, usually, since they're crazy low cal)

Before FitDay I might have just "chanced" it and hope that I would come out alright. I'm kinda addicted now--- I'm on there all the time, but at least I know I'm 100% accountable for what I ate and I can't be like "hmmm... that was probably only like 100 calories" when it really was a TON.

I use MasterCook software for ALL my recipes, type in the ingredients and it prints up a complete nutritional workup of what a serving size has in it based on the ingredients I entered---- I then take my favorite food recipe nutrition information and type it into FitDay and save it as a Custom Food... so when I have it I know exactly how big a portion is and how bad it is for me. It's all about PLANNING and I don't know how I managed to diet successfully before FitDay.

Also, it holds me ACCOUNTABLE. which is always good.

Hope this helps!!!

I'll second the online calorie tracking. I use Daily Plate for all my tracking, because they allow you to create recipes using the individual brands of ingredients! Works out great for me, because I'm always very careful about what I choose, and I hate programs that automatically assume that I'm using high sodium chicken broth or something when I always pick the Herb Ox kind which is almost sodium free. I absolutely LOVE Daily Plate, especially because you can add anything and the database is searchable by all users - chances are your item is alreayd in there because someone else has input it!

Thank you everyone for your advice! I did good for breakfast but decided to get a grilled chicken sandwich for lunch from Mc Donalds and of course had some fries with it. I'm 10g above my fat for the day and very close to my calories. So now I have to have a salad for dinner! I hate salad! lol.. Do you sometimes have to make up for a slip up now and then by limiting another meal later in the day?

yep, absolutely--- hence why I use the calorie tracker in fit day. If I slip up, I immediately look up the nutrition info and plug it in--- sometimes the slip up isn't nearly as bad as I thought!

And then I can plug in my different food options for that night to see what I can eat that will get me as close as possible to my calorie range.

Same as the opposite--- if I KNOW I'm gonna eat a bad meal at the end of the day (going out, party, etc) then I can plug in my favorite foods and see which ones I can eat for the lowest cal count so that the bad dinner doesn't kill my count for the day too badly.

This is part of the calorie-counting learning curve. It takes a little while to get everything sorted. If you need to keep your cals low at dinner (and you will after McDs for lunch!) make sure you have some protein with your salad--a 3 oz chicken breast or a bit of fish. It will keep you fuller, provide necessary nutrients and reduce the feeling that you're being punished for a terrible crime.

You can also try steamed vegetables - just as low cal as a salad, but sometimes they can be more palatable and "dinner-y." Or boil up vegetables for a while until they make broth.

Thank you all for your advice. I can tell this place and all of you are going to be of great help

Yes, absolutely! But not so often now.

That's another cool thing about using software, whichever you choose. You can map out a day (or even a few days) in advance. That way, you don't find yourself at dinnertime with too few calories to eat something satisfying.

That said, over time, you'll learn how to make really satisfying dishes for lower calories than you ever thought possible!

Can you tell calorie counters love their choice? There's a recent thread in here called "why I love calorie counting" or something like that...check it out!