Good afternoon everyone, (to those in the states Good morning) I am just starting my weight loss and diet. But I am scared I will fall out of it like i have done so many times. It seems every time i start on working out, I lose motivation and give up. But I am in a gym now, and I have started doing spin classes, and thinking if i do this 3 days a week, it would help me on the goal I have made for myself. I am 238 lbs and I am sick of it. I look into a mirror and i feel ashamed, and unattractive. I am married and my husband tells me I look beautiful, but i never see it. I am hoping losing even just 50 lbs it would make me see myself in a better light. I am portion controlling, cause I have a very hard time sticking to those no carb or no fruit diets. so I find that eating from a smaller plate and watching my caloric intake would be a good thing. If any of you have any advice for a newbie like me I would love to know.

(sorry for the long intro!)

Rekameohs ! You have come to the right place for support and motivation. There are so many successes here to motivate you Have a look around for threads that you can identify with (20 somethings, calorie counters etc) and If you are going to be counting calories, you should look into getting an app for your phone (if you have a smart phone that is) or there are lots of web apps that will track what you are eating. I use mynetdiray, there is also myfitnesspal and lose it. They make keeping track of what you are eating a breeze.

Good luck on your journey

Welcome!

I agree with Silverfire about an app to track your calories. I use MyFitnessPal and it really works for me to see the numbers and not be able to fool myself about what I've eaten that day--it's all there. I update it every time I eat. I don't wait until later--if it goes in my mouth it goes in the app.

I said I enter as I eat, but actually I enter all my planned food into MFP the night before so that I have a plan laid out for the next day. I find it a lot easier to stay on plan when I'm not making any decisions during the day about what to eat, and when I'm not faced with coming home from work and having to decide what to make for dinner (or to go out).

I also plan the next week's meals (not quantities but dishes) on Sunday night and shop on Monday morning. It's my schedule now. (5.5 weeks in, so it's a new one that I'm turning into a habit.) I have a file that I keep adding to--one week at a time.

I measure everything (except my salad vegetables which I estimate)--DH jokes about how many measuring cup sets I have and use! I measure salad dressing, pasta, fruit. I weigh meat more often than I measure it, though.

I'm also reading "The Beck Diet Solution: train your brain to think like a thin person" to learn Cognitive Behavior Therapy approaches to staying on a weight loss plan.

Good luck--and welcome!

Hello and welcome! Beth has some good ideas, especially inputting food the day before, might try that myself. Best of luck!

Welcome and good luck on your journey!