This is my first time on a site like this, too. I'm 39 and have two daughters who are 15 and 11. I am 5'7" and weighed 177.5 this morning. I need to be around 150. I am looking for some support as well and would be more than happy to check in with you to offer moral support. I don't know what I'm going to do. I guess count calories and try to stay away from sweets, which are my downfall.
I hope to hear from you and wish you all the best.
Curves is a good place to start if you're not used to doing any exercise. Take it easy, don't go too fast.
As for food, there are many different plans to follow. Some of us here are doing South Beach, some Weight Watchers, and some Atkins... some, like me, are just watching calories in vs. calories out. There are computer tools you can use like the FitDay program (www.fitday.com) that lets you enter your foods and exercise and keep track. But just a calorie book will work, too.
Thanks for the moral support. I checked out the link you left for fitday.
I love it. That is just what I have been looking for. I will share this with my daughter Magan, We both joined CURVES. She is 21 and in the same boat I am. I am trying to help her as I learn.
Jay, What is the dailey total of calories needed? Is there someplace this can be calculated?
I like the idea of just eating healthy and counting the calories.
Good morning littlered, and Good Luck. I go to Curves , too. I also count calories I find that a health way to go , for me. 3FC have researched a lot of diets for us, go to Home Page and click on diets. Their will be lots of info from members, too. Success Stories are a great inspiration, too.
"They" recommend 2000kcals for maintenance for the average woman and "they" also recommend that you don't go any lower than 1200 per day.
Since weight-loss is usually an experiment of one I would recommend starting to track a normal day for you, then aiming for about 200kcals less than that per day. Add in curves and you're pretty much set for some healthy weight loss. As you lose more weight, you may need to adjust your calories down a little bit, but generally I would start as high as possible, then drop a couple of hundred if you need to.
Hi Red, Almost any diet works, if you stick to it. The problem is finding one that you can follow for the long run. I choose to just eat healthy, smaller portions. I find that if I start eliminating something I just crave it and end up eating more of it than I would have.
I think exercise is a must for losing weight and especially for keeping it off. And for staying fit and strong. And most of us want that in addition to losing weight. So talking a daily 1/2 hr walk is a grat idea.
Being an inspiration for your daughter is a great incentive! Show her that you can do it, and that she can too! Because you can, ya know!
Fitday is GREAT! It will help you keep track of everything. In the book Calorie QueensbyJackie Scott and Diane Scott Kellum, they have a chart that tells the calorie amounts to eat to weigh a certain weight. Here it is:
The equation is the number of pounds you WANT TO BE X 12 calories per pound which will give you the amount of calories to eat to WEIGH THAT AMOUNT.
I'm guessing that to LOSE weight you would have to first eat a bit UNDER the amount that you want to eventually weigh then eat that amount to STAY at that weight once you have arrived at that weight.
On FITDAY PC they have a part of the program where you can put in your goal weight and the day that you'd eventually like to weigh that amount. I put in my current weight (201) and my target goal date (August 18) and it tells me that I need to eat about 1550 calories a day to weigh 160 by that date. The program also calculates the amount of exercise that you do and takes your basal rate into consideration as well. It adjusts for you based on the information that you enter. I was VERY happy to find out that information, too!
My problem is that I have days that I only eat once a day. I don't eat a lot of sweets or bad foods, I actually eat healthy. My downfall of late has been soda. I was drinking a liter a day! I'm weening myself off of it. I had one glass yesterday and today am drinking water.
Is it possible that not eating enough is hindering my weight loss? I have heard that you should eat several small meals a day. That's my problem. I just can't seem to do it. I guess I feel guilty that I'm eating.
Welcome! I have some really good news for you! Eating BURNS calories!!!! Yes! It really DOES! Every time you eat something the body has to get to work digesting it. Foods like celery take so much effort to digest that you can eat tons of it to fill you up AND the body works harder digesting it than it does storing any calories from it! Eat high-fiber foods, and your body works hard digesting them, thus BURNING CALORIES! Just the sheer act of eating when you wake up starts the digestion burn going! Cool, huh?! SOOOOOO, we all need to eat small amounts throughout the day to keep our digestion working for us to help us lose the weight.
Muscles also are wonderful helpers! The more muscle we have the better our body burns the calories we eat. Muscle requires more calories to survive, so more muscular people can eat more food and STILL lose fat! Super cool, huh?!
So, to lose weight...EAT, just eat plenty of fiber-rich foods that are nutritious. Drink plenty of water to help eliminate toxins from the digestion process, and there you go...weight LOST!!
NOT eating slows the metabolism so that your body will hold onto any existing weight just in case there is a famine. The body can't tell the difference if we are TRYING to lose weight or if there's some awful thing happening like no food available at our favorite food store!
just another newbie
littlered and emherald!
Hello and welcome!
you know... someone decides to pick up the table without asking! 
