One thing I can tell you for sure - you have come to the right place for help. There is a wealth of information here.. so much so that it can be overwhelming to know where to begin.
I am going to tell you some things that if I would have known at your age, I would not be in the predicament I am today. My parents ate whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted.. and however much they wanted. That is where I learned how to eat. It is not their fault - they learned it from
their parents!
1. You need information - too much information for one post on here. So I am going to refer you to a book that you might be able to find at your local library, if not you can find it on Amazon.com or likely any good book store. This book:
The Body Fat Solution by Tom Venuto has everything you need to know. Read the reviews on that book at the link provided.. you will get excited about reading it, because it really is a solution and has been a solution for a lot of people.
2. When you lose weight through changing your eating habits, you also need to focus on some strength training. Why? Because building/keeping your lean muscle mass is what in turn helps your body burn more calories. You can lose weight without this, but you will be also losing some lean muscle mass at the same time. To minimize it, you need to do strength training (weight lifting, resistance bands.. something.. and it can be done at home!). Cardio exercise also burns burns off some calories (walking, running, treadmill, workout DVDs, etc). You basically want to take in less calories than you are burning each day. Losing weight is 80% diet, 20% exercise. Getting some good exercise habits going will also help you maintain your new you when you get to your goal. A good place to get started tracking what you are eating & figuring out how many calories you need to lose weight might be here:
Sparkpeople.com - and it is free!
3. You do not have to jump in and do everything at once! Take small steps if you want to adjust. Maybe start drinking water instead of soda (whoever you got that from was right!) - you need at least 64 ounces of water per day - it helps flush everything out of your system. Not staying hydrated can hamper your weight loss effort. Then maybe focus on smaller portion sizes when you eat, etc.
4. Counting calories might be the way you want to go here - it is flexible and most places like fast food restaurants have a nutrition guide if you ask for one that will tell you how many calories are in their food. I don't recommend fast food while losing weight though - all you have to do is look at one nutrition guide from those places and you will see why!
If you don't want to spend time tracking food and counting calories, there is something you can do that is a little easier. There is another book "Body for Life" by Bill Phillips that has virtually the same principles as the book I mentioned earlier.. but it does not focus on counting calories. Both plans will have you eating 6 smaller meals each day.. that will keep you from getting hungry
The basic idea is (in case you want to start doing something right away):
Every day eat 6 portions of protein and 6 portions of good carbohydrates. A "portion" would be about the size of your clenched fist for good carbohydrates & vegetables, and about the size of a deck of cards for your proteins. You will also add a vegetable portion to two of your meals each day. Eat 6 small meals spaced about 2-3 hours apart. You can find a list of foods here:
http://bodyforlife.com/nutrition/foodlist.asp
And, on the Body for Life plan you get one day a week as a free day. Eat anything you want that day.
5. If you don't like any of the above, you can always put together your own type of easier calorie counting using prepackaged frozen meals you can find at the grocery store - things like Weight Watchers Smart Ones meals, Lean Cuisine meals, Healthy Choice, etc.
6. You will obviously have to enlist the help of whoever buys the groceries & cooks the meals in your house.
I bet whoever that is would be happy to help out, though!
Most importantly, put together something
you can live with. You don't have to use one specific program - there are many, many ways people lose weight - customize something you can do and that fits you.
Lastly, you have to want it. You have to put all the excuses aside & just do what needs to be done - no temporary taste in your mouth will be as good as looking in the mirror a few months from now each and every day and being proud of what you see. Losing weight is also 99% mental.
And now I have written my own book and I really hope it makes some sense. LOL! I want to see you succeed - I often wish I had known what was in that first book I mentioned a long, long time ago. Good luck to you and remember to ask questions here - everyone is very helpful!
I need HELP.
