wanting advice on weight loss journey
 

hi all! i'm somewhat new when it comes to taking on a weight loss journey and i was wanting to receive some advice.

currently, i've lost about 10 lbs (will be checking again this weekend for more progress) from simply counting calories alone. i use an app called "loseit" and have set my plan to losing 2 lbs per week, which leaves me with a calorie budget of around 2k. side note: my bmr is about 2.1k

most days or lately, i've been eating a little under 2k (about 1200-1800 is frequent) and my exercise starting from monday has been around 300-400 calories burned each day (i walk to classes and use a treadmill/stationary bike at the gym for about an hour or so). another side note: my meals come from a school cafeteria so i can't really cook the way i'd like to.

basically, i was wondering if this plan seems safe or can ensure that i'd be losing the weight like i want. i tend to get confused on how many calories i should be burning to make sure that the weight will be lost in combination with how many calories i'm eating (the concept of calorie deficits confuses me still). i've been able to cut out soda, chips, and desserts so i feel as if that's a good start... but again, i wanted some advice/opinions to help make sure i'm staying on track to losing weight.

sounds like you're doing perfectly, and well done on the 10lb!
yep, I was a calorie counter too - it definitely works.
It sounds like what you're doing is great. Personally I wouldn't worry too much about the exercise-offset calculations stuff because everybody is different anyway so those things can only be a guide. You are your own experiment! Stick to your calories. Stick to doing some exercise and monitor what happens. The best information you can get is your own information about you, so it's good if you're noting all this down somewhere, then you can look at it for trends if you want to try tweaking anything later on.
Well done!

Weight loss is about 75% diet, 25% exercise, so even if you don't exercise much, you can still lose weight.

What you eat is more important than how much you eat. What do you eat? Even if you eat at a cafeteria, they probably have some foods that are healthier than others (if you tell me what foods they have, I might be able to give suggestions). Avoid sweets, refined carbs, and deep fried foods. Eat a lot of vegetables. Eat enough protein and healthy fats.

I suggest weightlifting 2 or 3 times a week, in addition to the cardio. The more muscle you have, the faster you'll be able to burn calories.

thank you both for the kind comments and advice so far <3

typically what i eat at the cafeteria are the "comfort" and "grill" foods. it is a bit hard to explain what they have at each station, but comfort foods tend to be healthier (i.e: roast beef, mashed potatoes, veggies, rolls, chicken, pasta, etc) while grill foods tend to be less healthier imo (i.e: burgers, fries, hot dogs, chicken nuggets/tenders, etc)... these are just some examples of what i would get/see at each.

as far as weightlifting goes, are there any beginner exercises you could recommend i look into? for example, would bicep curls be something good to incorporate?

It's hard to be sure how healthy a food is without seeing the ingredients and nutrition info, but yes, it's probably a good idea to avoid the burgers, fries, hot dogs, and chicken nuggets.
If the rolls and pasta aren't whole grain, then I'd suggest avoiding them as well (but if there are vegetables or other healthy foods mixed into the pasta, it wouldn't be as bad).
The mashed potatoes are probably ok, but it might be unhealthy if it has a large amount of added butter or salt.

For weightlifting you should focus mainly on exercises that work large muscle groups. I suggest starting with squats and pushups, which don't require any equipment, so you can do them at home. If you have access to a gym, you can also do overhead press, pull ups, bent over row (not necessarily all of them, but whichever ones you feel comfortable with). Bicep curls won't help as much (because the biceps are a smaller muscle), but they won't hurt, so if you like bicep curls then do them. I suggest weightlifting about 2-4 times a week, and avoid working the same muscle two days in a row.

I am there with you
 

I have been trying to lose a few pounds and I am not having the success that you are with counting calories. I have tried many different things without much luck.
I was hoping maybe someone had some other ideas