Well, I used My Fitness Pal which I was able to get on my iPhone. This is also available at myfitnesspal.com You put in all your info and what you want to do. I can't remember the specifics of when I started but it went something like this.
I am 5'8 and was about 240. I put in that I wanted to lose 1 1/2 lbs a week. It then let me know I was able to have about 1500 cal a day and this would assist me in losing the weight. I did zero exercise during this time. It will track anything you eat and deduct it from your daily total. It was hard at first but got real easy after about a month and after around 3 months I found myself no longer needing the app. I ate pretty much the same food daily and was able to know what I could and couldn't have.
Once I hit 200 which was my goal and changed it over to maintain my current weight. I was able to have 2400 cal a day. During this time I lost an additional 6 lbs as I could not force myself to have this much in a day. Now after a year I find myself not being able to put food down like i could before and it is hard to reach a high cal intake during the day. This has completely changed the way I eat and also the food I eat as well.
The key to doing this is to make sure you have a plan. Don't just eat what you normally did and expect to not be hungry. Soda, throw it out. Fun fact is that by drinking 1 can of Mountain Dew you take on 170 cals, Now not saying this is the healthiest substitute but is strictly for demonstration. you can have 3 grilled chicken wings for 65 cals, So you can have 6 Grilled Wings for 130 cals, 1 can of tuna is 50 cals per sv. and you can get the right bread for 60 cals a slice.
So... A tuna sandwich, Dry (it's not that bad once you get the taste for it) and 6 Grilled Wings, You can add hot sauce like Franks as the cal intake in negligible, and a nice glass of water. Total for a very filling meal would be 300 cals. This is very low and also look at what you can get for lower then 2 cans of Mountain Dew. This is how I look at everything. Where can I get the most bang for my buck with food.
Find the lowest calorie material, build the meal, plan ahead. This will guarantee success with your weight loss. Also killing something like soda will work wonders. Normally say you had 2 sodas with a meal for 340 cals on top of whatever you ate, lets say its high, you can be pushing 800-1000 cals for a meal. 3 meals a day your at 3000, Unless this is your plan it's not good. And thats guessing 800-1000 cals, which is pretty generous for someone who doesn't pay attention to anything. It is probably more like 1500.
So that's my long winded way of life and it has been working for me since day one.
I will check out the journal section and see what it's all about.
Also remember to have a throw away day each week so that your body doesn't flip and start storing fat. Very Important.
