new and dont know where to start.

[msnewbooty]

Hi, my name is Clair and im new at this site. I've looked around a while back but this is the first time I actually joined lol. I am 5`4 and 180 lbs. Obviously overweight. I am looking to get in shape after everything I have been through. I lost a few close family members, my best friend just moved away, and my boyfriend is in Dubai because he is in the Navy until early August. I just need some new friends and alot of motivation to lose weight, and take my mind off everything.

I can go without the fatty foods if told to do so, i can excercise like crazy. I just get really lazy. Especially since I work 10 hour days for work; but no excuses. I do have three days off and would love to know how to go about my first steps to losing weight.

Any advice?

 

[rubylee]

Welcome aboard msnewboty! You'll find lots of resources and support here.

The first step you can do is to cut out sugar in your diet.

After that you can either go the low-carb way or counting calories to lose weight. From my experience the low-carb way is definitely superior.

Do exercise.

And also check this sticky thread here:

http://weight-loss.fitness.com/newcomers/8354-where-start-what-do.html

 

[Risty]

Hello and welcome! I'm new here myself, but I've been on my weight loss journey for a while.

When I first started, I just changed my eating. That lost me my first good chunk of weight since I was eating really badly before. Basically how I changed my diet was not eating or rarely eating the white stuff (white breads, sugar, etc). I switched to 100% whole grain instead for sandwiches (which I'd only eat half a sandwhich plus healthy other things for snacks like fat free yogurt, fruit, or veggies. I also reduced my portions, because let me tell you, I can eat a lot! I find that counting calories really helps because it really shows you what and how much your eating. People can be in denial about how much they think they eat, and I was one of them. I good site that I saw posted here was
You just add the foods you eat (you can even add custom foods that aren't in there) and it counts the cals for you, it's awesome and easy. Another important thing I found was eating healthy snacks between breakfast and lunch, and also between lunch and supper. It helps keep you from feeling sooo hungry by the next meal which intern helps with portion sizes!

Now one thing I didn't do right away was start to exercise and I regret that, because by now I could be farther along. Eating healthy is extremely important but so is exercise to go along with it. Now I'm going to the gym min 5x per week (starting 2 weeks ago and I've already lost weight and finally broke my plateau).

So basically what worked for me so far was not skipping meals, eating my healthy snacks between, eating healther things (whole grains, not eating sugar (or rarely eating it... I'll have some on occasion), more fruits and veggies, reducing portion sizes and also exercising. It does sound like a lot, but once you get into it, it becomes easier!

Good luck!