Help! Help! What do I do?

Okay.  I am a little new at this.  I've been reading some of you guys' chats and I am completely lost and confused.  I am 16 weigh 150lbs and am 5'5.  What do I do?  What should I aim for?  How much weight do I need to lose and what do I do to get there?  How many calories should I get per day?  What do I do?  I am lost and I'd appreciate some advice.  Thanks

~M

A good place to start is to enter your statistics into your Calorie Count profile.  Most people choose 'light' as an activity level.   Calorie Count will estimate how many calories you burn on any given day based on your age, sex, height, current weight, etc.  From there you can choose a realistic calorie deficit, say 500 or 750 calories a day.   That means if you are estimated to burn 2250 calories a day, a deficit of 500 calories means you aim to eat 1750 calories a day.   A 500 calorie deficit x 7 days would be 3500 calories, or 1 lb loss each week.

Start paying attention to food labels and see how many calories the foods you are eating has.   Eat a lot of vegetables as they are low in calories and are very healthy.  Try to avoid all sweet baked or fried foods including cookies, cakes, donuts, muffins, scones, candy bars, granola bars and chocolate coated fruits or nuts.   If you have these, try to have them in small portions or in moderation.

The key here is that you can still eat a lot of food and be well within your calorie budget as long as you make smart choices.   Do not restrict your calories too low and do not make it so that you feel deprived, unhappy, or starving all the time.

Good luck and keep us updated on your progress. :)

Hi. Firstly go to BMI Tool - which is on tools - and input your stats.  Your BMI comes out at 25, and ideally it should be 17.1 - 24.2, which is 115lb - 145lb.

To get into healthy range you need to lose 5lb which isnt much! Set your self a target, of say 10lb or a stone to start with.  Go on your account - account settings, and put in your start weight - 150lb and target weight of say 140lb, and other details such as how active you are, frame etc.  Then the computer will work out calories per day and target date.  You need to be on at least 1250 calories a day minimum.  You should aim to lose 1 or 2 lb a week. 

Then you enter your weight on your weight log, and start recording your food on the food log and activity on the activity log.  When you go to My Account you will see calories used so far and calories eaten.  At the end of each day you should aim to have a deficit of about 500 (ie you have worked off 500 more calories than you have eaten)

Theres lots of help on site as to what to eat, low fat etc. but hope this helps get you started.  Good Luck.  

Thankyou both for the advice, I'ma give it a try!

MMkay.  Using the things you guys told me about... It says that I burn 1770 calories a day and should get 1200 calories a day.  Is that right?  I hope so.  Okay.  I'ma get my butt outta this chair and go do something.  This computer is giving me a headache.  I'm going to clean my room...  Maybe go outside a little while.  I'll try my best to get back on here tomorrow.  See ya'll.  Thanks for the help!

I think I have read in other posts that if you are under 21 you need to use a different calculator, as you are still growing.

(Insert more knowledgeable post below)

IMHO I wish I would have stopped gaining a long time ago, it would have saved me a lot of work I have to do now in order to lose . 

Your motivation, to stay on top of your health and to research doing things the correct way, is awesome.

Thanks