New, want to make sure I am doing this right!

Hello there,

I am really excited about this challenge. I have needed to do this for a long time and just did not make it a priority. I never struggled with my weight as a young adult, just had a hard time getting it off after having 3 babies.

Info: Female, 35 years old, 5'5" and 220lbs, medium build. My goal is to lose approximately 100 lbs.

I want to make sure I am doing this right from the get go. I am doing the calorie counter faithfully and am entering all my activities that I do throughout the day including exercise and the basics, cleaning etc.

I work as a nurse: 12 hr shifts. Most of my day is spent on my feet moving, rarely do I sit.  Granted, I work 6 shifts in a two week period. I am busy at home with the day-to-day chores but had not been making it a point to actually exercise. I have been doing this for years. I have to admit as far as my diet it has been either not eating enough or eating way too much.  Despite this, my weight has continued to climb.

Questions:
For my activity level, what should I enter? I am now exercising everyday for at least 1 hour. I plan on increasing this gradually. I am on day #2. :) I am doing a brisk walk/jog and plan on working up to running the entire time. I am also going to add in 30 minutes of aerobic/cardio a day but didn't want to add to much to soon. How much is enough and not too much?

Can someone explain in simple terms, what I need to be consuming vs. burning. The burn meter shows an entirely different # than I enter. Should I be entering the day to day activities or just my physical exercise for activity.

I see a lot of info about BMI on  here and am familiar with this to some degree, but how can I figure out what I need in order to lose? Is my goal of 100 pound weight loss realistic?

I appreciate any help and guidance that you can offer.

Melissa

If you have not done so yet, go to the top of the page and click on tools, follow the instructions to set up the amount of calories they suggest and also the amount of calories your body burns.  This will be in the "Calorie Target"  and the "Burn Meter".

One note about the Burn Meter that seems to confuse some people is that before you add any activity you are going  to see a number in the burn meter box.  This is the amount of calories that your body burns if you do nothing but lay in bed all day.  It takes calories for your heart to beat, your lungs to work, etc.  If you add in the things you do during the day such as cleaning, shopping, etc. you will see this number get bigger.  That is because that activity has caused your body to burn that many calories now. 

I'm sure there are others that can explain this better but maybe this will clear up some of your questions.  Good luck.