Well, the first thing you have to do is find out how many calories you need to consume each day. Try this site (http://www.practicalweightloss.com/nutrition/caloriecalculators.html) and click on calorie calculator for women. Enter in your information and it will tell you how many calories you need daily to MAINTAIN your current weight. To LOSE weight, subtract 500 from that total. These are the calories you can consume each day and lose unwanted pounds.
Now the hard part; keeping track of those calories. It sounds overwhelming and tedious, I know, but it's the only way to lose weight and once you get used to doing it, it gets much easier and you feel good about yourself knowing you're eating healthier and you're in control of your diet. I made it easier for myself by keeping a journal at ******.com. I enter in what I've eaten and how much (I keep track of portions, cups, ounces, everything) and it calculates how many calories (along with fat and carbs) I've eaten so far. This way I know how many calories I have consumed and how many I have left to spend. Regardless of what you do to lose weight, it all boils down to calories. Calories in vs calories out. Exercise, of course, helps. But you don't have to exercise in order to lose weight. Weight loss is 80% diet, 20% exercise. Meaning what and how much you eat is vital.
Secondly, I cut back on lots of things. Saturated fat, cholesterol, sugar, 'white' carbs (rice, pasta, white bread) and I try to eat more fruits and vegetables. I don't eat junk food, fried food or fast food and I've cut my portions in half, I never go back for seconds. This doesn't mean I've given up all the foods I love. But I eat them rarely and when I do, I make sure they're part of my daily caloric intake. Like my calorie level is about 1600 (although I try and keep it under 1500) so if I blow all of those 1500 calories in one fattening meal, that's my choice. But I choose not to do it that way. I eat several healthy snacks or mini-meals throughout the day. This keeps my metabolism in gear and keeps me from going hungry and ending up so starved that I blow everything by eating a whole pizza.
Basically the bottom line here is you have to watch WHAT and HOW MUCH you eat. You may only eat twice a day, but those two meals could possibly equal well over 2000 calories and for your weight, that's probably too much. You may not think you're eating a lot, but you probably are. And that's okay, I was the same way. I didn't really eat all that much - or at least I THOUGHT I didn't - until I started keeping track of everything. I was shocked at what a nightmare my diet was. I may not have been eating a lot in quantity, but I was eating all the wrong things. Things high in fat and calories. I calculated a typical day's diet for me (before I started eating healthier) and I'd blow most if not all of my allowed calories in one meal.
Anyway, I hope this helps you, or anyone else looking for help and I wish you all the luck in the world. You CAN do it!
**Editors Note: I am in no way affiliated with the sites I posted links to and am not trying to advertise or sell anything**
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