Hi everyone, I’ve been reading through the many, many helpful and inspirational posts on this website. I’m finally ready to give this my all. Starting TODAY. Last year, I followed the 5:2 for about eight months and did very well – weight loss was slow but steady and the plan was super easy to follow. Then, last fall, we went on a six-week trip all over Europe and Ireland (I currently live in the US) and all my good habits went out the window. I didn’t actually gain any weight on the trip, but I kept eating the same way after we returned in early November (depressed after the election here I think) and then the holidays came along, and then I started a new job, and then……….well you know how it is. The classic: I’ll start on Monday. Well, I’m not waiting until Monday anymore. I’m starting today – Thursday. Why not!! Anyway, if there’s anyone else thinking of starting, or has just begun, please let me know. I’d love to have someone with whom I can compare progress and share trials and successes.
Just a basic overview of who I am: 58, female, born and raised in Ireland but have lived in the US for all my adult life. Three adult children, wonderful and supportive husband (thin and fit and doesn’t have to work at it grrrrr). I have a VERY sedentary but also very busy job. I’ve tried every diet plan known to man – I really have. I was perfectly slim as a child and young adult. My weight problems began after the very difficult birth of my last child when I was 32. I never lost the baby weight and have just continued to gain year after year. This will be my year. It just has to be. My initial goal is to lose 2.5 stone/35 lbs. I need to lose more than that – but I’m going to focus on that for now.
My question re: online food tracking is this. I’ve been using MyFitnessPal and it’s great, it really is, BUT, I hate when it gives me the scolding message on days when my calorie intake is, what it deems, too low!! Is there another program out there that’s just as good but doesn’t give that message? I know, I should ignore it and I have done, but I really wish it didn’t happen.
Anyway, wish me luck and again, if anyone else is just starting – please let me know.

Based on another post I just read – I realized if I looked a little deeper, I could change my daily calorie intake to 800 – hopefully, that will stop the scolding (you’re not eating enough) messages.

Yes, it really pees me off when a machine tells me off. Just ignore it. I use Sparkpeople.com which is an American site, it gives an ideal but doesn’t scold but if I go over on exercise it increases the number of calories I need to eat. I just use it for the things that benefit me like inputting food to check on calories and carbs.

I’m afraid it won’t stop the scolding, Phreckles. I got so sick of that message I simply stopped clicking on the “complete this entry” button at the end of the day. I never run reports and don’t care about any of the extras MyFitnessPal offers. Like sunshine-girl, my only interest is in logging and counting everything I eat.

Thank you both – well phooey!! I thought I might have found a way to stop. Oh well, I’ll just do what you two do and not hit complete this entry, or I’ll just ignore the message. I’ve invested months of time in the program and have a loads of “my foods and meals” entered so I don’t really want to start something completely new.
Anyway, thanks for the feedback – it’s 10:40 a.m. here and I’m a little peckish but have a nice big green salad waiting for me for lunch. I’m not going to go overboard the first few days trying to stay within 800 calories – I’ll do the best I can, log everything and see where that leaves me. After a few days, I’ll adjust as necessary. My biggest drawback is going to be coffee with cream and sugar. I had one cup this morning with sugar free creamer (I know, the sugar free stuff is total rubbish) but I’ve been drinking three or more cups a day up til now so I think cutting back to just one for the first few days should help. I’m going to try herb tea in the afternoon – I have a nice licorice spice that’s caffeine free that I’m hoping will fill the void. Eventually, I hope to give up coffee totally.

Hi My Fitness Pal – you can click/ tap on ‘goals’ on the darker blue line at the top (second heading down) then edit (a bit further down the page). This is where you can change your calories to 800, or whatever and the nutrients and how much of them you want to track. At lowest level you can put in your calories, carbs, fats and protein. The carbs, fats and protein you can play around with to get the percentage by putting in the grams you want to achieve. Like most things it’s easy when you know how 😀. Just remember to save it all when you’ve finished. You can then complete your daily log with no problem. If you add in exercise it will give you more calories (which we don’t take advantage of – usually) I haven’t had a look at seeing if that can be changed.

Hi Annie – thanks – I’ve actually figured out about changing the calorie count and was hoping that would be enough to stop the “you’re not eating enough” message that I’ve been getting. Does changing the calories take care of that and stop the message? That would be nice if yes.