Thread: need advice from a personal trainer

im FINALLY ready to make a lifestyle change, and lose weight. im very excited, however, extremely unsure of how to go about doing this. i've made the effort to make food journals to look at how much for im intaking daily. i unfortunately do not have the money to sign up for a gym. im a 23 year old female and weight about 270lbs and im looking to get down to about 185 right now. i know i have a lot to lose, and i know i will not let a number on a scale discourage me. i want to be able to look at my body and love it..not matter what number the scale shows. so with all this said, i would like to know how many calories i should be taking in a day in order to lose this weight as safely and effectively...i also have a great fear of having extra skin, so if there are any particular exercises that will help avoid that from happening during my weight loss journey i'd love to incorporate them into my daily activity. any advice would be greatly appreciated!