7 lbs is a boatload for a start!!!!
Congratulations!
What you do is google what you are cooking and there will be calorie results there in google.
OR
You take every ingredient that you put into your cooking, and put it in
custom foods.
Choose
custom foods, create and fill in the blanks, and then it will be there so that next week when you cook that bean soup again, it;ll be right there for you.
It's really easy.
In terms of weight loss, shoot for a pound per week, it is a reasonable goal, attainable, and the reccommended rate of weight loss amongst the experts.
As far as losing fat, I would say to
do cardio ( if you are in shape), if not, start walking, and dont stop.
Ever see a fat "bag-lady"??