Help me.

natalieamaral

What foods are good to eat? I'm trying to loose weight

dhimaan

Any food that you like as long as you are in a calorie deficit.

natalieamaral

Really? Dosent matter what

dhimaan

natalieamaral wrote: »

Really? Dosent matter what

A calorie deficit trumps all in terms of losing weight.

natalieamaral

Thank you.

lseed87

Agreed. But there should be healthy items too. All in moderation. Watching your macros can help too

drrae65

Totally disagree with the comments above. Let me explain something briefly - complex versus simple carbs. Complex carbs are more natural, so to speak, such as vegetables. Your body can quickly metabolize and use complex carbs for energy. Simple carbs on the other hand, which are usually processed, have a lot of added sugar and chemicals and your body actually processes those carbs into fat.

So, if you had to choose whether to eat 200 calories worth of complex carbs (bowl of vegetables) or 100 calories worth of simple carbs (a twinkie maybe?), you should choose the complex carbs. Complex carbs include vegetables, fruits, and whole grain breads or bran cereals.

Here's an example of a day in my diet that I'm going to start this week actually:

Breakfast - fruit smoothie using peaches, a mix of berries, a scoop of protein powder and flax seeds. I'll have the smoothie with a side of yogurt and spoonful of peanutbutter - my fav combo(:
Lunch - Lean turkey patty on a whole wheat English muffin, with spinach as my side dish
Snack - cucumber slices
Dinner - Chicken breast with a side of frozen vegetables

I'm trying to completely avoid simple carbs!

jennifer_417

drrae65 wrote: »

Totally disagree with the comments above. Let me explain something briefly - complex versus simple carbs. Complex carbs are more natural, so to speak, such as vegetables. Your body can quickly metabolize and use complex carbs for energy. Simple carbs on the other hand, which are usually processed, have a lot of added sugar and chemicals and your body actually processes those carbs into fat.

So, if you had to choose whether to eat 200 calories worth of complex carbs (bowl of vegetables) or 100 calories worth of simple carbs (a twinkie maybe?), you should choose the complex carbs. Complex carbs include vegetables, fruits, and whole grain breads or bran cereals.

Here's an example of a day in my diet that I'm going to start this week actually:

Breakfast - fruit smoothie using peaches, a mix of berries, a scoop of protein powder and flax seeds. I'll have the smoothie with a side of yogurt and spoonful of peanutbutter - my fav combo(:
Lunch - Lean turkey patty on a whole wheat English muffin, with spinach as my side dish
Snack - cucumber slices
Dinner - Chicken breast with a side of frozen vegetables

I'm trying to completely avoid simple carbs!

Please disregard this. If your goal is to lose weight, then all you need is a calorie deficit. Barring some specific health conditions, you don't need to restrict any types of foods in order to lose weight. You can ask many, many people on this site (including myself) who have successfully lost weight and kept it off, with a simple calorie deficit.

robertw486

drrae65 wrote: »

Totally disagree with the comments above. Let me explain something briefly - complex versus simple carbs. Complex carbs are more natural, so to speak, such as vegetables. Your body can quickly metabolize and use complex carbs for energy. Simple carbs on the other hand, which are usually processed, have a lot of added sugar and chemicals and your body actually processes those carbs into fat.

So, if you had to choose whether to eat 200 calories worth of complex carbs (bowl of vegetables) or 100 calories worth of simple carbs (a twinkie maybe?), you should choose the complex carbs. Complex carbs include vegetables, fruits, and whole grain breads or bran cereals.

Here's an example of a day in my diet that I'm going to start this week actually:

Breakfast - fruit smoothie using peaches, a mix of berries, a scoop of protein powder and flax seeds. I'll have the smoothie with a side of yogurt and spoonful of peanutbutter - my fav combo(:
Lunch - Lean turkey patty on a whole wheat English muffin, with spinach as my side dish
Snack - cucumber slices
Dinner - Chicken breast with a side of frozen vegetables

I'm trying to completely avoid simple carbs!

Not trying to be harsh, but your comments and suggestions are completely off base with all basic metabolic biochemistry.

Calories are calories. If you eat twice as many calories of complex carbs vs simple carbs it will still be twice as many calories. There are also great numbers of simple carbs that are 100% natural, including those found in most fruits. Simple vs complex carbs are nothing more than the molecular structure, the molecular "chain" as it exists, whether natural or modified. In the case of carbs, choosing simple vs complex will affect how quickly the body can break them down and use them for energy. This might favor one vs another type depending on what you are looking for, such a quick energy jolt vs sustained energy at a lower level.


But it does not affect calorie deficit vs calorie surplus. If you have a calorie deficit, you lose weight. If you have a calorie surplus, you gain weight. Unless you are building muscle, most weight gain is in the form of fat, since that is what the body converts it to for future use.

LKArgh

For weight loss, only calories matter. What you eat will affect your health though, regardless of whether you are trying to lose weight or not.

robertw486

natalieamaral wrote: »

What foods are good to eat? I'm trying to loose weight

As said by some above, eat within your calories for your weight loss goal. If you struggle to eat less, certain foods might help you more than others. Very low cal/low nutrition items provide a lot of "bulk" to eat, such as salads. Certain types of foods will give you long lasting energy rather than the quick boost. Some might make you feel more full vs others, etc.

But at the end of the day, you can eat almost anything you want, if you stick to your calorie goal.

Orphia

dhimaan wrote: »

Any food that you like as long as you are in a calorie deficit.

Exactly this.

It's better to eat foods you like within your calorie limit, rather than deprive yourself of nice things, because if you feel deprived eventually you're going to want to catch up and "eat all the foods!!11!!"

Orphia

In before the straw:

It's funny how people think eating food you like means eating junk.

Nobody only likes junk, except Mr American Straw Man.