Will only eating cereal for dinner make me lose weight?

taso42

3/10. Not actually funny.

dunnodunno

Hi you guys,

My question for the day if will i be able to lose weight if i eat only cereal ( i ear cheerios with 1% milk) for dinner? Of course, I work out about 4 days a week at the gym. I am studying for a test and will be taking it in 35 days. I get off work at 5 o'clock and to study intensely, I just created a plan to study 3 hours a day after work which makes it impossible to find time to make dinner. I have tried eating only cereal last week and I seem to be okay with it. It fills me up, and I like it.

Let me know of what you think.

Thanks

p.s.: I do eat around 1200 calories everyday, and have been very active. My concern is not just any quick fixes, I am wondering whether eating cereal for dinner is bad because people say carbs in the evening is never good for someone looking to lose weight.

Personally I think eating cereal for dinner every night would get a tad bit boring even though there's plenty of varieties out there. So far the only thing I've noticed that can effect my weight loss the next day is going way over in sodium.

PikaKnight

Cereal won't contribute to weight loss as it is a carbohydrate. you'd be better off with protein. if you're trying to lose FAT and gain or retain muscle, steer clear of cereals, special K or otherwise. Grain is not people food.

Broscience award nominee...

cebiginalaska

Eating 1200 calories and being that active will make it hard for your body to let go of the fat. I am not saying it is not impossible I am saying it will be difficult. There are lots of topic posts by people who say they lose the weight and inches faster when they increased how much calories they eat.

Calculate your TDEE and add a deficient much easier than trying to worry about worrying about what you eat... (I am eating 250 to 400 grams of carbs a day and still losing weight. Because I am unemployed it is cheaper to get food filled with carbs where I live. I live in rural alaska and here protein sources in the stores are very expensive or not even in the stores. I miss eating more protein but can't buy it )

Find out more here: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/show/7965-in-place-of-a-road-map
it has lots of great information about figuring out your TDEE and how much you should eat

This is a short form for the full document contained here:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/974888-in-place-of-a-road-map-2k13


The Road Map is simply a tool to find Body Fat%, BMR and TDEE.
All 3 items are important to understanding fat/weight loss.

Once you know these 3 numbers, you'll be able to manipulate nutrition and training to get to your next goal.

1) Body Fat%
Knowing the ratio of body fat to lean mass is crucial in understanding body composition.
The less fat you have, the leaner you'll look.
The more lean muscle you have, the better your definition (tone) will look.
Having ideal body fat is not only healthier for the individual but it also helps you look good naked!

Athletes (6-13% for men, 16-20% for women) 
<---Ideal area for Bulking
Fitness (14-17% for men, 21-24% for women) 

Acceptable (18-25% for men, 25-31% for women) 

Obese (25%+ for men, 32%+ for women)

The shocking part about BF% is most people who PM me numbers don't know how much fat they carry.
It's the most important part of figuring out the rest of your caloric intake.

Bottom Line: Buy a tape measurer or a set of Calipers and learn how to objectively track body fat while cutting/bulking.
The ultimate goal is to lose unwanted fat and maintain or even gain beautiful lean muscle.

Useful links:
http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/bf/
http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/mbf/
http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/cbbf/
Do all 3 BF Calcs and use the average number.
Write it down, you'll use it later!

2) BMR/RMR
Basal Metabolic Rate or Resting Metabolic Rate.
This covers all body functions outside of activity.
If you were in a coma and you were fed enough nutrients to keep you alive, Thats BMR.
Think "Baseline Calories" if you did absolutely nothing.
Sub-sedentary.
All vital organs are covered when eating BMR.

For those who like math, you'll find several different types of calculations for BMR.
1) Harris-Benedict formula: Overestimates in obese: Avoid this setting!
MEN: BMR = 66 + [13.7 x weight (kg)] + [5 x height (cm)] - [6.76 x age (years)]
WOMEN: BMR = 655 + [9.6 x weight (kg)] + [1.8 x height (cm)] - [4.7 x age (years)]

2) Mifflin-St Jeor: Better estimate for those that are obese, but still inflated.
MEN: BMR = [9.99 x weight (kg)] + [6.25 x height (cm)] - [4.92 x age (years)] + 5
WOMEN: BMR = [9.99 x weight (kg)] + [6.25 x height (cm)] - [4.92 x age (years)] -1613)

3) Katch-McArdle: Best estimate if decent estimate of BF% is known and is especially good in leaner individuals.
BMR = 370 + (21.6 x LBM)Where LBM = [total weight (kg) x (100 - bodyfat %)]/100

If you'd like to calculate on your own, you can get calculated TDEE using this chart:
Multiply BMR x Activity factor = TDEE.
1.2 = Sedentary (Little or no exercise + desk job)
1.3-1.4 = Lightly Active (Little daily activity & light exercise 1-3 days a week)
1.5-1.6 = Moderately Active (Moderately active daily life & Moderate exercise 3-5 days a week)
1.7-1.8 = Very Active (Physically demanding lifestyle & Hard exercise or sports 6-7 days a week)
1.9-2.0 = Extremely Active (Hard daily exercise or sports and physical job)

Or use the formula that chart is based on, if you want to use number of hours of exercise per week instead of guessing which level.
For daily activity not sitting at a desk but always moving around, count the hrs as 1/8 the time (40 hr nurse on feet counts as 5 hrs)
Walking exercise counts as 1/2 time (6 hrs walking is 3 hrs).
Other exercise is straight time (3 hr Insanity is 3 hr).
(Weekly movement hrs * 0.0875) + 1.2 = Activity Factor

Realize that this isn't just about your training but your lifestyle as well.
Example: You work at a desk all day but come home and play with your children for an hour, lift weights 3x a week for an hour and jog 2mi every other day. In this example id use Moderate or possibly Active settings.

Heres a helpful link for figuring your BMR and TDEE:
http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/bmr/
Enter all pertinent info.
Make GOAL weight the same as CURRENT weight to get todays TDEE.

Bottom Line: Know what your base caloric needs are and stay above them if you are active.
Eating too low for extended periods of time may allow for weight loss, but you could still have high body fat.
Skinny-fat: http://foodtrainers.blogspot.com/2012/09/are-you-skinny-fat-find-out-why.html

Once you know your base "Comatose" calories you can move on to TDEE.

3) TDEE
Total Daily Energy Expenditure
This is the total amount of calories you burn in a 24hour period.
You wake up, brush your teeth, lift, run, play, work.....
You get the idea.
One thing I've noticed over the years is people underestimate activity.
They say "I'm sitting at my computer all day long so i'm sedentary!"
I'll ask "Workout routine?"
They say "Oh i run for 3 hours a day and do CrossFit all weekend long!"


If you sit all day and barely walk and dont workout, Sedentary.
If you workout 1-2x a week, Light.
If you workout 3-5x a week, Moderate.
If you workout 5+, active/very active.

Youll find these numbers at the bottom of the BMR page in Fat 2 Fit.
You can also use other calculators around the internet.

Once you have TDEE you can decide what to set MFP calories to.
I recommend -20% for individuals who are Obese and under.
-30% for individuals who are Obese and over.

Bottom Line: Be realistic with activity. If you are a marathon runner trying to take a few pounds off, don't use sedentary settings. First start with the top number that applies to you and stick with it for several weeks. If nutrition is right and activity is right, you should maintain eating TDEE. To lose fat, subtract calories. To gain LBM, add calories. Lift weights, walk, sleep and eat right.
Use your common sense.

cmcollins001

Cereal won't contribute to weight loss as it is a carbohydrate. you'd be better off with protein. if you're trying to lose FAT and gain or retain muscle, steer clear of cereals, special K or otherwise. Grain is not people food.

CyberEd312

Cereal won't contribute to weight loss as it is a carbohydrate. you'd be better off with protein. if you're trying to lose FAT and gain or retain muscle, steer clear of cereals, special K or otherwise. Grain is not people food.

You can't lose weight eating carbohydrates???? Well now you tell me.......... AlI this time wasted........ :drinker:

Joehenny

Cereal won't contribute to weight loss as it is a carbohydrate. you'd be better off with protein. if you're trying to lose FAT and gain or retain muscle, steer clear of cereals, special K or otherwise. Grain is not people food.

Is it cat food then? Moron.

scruffykaz

Why is everyone looking for quick fixes just eat less move more

I think I love you!!!

Achrya

Why would you want to eat something processed like that as your dinner which will more than likely give you cravings for something else later?

I would prefer to have 5-6 boiled eggs or my current fave is 100g Broccoli, Tin of tuna and 50g grated cheese and I let the hot broccoli melt the cheese with the tuna once cooked and it tastes great. My other main meal is 8oz chicken with 100g broccoli and 40g almonds which is lush. I coat the chicken in some spice powder before cooking mainly Masala powder with a bit of oil to make it stick to the chicken.

You should be looking to eat foods that will fill you up and are nice and delicious not look for some quick fix because you can't cook something quick. Btw my fave meal takes me 3 mins to make and that's just the broccoli cooking in the Microwave. The chicken I cook on a george foreman grill so it's slightly longer.

You eat 6 boiled eggs for dinner but are giving the OP crap about cereal? Really? Your meal sounds like I'd be hungry 2 hours later too.

Cereal won't contribute to weight loss as it is a carbohydrate. you'd be better off with protein. if you're trying to lose FAT and gain or retain muscle, steer clear of cereals, special K or otherwise. Grain is not people food.

But. I had meat balls and whole grain pasta around 9pm last night. It digested fairly well, which makes me think it's people food. I'm pretty sure I eat tons of grains/carbs and still manage to lose weight.

DopeItUp

Only if it's Frosted Flakes or Honeycomb.

MsJulielicious

Make sure it's the kind with marshmallows, otherwise no.

gonnamakeanewaccount

:huh:

maybeazure

It depends how much of it you eat. I can eat half of a box easily, so I don't buy it often.

UsedToBeHusky

Cereal won't contribute to weight loss as it is a carbohydrate. you'd be better off with protein. if you're trying to lose FAT and gain or retain muscle, steer clear of cereals, special K or otherwise. Grain is not people food.

I'm pretty sure grass wasn't cow food until the cows decided to eat it.

Animals evolve to digest whatever food is available. People aren't any different.

trisha1298

I used to eat cereal for dinner like 4-5 nights a week just because I was so lazy when I got home. I was able to lose weight, but I was so tired all the time. When I got home from work I was too tired to exercise or even just cook a proper meal. The cereal was delicious and filling just did nothing for my energy.

HollisGrant

Hi you guys,

My question for the day if will i be able to lose weight if i eat only cereal ( i ear cheerios with 1% milk) for dinner? Of course, I work out about 4 days a week at the gym. I am studying for a test and will be taking it in 35 days. I get off work at 5 o'clock and to study intensely, I just created a plan to study 3 hours a day after work which makes it impossible to find time to make dinner. I have tried eating only cereal last week and I seem to be okay with it. It fills me up, and I like it.

Let me know of what you think.

Thanks

p.s.: I do eat around 1200 calories everyday, and have been very active. My concern is not just any quick fixes, I am wondering whether eating cereal for dinner is bad because people say carbs in the evening is never good for someone looking to lose weight.

Cereal with milk seems okay to me for dinner. But if you're finding it hard to find the time to make a different dinner, just make it ahead of time. Even freeze it. I cook a lot of food ahead of time and just heat it up in 5 minutes.

Also, it doesn't matter when you eat during the day or night, unless you have uncontrolled snacking late at night.

onyxgirl17

Cereal won't contribute to weight loss as it is a carbohydrate. you'd be better off with protein. if you're trying to lose FAT and gain or retain muscle, steer clear of cereals, special K or otherwise. Grain is not people food.

oh okay, credentials please?

megsmom2

if you like cereal for dinner....eat cereal for dinner. Stay within your macros...make sure you're getting enough nutrient rich foods, but eat what you enjoy eating. Silly question.

baptiste565

Cereal won't contribute to weight loss as it is a carbohydrate. you'd be better off with protein. if you're trying to lose FAT and gain or retain muscle, steer clear of cereals, special K or otherwise. Grain is not people food.

ha! i love misinformation!

amoffatt

Cereal won't contribute to weight loss as it is a carbohydrate. you'd be better off with protein. if you're trying to lose FAT and gain or retain muscle, steer clear of cereals, special K or otherwise. Grain is not people food.

You can't lose weight eating carbohydrates???? Well now you tell me.......... AlI this time wasted........ :drinker:

And you sir are an inspiration!!! Great job on the weight loss!!!