I need a diet and workout plan that works

tinkerbellang83

paulwatts747 wrote: »

tinkerbellang83 wrote: »

Why? MFP is set up with the intention of you eating back your calories from exercise otherwise you're creating a bigger deficit than intended.

Also sugar doesn't make you fat, eating too much food does, so lowering sugar intake isn't going to make someone magically lose weight.

The calorie allowances for exercise are too generous, I have found. MFP allows over 1000 calories for cycling at 19-23km/hr for 75 minutes at 123kg, whereas a heart monitor indicates just under 500. Possibly the truth is somewhere in between. You kinda work out where you stand after a while, depending how much you are losing. But I definitely would not rely on MFP exercise allowances, or those from gym machines either, when starting out. If wanting to eat your MFP exercise allowance, I would suggest halving it.

Sugar (fructose) overrides the body feeling full. Alcohol (fermented sugar) likewise. Consuming lots or even moderate amounts of sugar makes it much harder to stick to a calorie limit. And it is empty calories.

I've lost 19kg in well under three months, which I wouldn't have thought possible. This is what has worked for me.

I have eaten moderate amounts of sugar throughout my weight loss, like many other successful posters here, I have had no problems losing weight or sticking to my deficit. Please don't assume that just because you've chosen to do something and it has helped you to stick to a deficit, that it's necessary for weight loss.

As for exercise you do not know how OP is calculating her calorie burns so shouldn't just give blanket advice to say don't eat any calories burned through exercise, yes MFP database calorie burns can be exaggerated for some but that is easily determined after a couple of weeks of accurate food logging and reviewing the rate of weight loss. OP is fairly active and needs to fuel that activity by eating at least some of them back..

Ready2Rock206

Don't make things so complicated you have no chance of succeeding. The problem with those meal plans is what if you don't like those foods? What if you don't feel like eating whatever you are supposed to eat that specific day? What if you don't want to spend a lot of money eating some crazy thing the plan says you're supposed to eat that day?

Eat the foods you like at a calorie deficit.

Find some activity you enjoy and do that.

estherdragonbat

Ready2Rock206 wrote: »

Don't make things so complicated you have no chance of succeeding. The problem with those meal plans is what if you don't like those foods? What if you don't feel like eating whatever you are supposed to eat that specific day? What if you don't want to spend a lot of money eating some crazy thing the plan says you're supposed to eat that day?

Eat the foods you like at a calorie deficit.

Find some activity you enjoy and do that.

QFT

I've been having great results by admitting to myself that there were certain foods I liked that I wasn't going to give up (cut back on, yes; cut out, no), keeping to a deficit, and slowly stepping up my exercise. For cardio, I walk or use a fitness glider. For strength training, I have a book of exercises that includes workouts of different skill levels and intensities. I either do a full-body workout of that every other day or, if I think I need a change, the book includes some cardio-and-dumbbell interval workouts (not strenuous enough to be HIIT; I log them as light calisthenics).

No gym membership, no 'named' diet. I mean, I'm a kosher ovo-lacto vegetarian, but other than that, no restrictions. I work to hit my protein and iron RDAs, but it's more like looking at my diary page and realizing that if I have a couple of hundred calories to play with, two veggie dogs will give me 16 grams of protein and 30% of my RDA, one piece of string cheese will give me 8 and zero, 30 grams of dry cereal will give me 1 and 30. And then I look at my daily totals and decide. There's no 'reduce dairy' or 'low carb' imperative.

The closer your eating and activity are during weight-loss to what you want them to be when you've reached your goal, the likelier you are to keep the weight off.

And treats aren't necessarily cheats.

rybo

Sounds like you would benefit from a reputable trainer instead of the random and varied opinions here. Some of them are good, some not at all

kgirlhart

paulwatts747 wrote: »

I would suggest you try to get your sugar intake as low as possible, in addition to logging your calories honestly and as accurately as possible using MFP. Also if you are entering exercise calories, try not to eat what you earn from exercise.

This is horrible advice. If you don't have a medical reason to limit sugar then it isn't going to make a difference. There is no need to get it as low as possible. Many on here don't even track sugar. If you eat nothing but sugary foods with little nutritional value then you will probably be hungry a lot, but there is no reason to completely cut sugar out or get it as low as possible. Fruit is good for you and it has sugar. And if you are using mfp to get your calorie goal then you should be eating back at least a portion of your exercise calories. The only reason you might not want to eat them all is because they are estimates and they may not be accurate.

Your best bet is to eat foods you like that keep you full and fit your calorie goal. And find exercise that you enjoy and will stick with.

kgirlhart

paulwatts747 wrote: »

tinkerbellang83 wrote: »

Why? MFP is set up with the intention of you eating back your calories from exercise otherwise you're creating a bigger deficit than intended.

Also sugar doesn't make you fat, eating too much food does, so lowering sugar intake isn't going to make someone magically lose weight.

The calorie allowances for exercise are too generous, I have found. MFP allows over 1000 calories for cycling at 19-23km/hr for 75 minutes at 123kg, whereas a heart monitor indicates just under 500. Possibly the truth is somewhere in between. You kinda work out where you stand after a while, depending how much you are losing. But I definitely would not rely on MFP exercise allowances, or those from gym machines either, when starting out. If wanting to eat your MFP exercise allowance, I would suggest halving it.

Sugar (fructose) overrides the body feeling full. Alcohol (fermented sugar) likewise. Consuming lots or even moderate amounts of sugar makes it much harder to stick to a calorie limit. And it is empty calories.

I've lost 19kg in well under three months, which I wouldn't have thought possible. This is what has worked for me.

This is why most people say to start by eating back half of your exercise calories. I always ate back ~70-90% or more of my exercise calories and I did not limit sugar (other than staying at my deficit). I never had trouble sticking to my deficit and I lost over 70 pounds. There is nothing wrong with eating moderate amounts of sugar and cutting sugar as low as possible is not necessary. And telling someone not to eat back any of their exercise calories is not good advice. Especially when she has already said that she feels like she is exercising off all of the calories she eats and does not feel like she is eating enough. Maybe this has worked for you, but it isn't good advice for most people. Lots of things will work for 3 months. But it is more important to find something that will work for the long run.