What do you eat to lose weight?
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Rebecca0224 wrote: »MizMimi111 wrote: »It's not what food you eat rather how much of it. For your health some foods are better than others but there are not specific foods that will help you lose weight. Eat the food you like within your calorie allotment.
I don't know what I should set my calorie goal at if I'm honest with you...I've gained a lot of weight from silly crash diets and juices cleanses. I'm 4"11 and I weigh 75.3kg to date. I set it at 1200 but I'm not really seeing any results. At least not the kind that other people get so I know I'm not doing it right. At the same time I don't want to eat too little and then put the weight back on later when I've lost all the chub.
I'm also 4' 11 and the last weight was 143 before I stopped looking at the scale but I went up another pant size before I decided to lose weight, so I start close to where you are.
You say you are not getting results like other people but we are smaller and have a smaller deficit, 1500 is sedentary maintenance so to lose anything we have to be mindful and remember it's npt going to happen quickly.
I did the crash diets, I won't mention all of them. I stopped looking at food as good or bad and stopped dieting and just made small changes. Use mfp the right way, set it to lose .5lbs (.25kg I think) and remember it is slow and steady at this size. I'm still losing weight (slowly) at approximately 1500. This time don't diet just make sustainable changes and the you won't go back to eating "normal" and regain because normal will change and you will think eating enough for your new size is normal. Good luck and add me if you want.
I think this is the best way for me. In the mean time I'm trying to be more active and workout more so that...I don't feel to guilty...if I eat a little more of something I enjoy.
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Everyone's different and experimenting to find what works for you is the best thing you can do. I find that having a light breakfast (about 200 kcal), a slightly bigger lunch (around 300 kcal) and a bigger dinner (500-700 kcal) means I still have room for plenty of snacks throughout the day (especially dessert after dinner!) or a second helping of dinner if I feel like it.2
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scarlett_k wrote: »Everyone's different and experimenting to find what works for you is the best thing you can do. I find that having a light breakfast (about 200 kcal), a slightly bigger lunch (around 300 kcal) and a bigger dinner (500-700 kcal) means I still have room for plenty of snacks throughout the day (especially dessert after dinner!) or a second helping of dinner if I feel like it.
I am excited... everyone has given very good tips. Instead of thinking about what I can't eat I've spent it looking at these great tips and reading other people's success stories. I'm gonna try give all of this a go and see what works best for me.
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And here I am adding more Asian foods to meet my goals. Curries are inexpensive tasty and filling. You can reduce the calorie load in a meal the fastest by reducing (without eliminating) the fat content.
Do you use a food scale?2 -
@Robocop27 based on the photo of your meal, I'd suggest adding a bunch of vegetables to the meat dish when cooking. Cut back or eliminate most of the oil in the recipe, and use the recipe logger feature to know how many calories it has. Cut back on your rice portion, because rice is relatively high in calories and you have to eat a lot of it to feel full. My suggestion of adding vegetables to the meat will add stomach-filling volume to help replace the rice, with fewer calories.
Your meal looks delicious.1 -
Like all these people have said, it's not what you eat, it's how much. Calculate your calories at maintenance and just eat that much. I'm also Asian, trying to maintain 115lbs. I do fasting/one meal a day. I get to eat as much as I want -rice, pasta, cake, muffins, you name it. As long as I keep it at 1500-1600, I'm good! And believe me, it is pretty hard to eat more than that in one sitting! It is truly satisfying and I don't feel deprived of anything!0
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When you restrict yourself from certain food groups, you end up craving it and won't be able to do it for long. That's why crash diets don't last and you will be back to gaining right after. Do not limit yourself , but find what works for the long run.0
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I'm Asian so I love eating curry and rice. I just find that my metabolism is just not the same as it use to be growing up because now I can't keep my weight off when I go back to eating normally...this is a pic of what I cooked a few days ago for me and my family.
Then you need to change what your "normal" is. You have to eat less to lose weight, period. You can eat the same things, just smaller portions, and in some cases, much much smaller portions. It really is that easy.0 -
the amount of oil/ghee/butter you put in gives it that extra richness to the sauce... I have actually purchased one and started using it two days ago for a my meal prep.And here I am adding more Asian foods to meet my goals. Curries are inexpensive tasty and filling. You can reduce the calorie load in a meal the fastest by reducing (without eliminating) the fat content.
Do you use a food scale?
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@Robocop27 based on the photo of your meal, I'd suggest adding a bunch of vegetables to the meat dish when cooking. Cut back or eliminate most of the oil in the recipe, and use the recipe logger feature to know how many calories it has. Cut back on your rice portion, because rice is relatively high in calories and you have to eat a lot of it to feel full. My suggestion of adding vegetables to the meat will add stomach-filling volume to help replace the rice, with fewer calories.
Your meal looks delicious.
Ha ha thank you. Yeah that's what I'm thinking of doing...I figured if I do decide to have rice with a meal instead of having basmati rice I might opt for brown rice in a smaller portion than normal.
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For me (us), it's been more about (mostly all) home cooking with good, nutritious ingredients, less junky ingredients, and portion control (for calorie management). We now eat a bigger variety of foods and flavors than before (the family jokes, "'Dad's Kitchen' restaurant." And NOT eating some stuff such as potato chips and other junk food, reduction in processed items (I make most of our salad dressings, much of our tomato sauces, 80% of our bread, etc.). Plus, this is summer grilling-and-salads season ... makes it even easier.
Good luck in your efforts. Being mostly retired, I have the time now to spend some of it being a better cook. But that's a life-stage benefit we didn't have when younger and running kids around to activities, working, etc.0 -
Like all these people have said, it's not what you eat, it's how much. Calculate your calories at maintenance and just eat that much. I'm also Asian, trying to maintain 115lbs. I do fasting/one meal a day. I get to eat as much as I want -rice, pasta, cake, muffins, you name it. As long as I keep it at 1500-1600, I'm good! And believe me, it is pretty hard to eat more than that in one sitting! It is truly satisfying and I don't feel deprived of anything!
Thank you for the advice...I'm thinking of trying all of these tips and training in the gym to add more calories. I think I'll just have to experiment with it to find the right balance to suit my life style. I'm feeling very positive tho. I haven't really craved anything as such all day I feel contempt. I'm going to make some salmon later on for dinner. I've also noticed that making an effort to drink more water through the day has also helped a lot so far. 0 -
Use the food scale for everything. Weigh all the ingredients that you use to make your meals. Use the tare button to help figure out the number of grams of something you took out of a container. Then weigh how much of the foods you actually eat. Log everything. I think you will be surprised at how many calories you are consuming. People usually underestimate how many calories they consume. Read the "Most Helpful Posts" considered Must Reads in the General Diet and Weight Loss section of the message boards. It is informative and insightful.2
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Finding permanent replacements for items I really enjoy helps a lot for me. I use to eat a ton of ice cream, like a couple cups several times a week. Turns out frozen smoothies are just as satisfying for me. Just frozen fruit and coconut water or some kind of milk.... not nearly as many calories.
I do meal prep in these 4 cup bowls I have. 4 cups sounds like a lot until you are trying to close the lid after adding a serving of carbs, a couple cups of veggies and 4-6 oz of protein. My dinner bowls tend to clock in around 400 calories.0 -
An easy daily goal is helpful for me. I often make that goal to not touch the free donuts at work, lol. Sometimes I only do one goal and sometimes I do a few. I try to make my daily goals pretty easy where I feel a little silly if I don't meet my goal. When my only goal is to not touch the free donuts, I am pretty good at staying away. I also tell everyone else about the donuts so all the good donuts are gone before I change my mind.
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orangegato wrote: »Use the food scale for everything. Weigh all the ingredients that you use to make your meals. Use the tare button to help figure out the number of grams of something you took out of a container. Then weigh how much of the foods you actually eat. Log everything. I think you will be surprised at how many calories you are consuming. People usually underestimate how many calories they consume. Read the "Most Helpful Posts" considered Must Reads in the General Diet and Weight Loss section of the message boards. It is informative and insightful.
Thank you, I'll have a read of that now actually. I just need to make more time and try get into a routine of weighing everything and being more conscious about how much I am eating. I've already noticed a big difference by being mindful of what ingredients I use...for example rather than using a table spoon of oil. I used the 1cal oil spray. Saved so many calories just by making a minor adjustment.
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MichelleLaree13 wrote: »An easy daily goal is helpful for me. I often make that goal to not touch the free donuts at work, lol. Sometimes I only do one goal and sometimes I do a few. I try to make my daily goals pretty easy where I feel a little silly if I don't meet my goal. When my only goal is to not touch the free donuts, I am pretty good at staying away. I also tell everyone else about the donuts so all the good donuts are gone before I change my mind.
Ha ha! Yeah they are always buying cakes and sweets at work. My colleagues know all my favs, it's so hard. I actually want to try wearing a waist trainer, like I've seen girls on YouTube wear it to give their body an hour glass look. I wore it for one day and I literally didn't want to over eat or feel hungry...because I was sooo uncomfortable...I kinda felt like it made me more disciplined. I only wore it once though but I want to make a habit of wearing it at work just to make me feel more disciplined about what I eat till I can trust myself to stay away from bad foods.
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Anything I want only less and try to stay way from Breaded fried food.2
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IMO, every 12 weeks or so of dieting should be followed by 2 weeks at maintenance. Then back to dieting until your goal is reached. Most import, you must be patient...0
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@Robocop27 based on the photo of your meal, I'd suggest adding a bunch of vegetables to the meat dish when cooking. Cut back or eliminate most of the oil in the recipe, and use the recipe logger feature to know how many calories it has. Cut back on your rice portion, because rice is relatively high in calories and you have to eat a lot of it to feel full. My suggestion of adding vegetables to the meat will add stomach-filling volume to help replace the rice, with fewer calories.
Your meal looks delicious.
Ha ha thank you. Yeah that's what I'm thinking of doing...I figured if I do decide to have rice with a meal instead of having basmati rice I might opt for brown rice in a smaller portion than normal.
Or just basmati in a smaller portion? There's very little difference in the nutritional content of rice. Unless you happen to prefer brown over basmati?4 -
IMO, every 12 weeks or so of dieting should be followed by 2 weeks at maintenance. Then back to dieting until your goal is reached. Most import, you must be patient...
That's interesting I've never tried that before. Once I start losing weight I'll get in a routine and keep doing it, if I stop seeing results I start to do more of something like, run a longer distance try some other work out along with what I normally like to do. I get really obsessed with seeing the results.
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BALANCE. I don't go low carb, high protein, etc. I try to choose foods that are filling. I'll make a meal out of Triscuits, cottage cheese, grilled chicken, and an apple. As much as we might not like veggies, we gotta find out how we like them. I've learned that raw veggies, no thanks. But a grilled or roasted one? I can totally dig that. You'll have a better chance of succeeding if you come out of your comfort zone. You gotta try new foods and new food combinations to find the things you like. Invest in tools like a crock pot so you're not in the kitchen all of the time or a George Foreman so you can grill your meat fast and throw together a quick healthy meal.0
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OliveGirl128 wrote: »You can keep eating what you normally eat/like, just in the appropriate calorie amounts for your weight loss goals. Don't make this anymore complicated or difficult than it needs to be
I agree. Eat whatever you ate before in moderation. I inevitably find I fail if I try to change too much, because I end up dissatisfied.
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I try to eat the same foods but just skew my plate toward veggies when I can. Fruits as snacks. Also the less prepackaged food the better. Cutting back on sugar and alcohol. None of these changes leave me deprived, but they add up.0
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Try to eat as clean as possible . Stick to your calorie goal and exercise daily even if just walking . Stay away from processed foods , or maybe keep those as a reward once in a while . Fill up on good foods with fiber . Log everything into mfp to stay on track5
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I try to eat the same foods but just skew my plate toward veggies when I can. Fruits as snacks. Also the less prepackaged food the better. Cutting back on sugar and alcohol. None of these changes leave me deprived, but they add up.Try to eat as clean as possible . Stick to your calorie goal and exercise daily even if just walking . Stay away from processed foods , or maybe keep those as a reward once in a while . Fill up on good foods with fiber . Log everything into mfp to stay on track
I think what I might do is eat smaller portions of what I eat normally but try cook it in a healthier way do there are less calories.
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Experiment to find foods you enjoy that also keep you full without causing you to consume too many calories. Then find new foods that do the same.
This keeps my diet from getting too stale over time and keeps me engaged in eating toward my goals.0 -
sunshinegirl122 wrote: »Your meal looks yummy. Im no expert i recently talked with a nurtuonist. She said to stay away from simple carbs-white sugar, bread, rice. Go towards complex carbs-brown rice, wheat bread etc. I did know this it just putting it into practice
another reason to not go to a nutritionist...
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