Some diet tips I have gathered over the years.

MsLee502000

You may ask why if I know all this stuff I got fat again? I am asking myself that too. I was an assistant diet coach and I still got fat again. I just started reading a book called "Intuitive Eating". Maybe that will help me to get off this diet yo-yo. I am either gaining or losing. So far I have not been able to maintain. I am pretty sure because I always viewed myself as "going on a diet". And if you go on something that means you can go off of it too. Which is exactly what I did.

As far as learning to eat healthy or having a successful diet, my tips are valid so please read and comment.

Hungry?: If you are hungry EAT MORE FOOD!!! But make sure it is healthy food like fruits veggies grains and protein and not sugar starches or fats.

Water: I read that cold water is best when you are thirsty or dehydrated but room temp water helps to you to feel full. Water is one of the best things you can do for your body. Drink a minimum of 64 oz a day. You will pee a lot at first, but then your body gets used to it. A lot of times when you feel hungry you really aren't. Your body confuses thirst with hunger. Did you know that if you feel thirsty you have alreayd become dehydrated? So hydrate. Some people find it hard ot drink water. Non caffinated beverages can be substituted for water, but I find plain old water the best. To get in the habit of drinking water play a game. Drink one ounce at a time (that is only a few swallows). Go ahead.. pour out one ounce in a measuring cup and count how many swallows it takes. I tell people when you get up, drink an ounce to celebrate waking up. Drink an ounce after you brush your teeth. Drink an ounce before and after breakfast. There you just drank 4 ounces and you have barely started your day!

Calories: 3500 calories equals a pound. To figure how many calories you need to consume in order to maintain your current weight take your weight divided by 2.2 then times 25 (for sedentary life style) or times 30 (for a more active lifestyle). At my current weight I consume 2680 calories to maintain my weight. So if I drop to 1400 calories a day it will take me about 3 days to lose 1 pound. That is a weight loss of a bit more than 2 pounds a week. Some weeks you will have a lesser weight loss. Some weeks more. Do not allow your calorie consumption to go below 1200 calories a day (for a man 1600 calories) because your body will go into starvation mode and your metabolism will slow down.

Metabolism: Also it depends on the types of foods you are eating. Fatty food (cheese is in this category) can slow down your metabolism causing you to lose weight slower. Increase your protein, decrease your fats and carbs. Remember starches convert to sugar in the body.

GOALS: Go to the goals section on this website and adjust your goals to 40% protein, 30% carbs and 30% fats. That should be your target for each day. Also their sodium goal is way too high. MFP has the default setting at 2500 mg. Sodium consumption should be at 1500mg.

Food: Remember to eat breakfast!!! Grains and proteins to start the day. Oatmeal (as an example) stays with you a long time so you don't get as hungry as fast. The 5 serving of fruits and veggies are vital to a healthy diet. Just because you can get in sugary snacks and stay within your calorie goals does not mean that is a smart choice. Limit your consumption of sugar. If you are a sugar addict like I am, after about 3 days you will notice that the craving is gone. Then you can actually taste the natural sweetness in some fruits and veggies.

Exercise: I would add exercise slowly. The trouble with lots of dieters are they are gung ho at first and burn themselves out by setting too strict goals when it comes to exercise. Start slowly and work your way up.

I hope you all find this helpful. If I learn some really good nuggets from this book I am reading I will pass it on.

cmriverside

GOALS: Go to the goals section on this website and adjust your goals to 40% protein, 30% carbs and 30% fats. That should be your target for each day. Also their sodium goal is way too high. MFP has the default setting at 2500 mg. Sodium consumption should be at 1500mg.

This is really debateable. Usually the recommendation is 40/30/30, but the 40% is carbs. Unless you are doing a lot of heavy lifting, you don't need that much protein. 40% is very high.

Jbarbo01

Yeah you want 40% carbs, 30 fat, 30 protein. Thats the zone numbers and it is very effective. Unless you are exercising 1-2 hours a day you should NOT be eating 60% carbs for sure.

BrofessorPHD

agreed. Toss out the macro ratios. Get 1g protein per 1lb LBM and your fine. get your required healthy fats and fill int the rest with carbs.

Lyny79

Good wee read. I will take this advise and hopefully put it to good use.

ahviendha

"Fatty food (cheese is in this category) can slow down your metabolism causing you to lose weight slower."

Do you have a source for this? It sounds kind of wacky to me.

Everything else sounds great!

erickirb

A lot of misinformation in this post. All you need to do to lose weight is eat less than maintenance calories. It is that simple.

To maximize fat loss as a % of the total loss, make sure you get adequate protein(usually less than 40% is ideal, start with 1 gram per lb of lean muscle mass and adjust from there), don't have too large of a deficit (0.5-2.0 lb loss goal/week, the less you have to lose the smaller the goal should be), and partake in a heavy lifting strength training routine.

Not doing strength training, or having too large of a deficit, or not getting enough protein will lead to a larger % of your loss coming from lean muscle (not fat loss) than you would otherwise lose.

Chief_Rocka

my tips are valid

meh

drmerc

my tips are valid

meh

Just the tip

Jacwhite22

1)Hungry?: If you are hungry EAT MORE FOOD!!! But make sure it is healthy food like fruits veggies grains and protein and not sugar starches or fats.

2)Water: I read that cold water is best when you are thirsty or dehydrated but room temp water helps to you to feel full. Water is one of the best things you can do for your body. Drink a minimum of 64 oz a day. You will pee a lot at first, but then your body gets used to it. A lot of times when you feel hungry you really aren't. Your body confuses thirst with hunger. Did you know that if you feel thirsty you have alreayd become dehydrated? So hydrate. Some people find it hard ot drink water. Non caffinated beverages can be substituted for water, but I find plain old water the best. To get in the habit of drinking water play a game. Drink one ounce at a time (that is only a few swallows). Go ahead.. pour out one ounce in a measuring cup and count how many swallows it takes. I tell people when you get up, drink an ounce to celebrate waking up. Drink an ounce after you brush your teeth. Drink an ounce before and after breakfast. There you just drank 4 ounces and you have barely started your day!

3) Calories: 3500 calories equals a pound. To figure how many calories you need to consume in order to maintain your current weight take your weight divided by 2.2 then times 25 (for sedentary life style) or times 30 (for a more active lifestyle). At my current weight I consume 2680 calories to maintain my weight. So if I drop to 1400 calories a day it will take me about 3 days to lose 1 pound. That is a weight loss of a bit more than 2 pounds a week. Some weeks you will have a lesser weight loss. Some weeks more. Do not allow your calorie consumption to go below 1200 calories a day (for a man 1600 calories) because your body will go into starvation mode and your metabolism will slow down.

4) Metabolism: Also it depends on the types of foods you are eating. Fatty food (cheese is in this category) can slow down your metabolism causing you to lose weight slower. Increase your protein, decrease your fats and carbs. Remember starches convert to sugar in the body.

5) GOALS: Go to the goals section on this website and adjust your goals to 40% protein, 30% carbs and 30% fats. That should be your target for each day. Also their sodium goal is way too high. MFP has the default setting at 2500 mg. Sodium consumption should be at 1500mg.

6) Food: Remember to eat breakfast!!! Grains and proteins to start the day. Oatmeal (as an example) stays with you a long time so you don't get as hungry as fast. The 5 serving of fruits and veggies are vital to a healthy diet. Just because you can get in sugary snacks and stay within your calorie goals does not mean that is a smart choice. Limit your consumption of sugar. If you are a sugar addict like I am, after about 3 days you will notice that the craving is gone. Then you can actually taste the natural sweetness in some fruits and veggies.

7) Exercise: I would add exercise slowly. The trouble with lots of dieters are they are gung ho at first and burn themselves out by setting too strict goals when it comes to exercise. Start slowly and work your way up.

Numbered for you so I could respond to each individual point.

1) You lose weight by being in a deficit......sometimes in a deficit you are hungry. It happens. Sure...eat more....as long as you are still in a deficit......

2) If you like water drink it.....if you don't.......drink something else. If your urine is yellow and cloudy drink more.

3) Your calculation is odd (at best) and does not take into account composition. Which greatly effects TDEE. Figure out your TDEE and then subtract 500 cals per day to lose 1 lb / week. You are trying to make this too complicated.

4) Wait.....what? I will pretend I didn't read 4 and just say the two things that determine TDEE coefficient are LBM and activity. If you want to have a higher "metabolism" move more or build more muscle mass.

5) I actually for the most part pretty much agree with this except for 2 things.......#1 - sodium does not affect fat loss. #2 - I prefer to use amounts rather than percentages. Eat 1-1.5g protein / 1lb LBM, Eat .3g fat / lb of weight. Fill in the rest as you see fit.

6) If you want to eat breakfast eat breakfast. If you don't.....don't. As for sugar, assuming you don't have a pre-existing condition and you meet the parts spelled out in #5 it is HIGHLY debatable as to whether you even should/need to track sugar. Some people choose to simply because they can not eat it in moderation.

7) For some people this is probably true. I would venture to say most people fall of the diet wagon before the exercise wagon though. For me it's go hard or go home. Im not going to waste my time in the gym half-a$$ing it. Im there to get a job done and that's what I do.

MsLee502000

My dietician told me 40% protein.
She also told me that to stay heart healthy to keep sodium at 1500mg. That is also what the AMA recommends. And she was the one who told me how to figure calorie consumption. Not everybody knows how many calories they are consuming in order to maintain their current weight. As far as sugar goes, you really don't want a diet made up of primarlily sugar. You may lose weight but you could also lose your health. No all fluids can be substituted for water. For example fluids with caffiene or sugar do not give the same benefits to the body that water does.

MsLee502000

"Fatty food (cheese is in this category) can slow down your metabolism causing you to lose weight slower."

Do you have a source for this? It sounds kind of wacky to me.

Everything else sounds great!

http://www.livestrong.com/article/311770-foods-to-avoid-that-slow-down-metabolism/