What works for me

elisha8685

Well, I have been losing at least 2+ lbs per week doing the following. It takes some discipline, but if someone is starting out, you might try this and see how it works for you.

Breakfast: Whole Grain Cheerios= 1.5 cups with 3/4 cup 2% milk and one 6" banana (along with a potassium pill and vitamin pill)

Lunch: Spinach (Fresh), 1.5 tbs Lite Ranch, 3oz. baby carrots, 2 mini dill pickles (which I think go great with baby carrots), 1 satsuma, and a Nature Valley Oats bar. (Drink water).

Dinner: Something delicious, splurge a little (I eat what my wife makes) There is a little more leeway here because you have slimmed the 1st two meals so much, and it definitely gives you something to look forward to during the day. My wife has starting cooking with a Cooking delights magazine that does calorie friendly meals, and so far they are good. Eat another satsuma for a nice dessert.

I have been doing this for 3 weeks and have lost 12 lbs. (10 lbs from my first weigh in). It takes discipline but it really ain't that bad. I do splurge a little on the weekends too with beer and occasional junkfood. This allows me to look forward to my time off and not be stingy going out to eat on the weekends with friends. By the time monday rolls around, it's game time again.

*Another important aspect of my diet that I am incorporating is strenuous exercise. I am trying to burn at least 500-1500 calories a day running and working out. This allows one to be a lot more lenient with their diet and will also raise your metabolism greatly. I think that it was important for me though, to start out just focusing on disciplining myself not to pork out. It gets easier once your fat-american stomach shrinks a little

Good luck, for anyone who cares.

marzenka012192

i do the exact same thing.. except i probably eat like 50 calories less than that each meal. but it works wonders for me. but yes, its HARD to do.. n i do fall off the wagon every now and then, but when i start back up, i always see results.


Created by MyFitnessPal.com - Free Calorie Counter

abutterflyemerges

Elisha, how many calories is that per day? I am on a 1000-1200 calories per day. I burn 250-500 calories per day. I am losing about 1.5 pounds per week. i thought ,my diet was strict, you win.

questionablemethods

Wow. I would be hungry and cranky and shaky and headachy ALL DAY until dinner eating only that. But if it works for you, excellent.

FabulousFifty

Good for you! It sounds healthy enough! Great job on the workout as well. And...what is satsuma?

elisha8685

Good Comments, oh, and a satsuma is like a tangerine, or a minneola ....all different breeds of "mini oranges."

My diet is anywhere from 1200-1600 per day depending on dinner. If I work (I aim for at least 500 cal/workout) than I adjust so I allow myself to eat some more as long as its a lot less than what I burned.

...I am a 24 year old male, 210 lbs, after my body adjusted to eating less, this is actually a fulfilling diet. (Oh, I also throw black coffee in their in the morning for work).

kwardklinck

I eat between 400-500 cals per meal and exercise at night. For me this works better because I'm not consuming too many cals at once and I'm burning some of them at the end of the day before bed. I think it's safe to say that people are all different and react to food differently. Congratulations on your weight loss. I think it's all a matter of finding what feels comfortable to you.

sonia2003

Thanks so much for this! I was planning on starting something similar tomorrow and have mapped out my calories for the next few days. It is strict but I am up for the challenge and hope to see great results like you have.

What kind of workout are you doing?

astrosnider

Thanks for sharing what is working. I admire your discipline although I'm not sure I could manage eating all that spinach for lunch every day. But it's an inspiration -- I may try it since I am hardly losing anything despite working out every day and staying under suggested calorie count.

elisha8685

Thanks for the comments.

My workouts have predominately been long distance running, I am actually amazed at how many calories you can burn at a 10 minute mile pace. For four or so miles I burn about 700 calories. You have to build up to it, but running is awesome. I recommend though if you are out of shape in the cardiovascular sense, then start with the elliptical. Its low stress on the joints and can build up your endurance for physical activity very fast. For running, I use a program made by future aps that charts what pace you run and how many calories you burn by GPS. I like this because it takes weight into account for how many calories you burn. The myfitnesspal program doesn't do this. (It takes more calories, or energy for a big person to run 1 mile than a skinny person).

Also, with the spinach, you can actually make it really good! I recommend the 50/50 blend at walmart, it is spinach and romaine I think, with a little light ranch, (and possibly some ultra healthy good for you almond slices if that isn't enough) and it's actually really good. Its all about which spinach you choose. For some reason also, when you mix it with some baby carrots and pickles, yes I throw them all in the same tupperware, its actually not bad, ....I'm actually making myself hungry right now.


Oh, I understand if you're older too that running is out of the question, walking the same distance will take longer and will burn less calories, but it is very doable. My mother (who is 62, lost a lot of weight just walking everyday). She still walks 6 miles a day and loves it. Anyways, whatever you do good luck!