How do I lose???

airboss16

Hello all,
I am new to this site and am here to get healthy. I am a pilot and need to spend more time working on myself so I can stay healthy and keep my medical certification. According to this site, I should consume 2500 calories to maintain my body weight and I have personally decided to set my goal at 1900 calories a day. I have been doing this for three days now mostly using to iPhone app (which is awesome by the way) to keep count of everything. My biggest question is is this what I need to be doing? I have read a paper saying that caloric intake is irrelavent to the weight loss process and it's more about what you eat. I am a recent college student and I have no idea how to eat correctly. I realize that what I eat playes a huge role and I excerise common sense on what I eat, but it has been secondary to my goal of 1900 calories a day. Should I be doing something different? Anything anyone could recommend would be greatly appericated.
Thanks Again
Michael

BassBoneBabe

First off Welcome! Basically this site helps people to see that calories going in (what you eat) is less than calories going out (exercising, for example) What you eat is important, but if you eat 4000 calories in fruit, you are still eating 4000 calories. Make sense?
Take your time looking through the message boards and reading blogs. It has been a huge help to me. Good luck to you and your new life!

Sunsh1ne

Caloric intake is the very relevant to weightloss! It's simple math: Calories burned minus calories consumed equals your defecit. If your weekly defecit is 3500 (about 500 a day) you will lose a pound a week.

That said, what you eat does matter. Your body uses fat, carbohydrates, and protein as kinds of fuel.

- Fat helps your organs function and it carries nutrients like vitamins A, D and K, which you can't get from fat-free sources, so it is not something you can just get rid of. Fat has 9 calories per gram.

- Carbohydrates are like gas in the tank; your body burns carbohydrates throughout the day to give you energy. Complex carbohydrates (whole grains, fruits and vegetables) are like super premium unleaded, because you burn them slowly throughout the day, which keeps you full and energized. Simple carbs (Processed sugar and flour) burn quickly and can lead you to crashes and cravings later, but that doesn't mean they are evil, just that you should eat them in moderation. Carbs also help your body convert stored fat into energy. Carbs have 4 calories per gram.

- And finally, your body uses protein to build and repair tissue. Protein has 4 calories per gram.

Ideally, you should be getting about 40% of your calories from carbohydrates, 30% from fat, and 30% from protein. That gives you what you need to fuel and repair your body. Nutrition science is complicated and still not totally understood. This is just a short primer on the three basic macronutrients. The kind of foods you should be keying in on are whole grains, fruits, vegetables, lean meats, and unsaturated fats. As your eating habits improve, you'll know - you'll have more energy and just feel better. I hope this helps you get started!

NaturalMom

Some great books include Dr. Oz's "You: the Owner's Manual" and Dr. Beck's "Diet Solution Workbook." If you are more interested in the ethical philosophy of eating you might want to check out "The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan. All the above helped me form my current culinary lifestyle. Even if you don't read any of these books, you are doing the most important thing by tracking your calories and burning more than you are eating Good luck!

airboss16

Thank yoy all!!!!! This site is a wonderful way of networking and shareing ideas. I will recommend it to all of my friends!!!! I had read something that said that wheat bread and whole grains turn to sugars in the body and you cannot loose weight eating them and it suggested some sort of bread derived from seads. I got kind of nervous because although I do not eat alot of grains my lunches mainly consist of a turkey sandwhich and a cup of grapes and I live in a rural area where I do not have access to a lot of selections and was worried for a moment. Again thanks to all you you and if you have anymore suggestions please post them.....

rjadams

use the site to see what you are eating in terms of protein fat, carbs and even others like sugar, fiber, sodium. this site will help you balance out not only your calories but what those calories consist of.

Sunsh1ne

All carbohydrates are processed into glucose, which is blood sugar - and that's good, because that's the fuel you use to, say, stay awake while you're flying. The difference is how your body derives glucose from different carbohydrates. Simple carbs can be turned into glucose very quickly, which is why your blood sugar will spike, you'll have all this energy to use all at once, and then you've burned it all and it all goes away and you're hungry and cranky all over again. Complex carbs take longer to turn into glucose, so your blood sugar rises and falls slowly, giving you a stable energy level. It's kind of like the carb-to-glucose process is a funnel, and what gets through is the energy in your blood. Simple carbs are a handful of sand, and they will slip through the funnel very quickly. Complex carbs are like a handful of gravel; it can still get through the funnel, but it will be at a slower, more constant rate.

DJH510

What types of food you eat are important for various health issues. For purely weight loss purposes however, calories are all you need to worry about. Eating 1200 calories of sweets is a lot less healthy than eating 1200 calories of nutritious food, but you will lose the same amount of weight on either diet.