Unsure how this works

sunsnstatheart

Takemetothepub... If i cut out potato, rice, pasta and bread... what do I eat? :-) thats my main meals each day.

That's the problem.

It's great food if you do what Takemetothepub is suggesting. It's easy too. It just seems hard at first. Like he said, lean meat and veggies. Add a little fruit, some nuts for snack, a small handful, and you're golden.

A couple things, eating higher fat foods does not make you fat. I eat bacon and sausage everyday. My goal is 50% fat in my diet, and I still lose weight. The thing is, your body uses fat for energy. It's more efficient than processed carbs. You still get your carbs from the veggies you eat.

It's totally sustainable. Cut processed carbs. You don't need it and it's crap food, and it just makes people fat for no good reason because it's not filling and the benefit is very small for the quantity and density. More bang for your buck sitting down with a baked chicken breast and a pile of brocolli.

I do eat sweet potatoes. Yum. But, rice, pasta, bread...don't need it.

I'm always surprised at how emphatic the non-processed carbs people are about how it makes you fat, when there are so many of us out there eating pancakes, ice cream, white rice, bread, etc. and still having great success over the long term. This just isn't necessary.

I'm not emphatic. I just was stuck for literally years and couldn't lose. I was told that was my "natural body weight". I cut out processed carbs, and bam! So, yes, I'm a believer and I try to share that with others. If you can meet your goals with processed carbs in your diet, great.

BTW, I am now adding them back in selecvtively. Last night I had 4 chocolate chip cookies and red wine. I'm not hard core. But, I do believe that cutting them out has helped me achieve my goals. And, I do believe there is something to it. But, I can see how if you keep that stuff in your diet and still reach your goals, you can't understand what the big deal is. For me, it changed EVERYTHING.

Fair enough. My personal opinion is that the kind of attention to your diet that is required to pull off a low carb diet is what actually causes the improvement in most cases (special exceptions certainly apply for medical reasons). But that's just my opinion, and we all are certainly entitled to our personal approaches. I had great success, at one point for example, on a low fat diet but the existing science tells me it was unnecessary.

OP - I would suggest that you start here. There are people that require special diets but they are the exception, not the rule, so it's best to start with the simple approach first, before making things complicated. There are some great information sources out there such as Lyle McDonald and Alan Aragon but there is also the "Eat, Train, Progress" group here on MFP that puts all of that into very easily read form (as Angel mentioned above):

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/833026-important-posts-to-read

My true hope is that as I add selective carbs back in, I will find that what you are saying is true. It's possible. As I say in my profile, this is a science experiement.

I can't read your profile (it's private) but I certainly get what you're saying. I think for a lot of us, it's a personal science experiment. I've gone through a series of the popular advice, "clean" eating, no simple carbs, low fat, and even did "fit for life" years ago. My biggest challenge now is nailing my TDEE and making sure that my training cycle is "perfected." My diary is open if you want to take a look at the amount of simple carbs I eat. I'm not arguing that it's optimal (I always need more vegetables) but I really can't tell the difference in weight gain/loss based on simple carbs. It also means that I'm not kicking myself when I drink beer or eat a pizza. I just fit it into my plan.

red0801

There are a million different fads/techniques & believes about what is & isn't healthy. For me, I prefer to apply a more practical approach to my diet & exercise goals. I try not to focus on loosing "x" pds by "x" date, but to develop some habits that promote a healthy lifestyle.


When buying food I try not to shop down the aisles. Everything there is processed for packaging, stick with thinks in the refrigerated section around the store.
Eat more fruits/vegetables than protein, and more protein than starch
Drink plenty of water.

Exercise get my heartrate to the 80% mark for atleast an hr. 3-4x a week-I have learned that after I learned how to run without pain & injury; I really enjoy running.
Find a strength program that leaves my muscles feeling worked the next day & do it regularly.

Make sure I take time to breathe, relax & rest. Stress promotes unhealthy eating habits and weight gain.

Hope it helps.

Swibbels01

Food:

Stay away from bread, pasta, rice, potato.

Why? Unless she wants to do a low carb diet these are fine foods...

He wasn't saying no carbs at all, just choosing better carbs. Carbs from fruit break down faster than those from starchy carbs like those above. It is ok to have in moderation, but I find it difficult personally to stop once I start

runningbs

Food:

Stay away from bread, pasta, rice, potato.

Why? Unless she wants to do a low carb diet these are fine foods...

It really depends on the workouts you do...as a long distance runner these are STAPLES.

arnfolly

When I became a diabetic I had to go several times to a registered dietician to relearn food. There ARE good and bad calories. Does this mean you should stop eating foods you like altogether? Absolutely not. A life changing diet is that. life changing. Diets are great for short term, but let's face it, we never stick to them for long term and that is where we often fail. I saw on your food diary lasagna. Try replacing the white pasta with a whole grain, put some fruits like berries. For a healthy fat source (yes, you need fat in your diet) add nuts like almonds, pecans or walnuts. Add legumes to your foods like quesidillas, tacos, heck put them on salds. Kidney beans, white beans, black beans and even pinto make wonderful additions to most meals and have a high fiber to carb ratio. This is what it means by GOOD CALORIES. Ones that are HIGH IN NUTRIENTS. Add some low or non fat yogurt or cottage cheese with fruit to your morning meals, add veggies IN foods to boost nutrients and fiber. Hope this helps.

mgarcia843

Honestly the reason I've failed so much in the past is because I have tried to limit my diet, failed by eating some "forbidden" food, and given up.

I agree with everyone's posting here about cutting out carbs as a way to lose quickly (Focusing instead on lean protein, veggies and some fats), as I have seen this work for friends/family, but if you aren't 100% needing to lose 2 dress sizes by the summer and instead want something more sustainable long term don't cut anything out completely. Cut back, adjust what you it but from my experience as soon as you start denying yourself something that's when you realize that's all you want to eat.

DonnaNCgirl

I am by no means an expert, just like most of the folks here. I can only comment based on my experience. I lost 96 lbs in a year and a half without ever tracking my food and exercise. Granted, I would have included more strength training in my efforts if I had used MFP or done more research, but I digress.

I never analyzed my food intake other than to count calories. Most days my calorie intake was less than 1000. Every once in a while I "splurged" and went over. I NEVER cut anything completely out of my intake, I monitored CALORIE INTAKE.

I did cardio at the gym (mostly classes but some machine) 4-5 times a week.

I'm maintaining now a little higher than my goal, but perhaps my goal is below the weight I should be. I'm lifting now to build muscle. I KNOW I should have been doing this all along.

End result...don't expect miracles in a month or two. Monitor your body's reaction to your intake and exercise plan. Every month or so, make adjustments if you don't like the results you're seeing.

I've lost weight before by cutting carbs and other things out of my diet but as soon as I started eating them again, I gained it all back. Notice I don't use the word DIET until I talk about cutting things out. Diets don't work long term.

Again...based on my experience.