Is it enough to loose weight?

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thatgurl374
thatgurl374 Posts: 4
in Health and Weight Loss
I cut out all pop (and energy drinks) and am making sure I drink at least 8 cups of water a day. I also have been trying to choose healthier foods vs junk foods. On top of that I have been getting on the elliptical for 30 mins a day. I switch programs on the elliptical every other day so the intensity isn't always the same.

Is this enough for me to loose a significant amount of weight in say 6 months? I am 216 lbs - 5'6. If not can you give me suggestions on what else to do?

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  • axialmeow
    axialmeow Posts: 382 Member
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    No idea. Healthy foods are not automatically low cal. Just log everything and keep at your calorie goal.
  • BiohazrD
    BiohazrD Posts: 48
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    It's a start, but what do you mean by "healthier foods"?

    Start a real diet with reasonable macros. Eat more protein, have a protein shake instead of a meal a few times a week. You'll be alright.
  • pastryari
    pastryari Posts: 8,646 Member
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    Maintain a calorie deficit, eating whatever foods fit into your macros.
  • MidwestAngel
    MidwestAngel Posts: 1,897 Member
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    It's a start, but what do you mean by "healthier foods"?

    Start a real diet with reasonable macros. Eat more protein, have a protein shake instead of a meal a few times a week. You'll be alright.

    You don't have to replace a meal with a protein shake.
    Maintain a calorie deficit, eating whatever foods fit into your macros.

    Do this and you will lose weight.
  • thatgurl374
    thatgurl374 Posts: 4
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    I eat 2 scrambled eggs and 2 wheat toast with peanut butter for breakfast. For lunch its a ham and swiss on a bun with saltines and dinner is my weakness consisting of tacos, meatloaf, bread chix ect. I also drink at least 1 glass of fresh fruit/veggie juice a day.

    Compared to what I used to eat this is "healthy" for me. I don't know a lot about healthy eating and the do's and don'ts.
  • jjrichard83
    jjrichard83 Posts: 483 Member
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    Even the smallest changes will produce long term results- not drinking your calories will drop a good amount of weight over the year.

    6 months is plenty of time to drop weight especially with all those changes! Just make sure they are long term changes, and if you can't do it long term, find out how to replace it with something you can do. Most diets work, it's staying on them that is the difficult part
  • jofjltncb6
    jofjltncb6 Posts: 34,415 Member
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    Have you tried tracking and logging your calories and exercise yet? It's a system that works for a lot of people.

    (My favorite site to do this is myfitnesspal.com. In fact, the tracking/logging feature is its best asset.)
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
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    Start counting calories.
  • EatClean_WashUrNuts
    EatClean_WashUrNuts Posts: 1,590 Member
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    Calorie in, calorie out. Excess equates to gain.
  • quirkytizzy
    quirkytizzy Posts: 4,052 Member
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    You can go into the Success Stories forums and look at threads of people who have similar body types and goals. Then go creep their profiles and diaries - that can give you a good place to start on what you might eat to obtain similar results. And go spelunking in the forums about foods, you'll find lots of information on good, low-call, high-filling snacks and meals.

    It's scary when you're starting out and have no idea what's healthy, only what's different. (And hey, even that's a pretty good start!) But if you eat at a calorie deficit and exercise, you will lose. Might take longer, depending on what foods you are eating or how you are exercising, but you will lose. Universal law of energy.
  • PikaKnight
    PikaKnight Posts: 34,971 Member
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    it's not a race. Losing weight takes time. Commit yourself to getting healthier and learning about fitness. Eat at a deficit, log everything and exercise.
  • thatgurl374
    thatgurl374 Posts: 4
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    I am just starting to track my calories. I figured since I don't know a lot about eating better, tracking it will help me figure out which foods are better than others. Just giving up pop and sweets makes me feel a lot better about myself, so it hasn't been to difficult yet!

    Hopefully in a year or two you'll see me in the sucess stories!!! Keep your fingers crossed for me!
  • SGT_Reg
    SGT_Reg Posts: 186 Member
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    lose
  • gmallan
    gmallan Posts: 2,099 Member
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    I eat 2 scrambled eggs and 2 wheat toast with peanut butter for breakfast. For lunch its a ham and swiss on a bun with saltines and dinner is my weakness consisting of tacos, meatloaf, bread chix ect. I also drink at least 1 glass of fresh fruit/veggie juice a day.

    Compared to what I used to eat this is "healthy" for me. I don't know a lot about healthy eating and the do's and don'ts.

    You've made a good start by cutting out soft drink and fast food.

    If you haven't already you should start logging your food as this will make you more aware of which foods are calorie dense and which are healthy (or at least low cal).

    Try including more veggies and some whole fruit, lots of lean protein and some healthy fats.

    If I were going to make a few simple suggestions about your menu:

    Breakfast looks good but watch the amount of peanut butter as it is calorie dense
    Lunch is a good start but I would add some salad to that (hopefully whole grain) bun and not bother with the saltines
    Dinner could possibly be very high calorie - add some steamed veggies or a big salad and reduce the amount of the other stuff. You can still eat this kind of stuff if you want but you'll need to watch the portions
    In terms of the fruit juice, you'd be better off having a glass of water and a piece of fruit. Juicing takes out most of the fibre. Watch the sugar content of any juices as it can be very high

    In the end, it all comes down to burning more calories than you eat though. Eating healthy nutrient-rich foods will just help you stick to your calorie goal by making you feel fuller
  • SGT_Reg
    SGT_Reg Posts: 186 Member
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    It's a start, but what do you mean by "healthier foods"?

    Start a real diet with reasonable macros. Eat more protein, have a protein shake instead of a meal a few times a week. You'll be alright.

    You can get all of the protein that you need from lean food choices. You shouldn't ever truly need protein shakes. Unless you like them. Save your money.
  • bbgughj
    bbgughj Posts: 219 Member
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    Yes , by cutting the soda pop out and exercising while maintaining a daily caloric deficit you will see results ..
  • MegDaig
    MegDaig Posts: 17 Member
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    Honestly it does not look like you are eating very much. I would try to avoid eating less than 1600 calories a day. At your stats you should easily be able to lose at 1700 calories or more.

    If you are not already, weigh and measure everything. And when in doubt, weigh, as measuring spoons and cups can be quite off.

    You don't have to eat squeaky ''clean'' either. The goal should be to get as much nutrition from your diet as possible, hit your minimum protein requirements (which MFP underestimates; 0.8g to 1g per pound of bodyweight is a good start) and your target calories, once those are satisfied, have a little indulgence if you'd like, it's good for maintaining sanity and balance. For instance, right now I'm cutting weight but I had chocolate cake on Thursday and cookies on Friday. I stayed under my calories and hit my protein, no harm done.

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