Carbs versus Calories?

There is no bad food. Carbs aren't bad, they fuel your brain. I have lost my weight to date while incorporating daily carbs and fruit.

You should replace what you work off, at least some of it. What are your stats, we can figure up your BMR and move from there.

Poke around the forums for other threads like yours, too; there are tons of answers here.

Also, i am allowed 1200 cals a day, but i workout and burn about 700 a day - should i be replacing those calories lost with food? Or only stick to the 1200.

Any tips on helping me lose weight would be helpful in my situation. I am pretty depressed that i have been working so hard and my weight wont seem to shift.

Counting calories with any accuracy requires a lot of time and effort.
But Do this and you *will* lose weight:

1) Eat mostly to get the nutrition your body needs, and less for enjoyment. Establish a healthful diet and learn to enjoy healthful foods.

2) Three meals a day: breakfast, lunch, and dinner. That's it. No snacks, and no "in between" meals.

3) Give up sugar. No sugar in coffee, soda, or on cereal. Give up fruit juice -- it's mainly just another form of sugar. Water is the only liquid you need.

4) In the beginning, establish a very regulated moderate calorie diet. Don't follow any sort of fad. Just pick a selection of foods that add up to a normal balanced diet -- whole grains, veggies, fruit, dairy, a little meat, etc. But start out by having exactly the same three meals each day -- the same foods and the same amounts. Weigh the portions on a scale. Consider frozen dinners. Healthy Choice, Lean Cuisine, Kashi, Smart Ones, and probably other brands have several that are low in calories and saturated fat, 25% daily value or less of sodium, and high in fiber.

5) Weigh yourself every day on a 0.2 lb. accuracy scale. Your weight will fluctuate, but with a constant diet it should trend down over every two or three days. If it doesn't, eliminate items from your diet or reduce the size of portions until your weight does go down. (If you don't have a 0.2 lb. accuracy scale, I'd recommend the EatSmart Precision Plus Digital Scale, which is sold on Amazon.) Don't obsess over the scale — let it be your friend and point the way to a weight losing diet.

6) When you have achieved a weight losing diet, then you can start making adjustments to add variety, but make sure that you keep losing weight.

7) Maintain your exercise program.

Thanks for you response.

i am 26 year old female.
My weight 71kgs
157 cm.

My ideal weight would be 55-58 kgs which is average for my height.

Is that what you mean by stats?

That's exactly what I meant by stats Thank you
OK I plugged in your info to the IIFYM calculator and it says this:
Your BMR (number of calories burned by your internal organs just to survive, the amount of calories needed to keep you alive in a coma, never moving) is 1400 calories

Your TDEE if exercising 3 times a week is 1925.

I also ran through the Scooby calculator and got similar results (not exactly the same but close).

I would personally suggest eating a number of calories between 1400 and 1925 in order to keep your body happily alive and moving, while still using its fat stores to support the workouts you do.

If you'd rather NET 1200 while eating back some exercise calories, well that will end up being a similar number, it looks like.

EDIT: I personally am female, age 28, 167 centimeters and 73 kilo (started at 95). I've lost my weight eating mostly 1500-1600 NET (eating back some exercise calories--not all, but some). Sometimes I bump up my eating to maintenance for a couple days, other times I have come in low, but 1600 NET is my goal.

Good luck on your journey, I hope you are able to find what works for YOU.

Counting calories with any accuracy requires a lot of time and effort.
But Do this and you *will* lose weight:

1) Eat mostly to get the nutrition your body needs, and less for enjoyment. Establish a healthful diet and learn to enjoy healthful foods.

2) Three meals a day: breakfast, lunch, and dinner. That's it. No snacks, and no "in between" meals.

3) Give up sugar. No sugar in coffee, soda, or on cereal. Give up fruit juice -- it's mainly just another form of sugar. Water is the only liquid you need.

4) In the beginning, establish a very regulated moderate calorie diet. Don't follow any sort of fad. Just pick a selection of foods that add up to a normal balanced diet -- whole grains, veggies, fruit, dairy, a little meat, etc. But start out by having exactly the same three meals each day -- the same foods and the same amounts. Weigh the portions on a scale. Consider frozen dinners. Healthy Choice, Lean Cuisine, Kashi, Smart Ones, and probably other brands have several that are low in calories and saturated fat, 25% daily value or less of sodium, and high in fiber.

5) Weigh yourself every day on a 0.2 lb. accuracy scale. Your weight will fluctuate, but with a constant diet it should trend down over every two or three days. If it doesn't, eliminate items from your diet or reduce the size of portions until your weight does go down. (If you don't have a 0.2 lb. accuracy scale, I'd recommend the EatSmart Precision Plus Digital Scale, which is sold on Amazon.) Don't obsess over the scale — let it be your friend and point the way to a weight losing diet.

I agree with #1 but you still need to eat things you enjoy because you should not be depriving yourself.

For #2, eat when you are hungry. You don't have to eat three meals a day, you don't have to cut out snacks, you don't have to stop eating by 7pm, etc. Eat when you are hungry and ensure your calories are at the right amount (and 1200 is probably far too low).

For #3, there is no need to give up sugar unless you have a medical issue. There is nothing wrong with sugar and you can and will lose weight while consuming sugar. Of course don't have sugar is everything you are consuming in a day but some sugar won't do any harm.

#4 has some great tips but I personally would suggest staying away from prepared foods, including the frozen dinners. For the price and the nutrients they are not worth it. They are filled with sodium and preservatives. You can make a much healthier meal at home from scratch for cheaper that has more food and more nutrients ... and it doesn't have to take a lot of time.

For #5, while it can help some people to weigh everyday to keep them on track it isn't for everyone. Some people get discouraged and frustrated weighing everyday because the scale will not always go down regardless of what you do. Hormones, sodium intake, water intake, bathroom habits, etc will all change what the scale reads. Weigh everyday if it helps keep you on track but don't freak out when you see a gain on the scale.

Sorry to ask, but what is IIFYM, TDEE and sccoby calculator?

And NET?

Also in this quote

"If you'd rather NET 1200 while eating back some exercise calories, well that will end up being a similar number, it looks like. "

What do u mean by similar number?

Sorry, new to all the lingo. I really appreciate your help. :smooched:

OK, IIFYM calculator and Scooby calculator: You can Google those to find out your numbers yourself, I was just saying what I was using so you could find them. They are just calculators to try and figure out how many calories a person needs in order to lose/gain/maintain weight. You might actually want to play with them yourself, as you know better than I how your lifestyle is.

TDEE=Total daily energy expenditure. How much energy (measured in calories) that you use in a day. This goes up the more exercise you do. A lot of people figure up their TDEE and just subtract 15-20% of calories, so they can eat the same number of calories a day. If your TDEE is 1925 with 3 exercise a week (I know, you said 6, but this is easier for me to calculate, lol) you'll be eating around 1600-1650 a day, period. No "Oh, I worked off more than I meant to, where are the snacks so I can fuel that workout?"

NET= Netting calories. My Fitness Pal is set up for a baseline number (say, 1200) and expects you to also eat your exercise calories to cover your "unplanned" expenditure of energy. So, if you ate 1200 calories, then worked off 700 calories, ate back 500 of your exercise calories (to account for any miscalculation somewhere; some people eat All the exercise calories, but I usually only eat some of them) then you will eat 1700 calories in your day. That's what I meant by "the numbers will be about the same". On the plus side with NET, if you are unable to exercise for a week you don't have to try and figure up your new TDEE.

Also, I'm sure you're doing this already, be sure you take a multivitamin; I take vitamins daily but don't log them, some people log theirs for accuracy's sake, but I don't want to be "over my goal" because of a handful of calories from a pill.

Are you on a specific eating plan that requires zero carbs? I'm doing keto, which allots me carbs, but I try to keep them under 25 grams. It's been working for me, although lately I've been retaining water because I started a new job that has me on my feet for 5 hours a day, which is quite the workout in itself. If you're interested in going on keto, here's a link about it.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1gZfJejOM8fJsX1iCilmnpp1qmT_KncJwWCR4-EsaEHc/edit?pli=1

Hi everyone.

I am on a 12 week challenge. I am already in week 5 and i havent lost anything. I have been eating no carbs, no fruit. But i have not been counting calories. I make sure my portions are not over the top. (100g meat and 2 cups of vegetables). I have not been boozing and working out 2 x a day, 6 x a week.

After discovering i have not lost any weight. i went to a nutritionist who gave me a meal plan. Its has incorporated a lot of carbs. Muesli in the morning, (is muesli bad in very small amount with skim milk?), brown rice, crackers, yoghurt. These foods i am not used to eating as when i have lost weight before i have only done low carb, no sugar.

I have been recording my progress with my fitness pal. I have a few questions.

If i want to lose weight, should i ditch the muesli and carbs and yoghurt?

Also, i am allowed 1200 cals a day, but i workout and burn about 700 a day - should i be replacing those calories lost with food? Or only stick to the 1200.

Any tips on helping me lose weight would be helpful in my situation. I am pretty depressed that i have been working so hard and my weight wont seem to shift.

you're not losing because you're not eating enough. If you're burning 700 a day, eat them back. I'm certain your BMR (base metabolic rate) is higher than 1200 (probably around 1400, though we can't know without your height/weight/age).

use this calculator to figure it out: http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

Sorry to ask, but what is IIFYM, TDEE and sccoby calculator?

And NET?

Also in this quote

"If you'd rather NET 1200 while eating back some exercise calories, well that will end up being a similar number, it looks like. "

What do u mean by similar number?

Sorry, new to all the lingo. I really appreciate your help. :smooched:

If you google "BMR calculators" ..... you will get a bunch of choices ..... scooby is one.

NET is the number after you've logged exercise. Here in MFP land (My Fitness Pal) logged exercise calories are added back to your daily total.... the difference is NET.

Example .... you eat 1650 calories & log 250 calories in cardio .....NET = 1400 for the day

Because your BMR is 1400 ...... this is as low as you want to go. MFP may give you a lower number .... but that is based (in part) by the number of pounds you want to lose each week. If you plug in a really aggresive weight loss goal .... your "pre-exercise" number could be below your BMR. Fast weight loss will have you losing muscle mass along with the fat.

TDEE = manitenance calories and it includes exercise ...... make sure you stay below this.

What do you consider fast weight loss?

OP, why don't you at least *attempt* the diet plan laid out by the nutritionist? Give it a month before poo-pooing it.