What do you eat in a typical day to lose weight?

You can check my diary if you want. Evenings are low carb, but a few carbs are OK. I'm on a business trip right now so my diary is a bit whacky for the last day or two. I never eat dessert, anything sugary is usually a no-no, the closest I'll get to that are protein bars.

The most important thing is just to eat few enough calories. Second to that is to exercise as much as possible in order to increase your calorie deficit. Then you need to drink nothing but water, for me about 1.25 gallons per day. Finally it's good to take some vitamins and hit your macro nutrient objective if possible.

I am not the best example, because I've probably lost too much weight too fast and have restricted my calories too heavily - but seeing the pounds come off rapidly is intoxicating and addicting to a degree.

Hello
It's really quite easy to maintain a healthy diet. All you need to be aware of is the calorie content in foods. One way that helped me was imagining all the foods that I love to eat and googling the calorie amount that they have. It gave me an idea of the limits. Totally depriving yourself doesn't always work but small amounts can.
Heavily processed foods are an obvious nono. Sugary foods and drinks, cookies, anything that has a long use by date i stay away from! Fresh fruit and veg, wholegrains, lean meats etc are great. The usual things. However that doesn't always help point us in the right direction.

For breakfast i've been having a piece of fruit (banana, peach, apple or pear, what ever we really have around the house) with 1/2-2/3 of a cup of muslie and greek yoghurt. Sometimes leftovers from dinner the night before. I find that if I kick off with a big brekky as my highest calorie meal it keeps me going and I decrease the calories for each meal throughout the day. Especially since I'm burning off the energy from breakfast throughout the day but not so much dinner. I'm not sure if it actually scientifically works like that but it works for me and my body and mind haha.

Lunch could be anything from a healthy sandwich to a salad to carrot and celery and a dip (since I'm at uni the healthy food options are quite limited). I avoid rice and pasta and bread generally, processed cheeses and whatnot but that is also because i'm slightly lactose intolerant. There are so many options out there for low-cal foods. Fill your plate up with heaps of veg (cannot stress this enough!) and decrease the carbs. Sushi such as salmon and avo appear with high calories but they're from the good fats in these foods, so be weary.

I find that I'm a snacker so if I'm constantly munching I tend to eat less by way of calories. I treat myself with blueberries or nuts.

Hope it helped!

I eat whatever I want, as long as I stay below my calorie target.

That said, I try to eat plenty of fruits, veggies, lean proteins, and fats to give my body the nutrition it needs. But after I meet those goals, there's no reason not to have a cookie. And a day off from perfect eating now and then won't hurt either.

It's about finding a balance and having a calorie deficit.

I don't have any rules, but I try to stick to natural, unprocessed foods when possible and I cook frequently. I eat small meals six times per day. I eat a very balanced diet with lots of protein, whole grains, healthy fats, fruits, and vegetables. Feel free to check out my diary.

I ten to eat more carby stuff before noon, and have protein with every meal or snack. Don't drink your calories.

Thats basically where I am at right now.

You can look at 10 different diaries of people who've lost weight and you could see 10 different strategies. The common theme is probably just going to be consistency; those people found a way to create a caloric deficit that was sustainable for them.

The food choices you make are all very personal in terms of what makes you feel sated and what gives you the energy you need for your activity. It's a process of trial and error.

Start simple. Log accurately. Be patient.

booze, lots of it,,,
no food.

Could someone who has lost a lot of weight please point me in the right direction with a food diary of a couple of days? Do you restrict any types of food eg in the evening? Do you avoid dessert?

My diary is public, look all you like. I used to have a snack before bed just about every night but in the last 10 lbs I no longer have the spare calories for extra snacking if I want to keep losing weight. I eat 1800 (gross) per day - most of that is before 11 am as I have a huge appetite in the morning and I find if I have a big breakfast/morning snack I am not hungry for most of the rest of the day. I have a light lunch / dinner and if I have spare calories (or plan for it) desert also.

There is no 'off limit' food, but if I don't have the calories I won't eat it unless it's a super special thing.

It doesn't matter what you eat as long as you stay in budget. You won't lose anymore eating 1500 calories of broccoli than you will 1500 calories of ice cream. You need to get a nutritional balance to be healthy but as far as what foods you eat, that's up to you. Eat the things you like. If you start depriving yourself you won't stick with it.

Unlike some, I eat lighter during the day (eggs or almond butter on rice cakes for breakfast, salad with a pouch of tuna for lunch) and eat the bulk of my calories in the evening. My husband does the cooking and this allows for reasonable portions of whatever he cooks. If he cooks something low cal, I'll make up the difference in my evening snack. Last night I was really short on my net (450 calories left after eating dinner), so I had a full cup of greek yogurt with some fruit preserves, PB2 and a quarter cup of slivered almonds to boost the count.

The key is to select nutritionally dense foods that you LIKE TO EAT and consume them in reasonable quantities for most of what you eat and allow for periodic "treats" in small quantities, so you never feel truly "deprived". ALL FOOD IS GOOD! Some just need to be consumed in "moderation". "Natural" foods that are low in calories, but high in "bulk" make the best foundation because they fill you up without providing a bunch of "empty" calories. Then use carbs, proteins and fats to "fatten" the bank, up to your allowed calorie budget (including at least some of your exercise calories). The goal is to enjoy your food without letting it rule your life. How you achieve that tends to be a very personal decision, according to your tastes and availability of various foods (I try to totally avoid sugar substitutes - I don't think they are any healthier than added sugar - which I can easily limit since I don't have that much of a "sweet tooth" - if you like sweets, pick some that you can maintain self control over and include them in your eating plan).

Feel free to check mine out. I've lost 30 pounds in the last 9.5 weeks, but not because I cut out a bunch of things. I just make sure to include the things that I need to keep going. For example: I always add one can of pop to my log in the morning so that I make sure I get that fix (I used to be a huge pop addict). My biggest key as well has been deciding when I tend to crave food the most (I's rather have a salad for lunch than for dinner), and planning ahead to leave enough calories that I can have a decent size dinner, often with dessert, as well as an evening snack.

The most important thing, particularly if you're just beginning to lose a lot of weight, is to figure out a diet that you can maintain. You don't want to make everything too hard for yourself all at once, because you won't keep up with it. As your calorie limit goes down you'll notice some things just naturally fall by the wayside because they aren't worth it the calorie cost. The one most notable to me is pre-cooked foods like chicken nuggets. It's just not a lot of food for a ton of calories. Figure out what you're doing now and what you can change. It might even be something simple like eating an orange as a morning snack instead of at breakfast, which helps you make better eating choices later because you aren't starving. You can do it, and welcome to MFP!