Weight loss tips/advice?

I have a few questions about your response but the main one I have is why limit or avoid dairy products?

OP: Don't try to make huge changes all at once. To start with the only way to lose fat is by eating in a calorie deficit. Start there. Figure out, as close as possible, what your maintenance calories should be then eat at about a 20% deficit. You will have to play around with your calories a bit to find where the "sweet spot" is but if you are persistent fat loss will happen if you are eating at a deficit. Obviously there are other aspects to all of this but getting a deficit figured out will get you started.

in the uk between 92 and 95% of the population do NOT have an adverse effect to dairy - found in double blind trials :-)
JeffPettis the reasoning behind limiting dairy is that it is a digestive irritant to a large portion of the population. We eat it on a daily basis so we are used to the side effects. For many they notice a dramatic decrease in sluggishness, bloating and some even experience a loss of bad cravings after a few weeks without dairy. Also, not all dairy is created equal. It's too long to go into all the reasons.

I recommend people try it. The ones who notice a dramatic change keep the change. Others don't notice a dramatic change and go back to eating dairy like they did before. There is no one-size fits all.

When you say 'carbs' I'm going to assume that you mean processed grains and starchy foods. Because carbs are in veggies too, and you certainly don't want to cut those out. Personally, I don't believe in cutting out the starchy carbs 100%. I've cut back a bit and I try to choose more wisely. Whole grain bread instead of white bread. No more random crackers and cookies made with white flour (which I never cared about anyway, I just ate because they were there). Not as large of servings of rice or potatoes. Smaller bowls of cereal (and only cereals which are lower in sugars and higher in fiber). I like these foods, I don't want to live a life without them. Again, it's about learning how to choose foods for the rest of your life, not about eliminating certain foods for a short period of time. You want to learn how to incorporate the foods you like into your daily diet. You'll have to tweak some things from you previous ways of eating, but it's all about adjustments not restriction or deprivation. I'm sure there are people who will disagree with me, but that's my personal opinion. And it may explain why I'm losing more slowly than others might be, but I'm OK with that.

Yeah, the 'bad' carbs, as some would call them. The ones in potatoes, bread, pasta, ect. I want to cut back on a lot of them because I ave a weakness for grabbing bread sometimes. Its the worst! But, I know the main thing to do is control every thing I consume. How many calories do you normally eat in a day? But, thank you once again! Your advice is probably some of the best I have received in awhile!

I'm at 1450 calories a day. I manually set my macros to 40% protein, 30% carb, 30% fat. I read in many threads like this one that that was a good ratio to aim for, and MFP is notorious for setting protein very low. I never quite hit that protein goal, and I'm almost always over on carbs...but I get pretty close most of the time, and after all it's a goal not a requirement. It's really hard to keep the carbs low...I do eat a lot of veggies and fruits so that adds up as carbs too. So I try to just be mindful of how much 'bread' type stuff I'm eating. Right now, I know I will ALWAYS have cereal or maybe toast for breakfast, so I just have to factor that in. Then I try to make either lunch or dinner starch-free...or to make both of them lower in the starchy stuff. I might make a sandwich be open-faced on one slice of bread instead of using two, for example. Or choose carbs that are also higher in protein, like beans.

My diary is open, by the way, if you're curious. It's not anywhere close to perfect! But I'm losing steadily (if very slowly) and not gaining at all anymore.

Hiya,

well done on your success so far. Have you been using MFP to lose weight. If not I find it does work. Sometimes my weight stays constant for a while but I think this is mainly water etc. If you fancy hooking up with me for a while please feel free to add me as a friend (I'm married with 3 kids and happy with it :-)) I find working with others keeps me motivated. i post on other peoples regularly and really appreciate others doing the same - motivational all around. Opening up my food diary to others really helps as well because people tend to pull me up if I start to fall into bad habits.

With exercise I try and do as much as I can buy as varied as I can. I do a lot of walking and swimming but I also have started to run again and I do exercise sessions off the fitness channel (not sure if you get this but apart from the crap ads about protein powder the programmes are very interesting). The varity is good. I can walk until the cows come home and its a good way of burning - the higher intensity stuff is good as well bu I can walk before or after a harder session and I get the additional burn on top

With diet - I usually work at a 2lb per week reduction (-1000 cals a day) . I will eat my exercise calories if I can. I'm trying for a slightly higher deficit for a couple of weeks because i want to reduce the load off my legs when I run. After two or three weeks of this I plan on eating more for a week to ensure my body gets what it needs and I don't stall my metabolism. For me my body works to book. I can lose 2 lb a week regularly without much discomfort but any more becomes hard work and I'm old enough to want to enjoy the process which I know will allow me to keep going - If I do too much my unconscious tells me to stop and I end up slipping.

Good luck - for me the one thing that got me fat was giving up - if you don't give up you will learn what works and you will lose the weight. You have your life ahead of you and you can be healthy happy and trim for the rest of it as long as you don't give up. As I said for me this means keeping it relatively pain free and going slower rather than faster (I want to be thin now but I have to contend with reality :-) )

I didn't read all of the posts so I apologize if this has been mentioned...I think a food scale is very important. People are usually way off in regards to portion sizes and measuring cups and spoons aren't always accurate.

K.

Kris I would change up your fitness training do shorter cardio but more intense. I have added an app to my smart phone tabata timer it's twenty seconds weight training ten seconds rest google it it's great cardio/fitness work out . You have to shock your body with different work outs to stimulate your metabolism good luck you are doing great

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