What do you eat when trying to lose weight? :)

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Hiya,
I just joined here, and really wanted to know what you guys eat in a regular day. I have really managed to destruct where my diet's concerned and am doing a 'low carb' right now but have a feeling that a high fat low carb while does help lower body fat, increases my total caloric intake and adds on muscle instead! And at 5'5 and 134 pounds, with my 27 inched waist of gluttony, thats the last thing I should be aiming for.
I haven't eaten 'normally' for so long, I embarrassingly don't know what it is.
As in, I haven't even eaten rice in ages! Its THAT bad lol
So a little help please I suppose.
I'm aiming at a 1000 calories a day, which may seem less but I'm a mesomorph and literally gained 10 pounds in a month and half of college eating my 'recommended' 2000 and binging only on 'healthy' foods. (only junk: ben and jerrys pint ONCE, churros ONCE, fish and chips ONCE, christmas meal ONCE)
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Replies

  • 89nunu
    89nunu Posts: 1,082 Member
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    Hiya,
    I just joined here, and really wanted to know what you guys eat in a regular day. I have really managed to destruct where my diet's concerned and am doing a 'low carb' right now but have a feeling that a high fat low carb while does help lower body fat, increases my total caloric intake and adds on muscle instead! And at 5'5 and 134 pounds, with my 27 inched waist of gluttony, thats the last thing I should be aiming for.
    I haven't eaten 'normally' for so long, I embarrassingly don't know what it is.
    As in, I haven't even eaten rice in ages! Its THAT bad lol
    So a little help please I suppose.
    I'm aiming at a 1000 calories a day, which may seem less but I'm a mesomorph and literally gained 10 pounds in a month and half of college eating my 'recommended' 2000 and binging only on 'healthy' foods. (only junk: ben and jerrys pint ONCE, churros ONCE, fish and chips ONCE, christmas meal ONCE)

    Sorry but no...
    You don't build muscle just from eating to much fat!
    No reason to cut out carbs!
    1000 calories a day is far to low!!!
    Why do you think 2000 is your recommended intake? Your short, it's probably less than that

    Have a look at this, it tells you everything you need to know:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants
  • godsgrl33
    godsgrl33 Posts: 307 Member
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    I'm assuming you're a woman by your stats. At 5'5", and 134, you are at a healthy weight. I am 5'5", and I am 151 lb. (34 years old). I would love to have a 27 inch waist at this point. If anything, if I were you, I would eat at maintenance, or somewhat below, but do some strength training, and some cardio. 1000 calories is far too low. I've lost 65 lb. over the course of a year, and I had experienced a plateau for a couple months. It was only when I upped my calories again from 1200 that I began losing again. If you gain at 2000 calories, try 1500, but don't lose any more than 15 lb. Anymore than that, and you will be underweight. Hope this helps!
  • YouHadMyCuriosity
    YouHadMyCuriosity Posts: 218 Member
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    Read the link PP posted and do some lurking on here. You certainly shouldn't be eating less than 1200 calories, and you cannot just gain muscle due to eating low carb. The average woman can only gain about half a pound of muscle a week if she is TRYING (ie lifting heavy, lots of protein).
  • livingleanlivingclean
    livingleanlivingclean Posts: 11,751 Member
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    Wha?

    High fat low carb doesn't increase your caloric intake unless you eat too many calories. Fat is more calorie dense, you just weigh/measure/track what you eat an stop when you reach however many fat grams you're aiming for. Eating fat will not make you put on muscle. Unless you're training hard in the gym with weights it's unlikely you're putting on muscle. Putting on muscle would be a good thing though, and not make your waist bigger.

    Overeating any food regularly will make you put on weight.
  • sarahmoo12
    sarahmoo12 Posts: 756 Member
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    your not that bad from your stats to be eating like that, just cut out junk food from your diet, if you dont cook start now and start exercising and you will be fine
  • livingleanlivingclean
    livingleanlivingclean Posts: 11,751 Member
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    Read the link PP posted and do some lurking on here. You certainly shouldn't be eating less than 1200 calories, and you cannot just gain muscle due to eating low carb. The average woman can only gain about half a pound of muscle a week if she is TRYING (ie lifting heavy, lots of protein).

    I wish I could put on that much muscle a week!!
  • ZealousMissJJ
    ZealousMissJJ Posts: 454 Member
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    1000 is a bit low! I know cause I've been doing that the last week (not really on purpose) and I felt SO faint last night! I try to stay around 1300 and even that is a bit low, I know.

    Eating healthy isn't that hard. It just takes time getting used to.

    My lunch and snacks today:

    41568741_3998.jpg
    Smoked salmon, grilled zuchinni, eggplant and carrot and blueberries. I also brought two boiled eggs to work. Breakfast this morning was a smoothie made of greek yoghurt, banana, blueberries and cinnamon.

    Yesterday's lunch and snacks:

    41568741_6699.jpg
    Grilled chicken with rice, blueberries, two boiled eggs and lots of cherry tomatoes.

    :happy:
  • Notnearnormal
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    Thanks for the reply guys :)
    I just wanted to add that I do heavy weight training, and have been for about an year now. Squats, deadlifts, push ups and the works, so there's quite a bit of muscle on me.
    I was eating way too little before college as I was on a gap and had all the time, and exercising a bit too much, with cardio 6 days a week, for 45 to 60 minutes and thus was lean but not that muscled. I increased my cals from 700 to 2000, slowly but not that slowly ofcourse. I train four times a week now and cardio once or twice, and walk around quite a bit, and have gained muscle :/ As in I didn't have that much quad definition and while my waist is 2 inches bigger my stomach doesnt have a pooch anymore and i have defined calves now and triceps
    I'm sorry for the babbling but I just feel bad and clueless...like I wanted this, but I also...didn't want this?
    I don't know, kind of off track at the moment as i spent the entire night crying :/
  • Notnearnormal
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    Wha?

    High fat low carb doesn't increase your caloric intake unless you eat too many calories. Fat is more calorie dense, you just weigh/measure/track what you eat an stop when you reach however many fat grams you're aiming for. Eating fat will not make you put on muscle. Unless you're training hard in the gym with weights it's unlikely you're putting on muscle. Putting on muscle would be a good thing though, and not make your waist bigger.

    Overeating any food regularly will make you put on weight.

    sorry I suppose I didn't put it well, what I mean is that food higher in fat is, as its dense, quite small in portions. I mean I could snack on a bag of popcorn and that'd cost me 300 calories, but I could snack on a bag of peanuts or cashews and almost hit 1500 in a sitting!
    Also, fat while it does fill you up for a while doesn't fill you up forever. When you get quite adapted to low carb nuts and cheeses become staples and they usually lose their 'filling' quality :/
  • Notnearnormal
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    1000 is a bit low! I know cause I've been doing that the last week (not really on purpose) and I felt SO faint last night! I try to stay around 1300 and even that is a bit low, I know.

    Eating healthy isn't that hard. It just takes time getting used to.

    My lunch and snacks today:

    41568741_3998.jpg
    Smoked salmon, grilled zuchinni, eggplant and carrot and blueberries. I also brought two boiled eggs to work. Breakfast this morning was a smoothie made of greek yoghurt, banana, blueberries and cinnamon.

    That looks absolutely delicious! Have such a craving for eggplant now!
    Thanks :)
    May I ask if you have grains in your diet? Like oatmeal or bread or something? :)
  • DawnieB1977
    DawnieB1977 Posts: 4,248 Member
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    I aim for higher protein, medium fat, and lower starchy carbs (except at the moment I am pregnant so that has changed a bit as I do eat more carbs).

    I am 5'6 and before getting pregnant was 154lbs, waist 29", and a UK size 12, so US size 8. I wanted to lose a few more pounds, but I'd hardly have said my waist was one of 'gluttony'. I had a nice, hourglass figure. I was eating 1500 calories a day and still losing. I had the occasional treat, but mainly ate healthily.

    An average day would be poached eggs on toast for breakfast, tuna or chicken salad for lunch, and then something like fish and veg, or chilli, or curry, or shepherds pie etc (all homemade) for dinner. Snacks are rice cakes, low fat yogurt, fruit etc.

    Now I'm pregnant I eat a little more, like say a peanut brunch bar as a snack. And I have been allowing myself some treats, like a mince pie, since it's Xmas!
  • ZealousMissJJ
    ZealousMissJJ Posts: 454 Member
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    1000 is a bit low! I know cause I've been doing that the last week (not really on purpose) and I felt SO faint last night! I try to stay around 1300 and even that is a bit low, I know.

    Eating healthy isn't that hard. It just takes time getting used to.

    My lunch and snacks today:

    41568741_3998.jpg
    Smoked salmon, grilled zuchinni, eggplant and carrot and blueberries. I also brought two boiled eggs to work. Breakfast this morning was a smoothie made of greek yoghurt, banana, blueberries and cinnamon.

    That looks absolutely delicious! Have such a craving for eggplant now!
    Thanks :)
    May I ask if you have grains in your diet? Like oatmeal or bread or something? :)

    I do on occasion eat white rice, but I don't eat bread, potatoes or pasta anymore. I've tried eating Paleo and it works really well for me. I just tweak what works for me so I still have greek yoghurt and rice, but have noticed a huge difference in energylevel since I've cut out grains and starch. I sleep waayyy better (because my sugarlevel isn't spiked), am much calmer but overall have more energy. And I seriousely never get sick anymore (knock on wood). Stomach is also MUCH flatter without grains and starch.

    Hope it helps! :)
  • livingleanlivingclean
    livingleanlivingclean Posts: 11,751 Member
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    Wha?

    High fat low carb doesn't increase your caloric intake unless you eat too many calories. Fat is more calorie dense, you just weigh/measure/track what you eat an stop when you reach however many fat grams you're aiming for. Eating fat will not make you put on muscle. Unless you're training hard in the gym with weights it's unlikely you're putting on muscle. Putting on muscle would be a good thing though, and not make your waist bigger.

    Overeating any food regularly will make you put on weight.

    sorry I suppose I didn't put it well, what I mean is that food higher in fat is, as its dense, quite small in portions. I mean I could snack on a bag of popcorn and that'd cost me 300 calories, but I could snack on a bag of peanuts or cashews and almost hit 1500 in a sitting!
    Also, fat while it does fill you up for a while doesn't fill you up forever. When you get quite adapted to low carb nuts and cheeses become staples and they usually lose their 'filling' quality :/

    Work out your macros. Stick to them - there is more to weight loss than calories. Try a iifym calculator.

    Nuts aren't the best for satiety and so easy to over eat. Try coconut oil, good mayonaise made with olive oil, avo, ghee/butter, olive oil, eggs, fattier cuts of meat.

    If you don't want to gain muscle, why are you doing heavy weights? Work out for your goals! If you want to reduce muscle, get a program to enable you to do that.


    (As for what I eat, to answer your original question. At the moment I'm on a mini cut, training heavy, 6 out of 8 days, one 10 min cardio session. I eat 190g protein, 100g fat and a range of carbs from 170-260g per day, depending on the day. I get this from various meat/fish/eggs for protein, some gelatin and whey. Fats are coconut oil, ghee, olive oil, nuts, oily fish. Carbs are predominantly vegetable, some fruit, a little honey, and rice once or twice a week with one meal)
  • twixlepennie
    twixlepennie Posts: 1,074 Member
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    I ate the same foods as I ate before/enjoyed, just less of it. Worked brilliantly for me and I'm now in maintenance and still eating the foods I love :drinker:
  • Meggles63
    Meggles63 Posts: 916 Member
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    I ate the same foods as I ate before/enjoyed, just less of it. Worked brilliantly for me and I'm now in maintenance and still eating the foods I love :drinker:

    ^^^QFT! What do I eat when trying to lose weight? Less!
  • Phoenix_Warrior
    Phoenix_Warrior Posts: 1,633 Member
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    I ate the same foods as I ate before/enjoyed, just less of it. Worked brilliantly for me and I'm now in maintenance and still eating the foods I love :drinker:

    ^^^QFT! What do I eat when trying to lose weight? Less!

    ^ same for me. I'm still trying to lose a bit more but I certainly haven't stopped eating things I used to. Losing has made me more "mindful" of what I eat in terms of nutrient density vs calorie limit but this is the way I intend to eat for forever.
  • marissa2224
    marissa2224 Posts: 11 Member
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    I try to eat the same foods I ate before trying to lose weight, and will continue to eat after I lose weight. I just try to eat less of them. Never would have guessed that eating smaller portions doesn't make me feel any less satisfied. Guess I was eating a lot of bonus calories before. :laugh:
  • RGv2
    RGv2 Posts: 5,789 Member
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    Read the link PP posted and do some lurking on here. You certainly shouldn't be eating less than 1200 calories, and you cannot just gain muscle due to eating low carb. The average woman can only gain about half a pound of muscle a week if she is TRYING (ie lifting heavy, lots of protein).

    I don't think the average woman can even do that. A professional body building woman would be doing good putting on 1/2 a pound in a week.
  • Rosannajo88
    Rosannajo88 Posts: 212 Member
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    Food.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    I eat less of the same stuff. Usually the carbs are what gets lowered. So I will eat the same amount of protein and fat, but less carbs. I still don't go low carb, but from 50% to 40%.