Basic Food Rules

One serving of Peeps = ok

20 servings of Peeps = not ok

Everything in moderation, IIFYM.

One serving of Peeps = ok

20 servings of Peeps = not ok

Everything in moderation, IIFYM.

Peeps are never ok IMO (I think they're nasty) but replace it with M&Ms and we're cool.

OP, there are never any foods that you MUST eat to lose weight, nor are there foods that you absolutely cannot eat. Do a forum search for IIFYM, set your macros on MFP, check out the group Eat, Train, Progress, and you're set.

Basically, food rules....

But srsly, there are no devil foods...I eat desert every night...ice cream, pie, cake, cookies, etc...you just eat them in moderation and fit them into your calorie goals...the particular food itself is not to blame for your weight.

You should get as much nutrition as possible with your diet...lots of veg, a couple servings of fruit, lean proteins and healthy fats. ..but yeah, you can have some jelly beans if they fit your calories and macros. Don't ignore that FAT part...people tend to have a bad relationship with dietary fat because they think fat makes you fat...it doesn't...fat is an essential nutrient and if you don't get enough your hormones get all whack and it makes it even harder to lose weight, not to mention the mood swings and everything else.

Weight control is all about energy balance. A calorie is a unit of energy just like a watt or an amp or whatever. Your body requires XXXX calories per day to maintain your weight...most of these calorie requirements are just to keep you alive and your organs functioning, etc. The rest of your calorie requirements come from day to day activities and exercise (as well as digestion, etc).

When you consume less than your body needs to maintain weight, you lose weight as your body has to consume fat to replace the energy you are not consuming. Your fat stores are just back up energy stores. MFP's calorie goal includes a deficit from your estimated NEAT maintenance...your NEAT is your Non Exercise Activity Thermogenesis...your day to day...it doesn't include exercise. Thus you will note that MfP will give you add'l calories when you log exercise. Yes....you're supposed to eat them back...you just have to make sure you're not overestimating your burn as is often the case here.

Calorie counting is a game of precision so you need to be as accurate as possible. This can be tedious as it requires weighing and measuring pretty much everything that goes into your mouth and then logging it. Most people who just "eyeball" servings underestimate their intake by as much as 20-30% and it reason #1 why we get so many, "it just doesn't work" threads.

Be as precise as possible and hit your calorie goals and exercise for fitness...you'll be fine.

Here's what I try to do:

Eat more foods from the outer edges of the grocery store (produce, meat, dairy, eggs) and less of what's in the middle of the store (processed foods, soda, boxed stuff).

But naturally, everything in moderation. If you cut out EVERYTHING you'll set yourself up for failure.

your 5 a day = good
junk = bad
take away & ready meals = junk
Really you didn't know???

Everything in moderation but I shouldn't be giving advice I eat candy like everyday lol

wait whats a serving of peeps?

Oh OP the only food rule that ever works for me is to measure it and log it. Buy a scale and some measuring cups.

Eat the food you like in portions that fit into your plan.

In other words, no foods are off-limits.

Log all your food here, study your food diary and learn what works. It's what we all had to do.

Here: these are great:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819055-setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets

+1

There is no set of specific foods you need to eat/avoid to lose weight. Count calories, measure out portion sizes and you'll succeed. It really is as simple as that