Which is the best method?

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lisasc0721
lisasc0721 Posts: 17 Member
in Introduce Yourself
Hello!

I have about (eek!) 50lbs I would like to lose. A good portion of these are so called "baby weight".....however my baby is 9 months old!

I signed up for this site a few years ago, and unfortunately life got in the way and I stopped tracking. I wanted to know what has worked BEST for anyone out there. Did you eliminate carbs/sugar almost completely? did you follow a high protein/low carb diet?

I have a baby and a husband who works around the clock. Also we would like another child and I am getting old....but am very fearful of gaining any MORE weight. I have started cross fit which I do about 4x/week, and that is good although it has been two months and I haven't dropped a pound.

Just looking for the solutions that have worked for people that are quite busy and haven't had the time to prepare meals ALL day long....I started a sugar detox and along with it being extremely hard emotionally, it is also VERY time consuming and VERY expensive to buy all of the organic, whole foods/oils/etc.

Thank you!!!

Replies

  • TommyJensen1987
    TommyJensen1987 Posts: 95
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    I count what I eat and stay under my calories, but didn't eliminate anything. I am quite lazy so usually I just mix a bunch of things up for meal times and then I take about a minute at most to log them - this is not so bad, considering.
  • _MG_
    _MG_ Posts: 453 Member
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    Track and log what you eat. Don't guess, weigh. It need not be a fancy diet scheme.
    Eat a calorie deficit but don't eat too few calories.
    Move your body.
  • ChrisM8971
    ChrisM8971 Posts: 1,067 Member
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    Weigh, track and eat to achieve the calorie goal MFP sets you based on your lifestyle and your required rate of weight loss. It has worked rather well for me over the last 6-7 months
  • Hornsby
    Hornsby Posts: 10,322 Member
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    This is the best way IMO

    http://iifym.com
  • deksgrl
    deksgrl Posts: 7,237 Member
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    Most important is eating at a calorie deficit. What you eat isn't as important except that of course you can eat more volume of "healthy" foods than you can of "junk" foods. But no need to cut any certain type of food group unless you have some medical reason to do so.
  • dwood1231
    dwood1231 Posts: 275 Member
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    use the calorie tracker, stay under your daily number, add some exercise. try to get ride of the empty calories, ie. soda, candy etc.
    Last but not least, water, water, water...
  • aNewYear123
    aNewYear123 Posts: 279 Member
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    The best way is whatever you can stick to long term.

    For me that it paying attention to calories and tracking everything. I slowly learn what to eat based upon what different foods fit in my daily calories.
  • seashell709
    seashell709 Posts: 123 Member
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    I have done what MFP recommends. I eat 1600-1800 calories a day. I eat what I want with what MFP goals are. If I want fast food I make it fit into my plan for the day. I have also found that meal planning the day before has helped me a lot. I also meal plan dinners for a month at a time so I know how many calories I will be eating and go from there. Dinner is typically my biggest calorie intake time. Hope this helps, best of luck to you!
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,867 Member
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    1 - I weighed anything that had weight as an option for serving size and measured everything else.

    2 - I logged everything

    3 - I was consistent in my logging, weighing, and measuring as well as consistent in hitting my calorie goals

    4 - I maintained a reasonable calorie deficit that would result in generally slower weekly weight loss but better long term adherence on my part rather than stopping and starting over and then losing motivation and then starting again...blah, blah, blah...slow and steady and it didn't hurt

    5 - I made sure I ate a lot of nutrient dense foods for proper nutrition, but I didn't deprive myself of some pizza here and there or any of those other "bad" things that dieters try to completely eliminate from their lives and then they go bat **** crazy because it's completely unrealistic to not eat pizza ever....
  • ChristineS_51
    ChristineS_51 Posts: 872 Member
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    Go to success stories - read some of the inspirational stories and see what they did - usually the common thread is
    Ate better choices
    Logged / weighed everything
    Got some exercise
    Persisted

    Calories in - calories burned = make sure you create a deficit = weight loss

    No magic bullet, just determination. No fancy "diet" foods / detoxes / shakes etc required - unless you want to go down that track.
  • GiveMeCoffee
    GiveMeCoffee Posts: 3,556 Member
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    1 - I weighed anything that had weight as an option for serving size and measured everything else.

    2 - I logged everything

    3 - I was consistent in my logging, weighing, and measuring as well as consistent in hitting my calorie goals

    4 - I maintained a reasonable calorie deficit that would result in generally slower weekly weight loss but better long term adherence on my part rather than stopping and starting over and then losing motivation and then starting again...blah, blah, blah...slow and steady and it didn't hurt

    5 - I made sure I ate a lot of nutrient dense foods for proper nutrition, but I didn't deprive myself of some pizza here and there or any of those other "bad" things that dieters try to completely eliminate from their lives and then they go bat **** crazy because it's completely unrealistic to not eat pizza ever....

    All of this, and I ask myself before I make any change.. is this something I can do forever, if the answer is yes then probably a good change.. if the answer is no then time to rethink it
  • lisasc0721
    lisasc0721 Posts: 17 Member
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    Hi there-

    Your calories are a lot higher than mine, as I am at 1200. How much weight have you lost/do you want to lose? THanks!
  • lisasc0721
    lisasc0721 Posts: 17 Member
    Options
    I have done what MFP recommends. I eat 1600-1800 calories a day. I eat what I want with what MFP goals are. If I want fast food I make it fit into my plan for the day. I have also found that meal planning the day before has helped me a lot. I also meal plan dinners for a month at a time so I know how many calories I will be eating and go from there. Dinner is typically my biggest calorie intake time. Hope this helps, best of luck to you!

    Hi there-

    Your calories are a lot higher than mine, as I am at 1200. How much weight have you lost/do you want to lose? THanks!
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
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    Hi there-

    Your calories are a lot higher than mine, as I am at 1200. How much weight have you lost/do you want to lose? THanks!

    Your 1200 calories came from "I want to lose XX pounds per week" .....it's just math. You can go higher if you like. Many people (myself included) choose to lose more slowly because it's more sustainable for us.


    This is the kind of range you should be looking at.

    Pounds per week
    75+ lbs to lose 2 lb range
    Between 40 - 75 lbs to lose 1.5 lb range
    Between 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lb range
    Between 15-25 lbs to lose 1 -.50 lb range
    Less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lbs range

    Also, keep in mind that MFP does not include any exercise up front...so when you log exercise you get calories added back. It may enourage you to move more...and calorie burns given are "generous."

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