weight loss for dummies

This seriously may sound like the dumbest question ever, but can someone tell me exactly what I need to do to lose weight? I recently learned that there is so much more to it than simply counting calories and exercise. If someone could give me an exact diet plan, THAT would rock! I am 20 years old. Female. 5'1". 192 lbs. I have a desk job. I would really like to lose at least 2lbs per week. So if there is ANYONE out there that would like to do the math for me and instruct me on what to change my carbs, fat, protein to. And how many calories to eat. And etc. You would seriously be saving my life. (Figuratively and Literally)

And please, no rude or mean comments...

Replies

Hannah_Hopes

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

ChrisM8971

And this one

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

SezxyStef

there really isn't anything more to it.

Consume more calories than you burn.

Exercise isn't even for weight loss really it's for health and fitness...you can lose weight just by reducing calories.

Exact diet plan would be eat what you want/crave/love within your deficit.

Weight all solids, measure all liquids, log using the correct entries.

That's it.

Oh the 2lbs a week would be fine for now but you need to lower it eventually.
If you have 75+ lbs to lose 2 lbs/week is ideal
If you have 40-75 lbs to lose 1.5 lbs/week is ideal
If you have 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lbs/week is ideal
If you have 15 -25 lbs to lose 0.5 to 1.0 lbs/week is ideal
If you have less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lbs/week is ideal

As for your Macros (carbs, protien, fats) are more about nutrition than weight loss. I watch mine because I lift heavy weights and I need adequate protien to help heal the muscles.

Mind you protien keeps you feeling fuller longer.

To find your calories for weight loss just enter your info into MFP they do the work for you. But set reasonable goals, accurate activity levels etc.

No magic, no secrets.

If you enter all your data in at reasonable settings you should get about 1400-1500 calories a day to eat.

Then if you want to exercise log that, eat at least 50-75% of those calories back and you are golden.

flannery2012

Bump

LivingtheLeanDream

You didn't mention working out but I estimated you exercising 3 times a week...your BMR is approx 1580...your TDEE is 2130 according to online calculators. if no exercise at all your TDEE is around 1860.
e.g to lose 1 to 2lbs per week you would eat at 20% deficit of 2130 which would be approx 1770 cals, or if 1860 then you could eat approx 1540.

hope this helps..others i'm sure will jump in with suggested macros. I'm of the opinion if you eat at deficit and you will lose regardless of how those cals are made up ☺

Hannah_Hopes

^ this pretty much sums it up

Wetcoaster

unknown

This content has been removed.

MsMimidoll

If there was a like button, I'd push it...a lot

ChrisM8971

However it really is as simple as calorie counting

Macro settings vary depending on who you ask, I do 45 carb 25 protein and 30 fat others do it differently, often depending on the style of the deficit they are applying and what helps them stick to it better.

Calorie deficit is weight loss, macro and micro nutrient split is for health

Exercise can be used for increasing your deficit but is really for health as well

Put your numbers into MFP set your activity level based on your lifestyle without exercise and use a realistic weight loss setting (do't automatically go for 2 lb per week)

Weigh every solid you eat and measure every liquid you drink, eat back about 70% of calories burnt by exercise outside your daily activity and you should be pretty much there

Weekly calories can then be adjusted if you are losing faster or slow than you expected after the first 2 weeks to a month

ETA damn I must be slow at typing judging by all the posts that suddenly appeared between my two!

AmyRhubarb

But it is just simply counting calories and exercise....actually for weight loss it's just counting calories, eating less than what your body burns all day long. The exercise is for fitness and an added bonus as a higher activity level means more calories to eat.

You were given great links in your other thread earlier today, there is a lot of great info there if you want to get into the nitty gritty and fine tune your macros for specific goals (strength, fat loss, build muscle, etc). But for starters, why not just use My Fitness Pal's program? It's a great system and it works when used correctly.

Enter your info and goals accurately and reasonably. A 2lb per week loss goal is probably reasonable for you at this point. Log your food, aim to meet your goal each day. If you exercise, log it and eat back at least a portion of those burned cals, bringing your net cals up to or at least very close to your goal. Drink water, take rest days, get good sleep. And have patience.

Good luck.

heatheremde

This is good, but I like to burn more calories than I consume, generally I lose more weight that way.

hurricanekaty

Thank you. This really helps. I got to reading today about all this stuff about BMR and TDEEs and all Therese equations and math and I just felt like I was on the wrong path! But thank you for taking the time to ease my mind! Lol

hurricanekaty

Thank you soooo much!!

hurricanekaty

Well the thing is, is that I was taking in about 1000 calories every day and burning about 1200 but the weight wouldn't cone off. And everyone said I was starving myself?

hurricanekaty

Thank you everyone!! This has been the most helpful post yet!

ChrisM8971

The MFP calorie goal has you eating less than your body burns in a day , trying to exercise away everything you eat is not exactly healthy

Hannah_Hopes

QFT

platedlizard

Most people underestimate how many calories they eat and over estimate how many calories they burn even when they use a program like MFP. For example I noticed that you put 'hike' for your walks, were you actually hiking on a trail or walking beside a road? If you were walking six miles on a road then it's possible that you weren't actually burning 1,000 calories. MFP says I would burn over twice the calories hiking 6 miles than I would walking 6 miles. If that is the case you may have only been burning 400 or 500 calories, thinking that you were burning 1,000.

e. also you need to make sure you are actually eating enough to maintain basic health too, otherwise you will start destroying your muscles, and it is your muscles that help you burn fat!

AmyRhubarb

I think you are misunderstanding the concept of eating less than your burn - it's not eat less than what you burn in exercise, it's eat less than what your body burns all day long, in a 24 hour period, sleeping, walking around your home, brushing your teeth, sitting on the couch, working, etc. Our bodies are constantly burning calories, even at rest.

That's why we were saying you were starving yourself by eating 1000 cals and burning 1200 in exercise which leaves you with basically nothing - your body burned those exercise cals in addition to whatever you normally burn all day long (your BMR or basal metabolic rate). If you were in a coma, the hospital would feed you your BMR. You are not in a coma, so you should be eating more that whatever your BMR is. MFP figures that out for you and gives you a daily goal - it's simple.

Example - my BMR is around 1400 cals, and my body burns about 2100 cals a day when I'm active. I eat 1800-2000 calories a day, less than what I burn all day, so I lose weight.

kittykat1994

Most people take between 250cals - 1000 off their TDEE and eat that. Most people opt for a number over there BMR, then eat back 50%-75% of the calories they burn through exercise.

This means that you are properly fuelling your body. Burning off more than you eat will simply make you ill, either that it will make you crave fatty food and binge eat, and you won't lose weight.

The best way to lose weight is 1-2lbs a week. It's the healthiest, easiest and most substantial way to do it.

Fiercely_Me

FIFY

SezxyStef

thanks...wow brain turd tonight...must remember to re-read posts after a night out drinking....:bigsmile:

Strokingdiction

I'll post this here too since I don't know which of the two threads you posted today you are paying attention to.

Okay, so I looked up Strava. It looks like most people are saying that it has a 50% margin of error. That's huge. So you're probably overestimating your cals burned by up to 50%.

That's only part of the issue though, since even without exercise, you still only think you're eating 1200 calories. So you use a digital scale and weight everything you eat?

My continued impression is that you're overestimating calories burned, underestimating calories eaten and that you don't have a metabolic issue. It's entirely possible just highly unlikely.

Get checked out just in case but when the results come back, just know that you're going to have to be accurate with your food logging (to the gram) and you're probably going to have to estimate your calories burned by half.

Aaron_K123

Actually if your goal is to lose weight its even simplier than calorie counting and exercise, its just calorie counting period. All you need to do to lose weight is to eat less than your body requires to maintain your weight. Up to you to determine what that number is, determine what you eat in a day and make sure what you eat in a day is below that number.

Everything else is detail.

Exercise is important for your health but exercising for health and weightloss are really two separate goals, they just happen to be goals you can achieve at the same time.

bridgie101

http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/#results

This: plug yourself in there and it will tell you what to do. Then you can go into 'goals' and enter the information there. Then just carry on carrying on.

by the way, it's consume fewer calories than you burn - I'm sure someone's fixed that by now but just in case...

MFP works out your cals a little differently, because (a) it asks you what you want to lose a week which is DANGEROUS because a person starts dreaming and making up big numbers; and (b) it will give you a daily calorie amount, and when you exercise you can add extra calories for that day.

TDEE, or 'total daily energy expenditure' based diets will find out how much exercise you do, work out your TDEE, and then reduce your calorie quota by 5, 10, 15 or 20%, and then you just have to take your lumps as to how long that takes. If you do exercise it's already contained in that quota and you don't get to add extra.

Clear as mud? Either way is your option. You have to do the learning about how many calories are in a thing, and you have to find meals you can eat that are low calorie, yourself. There's no shortcut to that.

Having said that, it gets easier, and quicker, and the more you know, the easier it all becomes. Be brave and stick at it.

Ludka13

This.

Fiercely_Me

:drinker:

heatheremde

I agree, what I meant was do not consume more than you burn to lose weight, I don't know why I said it that way! That is unhealthy.

hurricanekaty

See, I was wondering the same thing! I use the Strava App and I'm walking on trails at my park. When taking into consideration the "feet climbed" that increases my calorie burning. I really think I just need to get a heart rate monitor to be completely sure of my exercises.