Diets that work

I would start here:

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

and

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1069252-nominate-getting-started-posts-for-sticky-status

Just going to go and echo psulemon here!

What has worked for me is eating like our ancestors did. I don't mean eschewing any modern comforts and eating undercooked meat and huddling in a cave. I mean choosing food items that are ideal for human biology. Skipping things like sweets, grains, sugars, and carbs in general and instead loading up on protein and fat.

The diet I follow is called keto (ketosis). The idea is that if you eliminate most carbs from your diet your body instead burns fat, and 24/7, not just while you're at the gym.

In a month I've lost 32 lbs. I don't feel sick after eating (which I did in my previous high carb diet). I get full without paying attention to calories (and my calories are always under my daily limit). I'm never hungry after meals.

Keto is what works for me. Give it a shot and see if it works for you.

First of all eliminate the word "diet" from your vocabulary. That's a very scary intimidating word, and a word that means to most a temporary solution.

Many people immediately think of that word--as themselves eliminating some of their favorite foods which is simply not true.

You can eat whatever you want, you just eat a lot less of it.

Long term weight loss success is simply calories in versus calories out. Simply meaning eat less--move more. Since you're looking to lose 25 pounds--don't expect it to come off quickly. Only morbidly obese people can lose a lot of weight quickly, simply because they're accustomed to eating 4 to 7 thousand calories a day, and putting them on restrictive diets down to less than 1500 is going to shed a lot of weight quickly. But even they has they continue to lose will slow down. Be happy with a pound a week, and as you get closer be happy with 1/2 and then 1/4 pound a week. You'll get there, just don't get discouraged.

Welcome and good luck to you, YOU can do this.

This is my first time on a forum and really looking to shed 25 lbs and trying to see if anyone has any tips on how I can lose weight healthy. Also, it would be great to know some exercises that would help to flatten tummy and tighten legs.

Welcome aboard.
Do read the sexypants post, several times if that's what it takes for the info to sink in.
It's a numbers game. If calories in are less than calories out, you lose weight.
Eat what you like, just less of it.

Use a BMI chart to be sure your goal weight is reasonable & healthy for your height.
You want to be in the green range: http://www.shapeup.org/bmi/bmi6.pdf

Since you don't have much to lose, aim for 1/2 to 1 lb per week. Do that by cutting 250 to 500 cal per day from what you're currently eating, which isn't much of a change. (Take your current weight, multiply by 10, and subtract 250 - 500.)
Don't go below 1200 cal per day unless you're supervised by a doctor or very short.
Or you can use that goal weight & multiply by 10 & there's your calorie goal. Pretty simple. That's what my doctor & dietician use.


"Most weight loss occurs because of decreased caloric intake. However, evidence shows the only way to maintain weight loss is to be engaged in regular physical activity."
"To maintain your weight: work your way up to 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity, 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic activity, or an equivalent mix of the two each week."
(The page explains moderate & vigorous.)
http://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/physical_activity/index.html


You can't spot-reduce, but you can firm or increase muscles in a certain area, so when the fat comes off you'll have a good foundation.
For the abdominal area: situps, leg raises, twists (for the obliques), side situps, back extensions. Work all the way around. (Whenever you do weightlifting, work both sides of the joint: hamstrings & quadriceps, bicep & tricep.)
For legs, I've just been doing lots of work on the elliptical, plus the hip adduction & abduction machines. That works everything from my glutes to my feet.

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Eat breakfast!!
"Breakfast is associated with lower body weight ...
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24898236

This study compared eating a small breakfast, medium lunch, and large dinner, [200, 500, 700 cal]
with eating a large breakfast, medium lunch, and small dinner [700, 500, 200 cal].
"The [large breakfast] group showed greater weight loss and waist circumference reduction ... fasting glucose, insulin [&] triglycerides ... decreased significantly to a greater extent in the [large breakfast] group."
In addition, hunger was less and satiety was greater.
Abstract: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23512957
Full text:
http://genetics.doctorsonly.co.il/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Jakubowicz-at-al-Obesity-2013-oby20460.pdf

"subjects assigned to high caloric intake during breakfast lost significantly more weight than those assigned to high caloric intake during the dinner"
Abstract: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24467926
Full text: http://www.tradewindsports.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Nutrient-Timing-and-Obesity-2014.pdf

"data suggest that a low-calorie Mediterranean diet with a higher amount of calories in the first part of the day could establish a greater reduction in fat mass and improved insulin sensitivity than a typical daily diet."
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24809437

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You might find some useful info & links on my blog: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/MKEgal
I generally document things out the wazoo, lots of links to reliable source materials (NIH, CDC, actual research articles).

setting goals (weight & calorie): http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/MKEgal/view/setting-goals-667045

motivation & encouragement: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/MKEgal/view/motivation-encouragement-680938

recommendations on exercise: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/MKEgal/view/exercise-667080

lots of resources: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/MKEgal/view/resources-666876

"Most weight loss occurs because of decreased caloric intake. However, evidence shows the only way to maintain weight loss is to be engaged in regular physical activity."

Can you point me to the scientific studies that have validated the above statement? I mean the part about physical activity to maintain weight loss.

[edited to clarify]

you do know that there is a minium requirement of around 130g of carbs a day to ensure proper brain function.

How have Inuit and Massai survived on their virtually carb free traditional diets if this was true?

you do know that there is a minium requirement of around 130g of carbs a day to ensure proper brain function.

How have Inuit and Massai survived on their virtually carb free traditional diets if this was true?

Well since I haven't studied either of those groups, I don't know what their lifespan is and how well their brains function in later years. I will stick with the institute of medicine they have nothing to gain from advising macro nutrient minimums, which they also have for fats and proteins.

Oh the internet is a wonderful thing, here is an excerpt that explains that "virtually carb free diet" from wikipedia:

Inuit actually consume more carbohydrates than most nutritionists have assumed.[14] Because Inuit frequently eat their meat raw and fresh, or freshly frozen, they can obtain more carbohydrates from their meat, as dietary glycogen, than Westerners can.[14][15] The Inuit practice of preserving a whole seal or bird carcass under an intact whole skin with a thick layer of blubber also permits some proteins to ferment, or hydrolyze, into carbohydrates.[14] Furthermore, the blubber, organs, muscle and skin of the marine mammals that the Inuit ate have significant glycogen stores which assist those animals when oxygen is depleted on prolonged dives.[16][17][18] For instance, when blubber is analyzed by direct carbohydrate measurements, it has been shown to contain as much as 8—30% carbohydrates.[17] While postmortem glycogen levels are often depleted through the onset of rigor mortis, marine mammals have a much delayed onset of rigor mortis, even in warm conditions, presumably due to the high content of oxymyoglobin in the muscle that may permit aerobic metabolism to continue slowly for some time after the death of the animal.[19][17] Additionally, in cold conditions, glycogen's depletion is halted at -18ºC (-0.4ºF) and lower temperatures in comminuted meat.[20][21]

Not to mention humanity for hundreds of thousands of years lived just fine on low-carb diets. High carb diets are unnatural and the reason why everyone is sick and fat. Lots of "science" (read: studies rife with selective bias) promote high carb diets. But that's mostly because the organizations heading up the studies include the FDA, which have a stake in commodities that are predominately starchy vegetables (which are high in carbs). Any salesman will tell you that you "need" their product.