How to lose weight with fitness pal

Eating right and either getting or staying in shape is like playing the piano, it takes practice, daily practice to play it well. Losing weight is the same challenge, to lose weight, you have to practice, you'll make mistakes along the way, but that is how you learn, right? My first rant is to set realistic goals. Not those stupid goals, like trying to lose 60 pounds in 3 months. I find that people tend to try to lose too much weight all at once limiting their calorie intake to such a low amount, it becomes difficult to sustain. I do NOT recommend eating only 1200 calories per day, it is way too hard to stay on task eating so little. If you really truly want to lose weight, which I think you probably do if you are reading this, then it's "harsh reboot" time. Think about balance in your diet. Ignore sugar grams as it relates to eating fruit, the entire piece of fruit, not drinking juice. Eat 2-3 pieces of fruit every day, this will kill your cookie, cake, donuts, candies, soda cravings, and you won't gain a damn thing from eating fruit. No one got fat eating too many bananas, right?


Eat 6 servings of non starchy veggies every day. A serving is 1/2 cup by the way. Stay away from too much cheese, 1 slice a day is all you should have. Think to yourself, "I can have 2 dairy products per day." If you eat yogurt, then get plain yogurt and add your own fruit or jam to it. Remember to eat limited starches, but do eat them. Starches are, beans, breads, potatoes, sugars. For protein, if you eat meat, eat meat no larger than the size of a deck of cards, 1 serving per day at most, better still, 1 serving every other day. Eat tofu, beans, nut butters, veggie burgers, protein shake (2 a week) etc., (3 eggs per week is great too) and other proteins on days you don't eat meat. When you eat meat, chose lean meats, not processed meats and limit red meats.


When you exercise, work out HARD, break a HARD sweat, and the whole 3x a week for 20 minutes thing drives me crazy, hear the words of the famous advertisers, "Work out at least 3x a week for 20 minutes a day and you too can have this amazing ripped body." Hear their words, "AT LEAST" this is the MINIMUM you must work out to MAINTAIN your weight. Consider working out 5 times a week for 1 hour at a time. IF you do these things, you WILL lose weight. I promise. You will lose 1-2 pounds a week. This is a realistic goal. Regarding My Fitness Pal, do not eat back the calories you burn from exercise. Fitness Pal is generous with the calories burned.



Remember, weight loss and fitness is like learning to play the piano, it takes practice. You have to make mistakes to learn how to play it well. I realize these things sound really hard to do. They are. I won't lie to you, it isn't easy, but But BUT you are sooooo worth the effort. My final recommendation, is to calendar all your workouts and no one, not family, kids, jobs, or whatever, should take the place of your workouts. You have to make yourself a priority. You are worth it!

Okay as a final note, I have to add, if you have dietary concerns, or are a diabetic, please do see a dietitian or your doctor for the BEST advice for you. I'm none of those things, just a crazy girl trying to get thin, get in the best shape of my life and have a lot of fun on my journey. If I can share a few things I learned along the way, then that's what I'll do. But again, check out what I'm saying with your doctor.

http://competingiswinning.blogspot.com/p/food-fight.html