What to cut out. An explanation please.

None... just eat at a calorie deficit.

Nothing.

You don't need to cut out any foods, unless there's a medical reason (or lifestyle choice, such as not eating meat, etc.).

All you need to lose weight is a calorie deficit. As long as you are burning more calories than you are consuming, you will lose weight.

I encourage you to read the stickied posts in the forums. There's lots of great information to be had from those.

On a side note, I really wouldn't take advice from some random barista in a coffee shop, who just happens to be a personal trainer. Personal trainers are also not registered dieticians, and as such, are not necessarily qualified to give nutrition advice.

Calories (the amount) do matter. If you're eating healthy foods that amount to more than you burn, you'll still gain weight. You only NEED to cut foods out if they're for medical reasons or trigger a binge.

Just use My Fitness Pal to see how many calories to eat each day. Then, try to stay within that amount. If you want, you can try to stay within the right percentages MFP gives you for fats, sodium, protein, carbs, etc. But, that isn't absolutely necessary to lose. Neither is exercise. You can still lose if you just eat the right amount of calories. Sticking to the right percentages and exercise are more for improving your health than your weight. So, start by seeing how many calories MFP says to eat, and then try to stick to that.

First off, you do not HAVE to cut anything out. I just want to make that really clear. Behaviourally, feelings of deprivation are often a cause of lapsed diets. If you really want it, eat a bit.

One of the popular ways to lose weight without reducing the quantity of food you eat is to maximize high nutrient/ low calorie foods like fruit, veggies, lean protein, and minimize low nutrient/high calorie foods that contain few essential nutrients per calorie. An example would be to eat an apple over an equal amount of calories of table sugar, both because the apple will help you feel fuller, and it contains a lot of benefits (fibre, vitamins, minerals) that the sugar doesn't.

As long as you keep your calorie intake lower than your output, you will lose weight, regardless of what you eat.

If you are interested in making sure you get adequate nutrition and want to feel less hungry, fruits and vegetables and lean protein will be helpful, and processed foods that are low in nutrients and high in calories, while they won't necessarily derail you, waste calories with no real physical benefit to you.

Assuming you're here because you've chosen MFP as the way to lose weight, nothing. Just cut back. Eat less, move more.
Read this: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants/p1

If you have other health goals, then the answer may be a tad different.

randomtai wrote: »

None... just eat at a calorie deficit.

/thread

you only get that message if you are below 1200 calories, you should not have a deficit below that

stevew_68 wrote: »

I keep getting the message that I have not used enough calories, when I finalise everything at night.

You should really address this. There is no reason you should ever be getting this message, unless it's an off day due to illness etc. or unless you have been medically directed by your doctor to eat that little.

That being said, weigh your foods on a food scale to ensure you're not eating more than you think.

In the absence of a medical condition, you do NOT need to specifically cut out (or down) any particular food, food group, or macronutrient. Pay attention to overall calories & eat at a (reasonable, sustainable) deficit.

I will add this.... Candy is very calorie dense, you get a few bites for 100 calories spent. Where as, fresh vegetables are the opposite, You can eat a ton of cucumber or green peppers or lettuce for that same 100 calories. So, you want to aim at balancing that out.

For me counting calories is most important. Do I cut stuff out? Kind of, I choose not to drink my calorie but sometimes have coffee. I use to love soda. I stopped for 6 months and now I don't like it as much. Also I want to eat the most food for less calories so I tend to eat more veggies and low calorie foods. Instead of pasta I eat spaghetti squash. Instead of regular bread I eat 90 cal hungry girl flat bread or whole wheat thin slice bread. I could never go no carb or no sugar. I would never succeed like that. I'm down 62lbs with not much exercise.

I think that others have sufficiently answered this - eat a calorie deficit.

Here is my suggestion - go to the Scooby Workshop calculator, Enter your details, put a deficit of 15-20% max. Eat as much food as you can while trying to lose weight - better to lose more slowly and retain as much muscle as you can while losing. You don't win anything for losing quicker than anyone else, but you can lose a lot more than weight.

I'm 5'6", 147 lb and 45 yr old...to lose weight at my activity level, I can eat close to 2000 calories. If I were to be someone who can't exercise or move much, I'd be able to eat 1400 calories...so if you are male and bigger than me, you should be eating WELL above 1200 calories.