Looking for a good weight loss diet!

I'm a big fan of flexible dieting. Eat the foods you like in a way that you maintain a moderate calorie deficit and appropriate macros. Also be sure to get in enough fiber. That will have you eating a lot of whole foods, but it's ok to fit in some treat foods if you can make them fit into your nutritional goals.

As for calories, what I do and what I recommend to people is to eat at a calorie level that allows you to make good progress towards your goal. If you are trying to lose weight, eat so you drop 1-2 lbs/week. This assumes an average calorie burn from you getting in all of your workouts. This will be different for everyone, so you'll have to do some trial and error to figure it out. I'd start ~1600 cal/day. Hit this goal, along with your macros and getting in your workouts, for 2 weeks. If you lose 1-2 lbs/week, you're good to go. If you lose too much, increase your intake and repeat. If you don't lose enough, reduce your intake a bit and repeat. After a few cycles, you'll figure out what works for you in your situation.

rabbitjb wrote: »

KirstenAF wrote: »

So I'm searching for a good diet to aid my weight loss journey, I am 5'5" and 144lbs roundabout.
I'm hoping to lose 22lbs atleast. I'm not really certain, but really I'm no professional on this, it's a rough estimate, I just want to get my body fit, toned and lose those trouble spots.
I'm not following a particular diet currently, I eat about 1200 calories a day, alongside with 90 minutes of circuit training throughout the day (JM 30 DS, JM Killer Buns & Thighs and JM 6 Weeks 6 Pack), and finally at the end of my day I take a brisk walk for 60 minutes.

I'm certain I'll get 1200 calories is not enough comments... maybe!, but honestly I'm not sure what is enough.
I'm hoping to reach my goal by the beginning of October, is it unrealistic? I have no clue.

Now I search the net and find endless supplies of fad diets, and I really want something good, healthy, not too pricey and effective!
I could most definitely just make sure I eat a certain amount of calories everyday, but I'll be honest, following a plan is fun!
Does anyone have any great diet plans?

Thank you!

So

You've logged into MFP and set up your details and it's given you a calorie limit (no doubt you set a goal of 2lb loss per week .. change it to 1 or 1.5 at the most)

Eat that

Log 50% of the calories from your exercise

Eat those too

Eat foods you love but weigh and measure them - if you're hungry then learn from that and substitute higher calorie things for lower calorie things .. learn how to work your daily / weekly eating to fit in with your life

If you're looking for recipes try www.skinnytaste.com or the Recipe board on MFP

If you're looking for ideas on foods .. what do you love

+1

To lose weight OP, all you need is a calorie deficit. You can still enjoy the foods that you like, but it may be less of them.

happyfeetrebel1 wrote: »

KirstenAF wrote: »

Thank you everyone this was really helpful!
Do you think that my goal is realistic?

For me, it wouldn't be. It sounds as though you want to lose about 22 pounds in 8 weeks which is a pretty large amount for that time frame. Generally the most that you should lose unless you have a lot to lose is about a pound and a half to two pounds per week. At your size you would probably do a half a pound to a pound per week.

sigh, I apparently can't math :-). it appears that you actually have 14 weeks, which would be doable for you :-)

KirstenAF wrote: »

Thank you everyone this was really helpful!
Do you think that my goal is realistic?

not if done in a healthy sustainable manner....

KirstenAF wrote: »

TeaBea wrote: »

At 22 you can eat more than 1200 calories & still lose weight. 1200 is just MFP's lowest minimum default....for those with aggressive weekly goals.....and petite senior ladies. The 1200 MFP gave you is BEFORE exercise. Don't trust MFP calorie burns though.....eat back about 50-60%.

As you get closer to goal you will want to focus on less cardio (Jillian's stuff is typically 50% cardio)....and more strength training. Strength training (and eating enough calories & meeting protein goals) will help you keep more existing lean muscle.

All weight loss is not created equal. Google skinny-fat...only the scale looks good. Fast weight loss sacrifices a larger percentage of lean muscle. This is why time frames are such a bad idea.

I was actually wanting to do strength training here and there.. just need to work out when and what

check out starting strength, strong lifts 5x5 or New Rules of lifting.

5:2

Enough said.

Kirstin wrote:

I'm searching for a good diet to aid my weight loss journey ...
I really want something good, healthy, not too pricey and effective!

The only thing that works is to eat less than your body needs.
Do something which you can sustain the rest of your life.
Get your mind away from 'diet' as most people (including you) use the term. Diets are temporary.
Once you stop, you'll go back to eating like you normally eat & weighing what you normally weigh.

Eat what you like, just reasonable portions, and exercise at least 30 minutes per day.
There. That's not pricey at all, and is proven effective.

.

I am 5'5" and 144 lb ... I'm hoping to lose 22 lbs at least ...
I'm hoping to reach my goal by the beginning of October

Going by BMI, you're already at a healthy weight, though at the top end of the range, so it's going to be slow.
No, you're not going to lose that much that quickly. Even 0.5 lb/week would be a challenging goal. Reset your MFP info.

.

I just want to get my body fit, toned and lose those trouble spots.

For fitness, exercise. Include weightlifting.
You can't exercise away trouble spots, spot reduce, etc. You can target certain muscles (or groups) to get
stronger or larger (though for women with normal female hormones, the 'larger' is difficult).


Here's a newbie help post I compiled, which has links to various useful information,
including sexypants (go read that now) ((yes, right now)),
then this one about setting realistic goals.
There's also one about logging & measuring accurately.

This calculator from the Baylor College of Medicine will take into account your age, weight,
and activity level to tell you how many servings of the various food groups you should be eating to maintain a
particular weight.
It says that at 125 lb, if you were inactive, you'd need 1592 cal/day to maintain that weight.
(Using your stated age of 22, stated height of 5'5".)
So if you eat that much, while doing at least 30 min/day of moderately intense exercise, you should get to
that weight. Or nudge the calories down a little (don't go below 1200 unless your doctor says it's OK).

Ignore exercise calories. Most people underestimate what they eat, most machines overestimate calories burned.
For most people, most of the time, those errors cancel out.

MKEgal wrote: »

ThatLadyFromMN wrote:

in my opinion a calorie ISN'T a calorie, there's a difference between eating an apple and a candy bar

:sigh:
Would you ever say "a pound isn't a pound", or maybe "an inch isn't an inch"?
I doubt it.

For the purpose of gaining/losing weight, it matters not one bit whether you're eating apples or chocolate.
If you're eating fewer calories than your body needs to run, you will lose weight.

For health, it matters a great deal what you eat. Getting more calories from more natural / less processed foods,
higher fiber, higher protein, lower fat, lower simple carbs (don't go overboard on any of this) is healthier.
But plan for treats. I have a box of 40-cal fudgesicles in the freezer at work. I have peanut butter with breakfast
pretty much every morning, because I like peanut butter.
If your food choices are not enjoyable, you're not going to be able to sustain the life change.

what she said

It is not that easy for everyone. A good start is to change one meal.
A great lunch or dinner would be a Brown-Rice Salad with Spinach and Tomatoes and of course, water or green tea to drink. This meal is also a great choice for a detox.
Enjoy!

((2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons red-wine vinegar
2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
1 garlic clove, minced
Coarse salt and ground pepper
2 cups cooked brown rice
1 medium cucumber, peeled, halved lengthwise, seeded, and sliced
2 cups baby spinach
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved))