What the hell do I eat!!!
Sir3am
Posts: 19 Member
This is beginning to really grind me down! I am 33 years old 5ft 11”. I currently weigh 245 lbs and my goal weight is 200-210. Now to my problem. I don’t have a clue about what size portions of what to eat. I know what’s healthy or not but what’s good to eat for weight-loss may be different. I have looked around online and saw a lot of post that contradict each other so I dunno what to do.
If someone could give me advice on what to do that would be great, preferably someone who has been in my situation and lost weight.
I have been going to the gym for an hour a day, but I seem to only drop 1lbs a week if I’m lucky. Feel free to reply here or message me. Thank you
If someone could give me advice on what to do that would be great, preferably someone who has been in my situation and lost weight.
I have been going to the gym for an hour a day, but I seem to only drop 1lbs a week if I’m lucky. Feel free to reply here or message me. Thank you
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Replies
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Eat food you like in portion sizes that allow you to lose weight. And some fruit and veg cos health.
Pre logging is useful for learning your portion sizes.
1lb per week is a good rate of loss when you only have 30lbs to lose.7 -
Portion control - we have tried to weigh everything, but with 3 people at home, how does it work? Is there an easy way for portion control? Do I pack everything into different size containers before dishing up?0
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It's the other way around, so no wonder you're confused.
MFP tells you how much to eat to lose weight, and you weigh out portions of the various foods you would like to eat.
No foods are in themselves healthy or unhealthy. Too much or too little, is what's unhealthy.
So no foods are "good to eat for weightloss".4 -
neugebauer52 wrote: »Portion control - we have tried to weigh everything, but with 3 people at home, how does it work? Is there an easy way for portion control? Do I pack everything into different size containers before dishing up?
Use the recipe builder input all your ingredients and weigh the finished product put that has how many it serves then weigh out your portion and put that as how many servings you had1 -
Thank you I’ll have a look at that but I’m confused on what’s the recommended serving size per gram to input for each ingredient?neugebauer52 wrote: »Portion control - we have tried to weigh everything, but with 3 people at home, how does it work? Is there an easy way for portion control? Do I pack everything into different size containers before dishing up?
Use the recipe builder input all your ingredients and weigh the finished product put that has how many it serves then weigh out your portion and put that as how many servings you had
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TavistockToad wrote: »Eat food you like in portion sizes that allow you to lose weight. And some fruit and veg cos health.
Pre logging is useful for learning your portion sizes.
1lb per week is a good rate of loss when you only have 30lbs to lose.
What different could I do to increase that 1lb to 2-3lbs per week?
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Thank you I’ll have a look at that but I’m confused on what’s the recommended serving size per gram to input for each ingredient?
Now I’m confused too; what do you mean, the ‘recommended serving size per gram’?
Say you make a meal that you’d normally eat half of for dinner, and half of the next day. You’d just input all the ingredients you used, and what weight of each, and say that amount was for two servings. You then log one serving.
At that point you might be shocked by how many calories are in one serving, but that’s OK; now you know that in the future you should only eat a quarter of it!TavistockToad wrote: »1lb per week is a good rate of loss when you only have 30lbs to lose.
What different could I do to increase that 1lb to 2-3lbs per week?
You could eat less, or exercise more. But don’t do it. With only 30lb to lose, you will harm yourself by losing that fast. Your body doesn’t have enough fat to burn that much, so instead it will burn muscle (your heart is a muscle) or skimp on essential processes.
Weight loss isn’t a quick thing. 1 lb per week is considered medically safe; more than 2lb is only for exceptionally obese people under medical supervision.5 -
TavistockToad wrote: »Eat food you like in portion sizes that allow you to lose weight. And some fruit and veg cos health.
Pre logging is useful for learning your portion sizes.
1lb per week is a good rate of loss when you only have 30lbs to lose.
What different could I do to increase that 1lb to 2-3lbs per week?
Eat less. But you shouldn't be aiming for faster weight loss as you don't have that much to lose.3 -
TavistockToad wrote: »TavistockToad wrote: »Eat food you like in portion sizes that allow you to lose weight. And some fruit and veg cos health.
Pre logging is useful for learning your portion sizes.
1lb per week is a good rate of loss when you only have 30lbs to lose.
What different could I do to increase that 1lb to 2-3lbs per week?
Eat less. But you shouldn't be aiming for faster weight loss as you don't have that much to lose.
I feel like I do as all the weight is in my gut. I look pregnant haha!
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TavistockToad wrote: »TavistockToad wrote: »Eat food you like in portion sizes that allow you to lose weight. And some fruit and veg cos health.
Pre logging is useful for learning your portion sizes.
1lb per week is a good rate of loss when you only have 30lbs to lose.
What different could I do to increase that 1lb to 2-3lbs per week?
Eat less. But you shouldn't be aiming for faster weight loss as you don't have that much to lose.
I feel like I do as all the weight is in my gut. I look pregnant haha!
Losing weight too fast will just encourage muscle loss so you'll be smaller but still squishy... probably not the look you want...6 -
There are no ratios or formulas that will make weight loss faster. You could literally eat anything and lose weight as long as you maintain a calorie deficit (look up twinky diet
). For health reason, eating only twinkies is not good so it is best to strive for a balance. I personally target my protein intake first and let everything else fall where it may (I do monitor fat to be sure I get enough as well). With only 30 pounds to lose, one pound per week is about all you should target. Any more and you risk losing too much muscle with the fat. Now would also be a great time to start resistance training of some sort to help preserve the muscle.
Good luck.2 -
TavistockToad wrote: »TavistockToad wrote: »Eat food you like in portion sizes that allow you to lose weight. And some fruit and veg cos health.
Pre logging is useful for learning your portion sizes.
1lb per week is a good rate of loss when you only have 30lbs to lose.
What different could I do to increase that 1lb to 2-3lbs per week?
Eat less. But you shouldn't be aiming for faster weight loss as you don't have that much to lose.
I feel like I do as all the weight is in my gut. I look pregnant haha!
honestly, And im only saying this because of your rush mindset but it is true. When i get small enough that most my weight is in my belly and i look pregnant it means im very close.Yes its the more unhealthy fat, But the fact you see it it looks bigger then the rest and annoyingly slow means your very close. Just keep doing what your doing, Slow and steady. 1LB a week adds up fast, Honestly. With so little to lose 1 Lb can make a big difference visually.Stop the rush. When you get where you wanna be you want to maintain as much muscle as you can that you have now, So you wont be all soft and squishy. 1LB a week is PERFECT.
edit since i didnt exactly answer the question: Eat anything to lose weight. Its all about calories not specific foods. Vegetables tend to be a low calorie healthy bulker for most meals, But its all about long term compromising to keep you both sane and healthy. Think a small burger with a side salad or a large burger on half the bun with a small serving of fries. Find what fits into your calories and keeps you happy. Theres alot of swaps and little things you can do that add up fast. Weigh what you can even prepackaged foods are often much larger thn they claim. but again your losing 1LB a week thats perfect for you.5 -
From my experience and what I have researched, bad carbs - bread, pasta, potatoes, junk food - sugar and processed foods is what keeps me from losing weight. It also, especially sugar, goes right on the stomach. Eating protein, good fats, fruits and vegetables is what works for me.33
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From my experience and what I have researched, bad carbs - bread, pasta, potatoes, junk food - sugar and processed foods is what keeps me from losing weight. It also, especially sugar, goes right on the stomach. Eating protein, good fats, fruits and vegetables is what works for me.
And a calorie deficit...8 -
From my experience and what I have researched, bad carbs - bread, pasta, potatoes, junk food - sugar and processed foods is what keeps me from losing weight. It also, especially sugar, goes right on the stomach. Eating protein, good fats, fruits and vegetables is what works for me.
No specific foods keep you from losing weight if you are eating them in an overall calorie deficit and if your “research” has shown this than you need to find better sources.
What often happens is that people find it easy to over eat certain foods because they aren’t satiating , and that other foods like the others you listed (proteins, fruits, vegetables) are more filling and therefore easier to stick with the calorie deficit.
It is the calories that determine weight loss - full stop. The type of foods you eat contribute to satiety and overall nutrition but you can eat any foods you enjoy, in a calorie deficit, and still lose weight.
OP - get a food scale.8 -
Eat what you love in small portion sizes. That’s it.2
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What do you eat now? You said "crap" somewhere (this post or the other one), but what does a typical day look like? Enough protein, enough high fiber vegetables and enough fat to satisfy? A pound a week is ok, btw.0
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If you eat A LOT, and don't feel full unless you eat a lot then eat a lot of veggies because they are low calorie.0
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Calorie deficit is key. As long as your calories at are at your target you shou achieve your desired weightloss. Macro suggestions above are right. Key to portions is logging and weighing your food. Buy your self a simple digital kitchen scale - you can find then for $10-15 Walmart and weigh and record everything in MFP. Sounds tedious but it works. All the best!1
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In another thread you mentioned you only started dieting 2 weeks ago. Read the replies you got there, start weighing your food and be patient. 2 weeks is not enough time, especially with new exercise probably causing water retention.
And I agree, with not much to lose, 1lb per week is fine. More and you risk losing muscle and looking flabby when you get to goal.5 -
I find it easy to think of a meal having 1.5 servings of protein, which is typically 6oz of meat. Then, 2 servings of vegetables or 1 serving veg/1 serving fruit. If I do two veggies, one of those is usually starchy like a potato. I have a serving of fat/oil, typically used in cooking the meat and starchy vegetable. I mix and match this combo, so for example last night dinner was 6oz grilled skirt steak with 200g broccoli (I really like broccoli so that was actually a double serving), 150g red potatoes roasted with olive oil.
To me it's a puzzle of those food combos that I try and stick to to build my meals.1 -
From my experience and what I have researched, bad carbs - bread, pasta, potatoes, junk food - sugar and processed foods is what keeps me from losing weight. It also, especially sugar, goes right on the stomach. Eating protein, good fats, fruits and vegetables is what works for me.
Perhaps you have issues controlling the amount of carbs and therefor eat too much, but saying that 'bad carbs' are the reason for everyone's issues is wrong. First, there are no 'bad carbs'. And sugar does not cause stomach fat (that is genetics and too many calories).
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Start with logging what you normally eat for a week or so. See what fits your calorie goal and satisfies you.
You get to decide if 4 oz of chicken is right or 8 oz.
As long as you end up with a calorie deficit (eating less than it would take to msintain your current weight) then you are fine for weight loss.
Some of us prelog our food for the day so we can see what portion sizes or foods meet our needs best.3 -
Thank you I’ll have a look at that but I’m confused on what’s the recommended serving size per gram to input for each ingredient?neugebauer52 wrote: »Portion control - we have tried to weigh everything, but with 3 people at home, how does it work? Is there an easy way for portion control? Do I pack everything into different size containers before dishing up?
Use the recipe builder input all your ingredients and weigh the finished product put that has how many it serves then weigh out your portion and put that as how many servings you had
Recommended serving size doesn't matter one bit. You're going to have to spend some time paying attention to the calories of amounts of things and you'll end up with a baseline understanding. Using the diary religiously is the best way to get this education underway. Weigh your piece of chicken raw and enter it into your diary - too high in cals for your goal for that meal? Cut a bit off and try again. Eventually you'll get better at guesstimating ahead of time.2 -
From my experience and what I have researched, bad carbs - bread, pasta, potatoes, junk food - sugar and processed foods is what keeps me from losing weight. It also, especially sugar, goes right on the stomach. Eating protein, good fats, fruits and vegetables is what works for me.
Eating biscuits, chocolate, and occasionally cake is what keeps me going; there is just no way I could give those up for a couple of years, let alone for a lifetime. Strangely, I have managed to lose over 220 lb anyway. It’s almost as if ‘bad carbs’ make absolutely no difference to my weight loss when consumed as part of an overall calorie deficit.
By the way, potatoes with the skins on are an excellent source of various micronutrients.8 -
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This is the eating plan I'd recommend for weight loss:
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10636388/free-customized-personal-weight-loss-eating-plan-not-spam-or-mlm
It's pretty much what I did to lose 50+ pounds in less than a year, but with the experiments and blind alleys taken out.
I agree with those urging you not to lose weight too fast: It's not a good plan for decent body composition (muscle), energy level, or health. On top of that, eating too little makes some people "hangry", i.e., moody and hard to get along with. It can also increase cravings and lead to binges. Keep it slow, steady, sustainable, make it a learning experience about how to adjust your eating permanently to maintain a healthy weight for life: That's the quickest route to overall success.3 -
Step 1, get a food scale. Step 2, measure everything. Step 3, record everything.
If your cooking dinner for three, enter the ingredients in the recipe builder - enter three servings and record how many servings you eat.
When your cooking, write down the ingredients you use along with the weight, at the least volume (Tbsp, tsp, cup, etc). Some people are tempted to throw in extra things nilly willy, if you do - record what your putting in. When using Tbsp, tsp, cups - do not mound up higher then the rim. Use a scale for dry items it’s more accurate than a measuring device.
Eat a varied diet. Vegetables are much lower in calories so it’s a good filler.
I love a good steak, it’s a little upsetting at times when I want a 12oz T-bone (600 calories), with a baked potato (290 calories) - topped with bacon (86 calories), cheese (228 calories), sour cream (72 calories), and butter (102 calories). Don’t get me wrong, I can eat this - 1378 calories but it only leaves me with 322 calories for the rest of the day - which is not realistic for me.
So instead if I want steak, I’ll eat a 6oz NY Strip (200 calories) and bake some red Potatoes with olive oil, Parmesan, salt, pepper, thyme, oregano, and basil (288 calories,) and a a heap of steamed broccoli (68 calories.) This is a much more reasonable 556 calories.
Use MFP to know how much energy (calories) your body needs. How much of a deficit you need to loose weight, and record what you consume to help you get to where you want to be.3 -
Start just by eating cleaner over time and slowly lower the volume. once you stop seeing progress, lower the volume of food some more. A big problem is people over complicate everything in fitness, and that's what A lot of big companies do. Do weight training, throw in some light cardio sessions if the weight isn't coming off as much as you'd like.
Tracking what you eat daily can help A lot, even if it's not precise. At least it gives you something to build on8
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