nav[aria-label="Primary Navigation"] { padding: 0; & ul { list-style: none; width: 100%; display: flex; flex-direction: row; justify-content: start; align-items: start; gap: 30px; padding: 0; & li { margin: 0; } & ul li { list-style: none; } } }

MyFitnessPal Community

No wonder I'm confused!

Cindy393

Keto is good.....keto is bad....do low sugar, no sugar. High fat, no carbs. Weights vs. cardio. No wonder I'm so confused. Please tell me the best basic weight loss equation is still less calories in, more calories expended, regardless of these fads! I eat more protein, less carbs (no bread or potatoes), lots of meat and veggies, tons of water, exercise 30 minutes a day, mainly cardio.

Replies

MikePTY

All diets, no matter what they are, cause to lose weight if you eat less calories than you burn. If you don't eat less calories than you burn, you won't lose weight.

So yes, calories in vs calories out is the only thing that matters. Within that framework, you can design your diet as you see fit. You can go low carb, high carb, cut out certain foods, not cut out anything, etc. It's all up to you and personal preference and what you find is easier to manage and control your appetite with long term.

As far as exercise, cardio tends to burn more calories and improve anaerobic fitness, while strength training helps to maintain muscle mass during weight loss. Both have their own purposes and it can be benifical to do both of them. I wouldn't rate one above the other as they are different. But you do not need to do either to lose weight. Just eat less than you burn.

LyndaBSS

Eat at a calorie deficit and lose weight. 🌷

Cindy393

MikePTY wrote: »

All diets, no matter what they are, cause to lose weight if you eat less calories than you burn. If you don't eat less calories than you burn, you won't lose weight.

So yes, calories in vs calories out is the only thing that matters. Within that framework, you can design your diet as you see fit. You can go low carb, high carb, cut out certain foods, not cut out anything, etc. It's all up to you and personal preference and what you find is easier to manage and control your appetite with long term.

As far as exercise, cardio tends to burn more calories and improve anaerobic fitness, while strength training helps to maintain muscle mass during weight loss. Both have their own purposes and it can be benifical to do both of them. I wouldn't rate one above the other as they are different. But you do not need to do either to lose weight. Just eat less than you burn.

Thank you!!!!!!!!

RelCanonical

For better or for worse, eating nutritiously and attaining weight loss do not have to go hand-in-hand, lol. Speaking from personal experience. All that's required is a calorie-deficit. Sure, people generally feel and function better when they eat nutritiously, but it isn't required for weight loss. This helps me a lot because I know I can still be making progress with my weight loss even if my foods that day are not nutritionally dense. It's kind of splitting health and weight loss into two smaller goals instead of one big one, and that makes it easier for me to tackle - less of an all-or-nothing feeling.

xxooandcookies0128

The best advice I was given is that you should never cut out anything to lose weight that you’re not willing to cut out for life. That’s why so many people gain back. As soon as you eat what you couldn’t have on your diet then you’ll gain. I try to focus on eating real, Whole Foods, but I still enjoy eating out & sweet treats occasionally. I just focus on working out, watching my calories & being healthy overall.

callsitlikeiseeit

all boils down to calories in, calories out.

there are many ways to get there, some much more sustainable than others.

Cindy393

xxooandcookies0128 wrote: »

The best advice I was given is that you should never cut out anything to lose weight that you’re not willing to cut out for life. That’s why so many people gain back. As soon as you eat what you couldn’t have on your diet then you’ll gain. I try to focus on eating real, Whole Foods, but I still enjoy eating out & sweet treats occasionally. I just focus on working out, watching my calories & being healthy overall.

This is perfect! Thank you!!!

Cindy393

Thank you everyone for the great advice!!!

kshama2001

Clairin

xxooandcookies0128 wrote: »

The best advice I was given is that you should never cut out anything to lose weight that you’re not willing to cut out for life. That’s why so many people gain back. As soon as you eat what you couldn’t have on your diet then you’ll gain. I try to focus on eating real, Whole Foods, but I still enjoy eating out & sweet treats occasionally. I just focus on working out, watching my calories & being healthy overall.

Yes, I'm Irish and the thought of never eating potatoes and bread again makes me shake my head and say 'no.'

RovP6

It's quite surprising what we can learn about our diet once we start tracking what we eat. Yes, CICO is the sole driver of weight loss/maintenance/weight gain, but actually there is a bit more to it than that in terms of overall sustainable health. For example, there's a guy on Instagram who is eating a McD's Big Mac every day for 30days and is losing weight doing so. Is he therefore saying that Big Macs are healthy, absolutely not.

Once you start tracking you start to see the breakdown of individual macronutrients, the amount of protein, carbs and fats in your diet, as well as the dietary fibre too. Each one of these is important, so cutting one out or reducing it to an unhealthy level can have adverse effects on our bodies. The body needs protein to build and sustain tissue, not just muscle, but all tissue. We need fats to support hormone production and it would be unwise to reduce total dietary fat intake to anything lower than 0.3 x bodyweight in lbs. Carbs are important for so much more than simply fuelling our bodies. Without carbs, your body turns to protein for energy first as this is more readily available than our fat stores. Without carbs, your body would struggle to generate the energy needed to convert stored fat into readily available energy. So carbs should remain a large part of our diets. Finally, dietary fibre is important to ensure good bowel function and there's a fine balance between fibre amount and water intake.

So it's only once you start tracking that you begin to see the breakdown of these macronutrients within your total calories and that's where the fun starts as you start to adjust and see the results of increasing protein, or increasing fats etc.

Don't be afraid to adjust, but make sure you give it enough time (at least 2 weeks) to have an effect.

SarahAnne3958

never mind, not worth it.

Cindy393

RovP6 wrote: »

It's quite surprising what we can learn about our diet once we start tracking what we eat. Yes, CICO is the sole driver of weight loss/maintenance/weight gain, but actually there is a bit more to it than that in terms of overall sustainable health. For example, there's a guy on Instagram who is eating a McD's Big Mac every day for 30days and is losing weight doing so. Is he therefore saying that Big Macs are healthy, absolutely not.

Once you start tracking you start to see the breakdown of individual macronutrients, the amount of protein, carbs and fats in your diet, as well as the dietary fibre too. Each one of these is important, so cutting one out or reducing it to an unhealthy level can have adverse effects on our bodies. The body needs protein to build and sustain tissue, not just muscle, but all tissue. We need fats to support hormone production and it would be unwise to reduce total dietary fat intake to anything lower than 0.3 x bodyweight in lbs. Carbs are important for so much more than simply fuelling our bodies. Without carbs, your body turns to protein for energy first as this is more readily available than our fat stores. Without carbs, your body would struggle to generate the energy needed to convert stored fat into readily available energy. So carbs should remain a large part of our diets. Finally, dietary fibre is important to ensure good bowel function and there's a fine balance between fibre amount and water intake.

So it's only once you start tracking that you begin to see the breakdown of these macronutrients within your total calories and that's where the fun starts as you start to adjust and see the results of increasing protein, or increasing fats etc.

Don't be afraid to adjust, but make sure you give it enough time (at least 2 weeks) to have an effect.

LOVE this advice! Thank you!

AnnPT77

RovP6 wrote: »

It's quite surprising what we can learn about our diet once we start tracking what we eat. Yes, CICO is the sole driver of weight loss/maintenance/weight gain, but actually there is a bit more to it than that in terms of overall sustainable health. For example, there's a guy on Instagram who is eating a McD's Big Mac every day for 30days and is losing weight doing so. Is he therefore saying that Big Macs are healthy, absolutely not.

Once you start tracking you start to see the breakdown of individual macronutrients, the amount of protein, carbs and fats in your diet, as well as the dietary fibre too. Each one of these is important, so cutting one out or reducing it to an unhealthy level can have adverse effects on our bodies. The body needs protein to build and sustain tissue, not just muscle, but all tissue. We need fats to support hormone production and it would be unwise to reduce total dietary fat intake to anything lower than 0.3 x bodyweight in lbs. Carbs are important for so much more than simply fuelling our bodies. Without carbs, your body turns to protein for energy first as this is more readily available than our fat stores. Without carbs, your body would struggle to generate the energy needed to convert stored fat into readily available energy. So carbs should remain a large part of our diets. Finally, dietary fibre is important to ensure good bowel function and there's a fine balance between fibre amount and water intake.

So it's only once you start tracking that you begin to see the breakdown of these macronutrients within your total calories and that's where the fun starts as you start to adjust and see the results of increasing protein, or increasing fats etc.

Don't be afraid to adjust, but make sure you give it enough time (at least 2 weeks) to have an effect.

I don't understand: Are you saying that a Big Mac has no protein, fats, carbs? Or that it does, but they don't count, because . . .?