what do most people have their nutrition set at for the best weight loss.

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joann
joann Posts: 624 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Ive never really paid any attention to anything else besides calories. I do try and cut back on carbs. I see so many diets where everything is based on protein.

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  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,166 Member
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    It's calories that directly affect fat loss. Nutrition is important for health, and can affect weight loss indirectly via energy level/fatigue or appetite/cravings . . . but those effects tend to be quite individual, something we learn about ourselves by experimenting and observing.

    I like to get good nutrition for health and athletic performance, but I don't limit carbs, fats or protein as long as I'm within calories. (I do shoot for a certain minimum of protein and fats, literally don't care where carbs end up, but for me it's a pretty high number.)

    For most people, for general health purposes, the MFP default values aren't a bad starting point, as long as the person doesn't cut calories aggressively far for fast loss. There's no way to get adequate nutrition on too-few calories, and too-few calories will tend to backfire for weight loss, besides. (Too low calories can cause fatigue, so we move less and burn fewer calories than we'd otherwise expect; and can cause deprivation-triggered bouts of over-eating or even giving up altogether because it's just too hard.)
  • flburn
    flburn Posts: 4 Member
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    I'm 5 ft 7, 152 pounds. I set mine at 1520, but I don't track fruits and vegetables. I exercise frequently and I am dropping. I started my weight about a week ago at 155.
    Previously I would eat about 2000 calories and track everything but weighing and measuring salads got old. It's working.
    I also aim for 1 gram of protein per goal body weight. My goal is to weigh between 145 and 150. So I aim for 145 grams of protein per day. This week has been tough but I am reaching 100 grams.
    I don't use the calories that mfp recommended. A good starting goal is to take your goal weight x12. I added because of exercise. 150x12=1,800 so I added 200 calories initially. Then I subtracted about what I thought I was eating daily in fruit and vegetables...
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,394 Member
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    I track everything because I do eat a lot of fruit and veg. I could easily gain weight just eating too much of those.
  • mtaratoot
    mtaratoot Posts: 13,239 Member
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    yirara wrote: »
    I track everything because I do eat a lot of fruit and veg. I could easily gain weight just eating too much of those.

    Yep. A banana is over 100 calories. An orange can be close. An avocado can easily be 250 calories. A garnet yam can be 150. Mangoes can pack a calorie punch for sure. Then if you're eating dried fruit... raisins, dates, cherries, and especially if they are sweetened. That stuff can add up if you eat much.

    One avocado could be 15% of my daily calorie budget before adding exercise.

    I figure even if I am lazy and log "one mandarin" instead of weighing it, I can get better data. Data are more powerful if they are complete.

  • gregpstone
    gregpstone Posts: 23 Member
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    Starting up again I'm taking vitamins and eating an apple and drinking 8oz of low fat milk every day, sometimes a banana. Lots of protein in my two daily meals and, because I love olives, they are standing in for chips and bread. I'm 6' 4" and 338 pounds; having no trouble this first week staying under 1,800 daily calories.
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
    edited January 10
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    Calories are all that matters for weight loss, but people talk about protein since it can be important for satiety and also helping to maintain muscle. I aim for .8 g per lb of goal weight, or 96 g, although some will argue that's more than needed -- I'm a female over 50 where muscle loss can be a real danger so I disagree, although of course exercise is important too -- and some will say that's not enough (I disagree based on the research I've seen). The rest is personal preference.

    Otherwise, beyond it being better to get adequate nutrition (for many that means a decent amount of varied vegetables plus fruit if you like it), healthy fats (nuts, seeds, avocado, avocado oil, olive oil, fat from fish), fiber, your balance of carbs vs fat is going to be personal preference. I tend to be low carb, especially when losing weight, since I enjoy my diet more that way (I like the occasional potato and find beans helpful for fiber, but a lot of staple carbs like bread, rice, even pasta (I mostly like what goes with it) just feel more like filler for me if it comes to making tradeoffs).

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