Can You Lose By Simply Eating Less of The Stuff You Eat Now?

Less is always better but also what you eat is more important. Some tips from my trainer: Cardio in the morning before you eat. Eat a healthy and large breakfast. It should be the largest meal of the day. Eat a snack only if you are hungry. Eat a moderately sized lunch. Eat a light dinner. Do strength training in the evening. Don't eat after 9 pm. Get 7 - 8 hours rest. Repeat.

Well, honestly, doesn't matter when you work out. Doesn't matter how late you eat
Doesn't matter how big your meals are. Doesn't matter how often you eat.

what the trainer is getting at is if you do cardio in the morning before you eat it helps "jump start" your metabolism from being inactive (sleeping). So you will burn more calories while eating breakfast if you jump start your metabolism first rather than just sitting down and eating breakfast. And the strength training at night is because strength training takes a big toll on your muscles which need to be able to repair themselves, so by strength training at night it allows your body to repair muscles while you are sleeping. Strength training also burns calories for a longer period of time than cardio (regardless of when you do it) because it takes calories to repair the muscles, but doing the strength training at night allows you to continue burning more calories in your sleep. The same concept goes for not eating late at night, you aren't as active at night/when you are sleeping so your metabolism slows down, thats why they say don't eat late at night... you don't have to follow those guidelines, but you will see better results if you do follow them.

As far as what you eat - I agree with the above posts, you can still continue to eat whatever you want as long as you control your portion size. You will have better results if you choose to eat healthier and are less likely to regain the weight if you change your diet to healthier foods, but I lost 30 pounds in 3 months mostly by decreasing my portion size... I still ate chinese buffet and/or boneless hot wings on average once a week or more, but I ate smaller portions (I also increased my exercise as well)... then I quit working out and slowly put all of the weight back on and then more because I quit tracking my food when I quit working out so I slowly allowed myself to eat bigger and bigger portion sizes until I was right back where I was (plus 10 additional pounds)... if you choose to eat healthier you are probably less likely to regain the weight than just changing portion sizes... but I'm back at it again and shooting to lose 50+lbs this time around and maintain it this time (while still eating the same foods just smaller sizes, so now that I found MFP and have it on my cell phone I'll hopefully continue tracking my food even after I hit my goal whereas before I had a hand written paper that I kept track of my foods on which wasn't convenient so I quit tracking....)

I totally agree! instead of a eating the whole pizza only eat a cpl slices. But I have a cheat day where I eat what I want. Or if I have a strong craving I just go ahead and take care of it, cause if I dont, I will it eat up everything plus what I originally wanted. Eating healthy doesnt have to be expensive. I am unemployed and I still manage.I buy whatever fruit on sale for the week, I pretty much eat chicken legs everyday, wether its baked many different ways, or boiled and shredded into some steamed frozen veggies. I think ppl find ways to lose weight regardless of how Broke we are if you really wanna change!!

Many people are able to lose simply by eating less of what they normally eat. If you are one of those people, you are blessed. For others, like me, WHAT I eat is actually more important than the number of calories I consume. I have an intolerance to gluten which screws up my body and actually makes me gain weight. I have similar issues with other starches. I have found I can eat over 2000 calories of lean proteins, fruit and veggies every day and easily lose weight. I can eat 1200 calories including starches and processed food and gain weight. All food is NOT created equal for me. Definitely start by cutting out sodas and junk food and see how your body reacts. If you find you still have issues, try cutting out processed foods and see what it does for you.

Eating healthy does not have to be expensive. Our grocery bill is actually lower now since I cut out buying processed foods and buy everything fresh.

I know it sounds simple and I'm sure the answer is yes...but, will the results be good. I'm staying with the rents to study for the upcoming bar exam in late July.

I plan to workout and try to lose some weight during this period. Problem is that I am broke and do not plan to work during this time. This means that I won't be as able to buy healthy foods. If I just workout/cardio and portion control can I still lose a pound per week? I really want to get down to 217-220 before my birthday in mid July,

I mean right now I drink so much soda and eat junk food. I would imagine simply cutting those out would do wonders?

If you cut out calories you'll lose weight even without exercise.

Example.
Say it takes you 2000 calories to maintain your current weight and for the sake of argument say you live a mostly sedentary lifestyle. Take away 500 calories to get 1500 calories for what you should be maintaining to lose weight even if you stay mostly sedentary.


At the very simplest of things to lose weight you need to burn more then you consume.

If you cut off soda, alone, that will help tremendously in the long-run (: ... like the wise say, "don't drink your calories!"

I wish you the best! Any effort towards losing weight at all helps - one step at a time.

Here is what I read that helps me say no to soda.... hope it helps. It can make a huge difference :drinker: If you cut one and not the other, I would cut out the soda, it makes you crave more sugary things anyway. Who knows, maybe if you cut out one, the other will follow without you even thinking about it.

They contribute to obesity as well as diabetes, tooth decay and weakened bones. They have also been linked to depleting the body of vitamin A, calcium and magnesium--all nutrients needed for healthy weight loss. Consuming soda also has a profound effect on the taste buds. Some research suggests that soda, even diet soda, can actually make you feel hungrier given the artificial sweeteners that signal the brain to crave extra food. This can make losing weight a lot more difficult. In addition, according to a study by the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio, diet soda actually enhances weight gain by as much as 41 percent.
Estimates show that two cans or glasses of soda per day adds approximately 24 to 35 pounds of fat per year, depending on body size, age, habits, etc.. Some people (weighing in at 140 pounds) have reported that by giving up two cans of soda per day, without exercise, they lost 20 pounds in six months. Add in exercise, reduce other sugar intake, eat more fruits and vegetables, add high water consumption and you could possibly be ready to fit into those jeans within six weeks. But if cutting out soda altogether is too difficult, you could replace one soda per day with water. Cutting down from two per day to one can yields about a 16 pound yearly loss.

I know it sounds simple and I'm sure the answer is yes...but, will the results be good. I'm staying with the rents to study for the upcoming bar exam in late July.

I plan to workout and try to lose some weight during this period. Problem is that I am broke and do not plan to work during this time. This means that I won't be as able to buy healthy foods. If I just workout/cardio and portion control can I still lose a pound per week? I really want to get down to 217-220 before my birthday in mid July,

I mean right now I drink so much soda and eat junk food. I would imagine simply cutting those out would do wonders?

Yup, you can. Check out the "Eat This, Not That" series of books and the accompaniment website. This is basically the concept of replacing what you eat now with lower calorie portions of the same foods.

... and cut out the Lakers and you will see a difference :laugh:

Clever. LOL!

Less is always better but also what you eat is more important. Some tips from my trainer: Cardio in the morning before you eat. Eat a healthy and large breakfast. It should be the largest meal of the day. Eat a snack only if you are hungry. Eat a moderately sized lunch. Eat a light dinner. Do strength training in the evening. Don't eat after 9 pm. Get 7 - 8 hours rest. Repeat.

Well, honestly, doesn't matter when you work out. Doesn't matter how late you eat
Doesn't matter how big your meals are. Doesn't matter how often you eat.

what the trainer is getting at is if you do cardio in the morning before you eat it helps "jump start" your metabolism from being inactive (sleeping). So you will burn more calories while eating breakfast if you jump start your metabolism first rather than just sitting down and eating breakfast. And the strength training at night is because strength training takes a big toll on your muscles which need to be able to repair themselves, so by strength training at night it allows your body to repair muscles while you are sleeping. Strength training also burns calories for a longer period of time than cardio (regardless of when you do it) because it takes calories to repair the muscles, but doing the strength training at night allows you to continue burning more calories in your sleep. The same concept goes for not eating late at night, you aren't as active at night/when you are sleeping so your metabolism slows down, thats why they say don't eat late at night... you don't have to follow those guidelines, but you will see better results if you do follow them.

sorry. incorrect, dated info here.