Any advice for losing wight and fat?!!!

[MJ89]

I need an advice. I become very active because I like working out and moving a looooot but my issue is I eat a lot as well. I do not like preventing myself but I am trying to reduce the amount of the food that I eat in order to lose weight and fat. I eat very healthily and I work out twice a day for 7 days. Any advice, trick, or whatever I feel really disappointed with myself for not be able to lose weight and reach my goal one. I know that losing weight is a process buuuuuuut I feel really really sad and I do not want to give up.

[FrogMystic · Accepted solution]

I strongly recommend buying a digital food scale to weigh any foods that don't come portion packaged and to pay attention to portions in things that do. If a can says 2.5 servings per can, measure out 1 serving per meal rather than eating the whole can. Study after study has shown that people vastly underestimate the calories they consume while at the same time over-estimating the amount of calories burned during exercise. Also, if you exercise twice per day seven days per week, you are likely driving your appetite into overdrive, which leads to overeating. Plus, muscles need rest days in order to build strength and condition.

You must be eating at a deficit in order to lose weight. Even the healthiest foods still have calories and will make you gain weight or prevent you from losing it if you are over-eating. Portion control is key. Before reducing your intake, I'd recommend about a week of just recording everything you eat. Everything. Gum, drinks, a breath mint. Look at how many calories you're actually consuming, decide on a sensible weight loss schedule--for most people 1 pound to a half pound per week--and eat to the deficit that will get you there. Cut back on some of the exercise so you're not always miserably hungry, and give your body some rest days in order to capitalize on the fitness you're trying to build. If you do these things, you will see results. Unfortunately, you cannot exercise your way out of a diet too high in calories, and there are no tricks involved. However, with the tools available today through sites like this one, Spark People, or MyFitnessPal, it is easier than ever to track your food and count your calories accurately. 

[A_Lurker]

As already well said you can't out train a bad diet.  The term bad diet can mean simply too much food.  Start tracking what you're eating and then cut back slightly.  A slower weight loss will help you retain muscle mass as you lose weight.

[Dominique]

@MJ89: weight/fat loss really is a numbers game: over time, you need to expend more calories than you eat (or eat less than you expend, whichever way you want to put it). It looks like you’re having problems quantifying things (putting numbers on what you eat and what you expend).

Fitbit is great as a motivator to be more active and as a tool to quantify your activity, but you also need to pay attention to your intake. As already mentioned, you can eat "healthy" (though sometimes opinions differ on what’s healthy and what’s not), but still be eating too much (if your goal is to lose weight).

What are your twice-daily workouts like (how long, what kind of exercises)? How many calories Fitbit says you are burning during these workouts? It’s often tough and time-consuming to burn 500 calories through exercising, but very easy to eat 500 calories in a couple of minutes. 

[MJ89]

That is true. I recently joint to the Fitbit and I have very recently paid attention to Fitbit and I am trying to understand the system works and on how much I eat and how much I burn.  What I have realized that I burn more what I eat, which is good to know. However, I am trying to build a habit of eating less especially at night. I am trying to find a way to build that habit for the long run but it is really difficult to do and I don't feel how to do it for the long run. I know all of the advice that I am receiving but the issue is with building the habit for the long run is alway difficult to do I guess.

[Jeff_M]

I mostly don't eat carbs at night which keeps everything on track for me. I find somewhere around 9-10:30am where my body craves the most calories. So I eat bigger meals during that time along with most of my carbs for the day. I only need 2 meals at night after my workout which is usually a 3 egg cheese omelette, and after that a protein shake. I may have a salad instead of the shake, and an apple for a snack if I need something. 

Also, if I ever overeat I usually won't eat again until my body has used up the calories of that larger meal. This is what has kept me relatively thin most of my life.  So, if I go way overboard and have a huge 1500 calorie meal from fast food, then I may not eat again the rest of the day. I pretty much avoid bad meals like that, but when eating for the long haul if you eat larger calorie meals, as long as you don't eat again until your body needs more calories you should generally be fine. It's when you eat a large meal, then eat again when your not that hungry, this is what can cause weight gain. 

[MJ89]

Thank you! That is actually a wake-up call advice, which I need to be aware of.

[judyap]

We went online and purchase The Mayo Clinic Diabetic Diet book.  The guidelines are super simple.  My husband had 80 # to lose and I had 15# to lose.  In 3 weeks he has lost 22 # and I have lost 6#.  I highly recommend it.  We use the recommended portions and log the foods we eat - it is amazing how important that is.  The main thing is very little fat and no sugar.  You will need to eat 5 vegetables and/or fruit a day (total 10 servings - they show the measurements to keep it simple).  We also purchased a Taylor scale and weigh and measure everything so we don't cheat.  Honestly we are never hungry and find it difficult to eat all of the food!  

[Dominique]

The Mayo Clinic Diabetes Diet book (you can read the first ten pages, that include the table of content) appears to provide sound recommendations, as one would expect from a reputable outfit such as the Mayo Clinic. However, I fail to understand how one could lose 22 pounds in three weeks by merely eating fruits/vegetables, restricting fat, eliminating sugar and controlling portion sizes. The numbers simply do not add up. A weekly loss rate of 7 pounds would require some extreme "biggest loser"-style measures, not what the book seems to promote.