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Trying to lose weight

Hi,
I'm trying to lose weight but I'm not sure if I'm doing enough..
So at the moment I am walking 3-4 miles in the morning and the same in the evening. I'm not dieting but I am eating healthy so will I be able to lose weight by sticking to this or do I need to work harder ?

Reply 1

SophieSmall

As above it's all about calories in vs calories out. We cannot know if you will lose weight without knowing if you are at a calorie deficit.

Find out your TDEE:
http://www.fitnessfrog.com/calculators/tdee-calculator.html

And then count how many calories you are eating every day being honest and accurate (include sauces and cooking oils) using this website (they also have an app)
https://www.myfitnesspal.com/

If you are eating less calories than your TDEE then you are what is called a calorie deficit and you will lose weight. To put into perspective how much/ how fast. 1lb of fat =3500 calories of stored energy. If you eat 500 calories less than your TDEE per day your body uses up energy sources from your body (fat and a little muscle), thus you will lose approximately 1 lbs per week (3500 calories/ 7 = 500 calories per day). This is approximate as some weight loss will always come from the muscle, though this can be reduced by eating protein and exercising to prevent muscle loss).

It's as simple as that, there is nothing else to weight loss.

Nutrition and being healthy is a completely different matter, but that's not difficult either. Just eat a balanced diet.

Reply 2

JoPearson89

[Post was incorrect.]

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 3

HopelessMedic

Make sure that the changes you are making in your diet/lifestyle are not drastic as you will likely fail. I spent about a year continuously failing cause I wanted to lose weight quickly but then id keep falling off and have to start again. Make a couple of changes and adjust to them for about a week or two then change some more. They key is consistency and try not to reward yourself with cheat food because it is really counterproductive imo. Good luck :smile:

Reply 4

JoPearson89

The other benefit of calorie counting is that it gives you a much clearer idea of what is and isn't high-calorie food than you might have otherwise, which is really useful for keeping weight off in the long term. There are tonnes of surprises out there.

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 5

TeenRose29

Original post by Emma290895

I'm tryna do the same ahaha! :smile:

Yeah that sounds like enough!
What about me? Average day for example.
9:30am - Wake up, brush teeth and that.
10:00am- Before eating, I do 30-40 mins of cardio exercise, using https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcN37TxBE_s
10:50am - Breakfast.
3:00pm - Lunch.
7:30pm - Dinner.
8:15pm - 1hr-1hr&half exercise, working on just arms and legs.
11:00pm - Bed.
:biggrin:

I'm so longg. Sorry about that, but whatcha think?

Reply 6

SophieSmall

Original post by JoPearson89

For the most part Sophie is right. However the 3,500 calorie thing is misleading and has been disproven (apologies, but it's true). Because of how your body adjusts to reduced calorie intake, the amount of kcal you actually have to skip to lose a pound of weight can be nearly twice that.

For instance I am on a long-term diet, and according the USDA (which has the most comprehensive statistics on weight loss) I can expect to lose a pound per approximately 6,100 kcal I skip out on over the course of a year. Bear in mind that I am quite heavy at the minute, and have male physiology, so will lose weight quicker than most. So that 6,100 figure might be much lower for me than the equivalent would be for you.

My favourite tool to lose weight is the USDA Body Weight Planner:

https://www.supertracker.usda.gov/bwp/

Also helpful is a spreadsheet to help you keep track of your calorie intake. Be warned it can take quite a lot of practice and trial/error to get into the swing of things, and it's extremely easy to underestimate how much you are eating.

Nope. what you've said there doesn't really make sense.

If you get 1lb of fat and you burn it in a lab, it will produce 3500 kcalories worth of energy. That is just a fact, because that is how much energy is in 1lb of fat.

the reason it is approximate is because not all the weight you lose will be from fat, some will be from muscle.

As for "because of how you're body adjusts to reduced calorie intake"....what does that even mean? Essentially nothing if you don't understand the biochemistry behind it all. But in laymans terms, the more weight you lose the less your TDEE and as such the less you can eat and still lose weight. This is because bigger bodies need more energy than smaller bodies. That does not however mean you need to be at twice the deficit to lose the same amount of weight. You still need to be at a deficit of 500 calories a day to lose approximately 1lb a week (again approximate because of fat: muscle ratio)...although that is not of course to say you can't lose weight slower you can still lose weight eating 250 calories less than your TDEE a day, it will just take twice the time.

But yeah essentially the 3500 rule is approximate (like I clearly said)because of the body also using up muscle, however like I also clearly said muscle loss can be reduced by losing weight slowly, eating protein and exercising. So typically people who do that tend to lose weight around about on course with the 3500 rule give or take a few weeks in the grand scheme of things.

People can also often get confused and think the above formula does not work because they don't lose weight exactly as they expect it to. Some may appear to lose 2lbs one week and none the other, this is because weight loss is not linear and there are other factors at play such as weight from food stuffs in the digestive tract and water retention that can make the number go up and down on the scale despite the fat:muscle ratio remaining the same.

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 7

Rather_Cynical

Sophie makes good comments, I'd like to add that certain foodgroups are avoided not necessarily because they're intrinsically unhealthy, but the way they affect how you feel about food.

•

Simple carbohydrates (refined flour products, potato products, sugar-laden products) makes your blood glucose swing everywhere, which isn't good because on a crash you'd feel urges/cravings for some more even if your calorie-income is already at what you need for the day.

•

Fiber is important, our bodies are adapted best to pre-industrial revolution, agrarian based societies that ate a lot of fibrous vegetables. It helps with bowel movements by virtue of the fact that it's not absorbed into the bloodstream, but additionally it's satiating because it regulates hunger hormones with acetate molecules.

•

Protein is calorie inefficient to burn, in other words the digestion process itself does some of the exercise for you. It's satiating and regulates your blood sugars well through gluconeogenesis. Lean meats are good in general, higher fat products would need to be cut back a bit.

•

Fat is calorie-dense, and has addictive qualities. It does nothing for you in terms of making you feel fuller, but piles on the unnecessary calories. Try to avoid consuming fats in excess, especially unintentionally with foods like french fries and potato chips. Cheese and meats in particular stand out as serious offenders.

The healthiest diets tend to be traditional Asian before they got rich, born by necessity. They embraced abundant vegetables, moderate starches, and a little meat. Drinks include teas which do not use sugar, as there's no need to. In Japanese culture, fish is incorporated into the diet too.

The obesity epidemic for them has really started when they imported US/western culture, as well as increased their consumption of meats. In the winter, feeling too comfortable with the thermostat and central heating makes you burn less calories - as well as a sedantary lifestyle that does not involve a lot of heavy exercise.

Western culture tends to overemphasize meat and starches, with lots of meat and breads/potatoes/etc and only a small portion of vegetables.

I personally view rice as a better staple, it doesn't require added fats like mashed potatoes (milk, butter) or high calorie sauces common for pastas to be palatable.

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 8

JoPearson89

Original post by SophieSmall

...

Hi Sophie. I had a look around and you're right. My apologies.

I misunderstood how much the time factor was playing into what I'd interpreted from the USDA results.

Reply 9

username1842595

Hi. It looks like you're doing good exercise but I think most of losing weight is about what you are eating. I have lost 20kg so far and if you would like a meal plan I could aid you in this if you would like me to PM you I could send you one.

Eventually your body is going to get used to walking 3-4 miles so it's good to vary it up a little bit. Start doing short bursts of jogging and then walking and then jogging etc until you can eventually run. Then do sprints. Then go back to walking again. Then jogging. Then throw in some rowing/bike and dont forget your squats/lunges/weights. Boxing is also a really good exercise that is quite fun especially to let out anger and stress.

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 10

999tigger

Original post by JoPearson89

Hi Sophie. I had a look around and you're right. My apologies.

I misunderstood how much the time factor was playing into what I'd interpreted from the USDA results.

Good for you for withdrawing it.

You say you are curretly aiming to lose weight.

How heavy you are does have an effect on the rate you burn calories because you have to carry the extra weight round. Heavier you are the higher your maintenance calories will be and the more calories you will burn, when doing exercise.

You will find its easier to lose weight when heavy and you will lose at a faster rate. This is why seriously obese people can shift large amounts of weight early on.
Closer you get to traget the harder and slower it will be, becayse weight loss isn't linear. The rate of loss will slow.

Reply 11

999tigger

Original post by Emma290895

Pretty much what sophie said. The best way is to weight and log your food as well as finding how much you cna eat to get to the deficit you want- Most of sophies post.

Use kitchend and bathroom scales. You will know if its working if you lose over a reasonable period , say 3 weeks.

Reply 12

maya90

Diet is like 70% of success so imho you could do more. You can download free app - Fitatu calorie counter and try to set your own version of diet. The app will help for sure.