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As someone who would like to lose about 50lbs I have a lot of questions. Mostly I'd like to know how you determined your resting metabolic rate. I've started wo

As someone who would like to lose about 50lbs I have a lot of questions. Mostly I'd like to know how you determined your resting metabolic rate. I've started working out a little and adjusted my diet a lot but I kinda feel like I'm fumbling around in the dark.

wccrawford 8y ago
I lost about 60 lbs on Phentermine, then gained 10 lbs back, then lost about 15 lbs just dieting, and then gained about 10 lbs back. Phentermine made it a lot easier because I didn't feel hungry, even when I was. But other than that, the same techniques applied: I used a calorie counter and tried to stick to the recommendation that it gave. After using it a month or 2, I realized that its numbers were slightly high for me, and cut my max allowed calories a little further and started losing weight. If you're wondering what your number is, the easiest way is probably just to follow what some tool tells you (I used Weight Watchers, then SparkPeople) and adjust the calories according to whether you are losing weight or not. One caution: There is a rather large gap where you go from gaining weight to maintaining weight to losing weight. The area where you maintain weight is pretty broad. Finding that area is the first step, then slowly removing some calories until you start losing is the key, IMO. If you go too fast, you might remove too many calories and actually make it harder to lose weight than it should be. Your body will try to compensate for lack of calories.
Domenic_S 8y ago
Don't worry about any of that. Do this diet: no sugar, no grains. That's it. Eat as much of everything else as you want. Watch the pounds melt.
- rexgallorum2 8y ago
  That will definitely work, but there must be some other factor at play. There are plenty of populations in the world that consume a lot of grain but do not necessarily suffer from increased rates of obesity.
  - JoshMnem 8y ago
    They probably have cultures of smaller portions, less processed food, and less added sugar (especially drinks). Example: compare the size of a Japanese mosburger with a burger & fries meal in the US: http://www.thetraveltester.com/wp-content/uploads/mos-burger-tokyo-japan-2.jpg http://www.thetraveltester.com/wp-content/uploads/mos-burger... When you meet foreign travelers, ask them what they think about US serving sizes. Many of them find it shocking.
rexgallorum2 8y ago
The more you can integrate moderate physical activity into your daily routine as a matter of getting things done rather than as a specific chore you have to do, the better. Cutting sugar consumption should also help. I'd start there and see what happens.
yodsanklai 8y ago
You can find online calculator to have an estimation of your metabolic rate. From there, subtract 500 kcal and count all the calories to eat everyday to make sure you're below your limite. A popular calories counting app is "fitness pal".
jernfrost 8y ago
I've lost weight many times without any exercise. The formula was pretty simple for me: 1) Eat on regular intervals. Don't starve yourself, but don't overeat. Typically you stop while you are a tiny bit hungry. The body is a bit slow on registering that you've had enough. 2) Cut out all sugary stuff, chocolate, ice cream, candy. If you live in the US, it might be harder. My experience from living in the US was that it was hard to stay healthy there because 1) Almost all food contains some sugar 2) Served portions are usually way too large. And you buy things in too large quantities. This means you might have to focus on cooking food from scratch at home to avoid the added sugar, and getting too large portions. Don't cook larger portions to have left overs for later. You'll just eat more. But if you are like me and can't be bothered to make food yourself, then buy EXPENSIVE food. This sounds silly but the thing is that when you buy cheap food, it doesn't taste well unless it is unhealthy. Healthy food that tastes good is often expensive food. If you go to nice restaurants you tend to get smaller and healthier portions. I waste a lot of money on food this way but it is just a trade off I've made. I rather waste money than get more unhealthy.

wccrawford 8y ago

I lost about 60 lbs on Phentermine, then gained 10 lbs back, then lost about 15 lbs just dieting, and then gained about 10 lbs back. Phentermine made it a lot easier because I didn't feel hungry, even when I was. But other than that, the same techniques applied: I used a calorie counter and tried to stick to the recommendation that it gave. After using it a month or 2, I realized that its numbers were slightly high for me, and cut my max allowed calories a little further and started losing weight. If you're wondering what your number is, the easiest way is probably just to follow what some tool tells you (I used Weight Watchers, then SparkPeople) and adjust the calories according to whether you are losing weight or not. One caution: There is a rather large gap where you go from gaining weight to maintaining weight to losing weight. The area where you maintain weight is pretty broad. Finding that area is the first step, then slowly removing some calories until you start losing is the key, IMO. If you go too fast, you might remove too many calories and actually make it harder to lose weight than it should be. Your body will try to compensate for lack of calories.

Domenic_S 8y ago

Don't worry about any of that. Do this diet: no sugar, no grains. That's it. Eat as much of everything else as you want. Watch the pounds melt.

rexgallorum2 8y ago
That will definitely work, but there must be some other factor at play. There are plenty of populations in the world that consume a lot of grain but do not necessarily suffer from increased rates of obesity.
- JoshMnem 8y ago
  They probably have cultures of smaller portions, less processed food, and less added sugar (especially drinks). Example: compare the size of a Japanese mosburger with a burger & fries meal in the US: http://www.thetraveltester.com/wp-content/uploads/mos-burger-tokyo-japan-2.jpg http://www.thetraveltester.com/wp-content/uploads/mos-burger... When you meet foreign travelers, ask them what they think about US serving sizes. Many of them find it shocking.

rexgallorum2 8y ago

The more you can integrate moderate physical activity into your daily routine as a matter of getting things done rather than as a specific chore you have to do, the better. Cutting sugar consumption should also help. I'd start there and see what happens.

yodsanklai 8y ago

You can find online calculator to have an estimation of your metabolic rate. From there, subtract 500 kcal and count all the calories to eat everyday to make sure you're below your limite. A popular calories counting app is "fitness pal".

jernfrost 8y ago

I've lost weight many times without any exercise. The formula was pretty simple for me: 1) Eat on regular intervals. Don't starve yourself, but don't overeat. Typically you stop while you are a tiny bit hungry. The body is a bit slow on registering that you've had enough. 2) Cut out all sugary stuff, chocolate, ice cream, candy. If you live in the US, it might be harder. My experience from living in the US was that it was hard to stay healthy there because 1) Almost all food contains some sugar 2) Served portions are usually way too large. And you buy things in too large quantities. This means you might have to focus on cooking food from scratch at home to avoid the added sugar, and getting too large portions. Don't cook larger portions to have left overs for later. You'll just eat more. But if you are like me and can't be bothered to make food yourself, then buy EXPENSIVE food. This sounds silly but the thing is that when you buy cheap food, it doesn't taste well unless it is unhealthy. Healthy food that tastes good is often expensive food. If you go to nice restaurants you tend to get smaller and healthier portions. I waste a lot of money on food this way but it is just a trade off I've made. I rather waste money than get more unhealthy.