What should I definitely stop eating to lose weight?
 

I know the obvious like cookies, candy, potato chips, etc. etc., but what are some foods I should definitely avoid?

Please give me some tips here, I really need to lose weight :)

~bb1997

There really is no magic food besides the obvious to avoid. It's different for everyone. Avoid anything that triggers you to overeat and anything that has a low nutrient to calorie ratio. For example, you would be better off eating a piece of whole wheat bread for the nutrients and fiber, over a slice of white bread, which is essentially a nutritional wasteland, but to say "don't eat bread" doesn't tell the whole story.

Spend some time logging your food and seeing what gives you nutrition and what does not, then eliminate and replace the stuff that doesn't contribute to a healthy diet.

Okay, thanks. That's a good point, about the overeating. Whenever I eat even one peice of chocolate I go crazy and look for more. Same goes for chips and even peanuts.

Any more advice please...?

~bb1997

My best advice is to read the threads on the forum and consider some of those ideas. If you have a specific question, people would be happy to help out; it's harder to give just general advice. If I had to identify general things, it would be to log everything, maintain a deficit between activities and calories (500 a day is a pound lost a week, 1000 a day is two pounds), balance your pie chart in the way that works for you, eat in a way you can maintain for the rest of your life (don't think of it as a diet that you go on and then go off), exercise regularly, drink a lot of water, make small changes each day or week and have them add up over time rather than trying to change everything at once, and get support. But you probably already knew all those.

At the end of the day, though, a lot of it is trial and error and you have to figure out what works for you personally. Like I said, if you have any specific questions, let us know, but I'm kind of stumped as to what you're looking for here.

Post up the link to your food journal so we can see what you're eating and your eating habits look like.

I think mostly what I'm looking for is advice on what to eat and what not to eat. xD So basically I'm asking you to be my mother and tell me what not to eat :D :D

Stop eating more calories than you burn. Sorry, but at the end of the day, that's the answer. I think you know what you "should" eat and what you "shouldn't" but really, it's calories in vs. calories out. Great advice in the posts above--read through the forums and you'll get lots of specific ideas about good food choices.

Regards,
Michael

Unfortunately, nobody here can do that for you. It's like having someone do your homework...it'll get done, but you won't learn anything, and you'll ultimately fail the test.

However, I agree that there are some people who do very well following a prescribed diet...you may want to check out some plans on the internet or diet books if you feel like you need a plan that spells out your breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Possibly Googling 1500 calorie plan (or 1400, or 1300, or whatever) might provide some answers for you.

Mike above had a good idea about posting your food journal, though; people could look at it and perhaps make suggestions about how to tweak it.

Edit... I was just on another page of FitDay and saw an ad for Biggest Loser meal plans by ediets. That might be something to check out if you want a meal plan spelled out for you. Mods, if that reference violates the rules, please remove it; I figured it was okay since it appears on this site as an ad, and technically it offers something that FitDay doesn't provide, so it's not direct competition AFAIK. Regrets if that was erroneous thinking!

Okay, thanks everyone.

Also how do I post the link to my food journal? I don't really add foods on here, I use a mobile app on my iPhone.

Click on Profile (towards the top next to over view)

Profile > Public Settings Page > Set Food Log to "Publicly Viewable" > Copy and paste the link either in your sig or in a post.

Want great tips? I just came up with a quick list for you. How's this?

1. log everything that goes in your mouth
2. drink enough water so that you pee clear
3. cut out or limit all other drinks, including but not limited to diet soft drinks
4. log your activities
5. log your sleep
6. burn more calories than you consume
7. eat nutrient dense food
8. stay away from empty calories
9. cut out or limit simple carbs and other trigger foods
10. be honest with what you log
11. know that not all fats are created equal. Nuts, avocados, olive oil are just a few good ones
12. know that not all carbs are created equal
13. take in enough protein, there are varying opinions on how much is enough. Some say 1g/lb of body weight, others say 1g/lb of lean body mass, and others may say 1g/kg of body weight
14. try to eat balanced meals and snacks. Protein, fats and carbs with every meal. Don't eat a 1/2 dozen donuts and 3 hours later try to catch up with a pound of chicken
15. take pictures of yourself in your undies or bathing suit, etc and keep the pictures
16. know that excuses will take you nowhere but backwards
17. take junk food out your house, if it's not there, you'll be less tempted to eat it
18. weight your food
19. know that more effort = more results

I may come up with more.

Here is a tip that worked for me... "don't eat so much"

You have to figure out what you are having in an average day and then cut it way back. Don't worry all of us here were overeating, it's nothing out of the ordinary.

Start reading the calorie labels and understanding how many calories you are eating.

These days i eat 1500 calories to lose weight and around 2500 to maintain. Some things i used to eat...

Pepperoni, 4 or 5 sticks 800 - 1000 calories.
Kraft Dinner 2 boxes 1900 calories
A=W Milkshake 1800 calories

As you can see i found out why i was overweight! And of course the milkshake would also be bought with a Burger and fries so add in another 800 calories and lunch alone would come to 2600 calories. Crazy stuff.

A few rules i follow now. Any piece of meat is the size of my palm, no bigger and no second helpings. Start every meal with any kind of salad. No more than 6 slices of whole wheat bread per week. Pasta is only once a month. Lots of veggies and lots more veggies. No processed food and no restaurant food.

Great tips!

I would add to this with drink green tea to help stimulate your metabolism, burn fat, and decrease hunger (proven, just research on the net)

and

take fish oil to help to reduce spikes in insulin which triggers fat storage (proven, again references available on the net).

and

eat a high fiber diet which will not only help bind saturated fat, lower cholesterol, but will also keep you fuller for longer.

I take fish oil daily and just started on green tea.

Mike, I know you workout. Do you have any opinions on not taking fish oil PRIOR to workouts?

I am led to believe that after a workout, you actually want insulin sensitivity by taking chromium, and with the added sensitivity it will aid your muscles in absorbing protein and carbohydrates when having the recovery meal (within 2 hours of a workout).

So it seems to me that fish oil *before* a workout would interfere with this recovery process. :confused:

I know that *after* 2 hours of a workout, THEN it's OK to take the fish oil.

I don't time my fish oil. I usually take it 1st thing in the morning, with all my other pills (glucosamin, vitamin, arginine). The only pill I time is magnesium, if I take it. That's always before bed when I do.

I think I can help here. The original poster was looking for a list of foods to avoid. This is my own personal list, you'll want to tweek it for yourself because every body is a little different. And I will admit that I do eat some of these things at special occasions, but I make it a point to think of them as "rare treats" rather than little "everyday slip ups".

1. White flour, and this includes anything made with it, bread, cake, desserts, cookies, rolls etc etc etc. I do eat things made with whole wheat and whole grains, but not before 2:00pm. I get pretty serious carb crash cravings so avoiding grain through the first half of the day keeps me from going into binge mode.

2. Modified corn starch and high fructose corn syrup. These foods are nutritionally worthless, unless your only goal in eating is to gain weight, and they are added to all kinds of processed foods so you have to read every label. I do occasionally eat corn starch and corn syrup in limited amounts, unless it's Thanksgiving or Christmas and I'm offered a piece of pecan pie.

3. Any cereal that contains more than 10g of sugar per serving.

4. Snack cakes, especially the chocolate coated ones, for me they are a big fat waste of calories and 1 always leads to 2, and 2 leads to the rest of the box. If I'm going to cheat and eat cake, it's going to be the homemade out of this world variety.

5. Any thing cooked in a deep fat fryer.

6. Liquid calories, pop, beer, alcohol, milk shakes, coffee creamer, energy drinks, etc etc etc. I stick with coffee, tea, almond milk, water, the occasional diet coke and/or flavored water, and every so often a bottle or 3 of light beer.

7. Any convenience food item sold at the checkout register or in a gas station, candy bars, gum, chips, etc etc etc. Most of these items are so bad for you its not funny. The only exceptions I make are for beef jerky, sugar-free gum, sugar-free mints, peanuts or protein bars, and even on those items it's very seldom that I'll get them.

8. Any food item where the first, second or third ingredient is "sugar". My only exception to this is frosting on a birthday cake, and I have to actually be at the birthday party and I always ask for a center piece, so that I don't get the big gob of frosting on the side. I love frosting, but then again so does my butt.

9. Any food item that is more than 400 calories per cup. Coffee creamer works out to like 560 calories per cup, so now I use almond milk instead (35 calories/cup).

10. Full fat ice cream. I love ice cream, but I've decided that it's in my best interest to only eat it for special occasions, and even then it has to be 130 calories/serving or less.

11. Peanut butter and Nutella. I actually eat peanut butter and Nutella, but they are problem/trigger foods for me, so my rule is that I have to workout for a minimum of 75 minutes in order to have peanut butter or Nutella. It also must be measured on a scale, because I can't be trusted to eyeball it, and it has to be put on something else because "on a spoon" always leads to "another spoonful".

Some people have sworn off other foods like potatoes, rice, anything you can spread on bread, but like I said you have to tweek the list for your own needs/wants/weaknesses. For example jam does not send me into a binge mode, my SIL will sit with a spoon and eat it straight from the jar until it's gone, so she can't keep it in her house. I have trouble if I get a whiff of peanut butter, so my kids know to put the lid on fast and tuck it in the far back end of the pantry cupboard.

Thanks almeeker...
 

All of the above responses are good, great even. But as you pointed out the question was a pretty direct request for help and you gave a nice direct answer. Sure, it will require a little modification for each individual, but I love the list - clear and direct.

I can tell you what I did, because I know my trigger foods and figured out how to make it easier for myself. It sounds like you have definitely identified some foods that trigger a loss of control, so you might want to cut those out altogether.

What I did: cut out all carbs, pretty much (well, not counting fruits and vegetables, since there are carbohydrates in nearly everything). No flour at all, no rice or oats, also no potatoes. No sugar or sweeteners or honey. This just made it simpler for me - my cravings stopped, I regained self-control, and the weight started coming off.

It's kind of like a modified South Beach Diet Phase 1. Or 2. (SB phase 1 has no fruit, even; phase 2 allows fruit and "good carbs" like whole grain, which still triggers me, so I don't eat it).

I have lost 13 kg / 28.6 lbs in the last 2 1/2 months. The only additional things I did was some exercise (twice a week, but irregularly) and allowing myself to feel hunger before I would eat (rather than just eating and not letting my body signal hunger).

I hope you figure out which foods make it harder for you to control your eating, and I reccomend you try doing without them.

good luck!