cutek94

hello everyone,
i need a little help on my weight loss journey. I just started this week & i'm not sure what to eat and how long to excersice.

stats:
18 y/o
5'1
176 pounds

so far what i've eaten is:
ham sandwich (whole wheat)
cheese sticks
nectarines
cherries
and pistachios
3 glasses of water

& i've been walking on the treadmill for 30 minutes and running for 5 minutes along with doing 15 minutes of yoga

any suggestions?

rpmcduff

First, find your Base Metabolic Rate (BMR) using the Fitday tools. From there you can find how many calories you can eat to attain your daily calorie deficit. Your caloric deficit determines the rate you lose weight. Generally 1 to 2 pounds lost per week is considered a healthy rate. To do that you will need to have a average daily deficit of 500 to 1000 calories a day. So BMR plus Exercise minus Calories Eaten equals Daily Caloric Deficit (BMR + Ex - Cal = Deficit). If you set up a weight loss goal using Fitday the tools will help you with these.

Keep exercising. If you have access to weights and are not limited by a health issue I encourage you to start lifting. Use weights that will only allow 4-5 repetitions before you can't complete the lift again. This will help to build dense muscle that will increase your metabolism and help you lose fat and not muscle. Check out Bodybuilding.com if you would like more information about exercise.

Eat clean. Lots of vegetables and protein (.5g to 1.0g of protein per pound of lean body weight, using the stats you provided I would guess between 50 to 120g per day). Healthy fats like olive oil, and those in nuts are essential. Fat is needed for nutrient transfer and nueral transmission. Try to have at least 10-20% or your calorie intake from fat. Limit simple carbs (sugar, white flour) and processed foods.

Good luck and welcome to Fitday.

cutek94

whoa very informative, thank you for all this information & i definitely need to invest in some weights & find that BMR thing.

Lizzycritter

If you can't find it here, type it into the google searchbar. There's tons of calorie calculators online that will do the math for you.

NatalieWindsorSmith

First you need to plan on eating about 1200- 1500 kcal, then learn about carbs, fats, and protein. the good rule of thumb is 50% of calories from carbs, 30% from protein and 20% from healthy fats. Good luck.

wannabefitgrl

All the science of eating healthy and exercise aside...if you're just starting out...I wouldn't worry about calories and what to eat at what time of day, or what exercises to do. I'd just work on eating healthy and getting your butt moving. Get into the habit of doing those things, then start to look at calorie intake and the quality of exercise. I've often felt that people ask all these questions about food and exercise as a way to put off getting started...so just get up and move, take in good food, and the rest will come later!