If you go sprinting off the starting line, promising to break some unwritten record for losing the most weight, completely changing your eating habits, quitting sodas cold turkey, etc. you are setting yourself up for failure. What happens here is that very quickly you feel like you are depriving yourself (and if you are cutting out meals or not taking in enough calories, you are) and you will begin snacking between meals, eating unhealthy foods and having far too many "cheat" meals to be acceptable. Next, you will be disappointed in yourself for what you view as your failure then you will spiral right back down into the vicious eating, feeling sorry for yourself, eating more, depressed cycle that you were bound and determined to drag yourself out of!
You want to approach your diet and weight loss goals the exact same way the tortoise approached his race... slow and steady!! First things first, to lose weight, you have to take in fewer calories than you are expending. This means you have to cut back the amount of food that you are taking in and you need to become more active.
As I have indicated, I used to eat out all of the time. I went to the drive-thru for numerous meals throughout the week. I still did that when I first started dieting but instead of going to Burger King and getting an Original Chicken sandwich with breading and mayonnaise and a large fry I chose to go to Chick-Fil-A and get nuggets and forgo the fries. I also liked to go to Arbys for their roast beef sandwich, no fries.
Between those minor changes and my working out I started to notice some results. Then, I cut back on the glasses of wine that I drank at night from 2 to 1 to none except on the weekends. Eventually I traded Chick-Fil-A and Arbys for Subway and Panera. A little further into my progress and I started going to a restaurant's nutritional information page BEFORE I went so I would know exactly what to get. I made more meals at home. I started carrying healthier snacks and drinking more water and not so much soda.
It has been an ever changing, evolving process. I didn't wake up one day and say "I'm ready to lose the weight" and run downstairs and throw out all of my junk food, never stop at a drive-thru or eat out and consume only water that's for sure! I would have NEVER gotten to where I am now.
Now I drink veggie and fruit smoothies for breakfast, I am incredibly aware of the food that I put in my body, I drink soda on a RARE occasion, I drink wine maybe once a month and it is usually only a glass or two. It has taken me about a year and a half of consistent learning, adjusting, readjusting and monitoring my weight, feelings, body composition, etc to determine what works best for me.
The more research I do and the more I learn the more adjustments that I make to the food that I choose for myself and my family. Each one of us have to figure out what works best for us! I can tell you what I eat and you can try to eat the same things but what happens if you don't like it? You won't eat it, that's what. Just as important as the amount of food you eat, the type of food you choose has to be something that you enjoy or you won't stick with it.
Reduce your calories, don't eat a lot of fat or carbs and make sure that you are eating protein. The key is moderation and balance. A very general rule of thumb: if you are consuming 1200 calories a day - 45% of the calories should be from carbs, 30% of the calories should be from protein and 25% of the calories should be from fat. Again, this is a VERY general rule. Based on these calculations you would be eating 135 grams of carbs, 90 grams of protein and 33 grams of fat.
Now, I work out 5-6 times a week and I am lifting weights and one of my key goals is to increase my muscle mass so I am eating more protein than that. This is one of the many examples as to why "general rules" are simply that - there is not one "footprint" diet that works for everyone. Your diet must correspond with what your goals are. You will find out as I have that it is an ever changing process and the more familiar you are with your body and the more notes, information you keep throughout your program, the easier it will be for you to figure out what you need to tweak and when.
Don't over think or over complicate your diet or you will give up. Eat smarter, eat foods that are healthier, incorporate fresh fruits and vegetables daily! DRINK WATER! You will see changes and you will experience weight loss by making just a few minor adjustments if you combine those with exercise. The more progress you make, the more you will be committed!
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