Quote:
Originally Posted by pa33
Hmm, I don't know how to count calories, but if my goal is weight loss, less calories is good right? The remaining calories my body needs will hopefully be gotten by burning fat?
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You're sincere, and pretty much in my boat a year or so ago. But there's gonna be people who aren't so nice and just say "READ THE FAQ!!!!!" here, because your food choices could be both much better for your goals, plus more fulfilling to your stomach. But seriously, the FAQ is very informative.
Very basically, whether you want to or not (the thought of it a couple years ago would have me laughing and shaking my head), you will have to pay attention to amounts of protein, fat and carbs you're getting, as well as an idea of how many calories you're getting. I'm not saying you have to start doing this incessantly for the rest of your life, but yeah, to get a 'plan' going, you need a baseline, and to get a baseline, you have to have the general number of grams of protein, fats and carbs (the 'macronutrients'). It sounds crazy to you probably, trust me I know, but it's what you've got to do.
The biggest downfall in your diet is your lack of protein. Very general recommendation is to get around 1g / pound. Also, I'd search 'healthy fats' here and read the threads about those. Another good place to start is this:
Losing Fat for Athletes: Part 1 | BodyRecomposition - The Home of Lyle McDonald It's 'fat loss for athletes', but there's TONS of good info you can gleam from that to get you familiar with just a general mindset that goes into healthy fat loss. It's not at all just about counting calories and restricting them.
Anyway, I'd read the FAQs, read general threads around here, read the article I posted and see where you stand after that. Good luck and feel free to keep asking questions.