WagnerPaiva said:
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Before you go nuts cutting your favorite food out you should try counting calories. That's what I did, but to do it I made up recipes to get the most out of the calories so I wouldn't be hungry.
For example I eat hamburgers all the time, which fries. I make my own 1/4lb burger patties by mixing lean ground beef and ground fresh zucchini. The zucchini has almost no flavor and very few calories and no fat. It makes the burger patty nearly have the calories and fat. I make them in batches and freeze them in zipper bags so I can have one any time I feel like it. I use whole grain buns which I toast, low fat mayo, and if I feel like cheese I use Kraft's new fat free singles.
The tomato slice, pickles, lettuce don't count, and mustard don't count. As for ketchup, it counts, but barely. The whole thing comes out to about 270 calories without cheese and 300 calories with cheese. I bake my own fries by slicing a yellow or white potato into thick slices lightly spraying oil on them and then backing them for about 20 minutes at 450 while I prepare my burger.
The whole meal comes to a grand total of about 400-450 calories. It's a full meal that keeps me satisfied. Plus it's healthy and full of complex nutrition you wouldn't get from a fast food burger.
I find that by counting calories and staying below your daily limit you end up with a low fat diet and limit your carbs without even noticing it. If you're smart about the food you prepare.
I make my own cheese pizza from scratch for 150 calories a slice and when I say scratch I mean crust and sauce too. I bake my own tortilla chips and taco shells for crunchy snakes and Mexican dinners. I made up a recipe for noodles and cheese that I like better than full fat cheese that's one of my lowest calories meals.
My daily food intakes goes a bit like this:
Breakfast - Cereal (Special K with Red Berries) 200 cals or Egg and Toast 175 cals
Mid Morning Snack - Banana 100 cals
Lunch - Turkey Sandwich on Whole Grain 300 cals cutt veggies 50 cals
Mid Day Snack - Apple 50 to 100 cals
After work snack - My baked tortilla chips and salsa 80 - 160 cals
Dinner - Whatever I feel like 450 - 600 cals
Late Night Snack or Desert - Whatever I want so long as I don't go over my daily calorie total. Maybe Popcorn or a small bowl of ice cream.
I also run or ride a bike every day so I often get to eat more calories. I keep a daily food journal to tally my calories so I know where I am when I plan my dinner and how many calories I have left for a late snack.
For me it was a lifestyle choice so I'm not on a diet. This is how I will run my life from now on. I'm kind of a control freak so I actually like keeping track of it all. But once you get used to reading serving sizes and counting calories it's pretty easy to know what it what. For me the hardest part was getting in good enough shape to properly exercise. I had to work my way up to running, but now I can run a 5k in under 27 minutes. It may not be an impressive speed, but in high school I doubt I could have run a mile in that 27 minutes without throwing up and passing out.
Whatever you decide to do, commit to it. Tell people you're doing it so you'll be accountable. A secret diet is easy to cheat on, but a public lifestyle choice make it so you don't want to let people down even just for the embarrassment of failure. You're more likely to stick with it during the difficult beginning if you know others know.
Oh, one more tip. Sometimes I'll get a craving for a Burger King Whooper. I order it with nothing on it and take it home where I use low fat mayo and non fat cheese etc. You can cut the calories down substantially on a fast food burger by deconstructing it and building it back up from its foundation with healthier choices.
