okay so i want to loose some pounds... but have a few questions

first off, running.

is it true that running everyday and ONLY running with no other exercises is not good? i have heard that doing the same workout repetitively is not very good for you.

second, water.

is it best to only drink water while on a diet, to the point where i can completely live on it and maintain a good amount of energy without drinking things like orange juice or milk?

third, food consumption.

i may be crazy, but im pretty sure i COULD eat the same thing everyday if i had to in order to loose weight, what im not sure is if that is good for my body... doing something like eat a bowl of fruit and a nutri-grain bar for breakfast, a turkey sandwich and some baked potato chips for lunch, and a salad and some pasta for dinner every single day? would this be good or bad for my body? if it would be fine then i will deffinently stick to somthing like that, because knowing what to eat and what not to eat is my biggest problem. unless someone wrote me an exact list of what to eat everyday of the week for breakfast lunch and dinner but that most likely wont happen.

fourth, calories.

is it okay to base your diet completely around calorie consumption? like lets say i was to eat something that was 300 calories and not care about the sodium/fat levels in the item that would be fine? or is that basically what calories are there for, to show what the food comes out as overall... this ones probably a bit confusing but hopefully someone understands what i mean.

five, vitamins.

lets say im not a vegetable type of person, is it healthy for me to take a vitamin to make up for whatever i could use from vegetables, or am i not going to really get anything out of them?

im 17 and dont really know anything about a healthy diet, but thought it would be good to fill myself in on things like this... so thats the reason im asking these questions.

thanks, shelbs

First thing, shelbs, keep in mind that what you really want to lose is body fat - not "pounds".

Big difference.

If you "loose some pounds", you want to be sure you maintain as much muscle as you can. That's what drives your metabolism, that in turn "burns" fat.

Besides health reasons, here's a picture that shows another reason why you it's fat you should try to lose...



Fat is "fluffy" and takes up room. If you lost 5 lbs of fat and maintained your muscle, think how much smaller you'd be. The more muscle you have, the more of the yellow stuff you burn.

Hi Shelbs . I just worry that after your diet of nothing but the same three meals everyday, you will have learned nothing about how many calories are in various foods and how to eat without putting all the weight back on again. Once you lose the weight, if you just pick up your current habits, you'll just go right back to where you started. For that reason you may want to start counting calories with the foods you eat and see what helped get you to where you are, and also learn to find foods and eat portion sizes that enable you to maintain your new lower weight.

NOT TRUE - the best weight loss exercise you can do is anything that gets you moving at a moderate-high intensity for 30-45 minutes

As far as losing weight - you do want to switch up your rotuine once every 4-6 weeks

2 liters of water a day is good for weight loss and I wouldn't stop drinking milk anyway since their is research stating drinking milk and not taking plain old calcium pills reduce belly fat and I would stay away from sugary juice drinks while trying to lose weight

Sticking to a diet to lose weight is NOT A BAD THING & I really don't think it's bad for your body... Look at the people who drink 5 cans of soda a day & eat fast food all thier lives

First of all - You just can't eat anything you want to lose weight because...
If you were to eat 300 calories worth of candy - your blood sugars levels would go up real fast and then crash quickly again leaving you low on energy and craving for more candy and this craving makes you want to eat more.

as you may know... eating over 1500mg of salt a day makes you retain and gain water weight so...

Eating the "RIGHT" amount of calorires will help you lose weight and eating the "WRONG" kinds of calories (FOODS) will help you gain weight also so...

It's best to eat a combo of fiber, lean proteins and plenty of water

I can't help you on this one but... I think if you're eating right you won't too worry about getting your RDA of vitamins

I this helps and if not - I tried!

It's not that it's not good for you. Being sedentary is not good for you.

That said, it's wise to take a balanced approach

Proper nutrition AND exercise (cardio and resistance training) work in synergy.

Good nutrition = A
Resistance training = B
Cardio = C
Total Health and Good Physique = D

A+B+C=D

Take A, B, or C out of the equation and you are operating sub-optimally and giving up unique benefits associated only with the dropped variable.

If the number on the scale was all that mattered, this would be a VERY simple process. Unfortunately for some, total health and appearance matter more than the scale and those things require said balance.

To add, doing the same thing over and over again can lead to staleness. Additionaly, our bodies become more efficient at the exercises we do repetiviely.

Fat = gas in the tank of your car

If your car is running more effiently, you use less gas.

I say yes, simply b/c whole foods opposed to liquids tend to be more satiating. Most people don't handle hunger well, so when you're on limited calories, it's probably wisest to get those calories from the most satiating sources, although I always drink some milk.

That's how I've always operated my diets.

I'm not a fan of thinking in terms of black/white, good/bad.

Variety tends to bring balance. Balance brings optimal nutrition. Eating the same thing every single day means you're getting the same nutrients, minerals, and vitamins every single day. Even a very intelligently designed meal plan would be lacking in some facet overtime. I can tell you that you're meal plan you had listed here is lacking in quite a few of even the more obvious things such as protein.

Let's not forget that there is a big, big difference between health and weight.

You can lose weight and be completely unhealthy.

Calories measure energy content, not nutritional-value.

Best bet is to control calories as this directly impacts energy flux, i.e. storing, maintaining, or losing fat. Concurrently, make sure you're eating adequate essentials such as protein, essential fats, fruits, and veggies.

So to answer your question.... no, calories are not the ONLY thing that should be taken into consideration.

If the only goal was to see the number on the scale fall, sure.... calories would theoretically be the only thing you had to worry about. That said though, most, if not all are more concerned with appearance, health, and performance and these things are a product of not only adequate energy (calorie) consumption, but also nutritional-density of your diet.

Nah, pills arent' going to replace veggies.

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Edit to add: There are pretty big differences in my advice when compared to that of the fellow above. Get used to it in this industry unfortunately.