how much?

hello I really need to lose weight which is why I am doing the nhs 12 week diet, what I want to know is how much of fat carbs protein etc. should a female have to lose weight. im 23 5ft 3 and weigh12 stones.

thank you x

[gingernut49]

I wouldn't worry too much about the constituents of your food, just how many calories you eat. There's a brilliant free app called MyFitnessPal that you use to log everything you eat - and it will show you the constituents if that's what you want. When you first download it you put in your age, height, current weight, activity level, and it will tell you how many calories you need to stay under to lose weight and will keep a running total for you each day.

You could always have two non-consecutive days at under 500 calories (the 5:2 Diet) and that will help you to lose quicker. I lost three stone in six months and now just 'fast' one day a week to maintain - I've done so since last April.

[Penel]

Hi May

I have the opposite view from Gingernut. I think what kind of food you eat is very important, you need to make sure you have all the essentials for good health. Cutting your calories may help you loose weight, but may leave you hungry and not healthy. I don't think you have to be hungry to lose weight.

The Live well plate has some ideas on proportions of food you need. I find that I need far less starchy food than they recommend in order to loose weight and I eat more high fibre vegetables and real fats, like butter. Starchy foods are turned into glucose in the body, which we use for energy, but if we have too much glucose it will be sent into our fat cells for storage. Eating sugar and fat in combination is also a sure way to put on weight. I try to avoid processed foods, especially those that have added sugar (like breakfast cereal) and eat as much fresh food as possible.

It's a question of finding what works for you. You may have to experiment, we all have different needs and life styles. Good luck.

[jackiewood in reply to Penel]

Hi Penel - I agree with you and think we should all focus on eating healthily by particularly excluding processed food from our diet but you're right that everyone is different and so the challenge is finding what's best for you!?