Use myfitnesspal.com to count calories, it has a huge list of all kinds of foods, even restaurants.

That is, if I enter a “diet mode” and my calorie intake is 1300 per day, I create a 500 calories deficit. To create 3500 deficit I’d need stick to my diet for 3500/500=7 days.
OR if my calorie intake is still 1800 BUT go to gym and burn 500 calories dancing Zumba for 1 hour, I also create a 500kcal deficit.

Once you know that, you can plan your diet according to your personal preferences. For example, to create a 500kcal deficit without making a huge commitment, you can
consume 250 calories less (skip your dessert, unhealthy snacks, or just eat smaller portions)
burn 250kcal more (have a 1.5h hour walk or cycle for an hour).
Following the above plan, you’d be losing 0.5 kg or 1 lbs per week. If you want to lose 2lbs per week, you’d need to double the numbers to create a deficit of 7000 calories.

As far as food is concerned, the above rule proved to be very correct for me. I always log my food and activities, and the 3500 theory is exactly what I need to burn to lose 0.5kg or 1 lbs. BUT for some reason, no matter how much I exercise, I do not lose weight IF I keep on eating unhealthy foods (sweets are my curse!). I’m not totally sure what exactly they are doing (maybe they cause water retention, or maybe my body just loves to store them), but unless I stick to relatively healthy food, I cannot count on gym only. Maybe it’s just me, but I lose weight only if I eat healthy.

To put it very simply, fructose stops your body from feeling full, so people tend to keep on eating. Fructose turns into visceral fat right away. Our bodies don’t have any full signals for fructose, whereas we do for oil, protein etc etc! Even just to make this simple change and to get even fifteen minutes of gentle exercise more than you’re doing right now, will have a huge impact on your health and weight.]

The effect of this fructose forming fat around the liver is not so fast-acting, damaging and dramatic when eating the fructose that’s within WHOLE fruit because of the soluble and insoluble fibre which is in fruit – slows down the digestion so you don’t get a huge insulin spike etc…as long as you don’t eat too much fruit, perhaps a piece or two a day, preferably low-fructose fruits while you’re losing weight. And this includes in smoothies too…because if you pulp fruit until it is perfectly smooth, the fibre is broken up and isn’t big enough to do its job and slow down the digestion of the fructose. We pulse up the milk and ice part of our smoothies first, and THEN we add crushed fruit and stir through. [we crush our fruit with a fork in a bowl.}
The BEST EVER approach to leaving fructose out is, I think, on Sarah Wilson’s fantastic resource website and course: “I Quit Sugar”. Absolutely brilliant.
If you’re like me and have dieted way too much for way too long, the kindly kindly approach Sarah has just the right touch of grace. She believes in ‘crowding out’ the desire we have for our sugar fixes, by eating other very nutritious, delicious foods. For example, things that have been off limits but are actually so good for us, such as measured amounts of coconut, nuts, dairy and avocado. Wonderful vegetable and meat dishes, really filling and satisfying. AND loads of ideas for making treats using natural sugar alternatives.
Food never tasted so good to me. And the self-control I have gained from using this approach is very liberating, not to mention the end of craving sweets all the time.

Hi Beth,
How awesome to lose 80 pounds! I gained 70 with my first child and struggled with the last 20 until I did weight watchers. Things changed for me after a 2nd and third child and losing weight and what I had done in the past didn’t work for me. You can read more about my journey and why I am sugar free today in this post, https://www.sugarfreemom.com/my-journey-before-after-pics/. I tried for a year on my own eating healthy whole foods after my 3rd child with no success again to lose the same 20 pounds, so I know frustration. I was 36 at the time. I am now 40 so I do think age makes a difference. I truly believe we can overeat even “good” healthy foods and still not lose weight so I am a big believer in food journaling. I will be writing a post about it soon so subscribe via email so you won’t miss it when I post it. Just keep on doing what you are doing, add in some food journaling so you can actually see how many calories you are really eating and find out what your doctor thinks is a calorie amount appropriate since you are nursing. Keep it up, you can do it!

Thank you for visiting and congrats on your weight loss! You are right, its not just about pounds lost, its more about living healthfully! God bless!