so I am happy with losing 10 pounds, I am hoping to continue to educate myself this week so I can continue to learn but also eat healthy...
Good job Jesta, I bet 10 pounds lighter feels happier doesn't it? Go update that ticker. And then I think you need to seriously start looking at your macronutrients as well as calories. You said you wanted to learn, so I only 1/2 apologize for the following wall of text.
(In case you don't already know - macronutrients are protein, carbs, fat and then micronutrients are vitamins and minerals.)
For instance, your tortilla meal: Lettuce isn't unhealthy, but it is not very nutrient or calorie dense as most of it is water. So really it contributes filler and some texture. (For the record, darker and leefier greens are what you really want to aim for. Kale, spinach, collards, etc.)
The tomato really is good, so nothing to say there.
The tortillas were most likely corn, and if they were flour they were surely white - which means the flour has been refined down so far most of what made it healthy is gone. And then it is fried, surely in something not so healthy. Although being homemade we could hope for canola if it stays stable at that heat.
Beans are something you have to work with in moderation. Loads of carbs and some moderate protein.
The problem I see here is that over 1/3rd of the meal's calories came from a bad source of carbs, dipped into possibly unhealthy oils and fried. Follow that with some carbs from the veggies and a load more from the beans. A few calories from the veggies, and some micronutrients. And then a smattering of protein from the beans.
I'd say too way too many carbs and not enough protein in there. Also, the fat profile on it is not going to be very healthy. Not too much fat overall perhaps, but too much of the bad sort.
Subway can be okay, but the bread is the real killer. You need to make sure you are going with something whole wheat. White grain products are awful. A carb is just a chain of sugars, and the more you refine it the less fiber and vitamins and such you get from it AND the faster your body can split the carb chain into the single sugars and then gobble them up. This is not at all conducive to weight loss in the same way that guzzling sodas or chewing up sweets are bad.
Finally, I'd really like to see you post some fitness. If you don't want to cardio that is fine, but some resistance training will moderate the muscle you lose while in a calorie deficit. Muscle is very energy-intensive so when you are short calories the body wants to shed it so it can make more of what it is getting.
Working out will help minimize that loss so that you don't end up "fat skinny". At 1st you will even build some lean muscle mass while in a deficit and then it will stall due to the energy needed to continue muscle production vs. energy supplied in a "dieting" state.
This provides several benefits too: better looking body as you lose weight. Better body composition aids motivation. It's not much, but muscle eats more calories per day, which helps a little. And let's not forget Mr. Testosterone. He lowers blood pressure, increases self esteem, lowers chances of heart attack, etc etc.
From the wiki entry on testosterone.
# ^ Marin DP, Figueira AJ Junior, Pinto LG. "One session of resistance training may increase serum testosterone and triiodetironine in young men". Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise 38 (5): S285.
Yeah, I'm banging a drum, you should dance to it. =D
