The Common Sense Way to Lose Weight
It is amusing that millions are spend on diet plans, pills, books by experts and videos to learn how to lose weight. That is generally the primary reason people go for these items. Others go for the muscle development to get buff or in shape.
In either case, it is not rocket science, it is diet and exercise. Pick whatever diet you want but if you are eating more calories than you are burning up, you will not lose weight. Also, getting buff muscles is great but they do add weight. One cannot simply use weight as the sole criteria to weight loss success.
Gauging how many calories one burns off in exercise is a tricky determination. But assuming the machines I work out on are accurate, after 30 minutes of using a the elliptical for low impact cross-country ski simulation, I usually burn 430 calories with a resistance level of 15, which near the max. Always push the resistance levels in any machine to as much as you can take to ensure you burn the most calories.
So, in this example, if I go home and have some coffee alone, the net loss remains the same. However, if I had just two of my favorite chocolate cookies, my net calorie burn off is only 200. Simply, having a salad may be the same depending on the salad dressing used. The bottom line is that if you workout, the calories you have burned can be replaced too easily, so you have to watch what you eat, otherwise, you are not losing anything.