Low calorie diet

menoscemo

I have been on a bit of a diet for a week now and have dropped about 3 pounds already. I have decided to give up all alcohol for the first month to get me on my way. Anyway what I am generally eating is:

Breakfast: couple of slices of toast (wholemeal) with honey or low-fat marg and a glass of Orange juice.
Lunch: Brown bread tuna sandwich with Tomato and Cucumber, a banana, flavoured water (no sugar) and packet of crisps (sorry I refuse to give up this one indulgence).
Dinner: I alternate between stir fried vegetables (garlic, spring onion, celery, carrots, broccoli) with diced pieces of chicken fillet.
Or the same vegtables in a tomato sauce (the pasta type) with Spinach and ricotta tortellini (small portion).
I use a bit of mustard, vinegar or paprika (or all three!!) in the cooking process to season.

BTW I am trying to avoid snacks and have one cup of tea and one coffee per day. Also about 20min flat out on a rowing machine each evening.

What are your thoughts? I was thinking maybe it is best to ditch the tortellini and use a different meat (like pork) for variation. Is the tortellini a problem?

mack1

tortellini is not a problem per se, in the same way that no 1 thing is a problem. Weight loss is a simple result of expending less calories than you ingest, however, for optimal results then yes I would drop anything like rice/pasta/bread/potatoes in the evening meal.

In addition, I would eat more often throughout the day - it really does work wonders for kick starting your metabolism, you will notice a difference. Also, try get some protein in with every meal (including breakfast) - try chicken, tuna, eggs etc.

Also - you dont mention any fats above - fats are vital, include healthy fats from nuts, nut oils, avacados, oily fish etc.

Other than that well done so far, if I wanted to be really picky I could say ditch the marmalade (as its mostly sugar), switch the juice for real fruit and do you really need the crisps everday - what if you are seeing results that may be overkill and if that is what you need to keep doing what you're doing then all the best!

menoscemo

mack1 wrote: »

Also - you dont mention any fats above - fats are vital, include healthy fats from nuts, nut oils, avacados, oily fish etc.

I cook the evening meal in Olive oil, Also the sandwich for lunch is always tuna. Is that enough Fats/oils?

mack1 wrote: »

Other than that well done so far, if I wanted to be really picky I could say ditch the marmalade (as its mostly sugar),

It is actually honey-is that any better?

mack1

oops! apologies on the marmalade thing, i was just after answering another post and I got mixed up! If you need something sweet honey is better.

As for the fats: Fresh tuna is good - but canned tuna is not so good (for it's fatty oils that is, it's still fine for protein).
Cooking in olive oil is also no good , as it loses it's benefits when heated.

You should be aiming to get about 20% of your daily calories from fats (40% from protein and 40% from carbs). Olive oil is only good cold, so on salads etc it's fine, I believe Avocado oil is the best for cooking. I buy walnut, almond, sesame oil etc and put some on my veg with dinner and at other times, I also eat a lot of oily fish (mostly mackerel and salmon). If you like avocado you can eat that, it's good, also nuts are a good source. You can also take fish oil capsules.

menoscemo

Right, i am going to have Olive Oil on my toast so and buy a different oil for cooking!! Seriously i didn't know that so thanks.
Also, I have a nut allergy so that is out the window.

Any other suggestions? Is the ricotta in those tortellini too fattening?

rubadub

Eat 6 meals a day, equally sized and equally spaced. Your stomach shrinks after a while as you are never stuffed, so you are full easier. ALso your next meal is never far away so it is easier to resist snacking.

menoscemo wrote: »

Any other suggestions? Is the ricotta in those tortellini too fattening?

you need to get a good small scale and calculate your calorie intake. As said fat loss happens when you use more calories than you ingest. Checking foods calorie content will hopefully make you tend towards healthier foods. Bread and pasta are fairly high in calories per usual portion. the bun on a burger often has more calories than the meat.

bananas are high in sugar and hence calories. Your orange juice has the same calories per glass as coke, and is just a little better, a smoothie with whole fruit is better, has fibre, keeps you full longer too.

menoscemo

rubadub wrote: »

Eat 6 meals a day, equally sized and equally spaced. Your stomach shrinks after a while as you are never stuffed, so you are full easier. ALso your next meal is never far away so it is easier to resist snacking.

I have heard this said often, but it doesn't suit me. Since this new diet, i haven't been hungry once- I am not used to all the fibre from the vegetables (and I have loads in my stir frys) and I feel content (but not bloated as I always used to be) for longer peiods. The only snacks I have are carrots.

Still thanks for the suggestion. Am I totally wrong in this or is everyone different?

mack1

Well it's not just about feeling full or hungry, while that is obviously a by product of eating like this it is not the goal.

Think of it like this, by eating more often your body becomes used to food at short intervals in is less likely to store fat (knowing it is going get more food very shortly) where as if it has to wait hours between meals then it thinks it may not be getting food for a while and thinks that holding on to the fat stores might be a good idea, and slows down the rate at which it is metabolising the existing food.

menoscemo

mack1 wrote: »

Well it's not just about feeling full or hungry, while that is obviously a by product of eating like this it is not the goal.

Think of it like this, by eating more often your body becomes used to food at short intervals in is less likely to store fat (knowing it is going get more food very shortly) where as if it has to wait hours between meals then it thinks it may not be getting food for a while and thinks that holding on to the fat stores might be a good idea, and slows down the rate at which it is metabolising the existing food.

Thanks mack, but it really doesn't suit with work- We are only allowwed to eat at lunch time (except a biscuit with coffee or something) and believe me I wouldn't be allowwed to whip out a meal at 11ses- long story but it is not on.
So that leaves my lunch which is 2pm. Then I am not home till 6.30pm so by the time I've cooked dinner it is 7.

On another note, just back from LIDl. I checked the tortellini pack and they are only 300cals per 125g which is my portion so no worries with them. I also bought pork as well as chicken as it is important to have some variation I think (and several new vegetables).
The pork is so much drier and saltier than the chicken so while stir frying it just now I threw in a bit of ketchup to the mix to sweeten it up and it worked a treat;) I am enjoying experimenting as I never really cooked before...

Thanks for the olive oil tip by the way, I got some sesame oil for the cooking and sprinkled cold olive oil in after cooking before eating.:eek:

rubadub

What type of pork was it? If you get pork steak you can cut it up really fine, then it stir frys in a minute or 2 and is not dry.

A "meal" does not have to be on a plate with a knife & fork. If your aim was 1800kcal a day, that is 6x300kcal meals, but it could be 3x400, and 3x200kcal. The 200kcal being something you could eat at small breaks in work, 2 bits of fruit is around 200kcal.

menoscemo

It was pork loin. I cut it into pretty small pieces and stir fried it with the veg but it did taste that bit saltier and sour than the chicken.

Thanks for the advice. I might try at least a few snacks on top of the 3 meals.