Help/advice on my fitness/diet please

stripysocks85

Hi guys, as it's the start of the new year, it's the start of a new me, as I didn't get a proper run at this before Christmas, so here's what I eat/do at the moment so please help/advise where possible.

*Breakfast
2 Weetabix, teaspoon of honey, skimmed milk, and maybe a small glass of orange juice

*Lunch
Packet of raisins,
either a filled wholemeal pita bread/bowl of soup with slice of wholemeal bread/salad with egg, tomato, lettuce, cucumber, peppers

*Dinner
Chicken stirfy/minced beef with wholemeal pasta/chicken wrap/omelette made from egg whites, with mushrooms, peppers, tomatoes and a sprinkling of cheese/chicken breast with curry sauce and wholemeal rice

*Snack
Banana/apple/packet of Snax crisps/purple Snack bar [I won't be able to cut my treats out completely, so I chose crisps with less than 100 cals]

I'm aiming to drink 2 litres of water a day, but often I forget so must make a conscious decision to drink the 2 litres. I drink some Diet Coke maybe 2/3 times a week.

Fitness wise, I'm going to Curves 3 times a week, and I play badminton at least once, if not twice a week.

I have also invested in a Total Core abs machine [thanks to my boyfriend!] so I'm hoping this will help, as my stomach is a HUGE [pun intended] problem.

I'm 5'3" and I currently weigh 13 st 8 [delighted I didn't put on any weight it seems over Xmas despite being a pig, but I know my current weight is nothing to be proud of].

I'm not looking for criticism as I would be the first and worst to criticise myself, but I do want to see results both to be healtheir and more attractive.

Thanks in advance!

dario28

Loose the following - cheese and sauces from your mains and coke and crisps from snacks also try some protein with breakfast as weetbix dont keep you feeling full-once you get down to a weight you are happy with you can enjoy them again bescause at that stage you will know what it takes to burn off a coke and packet of crisps - if you are serious you need to cut them out now , eating 3 packets of crisps is 300 cals, you may as well multiply that by 2 as you need to loose weight anyway...you will never loose weight until you cut out the junk


You need way more cardio because your diet looks good but it will only stop you from putting on weight now you need to burn more calories than you eat, best way's are high intensity class's aerobics running spin -unless you play someone that makes you run around the court you wont get anywhere with badmiinton - the only way is hard work and elevated heart rate

Good luck !

scarey123

Coupled with eating healthy this class is great

<snip - Mr Magnolia>

jdivision

you don't have to but if you ate lots of veg instead of the pasta/noodles/rice with your dinner the weight would fall off faster. Also porridge rather than weetabix in the morning, you won't need a midmorning snack if you do.

stripysocks85

jdivision wrote: »

you don't have to but if you ate lots of veg instead of the pasta/noodles/rice with your dinner the weight would fall off faster. Also porridge rather than weetabix in the morning, you won't need a midmorning snack if you do.

I'm only eating a handful of the carbs, I would go mad if I didn't have any.
I need to enjoy my food and to be honest, if I cut out all the things I like I wouldn't last very long.
I'm looking at this as a longterm approach and healthier attitude, rather than a quick fix.
I don't have my 'junky' snacks every day, and am sacrificing somewhat by choosing the lower fat option, and can't cut them out completely. There'd be no fun!

I'm interested as to what this abs machine can/will do for me. Need to tone up my stomach/lose weight off it first I suppose BIG TIME.

Will swap to porridge, although I quite enjoy my Weetabix and thought they were okay? I only have the bit of honey to sweeten it slightly, I thought a little bit was okay? And i'm using skimmed milk! I thought I was making healthier choices [well from what I used to I am!] but seems changes can be made even further!

jdivision

Well the milk thing would probably divide opinion but I think you'd be better off drinking full fat. That's the key thing full fat is probably not bad in general for natural foods, high sugar is what you need to avoid
In terms of the rice and pasta, if you're eating lots of veg, ya know like a chicken stirfry minus noodles you won't miss it. It feels weird for a week but it's just habit and there can be other benefits I found.
You're eating Snax and a bar every day so you're not missing out on treats.
Overall though you're getting there, and I wish you luck. It can take a while to eliminate certain things so just keep going. I eventually managed to give up fizzy drinks which I never thought would happen, though still drink about one a fortnight. I just found cos I was eating less sugar elsewhere eventually I didn't need it anymore. It's gradual. Keep going.

dario28

stripysocks85 wrote: »

I'm interested as to what this abs machine can/will do for me. Need to tone up my stomach/lose weight off it first I suppose BIG TIME.

Will swap to porridge, although I quite enjoy my Weetabix and thought they were okay?

Great abs are made in the kitchen - if you work on your abs too much before loosing the fat over it you will just look fatter in stomach area

Porridge is the best brekki ya can have , no sugar and keeps you full for ages , I found even after 6 weetbix I'd be hungry and hour later , porridge and a little honey , or bananna would be perfect

Just hammer the cardio and you will do well

Ya need to give up the snax and junk full stop if you are serious about loosing weight , its all about negative calories for first few months then ya can go back to them , even for a month , if you ate 2 packets a week , thats 800 cals...which equates to an hour and half of full spinning , so your choice is eat the crisps and 1.5 hrs is wasted just getting rid of them or skip the crisps and the 1.5hrs goes to burning off current fat

Gaz

dario28 wrote: »

Great abs are made in the kitchen - if you work on your abs too much before loosing the fat over it you will just look fatter in stomach area

Porridge is the best brekki ya can have , no sugar and keeps you full for ages , I found even after 6 weetbix I'd be hungry and hour later , porridge and a little honey , or bananna would be perfect

Just hammer the cardio and you will do well

Ya need to give up the snax and junk full stop if you are serious about loosing weight , its all about negative calories for first few months then ya can go back to them , even for a month , if you ate 2 packets a week , thats 800 cals...which equates to an hour and half of full spinning , so your choice is eat the crisps and 1.5 hrs is wasted just getting rid of them or skip the crisps and the 1.5hrs goes to burning off current fat

+1 to all this.

You can give up crisps and bars your just choosing not to. You need to learn to enjoy other types of snack , things like raw nuts , a boiled egg, carrot sticks with peanut butter is nice (weird at first but nice)

The ab machine will do nothing for you at all , you cannot spot reduce fat so dont waste your time. You would be much better off with a weights program followed by some cardio, about 4 times a week.

stripysocks85

jdivision wrote: »

Well the milk thing would probably divide opinion but I think you'd be better off drinking full fat. That's the key thing full fat is probably not bad in general for natural foods, high sugar is what you need to avoid
In terms of the rice and pasta, if you're eating lots of veg, ya know like a chicken stirfry minus noodles you won't miss it. It feels weird for a week but it's just habit and there can be other benefits I found.
You're eating Snax and a bar every day so you're not missing out on treats.
Overall though you're getting there, and I wish you luck. It can take a while to eliminate certain things so just keep going. I eventually managed to give up fizzy drinks which I never thought would happen, though still drink about one a fortnight. I just found cos I was eating less sugar elsewhere eventually I didn't need it anymore. It's gradual. Keep going.

I wouldn't eat my Snax/bar every day, I try not to. I have made a conscious decision to eat less rice/noodles [I know noodles are quite bad - is wholegrain rice along the same lines nutrition/calories wise?] so I put in maybe 2 full carrots and mushrooms and peppers to bulk it up. Good idea? Thanks jdivision for your encouragement.

dario28 and Gaz, I know cutting out the 'junk' food is the most sensible idea, but really I don't want to be miserable munching away on my salad leaves. I want to enjoy food and enjoy my life! I've made pro active choices by cutting down/cutting out other foods, I think I'm allowed my little treats. It may take me longer to reach a particular weight, and I know it takes a lot of work to burn off the 135calories in a purple snack, but I'm just happy I'm eating that isntead of a Mars Bar or a packet of Walkers! It's a small difference, but a big difference to someone like me who's had a bad diet almost all her life!

Thanks for the suggestions though Forgot to get porridge today but will get some tomorrow

corkcomp

your right in that every little change counts but IMO you need to get out of the frame of mind that you are depriving yourself by cutting out chocolate and junk food, if you could manage to cut all that out for JUST 2 WEEKS you will see that your not depriving yourself at all:) you dont need to be miserable munching salad leaves, try strawberries or apples when you want something sweet, there are always compromises!

stripysocks85

corkcomp wrote: »

your right in that every little change counts but IMO you need to get out of the frame of mind that you are depriving yourself by cutting out chocolate and junk food, if you could manage to cut all that out for JUST 2 WEEKS you will see that your not depriving yourself at all:) you dont need to be miserable munching salad leaves, try strawberries or apples when you want something sweet, there are always compromises!

Yes but why can't I just have a little chocolate? It's not an awful lot. As I stated already, I'm looking at this as a renewed approach and healthier attitude towards food - cutting out chocolate is not going to last because I don't want it to. I want to enjoy treats also! I'm not giving up treats longterm, and I'm not looking for a shorterm fix, so a bit of chocolate isn't a big deal.

Don't think this thread is as productive as I'd hoped!

morningpeasant

I think you sound like you're doing really well and have adopted a healthy attitude towards your food.
If you 'ban' all chocolate and crisps then you may just end up craving them more because they're 'forbidden'. And, no, it's not a lot of chocolate at all. There is nothing wrong with sweets in moderation, and if you're someone who enjoys your food then why not? As you say, no point in being miserable. It's still perfectly possible to loose weight while including treats like these, and it's good that you can still enjoy your food. Well done
I would second what the others have said about porridge, it's so filling, yummy and versatile. Some of my favorites include brown sugar and cinnamon, a little no-added-sugar jam, a handfull of raisins/nuts/other dried fruit, natural peanut butter, etc. But there's no harm in having weetabix every few days for a bit of variety, I love it heated up in the microwave with a little brown sugar stirred in.
Keep up the good work

corkcomp

stripysocks85 wrote: »

Yes but why can't I just have a little chocolate? It's not an awful lot. As I stated already, I'm looking at this as a renewed approach and healthier attitude towards food - cutting out chocolate is not going to last because I don't want it to. I want to enjoy treats also! I'm not giving up treats longterm, and I'm not looking for a shorterm fix, so a bit of chocolate isn't a big deal.

Don't think this thread is as productive as I'd hoped!

you mean this thread is not telling you what you want to hear?

Speaking from experience (ive lost close to 5 stone in the past) your not seeing my point at all. you are seeing treats as bars and absolute crap food .. my idea of a treat is more like a good meal in a restaurant followed by dessert - or maybe a non food treat? IMHO eating junk food anymore than once a week will have a serious impact on your goals. best of luck though, i hope you reach your target

dario28

With all due respect you either want to loose the weight or not , you are prob 4/5 stone over weight so to get to your goal you need to loose that in the most economic way possible so eating anything but good food is going to have a negative impact on it and because you are not used to high intensity exercise it will take you alot longer to burn 135 cals off

Portein is the key to feeling full , so maybe buy a small tub of chocolate protein with low carbs, 1g of sugar max per serving and have half servings when you crave chocolate , some studies suggest that protein can kill the choc craving , but the jury is still out

Instead of crisps have cashews or pistashio nuts

There is always an alternative also if you are doing weights programs have your body fat tested before you begin and dont rely on the weighing scales as your are going to put muscle on while the fat burns off so the scale will be all over the shop for a few months

morningpeasant

I have to disagree with the previous two posts.
If "indulging" in the occasional chocolate bar or packet of crisps, especially considering they're under 100 calories, is going to help you stick with healthier eating and mean that you won't get fed up and ditch it altogether, then I see nothing wrong with that. You can still appreciate good, healthy foods while also enjoying a little bit of 'junk'. I think you're taking a very healthy attitude. People have different goals when it comes to altering their diet; some people want to avoid all processed foods, while others want to reduce the amount of them that they're eating, and there's nothing wrong with that. Perhaps you'll begin to loose your taste for what others are calling 'junk' as you start to eat healthier, perhaps you won't, it doesn't really matter so long as you enjoy it in moderation and as part of your daily calorific intake and get regular exercise. I myself lost around six stone and still do enjoy my bit of 'junk' every while.
Also, I think it's admirable that you're not just looking for a 'quick fix' and trying to shed as many pounds as you can as fast as you can, but are willing to take it one step at a time.

stripysocks85

Thanks for your advice.
dario, maybe technically I am 5 stone overweight [I personally wouldn't want to be 8 stone, and never will be], but I will not eat something like chocolate protein which would make me a] miserable, and b] give up eating healthily as I'd crave chocolate even more c] end up binging on unhealthy foods when given a chance.

I AM being realistic about this. I'm not looking for miracles. I know it could take half a workout to burn off a mars bar, but I'm willing to put in the effort.

I'm not too interested in body fat. I'll keep weighing myself and observe my clothes. I have personal goals for myself to aim for. At the moment, I'm aiming for 11 stone - when I reach that, maybe I'll be happy, maybe I won't be happy until I lose another stone. Who knows? But I'm certainly not going into this newly adopted approach thinking "Oh sh!t, I've to lose 5 stone!"

I'm a bit disappointed with the 'advice' given - and no not because it's 'not what I wanted to hear', it's because it's not very realistic. I've made changes already by swapping to diet drinks, skimmed milk, lower calorie foods, checking fat content on meat etc, bulking up on my vegetables.

Anyway, I made my own shepherds pie [less than 5% fat mince, lots of veg, and 2 large potatoes - which has done me for 3 dinners] so hoping I'm headed in the right direction.

Oh you will be pleased to know, I did make the switch to porridge, with a dab of honey

stripysocks85

dario28 wrote: »

Great abs are made in the kitchen - if you work on your abs too much before loosing the fat over it you will just look fatter in stomach area

Porridge is the best brekki ya can have , no sugar and keeps you full for ages , I found even after 6 weetbix I'd be hungry and hour later , porridge and a little honey , or bananna would be perfect

Just hammer the cardio and you will do well

Ya need to give up the snax and junk full stop if you are serious about loosing weight , its all about negative calories for first few months then ya can go back to them , even for a month , if you ate 2 packets a week , thats 800 cals...which equates to an hour and half of full spinning , so your choice is eat the crisps and 1.5 hrs is wasted just getting rid of them or skip the crisps and the 1.5hrs goes to burning off current fat

Also, 2 packets of what equals 800cals? A packet of Snax = 99calories. Maybe 87. I think it's 87! It's less than 100 anyway!

Anyway, as long as I'm within my calories for the day, I reckon I'm okay.

morningpeasant

stripysocks85 wrote: »

But I'm certainly not going into this newly adopted approach thinking "Oh sh!t, I've to lose 5 stone!"

Brilliant attitude to have. Good luck

corkcomp

the only advice I can give you at this point is to wait for a couple of months and review, if things are not happening the way you want then you can review your plan? I know it seems like a lot of people here are over critical when it comes to diet but the bottom line is that half baked efforts lead to half baked results... there are plenty of other sites where you will be told - you go girl! have your mars bar, you deserve it! this isnt that kind of site though! seriously though, best of luck

Pembily

Best of luck, some people (me included) can be hard with the advice, personally I would (and did) cut out all the junk food and treat myself other ways but if that is the way you want to do it I commend you for making the effort, fair play, admitting publically you have to loose weight and that you wanna loose it is excellent.

That said a packet of snacks has 87 kcal and 0.5g sat fat per 17g bag, you could be eating alot worse!!! But as Corkcomp said if you find its not working then revise the plan after a month or so!!!! You may find you loose your taste for junk food!! I can't eat prawn crackers anymore - way too greasy!!!

Best of luck :)

stripysocks85

Much appreciated guys, will take everything on board and will indeed review if I'm not getting adequate results. Need to do it whilst I'm young! Thanks again

Stella777

I'd nix the orange juice. Better to eat your fruit than drink it, so you get the fiber.

As for the chocolate:
If you you really have to have it, the darker the better. Another idea is cacao nibs? (little bits of roasted cacao beans) They have a very intense chocolate flavor. They are also somewhat bitter, but you could mix them with something else. Maybe over Greek yogurt? They would be much better for you than candy bars.

niall_belfast

What about dropping the lunch-time meal and nibbling throughout the day? It's supposed to be far better for your metabolism, and healthier in general.

I know that this approach is used in weight-lifting, and other sports are using it too - if I remember correctly, the English rugby team has adopted this way of eating.

We reviewed a "Graze nibble box" for our site and the information that came with the box was pretty interesting, talking about this "eat small and often" approach. Their stuff is all dried fruit and nuts, and all organic.

They deliver nibble boxes to your place of work or your house so that you have something to nibble during your working day.

If you're interested you could read more about Graze on our blog

corkcomp

niall_belfast wrote: »

What about dropping the lunch-time meal and nibbling throughout the day? It's supposed to be far better for your metabolism, and healthier in general.

I know that this approach is used in weight-lifting, and other sports are using it too - if I remember correctly, the English rugby team has adopted this way of eating.

We reviewed a "Graze nibble box" for our site and the information that came with the box was pretty interesting, talking about this "eat small and often" approach. Their stuff is all dried fruit and nuts, and all organic.

They deliver nibble boxes to your place of work or your house so that you have something to nibble during your working day.

If you're interested you could read more about Graze on our blog

hmm. something tells me there is some other agenda there, other than helping the OP. The metabolism increase by eating frequent meals is over stated, and also the OP is not a body builder!

Id say, eat a healthy lunch, be satisfied and then wait until evening for your next meal

niall_belfast

Other agenda?

No - just a bit of an alternative view - rather than traditional dieting etc., I thought that it might be worthwhile to mention a different attitude to eating. Metabolism increase hasn't been overstated - it is only one element in the fitness picture, but an element nonetheless.

In terms of the weight-lifting thing, I mentioned that as an example - I wasn't suggesting that Stripysocks starts pumping iron.

LivingDeadGirl

I don't think the OP has to cut out chocolate, but she could make better choices in terms of the chocolate she is eating. Some 70%+ cocoa solids chocolate would be more beneficial in terms of nutrition and still hit the spot. I can speak from experience here having lost 2 and a half stone while still treating myself to a square or two of chocolate a day. I would get rid of the crisps tbh though, maybe popcorn would be a good alternative?

metamorphosis

LivingDeadGirl wrote: »

I don't think the OP has to cut out chocolate, but she could make better choices in terms of the chocolate she is eating. Some 70%+ cocoa solids chocolate would be more beneficial in terms of nutrition and still hit the spot. I can speak from experience here having lost 2 and a half stone while still treating myself to a square or two of chocolate a day. I would get rid of the crisps tbh though, maybe popcorn would be a good alternative?

I can't live with out my 85% chocolate. I have some most days. oh nomnomnom

At first i found it bitter but worked my way from 70 -80-85-90% . Your taste buds adapt over time and i now find milk chocolate sickly sweet.

tazbars

Hi Everyone, I was just wondering could anyone give me some advice on my weight loss plan? Over the last two years weight has crept up and I now feel sluggish and uncomfortable in clothes. My aim is to lose 10 pounds to a stone and although I know weight loss is a slow process I would like to lose this as fast as possible! Im addicted to chocolate and I feel with a proper diet plan (cutting out the junk) and some light exercise I should hopefully reach my goal. Im also cutting out carbs, not 100% but steering clear of breads, pasta, rice and potatoes. Just for now anyway. So here is what I've been eating:

Breakfast : 2 weetabix(no sugar) with low fat or slimline milk

Lunch: Ham sandwich on brown, no butter, mayo etc (never eat it) - now im taking soup or fruit because im trying to limit my carb intake.

Dinner: Chicken breast or Quorn chicken fillets and loads of steemed or stir-fryed veg

Snacks: Banana, Plain Digestive, Activa or weightwatcher yougurt.

I also drink plenty of water. Ive been eating like this for two weeks and haven seemed to have lost anyweight and to be honest begining to feel a bit disheartened. Strictly following this diet how long does anyone know or think would it take to shed the pounds?