calorie controlling question

Alessandra

Hi whoever is reading! I am avoiding the word diet so here goes...
I started reducing my calorie intake recently(keeping below 2000) and have been going to the gym regularly(5 times per week). I am starting to notice an improvement in my general well being already.
I have some questions about foods I am unsure of and maybe someone of you could help?

I'm wondering are branflakes a healthy option for cereal in the morning? I usually have a small/medium bowl with semi skimmed and 1 orange or banana and cup of green tea. I know porridge is better but it's not an option timewise and tastewise for me every morning.

I have a warm lunch as my main meal and this is 2 portions of vegetables and a piece of fish/chicken or a soup and salad with just balsamic vinegar.

After the gym my evening meal is usually a low calorie cuppa soup/weightwatchers tinned soup, and some ryvita with extra low calorie cream chesse and tomato I only have 2/3 slices. If I am still hungry I will have some fruit and maybe a chocolate options drink(is this bad 37 cals?).

Through the day I drink 1.5 litres of water and 2-3 cups of green tea and have the odd fruit snack. I'm keeping away from bread and potatoes as they really don't agree with me.

So far it's working great and my energy levels are good. I'm wondering is this an okay diet to stick to? I'm trying to avoid any treat days as this is a slippery slope for me, so sometimes I will have a special k bar as a treat although I know they aren't great.

Is there anything really wrong here? Any help or advice would be great..

Mellor

Alessandra wrote: »

I'm wondering are branflakes a healthy option for cereal in the morning? I usually have a small/medium bowl with semi skimmed and 1 orange or banana and cup of green tea. I know porridge is better but it's not an option timewise and tastewise for me every morning.

I'm sorry but this isn't true. Porridge takes no longer to make than a bowl of cereal and a cup of tea. I get up and put the kettle on, then do to the bathroom. When I come back, I make tea and porridge together.

If you just don't want it, then be honest and say so.

After the gym my evening meal is usually a low calorie cuppa soup/weightwatchers tinned soup, and some ryvita with extra low calorie cream chesse and tomato I only have 2/3 slices. If I am still hungry I will have some fruit and maybe a chocolate options drink(is this bad 37 cals?).

WW soups and meals are a joke. Examples;

WW spagetti is sold alongside Heinz and is more expensive. All the nutridata is the same. It's actualy made on the same line and just has a different label.
WW minestrone tinned soup has more cals than the normal minestrone from Heinz.

The difference in cals in variety of soup is huge.
Heinz plain tomato/minestrone/pumpkin are all around the 100 cals mark
Creamy tomato, mushroom or chicken is twice that.

Cuppa soup isn't very filling and you'll often be hungry later. Stick to tinned soup, make sure its a low cal version. forget WW

Fruit is a great snack.

So far it's working great and my energy levels are good. I'm wondering is this an okay diet to stick to? I'm trying to avoid any treat days as this is a slippery slope for me, so sometimes I will have a special k bar as a treat although I know they aren't great.

They are no better than most other bars. And, you are more likely to snack more often.
I find "mini-snacks" (cereal bars, small chocolate bars) are best avoided. As they come in multipacks, so there is always one there waiting.
They give the illusion of being ok, so you eat them more often.

When you feel like a treat, make it a proper treat. But understand that they have to be rare.

rubadub

Alessandra wrote: »

I'm wondering are branflakes a healthy option for cereal in the morning? I usually have a small/medium bowl with semi skimmed and 1 orange or banana and cup of green tea. I know porridge is better but it's not an option timewise and tastewise for me every morning.

Branflakes are 22% sugar. You do not have to cook porridge at all, I just have it with oats & milk. I liquidise it with milk & egg and make pancakes, saves cooking egg separately, you can cook a batch of thick ones and store them in the fridge and put them in the toaster.

Alessandra

rubadub wrote: »

Branflakes are 22% sugar. You do not have to cook porridge at all, I just have it with oats & milk. I liquidise it with milk & egg and make pancakes, saves cooking egg separately, you can cook a batch of thick ones and store them in the fridge and put them in the toaster.

Thanks for that advice, that's great. Will give it a go.

Alessandra

Mellor wrote: »

I'm sorry but this isn't true. Porridge takes no longer to make than a bowl of cereal and a cup of tea. I get up and put the kettle on, then do to the bathroom. When I come back, I make tea and porridge together.

If you just don't want it, then be honest and say so.



WW soups and meals are a joke. Examples;

WW spagetti is sold alongside Heinz and is more expensive. All the nutridata is the same. It's actualy made on the same line and just has a different label.
WW minestrone tinned soup has more cals than the normal minestrone from Heinz.

The difference in cals in variety of soup is huge.
Heinz plain tomato/minestrone/pumpkin are all around the 100 cals mark
Creamy tomato, mushroom or chicken is twice that.

Cuppa soup isn't very filling and you'll often be hungry later. Stick to tinned soup, make sure its a low cal version. forget WW

Fruit is a great snack.



They are no better than most other bars. And, you are more likely to snack more often.
I find "mini-snacks" (cereal bars, small chocolate bars) are best avoided. As they come in multipacks, so there is always one there waiting.
They give the illusion of being ok, so you eat them more often.

When you feel like a treat, make it a proper treat. But understand that they have to be rare.

Thanks for going to all the trouble with your reply.
I will actually give the porridge a proper go.
Ya I don't buy cereal bars or anything other that fruit in multi-packs for the very reason mentioned above.
Thanks again!

rubadub

Theres a thread on oat pancakes here for more ideas
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?threadid=2055002535

Getwellsoon

Hi there!

I've never really been a breakfast person and always hated having to force myself to eat cereal or porridge... so I thought, really, why bother? I find it more beneficial to have a toasted or heated low-fat bagel with peanut butter or jam when I get to work in the mornings. It is a quick option that I love the taste of and keeps me full until lunchtime.

Also, I think it is not a good idea to have a cuppa soup, hot chocolate and fruit in the evening. This is a) not very filling, b) high in sugar, and c) not a good plan for you to sustain. If you haven't had a very big lunch it could also leave you feeling so hungry that you go and eat more later on in the evening.

If I were you, I'd stick to three substantial meals a day. If you're more of a lunch person, have a bigger lunch than dinner (you need the calories more in the daytime anyway and can burn them off better than in the evening) but still make sure the dinner is healthy and filling. It's worked for myself and other people I know, to have a hot main meal for lunch, then something lighter like soup or a salad for dinner. It sounds to me like you are more of a "grazer" than someone who likes to stick to three set meals. I am like that too and have to force myself to sit down to meals. It does pay off though, I feel much healthier planning my meals to be nutritionally balanced and wholesome

Alessandra

Getwellsoon wrote: »

Hi there!

I've never really been a breakfast person and always hated having to force myself to eat cereal or porridge... so I thought, really, why bother? I find it more beneficial to have a toasted or heated low-fat bagel with peanut butter or jam when I get to work in the mornings. It is a quick option that I love the taste of and keeps me full until lunchtime.

Also, I think it is not a good idea to have a cuppa soup, hot chocolate and fruit in the evening. This is a) not very filling, b) high in sugar, and c) not a good plan for you to sustain. If you haven't had a very big lunch it could also leave you feeling so hungry that you go and eat more later on in the evening.

If I were you, I'd stick to three substantial meals a day. If you're more of a lunch person, have a bigger lunch than dinner (you need the calories more in the daytime anyway and can burn them off better than in the evening) but still make sure the dinner is healthy and filling. It's worked for myself and other people I know, to have a hot main meal for lunch, then something lighter like soup or a salad for dinner. It sounds to me like you are more of a "grazer" than someone who likes to stick to three set meals. I am like that too and have to force myself to sit down to meals. It does pay off though, I feel much healthier planning my meals to be nutritionally balanced and wholesome

Hi thanks for your reply!

I have a question, aren't bagels supposed to be very fattening? Like one bagel is equivalent to 5 slices of bread or something?
Plus I have given up bread and am since feeling a lot better for it(I noticed my psoriasis has reduced substantially in just a week!!) so I'm thrilled.
I'm giving the porridge a chance and I've found it's not so bad with a bit of fruit and like most things, after a few goes I'm almost used of it.
Re cuppa soups, I see what you mean and I am making better choices for my evening meals.
Since I go to the gym in the evenings after college I don't get home until 8pm or so and it's quite late to eat anything substantial and I never am that hungry afterwards anyway. What do people who have to eat at this time usually have?

Getwellsoon

A-ha! Well this is what I always thought about bagels too (and it is GENERALLY correct), but I've found that weightwatchers own, or superquinn's own bagels are about half the calories of a normal "New York" bagel! They are just over 100 cals each! So they are fine! I usually try to avoid all kinds of bread, rice & pasta like the plague... but after months of avoiding something you DO have cravings for them now and again! I would find I'd go on carb binges once in a while, so I thought I may as well not deny myself bread and introduce it into my diet in small, reasonable quantities. If you have complex carbs they are good for you and help to keep you full too. But too many refined carbs are just too stodgy, fattening and hard to digest. Limit your intake for sure, but there's no need to cut them out completely!

I also go to the gym in the evenings. Do you go straight from work, or do you go home first? My gym does not close until 10pm so I get to go home and have dinner first before I head up there. But on Thursdays I have a Pilates class at 6pm, so I have to eat before I go. I usually just have a larger lunch, and for dinner I take a salad or soup to work to eat at my desk before I leave at 5pm. Then if I feel hungry after the gym I just have a light snack. If you find you're pushed for time or don't want to come home and have to make a meal after an evening's workout, you could try preparing a healthy meal in advance that you could have to come home to?

EileenG

With bagels, read the label VERY carefully. Many of them give the calories per PORTION, not per BAGEL. And they often seem to think that one bagel is two or even three portions.

Go to the gym when you are most likely to go and work hard. Straight after work, it's often pretty crowded, but if you go home, there's a very good chance you will get caught up in household stuff, or by the lastest episode of American Idol or something similar.

If you've eaten nothing since lunch, than a piece of fruit an hour before you hit the gym is an idea.

Getwellsoon

EileenG wrote: »

With bagels, read the label VERY carefully. Many of them give the calories per PORTION, not per BAGEL. And they often seem to think that one bagel is two or even three portions.

Go to the gym when you are most likely to go and work hard. Straight after work, it's often pretty crowded, but if you go home, there's a very good chance you will get caught up in household stuff, or by the lastest episode of American Idol or something similar.

If you've eaten nothing since lunch, than a piece of fruit an hour before you hit the gym is an idea.

Yes the ones I suggested are per bagel not per portion. I hate it when packets say per portion and then don't make it clear exactly how much a portion is!

I used to go to the gym every evening after dinner but you have to be really disciplined to do that. Nowadays I just go about 3 times a week: once to do pilates and some cardio, then the other 2 times I do a mix of cardio and weights. Ideally I'd like to up that to 4 days and just go swimming once on the weekend or something. I think it is important to stick to a good routine of eating though. Work out what is best for your body-clock and after a while things will fall into place and you'll realise if you're eating too little / too much before or after the gym.

eclectichoney

Also something to note, is that the actual weight of bagels (and bread / bakery products in general) can often be far higher than stated on the pack (and hence they can actually contain more calories). Once I cam across a bagel that was supposedly 100g, and it was actually 165g! The importance of weighing your food if you are trying to cut back / reduce portion size can't be emphasised enough imo.