I need help with my diet

DaniB

Hi guys,

Would be really grateful if you could offer some advice.

Im starting my own kinda diet and simple exercises and need advice as to whether you think this will help me lose a stone hopefully within a month.

Ok so here goes... typical day would be...

Morning - Digestive biscuit and cup of coffee
Lunch - Weightwatchers soup
Dinner - Slice of lasagne and salad
Snack - 1 chocolate biscuit and tea

I dont eat after 7.30pm

I dont do much exercise but I am hoping to go walking every day, be about 8500 steps. I will also do 100 squats and 50 sit ups each evening before bed.

Im not lazy or anything, its just I have kids to look after, I dont have much time to go to gym etc.

Its only a stone I want to lose, surely it will happen??

Melia

I'm sorry, but that diet is an absolute disaster. It's not healthy at all.

A digestive biscuit in the morning won't cut it. Do you like porridge or eggs?

For lunch, soup is good, but home made soup would be better than WW tins. I'd say you also need more than that - a tin of WW soup isn't very substantial. You could add some grainy brown bread, fruit, nuts, a salad with tuna or chicken?

Lasagna's not the best choice to regularly have for dinner if you're trying to lose weight. Do you cook? What sort of meals do you usually make for dinner, other than lasagna?

The odd chocolate biscuit or other treat is fine, but I wouldn't have them every day, or intentionally include them in a food plan. Better snacks might be natural yoghurt, fruit, nuts, nut butter, cottage cheese, raw carrots, raw pepper, houmous, etc. Try and keep food as unprocessed as possible.

I can't tell you if you'll lose a stone in a month, but you're more likely to be able to stick to the healthy eating and maintain your weight loss if you eat more sensibly. What height/weight are you at the moment, if you don't mind me asking?

On the exercise front, a few of us on the Food Diary forum are doing an introductory running program called Couch To 5K. If you're interested, we have a thread on it here, feel free to drop in. You'd only need half an hour or forty-five minutes, three times a week, and it's free. It's fun!

If you want to start a food diary there, I find it very helpful! It gives you some accountability - you're less likely to eat that doughnut if you have to tell everyone about it later on!

The best of luck.

DaniB

Hi Melia

Thanks a mil for the advice.

I know its not a great diet but I was thinking that if I just did this for a month, I would lose weight then focus on a more healthy diet, I just want to burn the fat asap and thought by eating alot less would help.

I dont really cook to be honest, maybe a microwave meal or something.

I am 5 feet 5 inches and im 9.6 stone. I used to be 8.2 but I had a baby in November.

I dont feel hungry either, I could go all day without eating. I really just want to lose weight first then I'll eat proper, I havent gained any weight since nov but I havent lost any either. I had no problem with my weight before but its been so hard to shift this weight. I was going to the gym every day for 6 weeks and nothing happened. Surely I should be losing a pound or two!!

J-Fit

DaniB wrote: »

Hi Melia

Thanks a mil for the advice.

I know its not a great diet but I was thinking that if I just did this for a month, I would lose weight then focus on a more healthy diet, I just want to burn the fat asap and thought by eating alot less would help.

I dont really cook to be honest, maybe a microwave meal or something.

I am 5 feet 5 inches and im 9.6 stone. I used to be 8.2 but I had a baby in November.

I dont feel hungry either, I could go all day without eating. I really just want to lose weight first then I'll eat proper, I havent gained any weight since nov but I havent lost any either. I had no problem with my weight before but its been so hard to shift this weight. I was going to the gym every day for 6 weeks and nothing happened. Surely I should be losing a pound or two!!

I think you just need somebody to simplify things for you here. You are eating nowhere near enough food to lose weight. Yes you read correctly! By my reckoning you are under 1,000 calories per day, your metabolism has thus slowed and is trying it's best to hold on to the fat that you have in anticipation of the starving you'll exert on your body tomorrow. Rev your metabolism up a little! Some simple recommendations:

- 5/6 small meals per day

- Eat a lean source of protein at each meal (chicken, turkey, beef, eggs, fish)

- 5 servings of fruit/veg per day

- Buy fish oil capsules and consume (I recommend 5g throughout the day)

- Snack on nuts (pecans, almonds, walnuts) but keep an eye on the calorie content

-Start cooking and forget the microwave

At a very rough guess I'd say your daily maintenance calories are in or around 1,800 per day. Cut this by between 300 and 500 and adjust your diet according to your weight loss and exercise schedule. Do not drop below 1,200 calories or things will continue as is.

DaniB

Thanks J Fit!

This is going to sound awful but if what your saying is right then how come girls who are anorexic lose weight if they starve themselves?? Why wont I lose weight if I eat much less and they do??

Yesterday I had coffee for breakfast, for lunch I had tuna and sweetcorn, some mayo and 3 tuc biscuits and for dinner a microwave fish pie (240 cals) and some cranberry juice. Supper I had a cup of tea and 1 chocolate biscuit. I also took a brisk walk for an hour and 100 sit ups. I really think I should be losing weight, i just dont understand why im not!!! Not even a pound. I get that I should eat breakfast to get my metabolism going so I will now include 1 weetabix with skim milk but what is really bugging me is that I am eating less and exercising but losing no weight yet girls become anorexic because of the same thing!

corkcomp

DaniB wrote: »

Thanks J Fit!

This is going to sound awful but if what your saying is right then how come girls who are anorexic lose weight if they starve themselves?? Why wont I lose weight if I eat much less and they do??

Yesterday I had coffee for breakfast, for lunch I had tuna and sweetcorn, some mayo and 3 tuc biscuits and for dinner a microwave fish pie (240 cals) and some cranberry juice. Supper I had a cup of tea and 1 chocolate biscuit. I also took a brisk walk for an hour and 100 sit ups. I really think I should be losing weight, i just dont understand why im not!!! Not even a pound. I get that I should eat breakfast to get my metabolism going so I will now include 1 weetabix with skim milk but what is really bugging me is that I am eating less and exercising but losing no weight yet girls become anorexic because of the same thing!

you will probably find anorexics would be more likely to be consuming vegetables only than chocolate biscuits, ready meals and tuc biscuits .. now i know that sounds harsh, but the point im trying to make is that not all calories are equal ..

DaniB

Yeah thats a fair comment corkcomp, i just dont like vegetables, I'd rather not eat at all than eat them. I figured cos I wasnt eating much, a choccie biccie wouldnt be so bad but il get rid of that also and replace it with a rice cake or something...

Lux23

I think you really need to educate yourself about how its what you eat not how much you eat. I had the same problem myself but recently I have discovered that I lose weight more easily if I avoid junk and eat lean proteins and plenty of Veg. Below is what I ate yesterday, its not perfect but its an average day and I am losing about 2lbs a week.

Breakfast
Low Fat Natural Yogurt
10-12 Strawberries

Mid Morning Snack
Apple

Lunch
2 Wholemeal round pitta
2 20g slices of Low Low Cheese
Tin of Tuna (in brine)
Bowl of roasted tomatoe and pepper soup

Mid Afternoon Snack
2 Slices of Ham

Dinner
60 g uncooked pasta
Chicken Breast
Green Beans
2 Mini corn on the cobs

Loads of water and tea with skimmed milk throughout the day.

Now if you see OP I am literally stuffing myself here but its a more balanced diet and I am getting almost all off the nutrients I should. Try something like this for a week or two and the weight will come off.

DaniB

Thanks Lux23

Your diet sounds very balanced and well done on your weight loss so far but I would feel as if I have eaten too much there, I am not hungry, I dont feel like Im starving. I am cutting out all junk food etc and at the end of the day I would feel full.

What I dont get is how people say that I wont lose weight this way when there are girls and lads out there that are anorexic because they starve themselves. Surely I should lose weight this way even if I were just to lose the stone and then start a more balanced diet after. I dont think I would put the weight back on as I never ate much to start with, the reason I have gained weight is because I had a baby in Nov, I was 8 stone 2 before and now im 9.6.

Thanks for your input anyways!!

How Strange

OP, first off I'm wary about your motivations for weight loss. You're not interested in a balanced diet or nutrition or a healthy lifestyle but you just want to lose your weight as fast as possible with minumum effort.

Alarm bells are ringing for me. I've got a sibling with an eating disorder and I see alot of familiar things in your posts.

You're 5ft5 and 9st6 so you're hardly overweight. You say you were 8st2 before which would've made you seriously underweight. You had a baby in November which is 5 months ago so you're still carrying baby weight.

You've already been told what you need to do; establish and maintain a balanced diet combined with exercise. There's no big secret or mystery.

Your diet is completely unbalanced and you do no exercise. You consume as few calories as possible. It doesn't matter if you don't have a big appetite you should still be eating reasonably portioned balanced meals and not substituting them with coffee and a chocolate biscuit. No-one is saying you have to stuff your face with food but your body needs a certain amount of food to sustain itself otherwise it thinks it's being starved and will go into starvation mode and store every calorie you consume.

Lux23

DaniB wrote: »

Thanks Lux23


What I dont get is how people say that I wont lose weight this way when there are girls and lads out there that are anorexic because they starve themselves. Surely I should lose weight this way even if I were just to lose the stone and then start a more balanced diet after. I dont think I would put the weight back on as I never ate much to start with, the reason I have gained weight is because I had a baby in Nov, I was 8 stone 2 before and now im 9.6.

Thanks for your input anyways!!

Well they ain't eating choccie biscuits, listen the best way to lose weight and to keep it off is to eat a balanced diet and exercise. If you starve yourself you will begin to lose weight but your not starving yourself, your just eating very little of the wrong food. If I was you I would go to a dietician or doctor and ask them to write up a plan for you as you don't seem to understand the basics of nutrition. Which isn't something to be ashamed off as most people don't understand what they are putting in their body.

metamorphosis

+1 with how strange. I know what its like to live with someone woth AN. Why do you keep comparing yourself to them? You are not overweight. You should wantto have lifelong healthy body. SO:

Eat whole, real foods - nuts, seeds, veggies, fruit, lean meant and fish. Have your treats too. Everything in moderation.

Be active.

J-Fit

DaniB wrote: »

Thanks J Fit!

This is going to sound awful but if what your saying is right then how come girls who are anorexic lose weight if they starve themselves?? Why wont I lose weight if I eat much less and they do??

Yesterday I had coffee for breakfast, for lunch I had tuna and sweetcorn, some mayo and 3 tuc biscuits and for dinner a microwave fish pie (240 cals) and some cranberry juice. Supper I had a cup of tea and 1 chocolate biscuit. I also took a brisk walk for an hour and 100 sit ups. I really think I should be losing weight, i just dont understand why im not!!! Not even a pound. I get that I should eat breakfast to get my metabolism going so I will now include 1 weetabix with skim milk but what is really bugging me is that I am eating less and exercising but losing no weight yet girls become anorexic because of the same thing!

Please don't get caught up with the ins and outs of why it should work or why anorexic girls have lost weight. You shouldn't be trying to actually lose weight indiscriminantly, you should be trying to lose fat. There is nothing in this thread that I disagree with so to take it all on board and just get it done. It works. 1,000,000%

corkcomp

J-Fit wrote: »

Please don't get caught up with the ins and outs of why it should work or why anorexic girls have lost weight. You shouldn't be trying to actually lose weight indiscriminantly, you should be trying to lose fat. There is nothing in this thread that I disagree with so to take it all on board and just get it done. It works. 1,000,000%

what he said +1