Food to kick belly to touch

thedavman009

The last few weeks I have been steadily improving my diet cutting out as much junk food as possible and replacing with healthy alternatives. I also rejoined a bootcamp class and attend 3 times a week and try to get out for jogs/ do some weights during the week on the off nights.

Overall I feel much healthier and far more in tune with my body but . . . . my blessed belly just doesnt seem to be reducing in line with the rest of me! In general I have toned up well in such a short space of time. Admittedly I do have a taste for beer but I have ditched my Heineken for Coors Light in a bid to reduce the calorie intake as much as possible and would only drink on Friday and Saturdays. Tell me the beer is not responsible for the belly (please!).

I am 28, male, smoker, 6ft 1 and weigh 13 stone 4. I am not in bad shape but appreciate that it will take more than a weeks of healthy living to make long lating changes to me.

I would be obliged for some feed back on my diet. I have below outlined a typical weekend day and work day and would be grateful for any pointers.

SundayMondaySeptember 12, 2010September 13, 2010BreakfastBreakfastWholemeal Bagel500 ml bottle of Diet Coke1 Slice CheeseBowl of Cheerios with Super MilkTomatoLettuceWholegrain CrackerHumusFew WalnutsBag of Crisps (Low Fat)LunchLunchSee above, did a combinedDemi Baguettelunch/ breakfast.Green Pesto1 Slice swiss CheeseTomatoesMixed PeppersSweetcornLettuceDinnerDinner1/3 PizzaWholemeal BagelOven Chips1 Slice CheeseBag of Crisps (Low Fat)TomatoLettuceBaked BeansWholegrain CrackerHumusFew WalnutsBag of Crisps (Low Fat)

thedavman009

Woops, the forum did not like my table, will try to edit so that it makes sense.

Also should mention I am vegetarian and do not eat any meat or fish.

thedavman009

Hope this makes sense now!

SundayMondaySeptember 12, 2010

Breakfast
Wholemeal Bagel
1 Slice Cheese
Tomato
Lettuce
Bag of Crisps (Low Fat)
Wholegrain Cracker
Humus
A few Walnuts


Lunch
See above, did a combinedlunch/ breakfast

Dinner
1/3 Pizza
Oven Chips
Bag of Crisps (Low Fat)



September 13, 2010

Breakfast
500 ml bottle of Diet Coke
Bowl of Cheerios with Super Milk

Lunch
Demi Baguette
Green Pesto
1 Slice swiss Cheese
Tomatoes
Mixed Peppers
Sweetcorn
Lettuce

Dinner (in due course)
Wholemeal Bagel
1 Slice Cheese
Tomato
Lettuce
Baked Beans
Few Walnuts
Bag of Crisps (Low Fat)
Wholegrain Cracker
Humus

Gaz

Well, your not going to see huge improvments in such a short space of time , so first off is patience.

Next, your diet. Its not great to be honest, low fat or not crisps are still crap .... dump the crisps , chips, pizzas , cheerios, white bread rolls etc.

Clean up the diet and keep the exercise going and you will see great results.

Adelie

Agree with Gaz about cutting out all the junk. If you do, I recommend replacing it with food high in protein and healthy fats to keep you from going hungry. Do you eat eggs? If I were you I'd be having at least 3-4 a day. Also more dairy, more nuts and good fats like olive/coconut/avocado. And bulk out your meals with veg, I doubt you're getting enough in those salads.

What about starting the day with a big omelette with different veggies, then a big salad with cheese and walnuts at lunch, then a dinner of cooked vegetables and some veggie-friendly protein? Snacks of yoghurt and nuts if you need them. Eat more carbs around your workouts but personally I'd go with potatos or rice over wheat, it causes bloating in a lot of people so part of your belly could be due to that.

El_Dangeroso

Agree with what everyone has said here.

For a vegetarian, you don't really eat a great variety of vegetables Seems pretty much lettuce, tomato and peppers all the time. What about squash, sweet potato, spinach, kale, beetroot, asparagus, carrot, turnip, parsnip, cabbage etc?

Add more of these in to replace all the wheat. I've seen people lose the belly making no other change than replacing wheat with vegetables.

--Kaiser--

Temple_Grandin wrote: »

replace all the wheat. .

Yup, you're eating bread at every meal, lose this and you'll lose weight

Wonkagirl

thedavman009 wrote: »

The last few weeks I have been steadily improving my diet cutting out as much junk food as possible and replacing with healthy alternatives.

jeez, you must have had a woeful diet ALTOGETHER before you implemented the changes

that's not very helpful i know, but your diet is pretty bad even now.. very high on the bad carbs which is the reason for the belly.. easy enough to fix, which is the good news. it would be worse if you had a great diet and still couldnt shift it!

no need to cut out carbs completely, but try having 1 or 2 meals a day without a carb basis.. i try to keep my carbs for breakfast time and have protein heavy lunchs and dinners (in particular)

jam_mac_jam

I dont mean to sound strange but what you are eating now is what I would consider a bad day, you are eating very few vegetables or fruit, and eating bagels,pizza and crisps. Far too much wheat, very little protein apart from hummus and the odd slice of cheese. Eat cottage cheese, eggs, tofu, pulses, you are filling up on crappy carbs and that's why you have a belly.

thedavman009

Cheers for the responses everyone. It has given me alot to think about and is much appreciated. I really thought I had significantly improved my diet but it just goes to show how wrong I was. It is embarassing but at least I am being pro active with alot of work ahead.

Believe me you dont want to know what my diet was like previously. I ate a huge amount of take aways and was a chip addict. Rather than chips I have replaced them with roasted butternut squash which is delicious and undoubtedly alot healthier for me.

To be honest for a vegetarian I know I dont eat a great variety of veg but I am working on it and trying to increase the intake and the variety.

If I was to swap the white demi baguette for a whole meal baguette would that be particularly beneficial or should I try and stay away from the wheat altogether?

I shall be purchasing some eggs tomorrow and will start with the omelettes, cant believe I never thought of them and would be a good sorce of protein.

Dixie Chick

Hiya

Do you eat tofu? What you should really be looking to do as a starting point is go into the supermarket and go through every shelf and look at all the foods, stuff you never heard of and all that. You obviously need to keep away from the sweets, fizzy drinks and all that but there is so much you could be eating.

Omlettes are great and so tasty, you can bulk them out wiht so much stuff.

Do you like chickpeas? You could be making yourself some really nice stirfires and adding these, nice chew off them as well and packed with great nutrients which will really help you in all your exercise. I mean obviously everyone has to start somewhere but you would be suprised how much food is out there. And as well, its no harm to make yourself eat something you dont like, or even think you dont like cos you might suprise yourself.

I myself aim to eat low carb. When I was trying to shift the bulk of my weight I used to have a carb for brekkie and lunch but none for dinner so thats when i started packing my dinners out with beans and chickpeas and stuff, cos even though they are complex carbs they release slowly into your system and dont sit on your belly, giving you that lovely gut!!

Good luck to you!

jam_mac_jam

thedavman009 wrote: »

Cheers for the responses everyone. It has given me alot to think about and is much appreciated. I really thought I had significantly improved my diet but it just goes to show how wrong I was. It is embarassing but at least I am being pro active with alot of work ahead.

Believe me you dont want to know what my diet was like previously. I ate a huge amount of take aways and was a chip addict. Rather than chips I have replaced them with roasted butternut squash which is delicious and undoubtedly alot healthier for me.

To be honest for a vegetarian I know I dont eat a great variety of veg but I am working on it and trying to increase the intake and the variety.

If I was to swap the white demi baguette for a whole meal baguette would that be particularly beneficial or should I try and stay away from the wheat altogether?

I shall be purchasing some eggs tomorrow and will start with the omelettes, cant believe I never thought of them and would be a good sorce of protein.

A whole meal baguette is still a lot of wheat, its a big portion. For lunch try and eat veg or a salad, eggs, cheese, maybe some brown rice, a small amount. whole meal bread is better than white however its still bread and you really shouldnt be eating it for two meals a day. You like hummus, could you eat a load of veg dipped in it or some chickpeas and a big salad with peppers and cheese?

I would drop the bagels straight away though as normal food, its more of a treat food. Eggs are great protein and very filling.

thedavman009

It is gonna be tough but I will try and cut out the bread as much as possible. It is a staple of my diet so wont be easy but I will try a few of the above suggestions.

Absolutely love chick peas and aduki beans but would never bother preparing them. Will have to put a bit more thought and effort into what I am consuming.

Plan for tomorrow: Breakfast will be porridge, swap the baguette for a wrap at lunch and get as much salad in it. Dinner will be an omelette stiffed with peppers, mushrooms, onion etc.

Cant remember the last day I went without any diet coke (much the same as bread) but I will try my hardest to resist it.

I had presumed my previous sedentary life style was to blame for the gut (I know the beer doesnt help but I am only humas) look forward to the benefits of the above diet changes and I am definately going to scour the supermarket shelves at the weekend for new foods. I tend to be quite fussy about what I eat and im terrible for trying new food but shall make a concerned effort.

Thanks for the responses, this has been a relevation.