critique my 'diet'

Hi,

I recently lost a stone on unislim and am trying to continue on loosing weight but without its guidance. so aiming for weight loss of about 2lb a week. I want it to be a slow & steady process / change of eating habits as opposed to loose it quick kind of thing!

heres a typical day for me.. what do you guys think?

Breakfast:
1 boiled egg with 2 slices of wholemeal toast and a tbs of low low butter and a cup of tea (with skimmed milk)

Mid morning snack

usually an apple and an orange

Lunch

medium wholemeal pitta with 1 slice of ham, 1 oz of low fat cheese, half a tomoato and a sprinkling of red onion and red pepper with 1 tsp of relish

mid afternoon

skinny mocha

dinner

chicken caserole with 4oz lean chicken, 1 pint of veg stock, leeks, carrots, onions, celery and 2 medium potatoes (unislim recipe - 350 cals)

snack

3-4 tbs of hummus with veg.

yet another snack

weight watchers chocolate snack (usually about 77cals)

Bottle_of_Smoke

Seems pretty good to me.

Protein in every meal, healthy carbs and you eat veg.

Is it keeping you full/happy?

EileenG

Looks reasonable. I'd perhaps swap the low-fat butter for some real butter, and just use less of it. Could you add a bit more veg at lunch?

Make sure you include oily fish a couple of times a week.

neuro-praxis

I'd have another egg or two at breakfast and chuck in some nuts and seeds as snacks. They are more nutrient dense and filling than the chocolate snack. I'd also have a bit more ham at lunch.

Honestly, I would also eat normal cheese and butter, just in moderate amounts. You actually need fats to be slim.

Thanks for the advice guys, glad to hear I wasn't too far off!

keeps me full, but get the odd craving is all!
Not a huge fish fan but could work in some tuna into lunches.

and i love nuts.. would love to add more (although they tend to be a bit pricey) is something like bombay mix ok?

EileenG

No, go for nuts, not Bombay mix. That's deep-fried crap. Check out the baking section in Tesco and Dunnes, lots of nice nuts that won't break the bank.

Mellor

Just on the nuts, they are a great snack, better than the chocolate,
But that also relies on them being in equal (calorie) amounts.

15g of nuts (a tiny amount) is 90 calories. So, be careful. I don't buy nuts as I know I'll abuse them. If I have eaten a little on the low side one day, I'll buy maybe 50g, and they don't last long.

I also rather see more eggs and less bread at BF, keeping te cals the same, its a better meal overall.

m'lady

Also, just on the nuts-I was in Aldi only yesterday and what I can see they are very reasonably priced..

Bottle_of_Smoke

I don't think nuts are a good idea to be honest. They're nutritious but addictive. At the moment once I open a back I'm 3/4 way through it by just regularly picking at them

Fine for me because I'm trying to have a daily excess of calories but I think they could be disastrous for someone trying to lose weight.

EileenG

Still better than Bombay mix!

When you buy a bag of nuts, split it up into small portions and put them immediately into handy containers you can carry around with you. I tend to buy 100g bags, and split it into three or four portions.

Go for raw nuts with no salt. Better nutrition and less addictive.

metamorphosis

I think it looks grand - i myself would swap the mocha for something more substantial and nutritious and replace the bread with oatcakes at brekkie but if you are enjoying the way you are eating and are getting the results you want then go with it

Thanks for all the advice, on the nut debate I think i might just stick to putting some cashews in stir frys! And as for the chocolate and the mocha.. yeah i know i should substitute in something better but if cravings/addictions aren't satisfied somewhat it'l all fall to pieces!

had been thinking of starting a food diary, i know the food diary forum here just closed.. can anyone recommend somewhere else to do this?

Thanks!

Bottle_of_Smoke

Deleted User wrote: »

had been thinking of starting a food diary, i know the food diary forum here just closed.. can anyone recommend somewhere else to do this?

Thanks!

You could always just do it in a word document. Then use an online calculator to work out the calories and make sure you have an appropriate deficit.

KKCat09

I think your diet is actually pretty good, I dont know if it needs too much more cleaning up to be honest. But if you wanted to go a step further my first thought would have been to add in a small portion of unsalted nuts as your snacks.
I know people are making the point here that they are high in calories but they are full of 'friendly fats' which your diet otherwise appears to be lacking in (though I know this is only one day and maybe your getting oily fish in during the week too). We are constantly told to avoid all fat but you do need 'good fat' in your diet and nuts are a great way to get that and they are much more filling than fruit, which dont forget is also quite high in sugar (very few perfect foods out there). And i find the one thing about nuts is that even the unsalted ones make you drink alot of water which will also fill you up.

I agree with the other posts about the lowlow, use real butter instead. I use Connacht Gold Butter in the yellow tub, its real butter but only half the fat. Tastes the exact same but doesnt have the yucky veg oils and chemicals that the low fat spreads have.

Again just being super picky here but maybe swap the mocha for a tea in the afternoon and maybe have your chocolate snack then to get you over that evening hump!!!

After dinner is when you really need to show restraint, I find I am good all day long when I am in work or have things to do but when you get to sit down its almost habit to snack on bits and pieces. A little trick I employ is to brush my teeth when I am finished my dinner, the brushing and also the taste of mint sends signals to your brain to tell it you are finished eating so your desire to eat goes away. And nothing tastes good right after your brush your teeth right? So keep a little bag of foxs mints or mint imperials in the press and if you get hungry have one (a mint or two wont mess up your diet) and if you try eat anything after that it wont taste right so you will just end up putting it in the bin instead of your tummy . Worth a try!!!