Fussy Eater but still Overweight

Kali_Kalika

I've been reading a lot of good threads on here and there are quite a few who will give fantastic advice so here's hoping there might be some good advice out there for me as well. I'm quite over weight (won't go into amounts, but lets just say "a lot" covers it) and I do and have tried different diets, life style changes, etc etc - but I always seem to revert back to old habits. Its not a lack of desire - it really, for me, comes down to I just don't like enough different things to truly make that real life style change. I've always been a fussy eater since I was a baby (I used to pull carrots out of my mouth as a toddler (according to Mom!) and I still hate carrots!) I try new things and I really don't like them. As someone suggested on another thread that I read, to try a blindfold taste test - maybe its the sight of things putting you off - I've done that and made a very very few discoveries that I did actually like - but overall - no drastic improvement to my "foods I like" list. So I'm wondering, given the items that I do like - if a healthy life style is possible.

I'll pop out a list of things that I do like - I'm sure there's a few things that I've forgotten off the list - but for the most part all the things that I like are here:

Fruit & Veg: Apple, Banana, Cucumber, Coconut, Grapes, Grapefruit, Iceberg lettuce, Lemon, Mandarin, Oranges, Onion, Pineapple, Peas. Broccoli, Rasins, Rhubarb, Strawberry, Tangerine, Tomato, Watermelon, Bell Peppers, Green Beans, Corn, Potato,

Meats: Chicken, Beef, Pork


Things I REALLY REALLY dislike are fish and nuts - I just hate fish - I can do a cod from the chipper but we all know that just ISN'T going to factor on a good diet list! And I can do tuna occasionally but even then I think its the Mayo that's helping it be tasty! Admittedly, I do like my sweet things but that I always get a handle on with no problem - I elect myself "treat days" where I'll allow something I normally am cutting out. It makes skipping it the rest of the time not so bad knowing that when "treat day" comes the "fun" you can have of debating what your treat will be, and its also a bit of a release aswell - so that's no problem for me with treats. But I do have a problem with Coke - no no, not the street drug! But the sweet fizzy stuff. I literally cannot stop drinking it. I do for a day or two but then always fall back onto it. I work on this all the time and the best I've found is getting small bottles of carbonated water - it has the bubbles and the fizz which is a good substitute in my book and mind - at least short term - so I'm thinking thats the key for getting off the sweet and sticky fizz. My main reason for starting this thread is if there's someone out there who thinks they can help me with some diet plans or menus based on what I do like.

Pre-thanks for anyone who's even read this far let alone has some advice or anything to say!

Kinetic^

Carbonated drinks will dehydrate your body, stick with water/cordial. I'm not mad on just water so I drink mi wadi sugar free. Coke is most definitely not helping you with your weight.


You haven't mentioned whether you like eggs or not? They're a great food for breakfast (or any time).

What do you eat during the day at the moment?

Jarren

Hi OP

How about your typical portion sizes, fruit intake ?

Kali_Kalika

Completely know that the fizzies aren't helping with things in the least! :rolleyes:
But have started more and more onto the sparkling water, poor substitute but it does seem to be curbing the edge a bit.

I do like eggs - mainly only scrambled but the occasional egg sambo is good too.
Will have to start trying to get more of those alright.

Daily eating varies due to schedule changes, etc etc - but on average I'd say that I rarely, dare I say never have breakfast. Big mistake, I know, but mornings are incredibly hectic for myself and despite knowing I should make the time to grab something I just dont. Awhile ago I was making smoothies (assortments of fruits and a natural (glenisk) yougurt and sometimes a splash of juice and coconut milk if I had them in the house) - so I should really get back into making those for the mornings. Lunch varies day to day depending on what my schedule is. Usually I'll grab a Ham sambo (white bread, butter and ham) in the local shop - not fantastic but not horrible either. Occasionally (approx once a week) I might grab some crisps to go with it but I'd never finish them, usually about half a packet. Bad I know - hence only doing it occasionally and I haven't actually bothered over the last 2 weeks so going to try and keep it that way. And I always go for orange juice to finish it with.
Dinner - again varies on the schedule. If I'm home incredibly late I'll usually grab a take-away - again, bad I know. But if I'm cooking it really depends on what's grabbed my eye and budget in the shop. Tonight (for example) I roasted a chicken (some for dinner the rest left over for sambos for the next few days) did some mash potato with it and one of the Bachelors snap pots of beans and a tin of corn as well (one of the baby sized cans which the dog also got some of!) - so a fairly ordinary dinner that I'd cook. I'll do Spag. Bol. or mac & cheese. Dinners like that really.

Portion sizes should be smaller probably but I don't think they're too excessive either. Again, referring to tonights chicken dinner. I had one of the breasts and a few nibbles of the leg (I don't really like the dark bits of the chicken) - of the mash potato I'd say approx the size of my fist (isn't that how some diets measure the correct portion, by the size of your fist?) with a teeny dab of butter on it and then the snap pot of beans (says on the packet that is one solo portion) and the baby can of corn that I had a bit more than half of as I topped up the dogs dinner with the rest. To me that seems reasonable portions - maybe a bit bigger than some peoples - but not excessive. But I'm probably the worst judge of this!

not even wrong

Kinetic^ wrote: »

Carbonated drinks will dehydrate your body,

I'm going to ask for a source on this one.

Well I think the most noticeable thing is that you seem to think sandwiches are good. You mentioned that it's white bread so I'm assuming you know you should be eating wholegrain. Calories wise there's not much difference between them (in fact in some brands the white has less fat and less calories) but the fibre and the fact it has more substance to it will do you good. I'm guilty of the odd sandwich and trust me the whole grain bread makes it go much farther. White bread sandwiches are basically just the filling with an easy swallow covering. And no matter what you're putting in them, you shouldn't be eating more than one sandwich a day. You should think of sandwiches as a treat. And as for the ham sambo, if you're going to eat ham don't eat the really processed stuff, it's pretty bad for your gut, try to get the stuff that really is just sliced meat.

As you know, breakfast is another issue. You just can't say you don't have enough time, because after the first week of eating breakfast, it will take 5 minutes to get it done, and you can eat while you get ready. If you like sweet stuff, try the Honeycrunch museli by Kelkin. Just throw a few tablespoons of it into a cup, add some low fat milk and you're sorted. I eat it 4 days a week and it's really convenient. It doesn't have any of those weird bits of banana and hard nuts that some muselis have and it does have honey coated cornflakes in it.

The other problem I noticed is "extras". Little things that you eat without thinking about it. Like that scrambled egg isn't just egg. Do you add butter, milk, salt? I know you say you're really stuck for time, but do you think it might be possible to take one week to write down everything you've eaten? Not as in "scrambled egg, ham sandwich", but like "1 egg, 30g butter, pinch of salt, 2 slices white bread, 40g butter, slice of ham". It might put things in perspective. I'd say it might even pick up on stuff that you don't think about eating. When I did it I realised I had never noticed that having tea and coffee added up to quite a lot of sugar and milk by the end of the day, because I hadn't thought of drinks as something worth noting.

I would say you should lower your portion size. Not necessarily because they're bad, but because if you're overweight you're going to lose weight by eating less. The important thing is to substitute the stuff you're stopping eating with stuff you can eat. So reduce the amount of spaghetti in your spag bol, and replace your sauce with a low calorie version (I love tesco's own brand light choices pasta sauce) but add extra vegetables, loads of them, (not the tinned variety) and balance things out as best you can to make sure you're not going to be hungry afterwards. If you're eating enough meat and veg it should be easy to reduce the amount of spaghetti. And do the same for your other meals.