best possible breakfast- PLEASE HELP

alycork

Hi Everyone,
I am a 27 year old girl and looking to loose about a stone - in about 2 months. I am starting walking about a mile and a half a day -5 days a wk and then doing about 25 minutes in the gym about 5 days a week doing weghts- first day il concentrate on arms and shoulders and abs and the next day concentrating on legs and abs and rotating this. I am eating chicken and salad for lunch and fish and veggies for dinner. I know you are supposed to have a good breakfast to boost your metabolism in the morning so my question is what is the best breakfast I can eat- i am trying to not eat carbs so my options are :

3 pieces of fruit or

350g non fat yogurt or

should i just eat some porridge or weetabix with soya milk -even though they are carbs in these options, there is hardly any sugar.

Also - for snacks would
1. non fat yogurt (with about 4g sugar and no fat) be a better snack than 2. an apple (with 15g sugar and no fat).
(I have been told fruit is a no-no when trying to shape up quickly).

Last question - is it carbs that i have to try and stay clear of or is it sugar I should be checking or both ?

Please help asap.

Any questions, just ask.

thanks in advance,

alison

Frogdog

alycork wrote: »

Hi Everyone,
I am a 27 year old girl and looking to loose about a stone - in about 2 months. I am starting walking about a mile and a half a day -5 days a wk and then doing about 25 minutes in the gym about 5 days a week doing weghts- first day il concentrate on arms and shoulders and abs and the next day concentrating on legs and abs and rotating this. I am eating chicken and salad for lunch and fish and veggies for dinner. I know you are supposed to have a good breakfast to boost your metabolism in the morning so my question is what is the best breakfast I can eat- i am trying to not eat carbs so my options are :

3 pieces of fruit or

350g non fat yogurt or

should i just eat some porridge or weetabix with soya milk -even though they are carbs in these options, there is hardly any sugar.

Also - for snacks would
1. non fat yogurt (with about 4g sugar and no fat) be a better snack than 2. an apple (with 15g sugar and no fat).
(I have been told fruit is a no-no when trying to shape up quickly).

Last question - is it carbs that i have to try and stay clear of or is it sugar I should be checking or both ?

Please help asap.

Any questions, just ask.

thanks in advance,

alison

Hi Alison,

A stone in 2 months may or may not be realistic, depending on if you have a lot of excess bodyfat or not. Can I ask what weight and height you are?

Your exercise and current diet, from the information you've given, seem ok. To speed up fat loss though I'd replace a few short sprints with the walking, if your current level of fitness will allow that. And regarding the weights, replace any of your abs work with any resistance exercise that uses the biggest muscles in your body - glutes, quads, hamstrings, back, chest & shoulders. Again, this all depends on your experience with weights, and the facilities available to you. I'm only giving you advice based on the information you've provided in your post.

You say you're trying to limit carbs, and then you list a non-fat yoghurt and fruit as snacks. Non-fat yoghurt and fruit are all carbs. Veg is primarily carbs as well. You need the carbs from veg & fruit however. Limit the starchy carbs (potatos, bread, pasta, rice etc).

You want to raise your metabolism? Increase your intake of fats then.

My last piece of advice would be to follow something like a Paleo or Primal diet (google these terms), lift heavy weights and run short, sharp bursts at speed.

Good luck!

FarmerH

alycork wrote: »

Hi Everyone,
I am a 27 year old girl and looking to loose about a stone - in about 2 months. I am starting walking about a mile and a half a day -5 days a wk and then doing about 25 minutes in the gym about 5 days a week doing weghts- first day il concentrate on arms and shoulders and abs and the next day concentrating on legs and abs and rotating this. I am eating chicken and salad for lunch and fish and veggies for dinner. I know you are supposed to have a good breakfast to boost your metabolism in the morning so my question is what is the best breakfast I can eat- i am trying to not eat carbs so my options are :

3 pieces of fruit or

350g non fat yogurt or

should i just eat some porridge or weetabix with soya milk -even though they are carbs in these options, there is hardly any sugar.

Alison. Best of luck trying to shape up, 1 stone in 2 months is a very achievable goal for all but the very lean, but it would help if we knew your current height and weight (sorry for asking). Firstly read the Stickies for the basics. It doesn't make much sense to say you are trying to avoid carbs and then ask should you have 3 pieces of fruit for breakfast

However, may I suggest a nutritious breakfast is a great start to the day, so i would suggest you have 30-40g porridge (preferably) or Weetabix with berries and maybe 1tbsp flaxseed or coconut for fats, PLUS some protein of some description. This would normally constitute 1 or 2 eggs, boiled, scrambled, poached or in an omlette. Or two turkey rashers. Along with this I would suggest one slice of wholewheat bread.

I personally wouldn't recommend 350g of yogurt at any stage, it's a massive portion, it wouldn't fill me and I'd also find it difficult to digest. I presume you're a yogurt fan, so you should try an incorporate it in moderation in your plan

This may seem like a lot (generally about 1/4 of my daily calorie allowance), but I find it really helps me avoid unnecessary snacks during the day, and I always feel bullet-proof after breakfast.

alycork wrote: »

Also - for snacks would
1. non fat yogurt (with about 4g sugar and no fat) be a better snack than 2. an apple (with 15g sugar and no fat).
(I have been told fruit is a no-no when trying to shape up quickly).

Again just a suggestion (I have no formal qualifications, but plenty of experience). This is a matter of choice, maybe a nutrition expert could help. I personally would prefer to have a natural apple, than a processed yogurt, even though it may contain more calories (bear in mind the apple also contains more fibre - a good thing). If the goal is losing weight, then your aim is to create a calorie deficit through eating habits/exercise. If the yogurt has less calories (Vitalinea are very low cal), this may help, but my suggestion would be to switch between the 2. A snack for myself would be an apple/banana/pear with 8-10 almonds and a pint of water.

alycork wrote: »

Last question - is it carbs that i have to try and stay clear of or is it sugar I should be checking or both ?

Everything in moderation, rather than avoidance mode. Limit sugar intake to about 50-60g a day, and try avoid refined sugar and that should help. Limit your carb intake at dinner and lunch (spuds, rice, pasta) and replace with green veg and salad. I switch from wholegrain bread to ryevita when dieting down to shave calories. Try to eat some form of protein with each meal

Calculate your Base Metabolic Rate (BMR) and then make a diary of everything you eat (Google BMR calculator). Your BMR is a measurement of the amount of calories you burn in a day. You should try to eat 3-400 less than your BMR and adjust as the weight comes off. A food diary site like Fitday.com is very helpful for these functions.

Avoid crisps/chocolate/junk food but give yourself a treat meal once every 7-10 days for motivation, but beware a Chinese and a few beers can easily wipe out a weeks hard work.

Make sure you are working HARD in the gym. 25 minutes is not a long time to be working out 3 different body parts. Aim for 15 mins per muscle group, done in 45 mins (you could do 4 days instead of 5). Fair play to you for using weights, resistance exercises are highly recommended.

I'm sure this sounds like no fun, but by the time you reach your goal your nutrition will be second nature

alycork

thanks for replying so quickly. Ok i AM 5FT 3" Tall and weigh about 10 stone and 7 pounds.
(the reason i'm querying this is i had a stone to loose last yr and followed this method for 3 months and got the results i wanted. unfortunately i let myself slide and have put bk on about 10 pounds so I now have about 10 pounds to loose).

thanks for all the advise- i will llook up those diets later but what would you receommend - should i have fruit and no yogurt for breakfast ?
also, increase fats ?? im confused. please tell me what you mean

FarmerH

Oats and eggs for breakfast in short.

If you must, then have one/two pieces of fruit and some nuts instead.

I personally wouldn't recommend the Paleo/Primal diets to yourself for your current goal. I think it's more important for you to control overall calories and get your macronutrient ratios (protein/fats/carbs) right, while eating at regular periods.

Ignore media coverage, fats are not a bad thing, and in fact are very important for a healthy body. Healthy fats are found in nuts, olive oil, coconut, fish, avocado and flax and should be incorporated into a healthy diet. They are high in calories though so keep that in mind.

FarmerH

FarmerH wrote: »

Everything in moderation, rather than avoidance mode. Limit sugar intake to about 50-60g a day, and try avoid refined sugar and that should help. Limit your carb intake at dinner and lunch (spuds, rice, pasta) and replace with green veg and salad. I switch from wholegrain bread to ryevita when dieting down to shave calories. Try to eat some form of protein with each meal

Do you mean 50-60g of carbs or of sugar a day?

I couldn't imagine having more than 15g of sugar a day anymore.

FarmerH

As quoted - sugar. Refined sugar plus fructose, sucrose, maltose, glucose, lactose etc

Could you imagine eating 1 apple and 1 banana in a day? Thats about 30g sugar, mostly fructose and glucose.

This is where the 50-60g sugar comes from.

I would aim for 120-150g carbohydrate per day when maintaining weight depending on the amount of exercise being done

OP is looking to lose weight, eating 120-150g of carbs a day will make that really very difficult.

I'd advise steering clear of apples and bananas when trying to lose weight tbh. Meats and veg all the way.

Frogdog

Deleted User wrote: »

OP is looking to lose weight, eating 120-150g of carbs a day will make that really very difficult.

I'd advise steering clear of apples and bananas when trying to lose weight tbh. Meats and veg all the way.

OP, this.

Meat and veg ftw! I was wondering why FarmerH was advising the OP not to go down the Paleo/Primal route!

FarmerH

I don't agree that 5 to 600 cals of carbs would make it term difficult to lose weight. Particularly once a deficit was maintained. A girl training with me at the moment is eating that and she's steadily losing weight. She would have very similar stats to the OP.

The reason I wouldn't recommend the paleo or primal diet for this particular person is that a well balanced diet with plenty of protein, healthy fats and managed portions of low gi carbs would require less research, less change and less of a rearrangement to the average persons shopping basket

If the OP then developed more of an interest in nutrition then primal/paleo would be an intriguing next step

accensi0n

FarmerH wrote: »

plenty of protein, healthy fats and managed portions of low gi carbs would require less research, less change and less of a rearrangement to the average persons shopping basket

Isn't the bolded part pretty much primal/paleo? And pretty much not how the average person eats?

FarmerH

It's not really paleo. As it would incorporate dairy, and low GI carbs such as sweet potato, beans, oats, etc that are not allowed on paleo.

My point on the shopping basket is that a balanced nutrition plan could be achieved that would require less of a change than a switch to a full paleo diet. I stand over that

I feel we're heading slightly off topic, hopefully the OP has found some info that's beneficial and will end up losing the few lbs.

Frogdog

FarmerH wrote: »

It's not really paleo. As it would incorporate dairy, and low GI carbs such as sweet potato, beans, oats, etc that are not allowed on paleo.

My point on the shopping basket is that a balanced nutrition plan could be achieved that would require less of a change than a switch to a full paleo diet. I stand over that

I feel we're heading slightly off topic, hopefully the OP has found some info that's beneficial and will end up losing the few lbs.

Paleo includes sweet potato, does it not? Paleo cuts outs grains, dairy and pulses. That wouldn't be very hard for the OP, or anyone else to understand, in my opinion.

Also, I don't think we're heading off topic. I'm suggesting alternatives to the OP. You disagree, and suggested something different. All of the advice we've given has relevance to the OP. The OP can then take all of our advice away, do their own further research, and then come to a conclusion as to what they should eat.

FarmerH

Frogdog wrote: »

Paleo includes sweet potato, does it not? Paleo cuts outs grains, dairy and pulses. That wouldn't be very hard for the OP, or anyone else to understand, in my opinion.

Also, I don't think we're heading off topic. I'm suggesting alternatives to the OP. You disagree, and suggested something different. All of the advice we've given has relevance to the OP. The OP can then take all of our advice away, do their own further research, and then come to a conclusion as to what they should eat.

http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/paleodietcavemandiet/a/paleoforbidden.htm

http://www.rd411.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1443:paleo-diet&catid=89:allergies,-intolerances-and-special-diets&Itemid=383

There are no potatoes allowed, sweet or otherwise. Or grains, so no brown rice and no wholemeal bread.

And nobody suggested that eating paleo would be difficult to understand. The point I made was it was more of a departure from an average western diet (which is true for the OP as she eats a lot of dairy)

Can I ask why you would suggest Paleo over a standard calorie counting nutrition plan?

Frogdog

Sorry, I thought sweet potatoes were included. I've seen a lot of "Paleo" recipes where they're included, but then the caveat of "only for those that intensely exercise" tagged on to it. I don't follow the Paleo diet myself, so I'm not 100% on what can/cannot be included.

But as to why I think the OP should follow it in comparison to a standard calorie counting diet, well mainly because it teaches beginners about nutrition, what they should eat, what they shouldn't eat, etc. With a calorie counting diet, you may not eat as healthily. I'll take an extreme example - it's possible to eat nothing but Mars bars on a calorie controlled diet, and still lose weight. Is it healthy? Not in my opinion, and I'm sure not in yours either. I'd like to think that this Nutrition & Diet forum would not only provide advice to people looking to lose weight, but also provide advice to those that would like to eat healthier foods, or lose weight while eating healthy foods. I'm not saying it can't be done your way, but some people just need guidance, especially beginners, which I think the key principles of the Paleo diet provide.

FarmerH

Frogdog wrote: »

Sorry, I thought sweet potatoes were included. I've seen a lot of "Paleo" recipes where they're included, but then the caveat of "only for those that intensely exercise" tagged on to it. I don't follow the Paleo diet myself, so I'm not 100% on what can/cannot be included.

But as to why I think the OP should follow it in comparison to a standard calorie counting diet, well mainly because it teaches beginners about nutrition, what they should eat, what they shouldn't eat, etc. With a calorie counting diet, you may not eat as healthily. I'll take an extreme example - it's possible to eat nothing but Mars bars on a calorie controlled diet, and still lose weight. Is it healthy? Not in my opinion, and I'm sure not in yours either. I'd like to think that this Nutrition & Diet forum would not only provide advice to people looking to lose weight, but also provide advice to those that would like to eat healthier foods, or lose weight while eating healthy foods. I'm not saying it can't be done your way, but some people just need guidance, especially beginners, which I think the key principles of the Paleo diet provide.

I agree entirely with the sentiments. I would always make sure that I would give anyone I was advising a run down of the nutrition basics before recommending any calorie controlled nutrition plan to them.

As I'm sure you know, a lot of people trying to turn over a new leaf are taken back when you explain to them that hitting the gym 5 times a week will not give them the results that amount of training deserves unless they have a solid nutrition plan to go with it

El_Dangeroso

FarmerH wrote: »

There are no potatoes allowed, sweet or otherwise. Or grains, so no brown rice and no wholemeal bread.

And nobody suggested that eating paleo would be difficult to understand. The point I made was it was more of a departure from an average western diet (which is true for the OP as she eats a lot of dairy)

Can I ask why you would suggest Paleo over a standard calorie counting nutrition plan?

Low carb diets forbid potatoes.

Low carb =/= paleo

Paleo, as is the modern incarnation anyway (as no-one can actually know or replicate the true paleolithic diet, neither am I sure you'd want to - cycads yum!) only really eliminates grains and dairy.

And even then a lot of paleo-ish people eat white rice and dairy along with potatoes.

Most vegetables (and livestock) are inventions of modern breeding techniques.

FarmerH

El_Dangeroso wrote: »

Low carb diets forbid potatoes.

Low carb =/= paleo

Paleo, as is the modern incarnation anyway (as no-one can actually know or replicate the true paleolithic diet, neither am I sure you'd want to - cycads yum!) only really eliminates grains and dairy.

And even then a lot of paleo-ish people eat white rice and dairy along with potatoes.

So the modern incarnation eliminates grains and dairy, yet "a lot of paleo-ish people" eat dairy and rice???

Then they just eat a pretty normal healthy diet minus some oats/beans/wholemeal bread......

And if the top 2 lines from your quote above are suggesting that potatoes are allowed on paleo, can you tell my why if a noob was to Google search "paleo diet allowed foods" probably every result on the first page (and possibly beyond) will clearly state no potatoes??

Scanlas The 2nd

Potatoes are not paleo from most paleo books/websites I've read. They contain lectins and saponins that are harmful apparently. Sweet potatoes are paleo though according to most sources.

rocky

Why do people need to label everything? Who cares if the 'proper' paleo allows potatoes or not? just eat a wholefoods diet, and you can't go far wrong.

If you still want a name for it, try "archevore"

http://www.archevore.com/get-started/

rocky

Deleted User wrote: »

OP is looking to lose weight, eating 120-150g of carbs a day will make that really very difficult.

I'd advise steering clear of apples and bananas when trying to lose weight tbh. Meats and veg all the way.

Oh, Insidious Weight Gain all over again? I thought we debunked this ages ago.

If you think 1-2 apples a day are preventing weight loss, you should probably check your metabolism, it may be 'damaged'

El_Dangeroso

FarmerH wrote: »

So the modern incarnation eliminates grains and dairy, yet "a lot of paleo-ish people" eat dairy and rice???

Then they just eat a pretty normal healthy diet minus some oats/beans/wholemeal bread......

And if the top 2 lines from your quote above are suggesting that potatoes are allowed on paleo, can you tell my why if a noob was to Google search "paleo diet allowed foods" probably every result on the first page (and possibly beyond) will clearly state no potatoes??

Based on what though? That's one persons opinion, and they are clearly low-carb biased.

If you look at any hunter-gatherer society today, which I totally acknowledge are not living fossils, but they give us an idea of what humans gravitate toward eating 'in the wild' so to speak. As in without agriculture or significant technology. They ALL eat a significant starch source, mainly in the form of root vegetable or tuber.

Protein is super plentiful in the wild (bugs and small animals are pretty easy to procure) so most of the effort in food collection directed toward getting starch or fat. Many HG societies will trade protein with agriculturalists for starch, it's that important to them.

El_Dangeroso

Oh and to answer the OP, if you are trying to lose weight, eat protein with your brekkie, that will stop you being tempted by the 11am biscuit.

Protein at breakfast has been proven to help people to stick to less cals than a low protein breakfast, even if very little protein is eaten throughout the rest of the day.