How bad is my lunch for me? And how do I beat the weight los

wilmer mclean

Over the past 8 months or so I have lost about 2 stone. I went from just over 15 stone to just over 13 stone. I am 6 feet tall so am pretty pleased with my efforts so far. I always played sport 3 to 4 days per week so the weight loss was mainly down to me cutting out chocolate, crisps, cutting down on bread ect.

I have now though plateaued a bit at my current weight and looking at ways to improve my diet and exercise. One thing I am wondering is how bad my lunch is? It is generally a cusine de france brown roll if available if not a white one. With ham lettuce sun dried tomato and coleslaw. How many calories are in this? Also every two weeks or so I have a caramel square and am wondering the amount of calories in this also?

chin_grin

Personally I think you're better off getting rid of the coleslaw and going for chicken instead of ham in the roll.

But you should be aware of what you're snacking on or the times you are. Also what you're eating for breakfast and dinner would affect your weight too.

wilmer mclean

chin_grin wrote: »

Personally I think you're better off getting rid of the coleslaw and going for chicken instead of ham in the roll.

But you should be aware of what you're snacking on or the times you are. Also what you're eating for breakfast and dinner would affect your weight too.

Yeah was thinking the same about the coleslaw myself. My breakfast is generally very good in that I have porridge and fruit. My dinner really varies. I know its not the best way to look at food but I tend to just eat 2000 calories or so a day. My problem is the only thing I eat that I dont know the amount of calories it contains is my lunch. I am guessing it is around 800 or so?

tmc86

Those Cuisine de France rolls aren't great for you at all, I'd suggest switching to a brown bread/wholemeal sandwich with chicken and salad. Alternatively you could try something like a salad, sushi, couscous etc?

Bad Panda

Or better yet. Make your own lunch. Chicken breast with some dressing (salad etc) on pitta.

wilmer mclean

I dont really like sushi. Its generally a brown roll I have. Would it be be a improvement switching to the brown sliced bread? Switching to chicken seems good. Is the reason for this that it has less calories? Or that it keeps you full for longer?

tmc86

Chicken is a great source of protein so it will keep you fuller for longer (and longer than ham) and also you're getting additional protein for muscle repair etc.


Not sure how accurate this is but I would imagine that it is pretty close;

Triple Grain Demi Baguette 175g (Cuisine De France)
Serving Size: 100 g, Calories: 239, Fat: 5.2g, Carbs: 48.1g, Protein: 11.4g

Whereas sliced Brennan's brown bread is;

Wholewheat Sliced Brown Bread (Brennan) Serving Size: 1 slice, Calories: 70, Fat: 0.7g, Carbs: 14.5g, Protein: 2.9g

By having a 2 sliced brown bread sandwich you're cutting down on about 100 calories, 20g carbs and most importantly 3.8g of fat. Although you lose a bit of protein this will be compensated with the addition of chicken.

wilmer mclean

tmc86 wrote: »

Chicken is a great source of protein so it will keep you fuller for longer (and longer than ham) and also you're getting additional protein for muscle repair etc.


Not sure how accurate this is but I would imagine that it is pretty close;

Triple Grain Demi Baguette 175g (Cuisine De France)
Serving Size: 100 g, Calories: 239, Fat: 5.2g, Carbs: 48.1g, Protein: 11.4g

Whereas sliced Brennan's brown bread is;

Wholewheat Sliced Brown Bread (Brennan) Serving Size: 1 slice, Calories: 70, Fat: 0.7g, Carbs: 14.5g, Protein: 2.9g

By having a 2 sliced brown bread sandwich you're cutting down on about 100 calories, 20g carbs and most importantly 3.8g of fat. Although you lose a bit of protein this will be compensated with the addition of chicken.

Yep that's the roll I have. Thanks very much, this is the exact advice I want. Small changes that I can make that I will be able to do for years. Would cheese be something people would recommend cutting out from a sandwich? Are some cheeses better then others?

tmc86

I try and avoid too much cheese whenever I can but its hard because I love it! I find that the best cheese is cottage cheese as it's low fat and very high in protein - its not to everyone's taste though. It is good as a small snack too.

Also if you're doing a lot of excersise try and eat every small meals every 3 or 4 hours to improve your metabolism. Porridge is healthy but I find that it fills me up for too long and so I don't eat mid morning. I usually save porridge for winter.

My diet for example would be as follows;

9am Bowl of weetabix/museli - (although some can be high in sugar so watch out)

10.30-11am An alpro soya yoghurt and a piece of fruit

1pm - chickpea and raisin salad and a brocolii and carrot salad or Sushi and a piece of fruit

3pm - fresh fruit pot from work/small bag of trail mix/nuts and cranberries

4.30pm usually have a banana in time for the gym at 5.15pm

6.45/7pm protein shake - 1 scoop whey protein with milk or water

8pm - meat & green veg/chicken salad/ omlette/ rice and meat maybe 2 days a week

9.30pm If I'm hungry I'll have 2-3 rice cakes with peanut butter (delicious!)

Then on either on a Saturday/Sunday I'll usually eat whatever I want usually a pizza/pasta/chinese as a treat

Also if you're finding that you've hit a plateau with weight loss maybe slightly alter your diet but also alter your excersise routine too as your body gets used to routine and therefore by introducing new excersises/weights then you may find you lose another bit more. It's about seeing what works for you though.