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Overwhelmed by Nutrition and Diet needs
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09-07-2013 9:50pm#1
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Have to agree with the above, if you go into this as a diet you'll never sustain it. Any changes you make you have to be willing to maintain them, so it's all about balance.
The calories you mentioned for maintenance seem really high. As has been said, focus on just cleaning up your diet first. In terms of meeting your nutritional needs have a good read of the stickies on here if you haven't already as they're excellent. But from what you've said about protein and good fats you're already on the road there.
Basically just try and get rid of as much processed stuff as you can. I did ww to lose all my weight but my diet was pure and utter rubbish. Diet this, that and the other. I still eat the odd bit of diet stuff but I've a better balance now. Again, as the above poster pointed out don't be in a rush to jump to the "diet" alternatives etc...If you get rid of some of the rubbishy processed stuff you'll see a difference.
In terms of meals some of the foods I enjoy:
Breakfast: oatbran, eggs in any way with spinach, I eat these gorgeous vegan sausages from Dee, think you can get them in Tesco most places now, porridge, berries
Lunches: salads with lots of nice green leaves like spinach/kale with every sort of veg- peppers, onions, green beans, shoots, carrots, broccoli, sweetcorn, cottage cheese, lean protein like tuna, salmon, chicken, lean steak, prawns or what I've had lately crayfish! I have a wee bit of salad dressing because I'm not mad on olive oil based ones you make yourself, although that would be healthier for me! Could add things like chickpeas, cooked quinoa etc... to salads as carby accompaniment to make them more interesting/filling.
Dinner: Same lean protein with veg- green ones are best- spinach, kale, brocolli, pak choi, cabbage, but any veg really!!! I eat relatively low carb or at least avoid the white,starchy carbs so I make cauliflower rice and cauliflower mash as alternatives sometimes or have sweet potato as my carb. I make a lot of stir frys and curries with the above too. Again,while I have cut them back carbs not the enemy but go for wholegrain alternatives.
Snacks: I have natural yoghurt with berries and cinnamon, almonds, corn cakes with cottage cheese, peanut/almond butter, I make these oatbran based pancakes too as a post gym snack or in the evenings, dark chocolate. You said about sweet cravings, I'm the same but dark chocolate really hits the spot. If you're not mad start on a lower cocoa percentage but you'll find you'll need darker and darker! I'm on 85% now, I get it in Tesco.
Anyway, that's the sort of stuff I eat. A LOT of veg but I'm never hungry. It's not perfect and I know some people would tell you not to eat anything that comes out of any sort of packaging but ultimately it's about making changes that work for you and that you can sustain.
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doctorwhogirl wrote: »Have to agree with the above, if you go into this as a diet you'll never sustain it. Any changes you make you have to be willing to maintain them, so it's all about balance.
The calories you mentioned for maintenance seem really high. As has been said, focus on just cleaning up your diet first. In terms of meeting your nutritional needs have a good read of the stickies on here if you haven't already as they're excellent. But from what you've said about protein and good fats you're already on the road there.
Basically just try and get rid of as much processed stuff as you can. I did ww to lose all my weight but my diet was pure and utter rubbish. Diet this, that and the other. I still eat the odd bit of diet stuff but I've a better balance now. Again, as the above poster pointed out don't be in a rush to jump to the "diet" alternatives etc...If you get rid of some of the rubbishy processed stuff you'll see a difference.
In terms of meals some of the foods I enjoy:
Breakfast: oatbran, eggs in any way with spinach, I eat these gorgeous vegan sausages from Dee, think you can get them in Tesco most places now, porridge, berries
Lunches: salads with lots of nice green leaves like spinach/kale with every sort of veg- peppers, onions, green beans, shoots, carrots, broccoli, sweetcorn, cottage cheese, lean protein like tuna, salmon, chicken, lean steak, prawns or what I've had lately crayfish! I have a wee bit of salad dressing because I'm not mad on olive oil based ones you make yourself, although that would be healthier for me! Could add things like chickpeas, cooked quinoa etc... to salads as carby accompaniment to make them more interesting/filling.
Dinner: Same lean protein with veg- green ones are best- spinach, kale, brocolli, pak choi, cabbage, but any veg really!!! I eat relatively low carb or at least avoid the white,starchy carbs so I make cauliflower rice and cauliflower mash as alternatives sometimes or have sweet potato as my carb. I make a lot of stir frys and curries with the above too. Again,while I have cut them back carbs not the enemy but go for wholegrain alternatives.
Snacks: I have natural yoghurt with berries and cinnamon, almonds, corn cakes with cottage cheese, peanut/almond butter, I make these oatbran based pancakes too as a post gym snack or in the evenings, dark chocolate. You said about sweet cravings, I'm the same but dark chocolate really hits the spot. If you're not mad start on a lower cocoa percentage but you'll find you'll need darker and darker! I'm on 85% now, I get it in Tesco.
Anyway, that's the sort of stuff I eat. A LOT of veg but I'm never hungry. It's not perfect and I know some people would tell you not to eat anything that comes out of any sort of packaging but ultimately it's about making changes that work for you and that you can sustain.
Friend of mine in work is on almost the exact same diet and he is really really cut!
Im starting this lifestyle change soon (not putting it off, just working 12 hour shifts so no time for shopping!!!!) But the the first step must be to cut out the junk food, this alone for me made a massive difference, I was 81kg about a month or so ago, aiming for 75kg for the start ofthe football season and already down to 77.5 and that was from cutting out crap and A LOT of excersise....
My diet is not up to scratch at the moment but the changes listed above are generally what I hear from the lads in work also. If you can combine the advice above with a regular workout routine (15-20 mins every night) you will see a world of benifits in 1-2 months!
Oh another important thing is to take your vitamins, I take a combined multi-vitamin/fish oil tablet every morn and I lock it in with vitamin c0 -
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You're right to question it, those cals do seem a little high Multiplying your RMR by 1.7 is usually only the case for people who are really very active in their daily lives, lots of manual labour, lifting, running around, that sort of thing. Even if you're on your feet that doesn't necessarily constitute activity. In your case it would be better to multiply the RMR by 1.4 which gives you around 2700.
Another super easy way to do it is: multiply your bodyweight in lb by 10/11 for weight loss, 12 for weight maintenance, 13/14 for weight gain. 98kg = 216lb = 2600 cals/day for maintenance. Pretty much the same!
But just for a second, let's forget about numbers. Your diet is the problem and chances are you've picked up some bad habits. Do you snack a lot? Eat well but too much of it? Having a few too many sneaky drinks? Eat a lot of processed or high sugar foods? First you need to take a really honest look at your eating habits. Keep a diary for one week, it'll help you pinpoint any times of day you're most prone to making poor choices, it'll make you honest about what you're consuming. It's a bit of a pain, but it's worth it
And then, when you're ready to make changes, keep it simple. Every week make one small change, just one, you're WAY more likely to stick to it that way. So, for example:
Week 1: Eat eggs or porridge every day for breakfast. Don't worry about any other meal, just concentrate on breakfast.
Week 2: Keep eating eggs or porridge for breakfast, now eat meat or fish with vegetables every day for dinner (no pasta/ rice/ bread - potatoes limited to two medium or three small per meal).
Week 3: Continue with weeks 1 and 2 but this week identify a snack you're prone to eating (an 11am chocolate bar, an afternoon high cal full-fat mocha) and swap it for a piece of fruit.
Week 4: Continue with weeks 1-3 buy tupperware and bring your lunch to work OR if that's not feasible make a concerted effort to find somewhere you can buy a salad or a healthy option.
etc. etc.
It IS overwhelming when you start out, so take it easy and just promise yourself to make one change a week. By week 5 it'll become habit-forming behaviour and I promise you'll have started to see your eating habits differently 0 -
Would just agree with a few posts there, start small. Don't get too bogged down in the small print. This is something you want to maintain, and no-one wants to spend their life looking at labels. I was/am in a similar situation to you, I've lost weight already, but have a bit more to go. I have just found things I like that are good for me. I replaced sweets with fruit originally, but it turned out I was even eating too much fruit! Now thats something I never thought i would say!! So nuts etc have creeped in a bit more. I drink lots of water and get as much protein as I can. I also used to hate walking, and love it now. Especially with all the good weather, get out as much as you can! Best of luck with it! 0
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Jason Todd wrote: »Would just agree with a few posts there, start small. Don't get too bogged down in the small print. This is something you want to maintain, and no-one wants to spend their life looking at labels. I was/am in a similar situation to you, I've lost weight already, but have a bit more to go. I have just found things I like that are good for me. I replaced sweets with fruit originally, but it turned out I was even eating too much fruit! Now thats something I never thought i would say!! So nuts etc have creeped in a bit more. I drink lots of water and get as much protein as I can. I also used to hate walking, and love it now. Especially with all the good weather, get out as much as you can! Best of luck with it!
Cant go wrong with advice like this! Its just wo true that its the small changes at a time that make it work0 -
You're right to question it, those cals do seem a little high Multiplying your RMR by 1.7 is usually only the case for people who are really very active in their daily lives, lots of manual labour, lifting, running around, that sort of thing. Even if you're on your feet that doesn't necessarily constitute activity. In your case it would be better to multiply the RMR by 1.4 which gives you around 2700.
Another super easy way to do it is: multiply your bodyweight in lb by 10/11 for weight loss, 12 for weight maintenance, 13/14 for weight gain. 98kg = 216lb = 2600 cals/day for maintenance. Pretty much the same!
But just for a second, let's forget about numbers. Your diet is the problem and chances are you've picked up some bad habits. Do you snack a lot? Eat well but too much of it? Having a few too many sneaky drinks? Eat a lot of processed or high sugar foods? First you need to take a really honest look at your eating habits. Keep a diary for one week, it'll help you pinpoint any times of day you're most prone to making poor choices, it'll make you honest about what you're consuming. It's a bit of a pain, but it's worth it
And then, when you're ready to make changes, keep it simple. Every week make one small change, just one, you're WAY more likely to stick to it that way. So, for example:
Week 1: Eat eggs or porridge every day for breakfast. Don't worry about any other meal, just concentrate on breakfast.
Week 2: Keep eating eggs or porridge for breakfast, now eat meat or fish with vegetables every day for dinner (no pasta/ rice/ bread - potatoes limited to two medium or three small per meal).
Week 3: Continue with weeks 1 and 2 but this week identify a snack you're prone to eating (an 11am chocolate bar, an afternoon high cal full-fat mocha) and swap it for a piece of fruit.
Week 4: Continue with weeks 1-3 buy tupperware and bring your lunch to work OR if that's not feasible make a concerted effort to find somewhere you can buy a salad or a healthy option.
etc. etc.
It IS overwhelming when you start out, so take it easy and just promise yourself to make one change a week. By week 5 it'll become habit-forming behaviour and I promise you'll have started to see your eating habits differently
If I could have thanked that post twice I would have! Thanks for taking the time to write it, Its very helpful. And if I'm honest, none of it is stuff I can't work out for myself, but making one change every week is a good idea. Makes it manageable. I'm going to keep a food diary for Wed- Sun, and send that on to the gym instructor anyhow, so I'm sure once I see it all written down, that I'll be able to see the most obvious changes I need to make for myself. I recognise that one of my weak spots is stopping for chocolate on my way home from work, so the first thing I'm going to do is replace this with nuts/fruit.
Just a quick note on the breakfast (I always do eat it!)- I had previously been having porridge every morning, but I'm a bit over it for the minute. I'm all porridged out. For a while, I was having cereal such as special K or cheerios instead, but these are far inferior to porridge (doh), and obviously didn't have the same filling power.
With that in mind, I've switched to smoothies for the time being. This morning I had a smoothie made with 150ml (ish)ml apple juice, a banana, a big handful of frozen berries, about 100g of fat free yoghurt (I will replace this with a full fat alternative (greek style??) once that carton is gone... it was a forced purchase due to low stock), and a heaped tablespoon of milled flaxseed/sunflower seed/goji berry mix- does this sound ok to people (other than the yoghurt)? Is there anything I should add to improve on it?
If theres a morning that I don't get up on time to do this, I've been having some fruit, along with a spoon of peanut butter. Need to get a calcium serving into this though, so it's not ideal by a long shot.... probably still better than special K though!0 -
doctorwhogirl wrote: »Have to agree with the above, if you go into this as a diet you'll never sustain it. Any changes you make you have to be willing to maintain them, so it's all about balance.
The calories you mentioned for maintenance seem really high. As has been said, focus on just cleaning up your diet first. In terms of meeting your nutritional needs have a good read of the stickies on here if you haven't already as they're excellent. But from what you've said about protein and good fats you're already on the road there.
Basically just try and get rid of as much processed stuff as you can. I did ww to lose all my weight but my diet was pure and utter rubbish. Diet this, that and the other. I still eat the odd bit of diet stuff but I've a better balance now. Again, as the above poster pointed out don't be in a rush to jump to the "diet" alternatives etc...If you get rid of some of the rubbishy processed stuff you'll see a difference.
In terms of meals some of the foods I enjoy:
Breakfast: oatbran, eggs in any way with spinach, I eat these gorgeous vegan sausages from Dee, think you can get them in Tesco most places now, porridge, berries
Lunches: salads with lots of nice green leaves like spinach/kale with every sort of veg- peppers, onions, green beans, shoots, carrots, broccoli, sweetcorn, cottage cheese, lean protein like tuna, salmon, chicken, lean steak, prawns or what I've had lately crayfish! I have a wee bit of salad dressing because I'm not mad on olive oil based ones you make yourself, although that would be healthier for me! Could add things like chickpeas, cooked quinoa etc... to salads as carby accompaniment to make them more interesting/filling.
Dinner: Same lean protein with veg- green ones are best- spinach, kale, brocolli, pak choi, cabbage, but any veg really!!! I eat relatively low carb or at least avoid the white,starchy carbs so I make cauliflower rice and cauliflower mash as alternatives sometimes or have sweet potato as my carb. I make a lot of stir frys and curries with the above too. Again,while I have cut them back carbs not the enemy but go for wholegrain alternatives.
Snacks: I have natural yoghurt with berries and cinnamon, almonds, corn cakes with cottage cheese, peanut/almond butter, I make these oatbran based pancakes too as a post gym snack or in the evenings, dark chocolate. You said about sweet cravings, I'm the same but dark chocolate really hits the spot. If you're not mad start on a lower cocoa percentage but you'll find you'll need darker and darker! I'm on 85% now, I get it in Tesco.
Anyway, that's the sort of stuff I eat. A LOT of veg but I'm never hungry. It's not perfect and I know some people would tell you not to eat anything that comes out of any sort of packaging but ultimately it's about making changes that work for you and that you can sustain.
Thanks for that. I'll stock up on some of those snack foods. It's snacks that are my biggest problem really- my meals, for the most part, wouldn't be too bad. My lunches at work wouldn't be great I suppose, but in this weather, bringing lunch and having it sitting in a locker for 4 hours is a non-runner (oh to have a fridge for us all to use!!). I've never had corn cakes, so must try them. I bought hazelnut butter in Holland and Barrett the other day, so I need something to put it on now!
Also- sesame sticks. are they awfully bad nutritionally?0 -
Just a quick note on the breakfast (I always do eat it!)- I had previously been having porridge every morning, but I'm a bit over it for the minute. I'm all porridged out. For a while, I was having cereal such as special K or cheerios instead, but these are far inferior to porridge (doh), and obviously didn't have the same filling power.
With that in mind, I've switched to smoothies for the time being. This morning I had a smoothie made with 150ml (ish)ml apple juice, a banana, a big handful of frozen berries, about 100g of fat free yoghurt (I will replace this with a full fat alternative (greek style??) once that carton is gone... it was a forced purchase due to low stock), and a heaped tablespoon of milled flaxseed/sunflower seed/goji berry mix- does this sound ok to people (other than the yoghurt)? Is there anything I should add to improve on it?
By and large, cereals out of boxes are not good news for your body. Despite what the marketing folks at Kelloggs et altell us, mass produced cereals are laden with sugar and all manner of gunk that only serve to make us tend towards mahoossive bowls to satisfy our taste buds. Even the "healthy" stuff like all-bran list sugar in their top three ingredients. So - and you already know this - cereals are unfortunately a no-go when we're trying to lose weight. I'd actually brand them more like a junk food akin to a bar of chocolate in terms of how good they are in terms of healthy eating.
Eggs are great first thing because they're full of protein and they'll keep you fuller for longer, but if that's not an option then a fruit smoothie is better than a cereal.
But if we get a little science-y for a minute, remember that fruits are full of sugar - natural sugars but sugars nonetheless. So smoothies first thing - while still usually better than cereal if made with whole ingredients - are still going to give you a big sugar kick so make more of an effort to go for a protein and fat combo at lunch: a big green salad with some meat or hardboiled eggs for example. When you're trying to lose weight the more you can try to wean your body off sugar the better. The added bonus there is that naturally sugary foods will taste super sweet and satisfying, when you take out processed foods even veg like carrots or sweetcorn will taste lovely and sweet on your palate.
Like has been said, keep making little changes. You won't get it 100% right all the time, no-one does, but if you look at it like a work in progress you're much more likely to keep going 0 -
By and large, cereals out of boxes are not good news for your body. Despite what the marketing folks at Kelloggs et altell us, mass produced cereals are laden with sugar and all manner of gunk that only serve to make us tend towards mahoossive bowls to satisfy our taste buds. Even the "healthy" stuff like all-bran list sugar in their top three ingredients. So - and you already know this - cereals are unfortunately a no-go when we're trying to lose weight. I'd actually brand them more like a junk food akin to a bar of chocolate in terms of how good they are in terms of healthy eating.
Eggs are great first thing because they're full of protein and they'll keep you fuller for longer, but if that's not an option then a fruit smoothie is better than a cereal.
But if we get a little science-y for a minute, remember that fruits are full of sugar - natural sugars but sugars nonetheless. So smoothies first thing - while still usually better than cereal if made with whole ingredients - are still going to give you a big sugar kick so make more of an effort to go for a protein and fat combo at lunch: a big green salad with some meat or hardboiled eggs for example. When you're trying to lose weight the more you can try to wean your body off sugar the better. The added bonus there is that naturally sugary foods will taste super sweet and satisfying, when you take out processed foods even veg like carrots or sweetcorn will taste lovely and sweet on your palate.
Like has been said, keep making little changes. You won't get it 100% right all the time, no-one does, but if you look at it like a work in progress you're much more likely to keep going
What would you recommend for someone that gets up 6.30 for work but does not want to wake the small one combined with being under preasure to get out the door!!!!0 -
tupac_healy wrote: »What would you recommend for someone that gets up 6.30 for work but does not want to wake the small one combined with being under preasure to get out the door!!!!
6.30? Don't envy you!
For breakfast though you good boil a load of eggs and keep them in an (airtight) container in fridge and have them ready to go?
You can also buy ready to go little pots of porridge that you just add the hot water to/milk?0 -
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