A little help with my diet

Boldberry

Hi there, I'm female and 230 pounds so at 5'8 I think I'm about 60 pounds overweight. I'm 31 and for the last ten years I've been losing three/four stone and then gaining the weight back. The longest I kept if off was a year and half, at that time I had a fairly normal diet so I think that's the best for me. My doctor said I should eat for health and stop stressing about my weight, as she thinks I make a competition out of it and that my yo/yo dieting is incredibly unhealthy.

So I've decided to track everything nutritionally and keep an eye on my calorie count, but not to stress too much about it.

So a typical day for me is:

Ten raspberries
3 Dessert spoons of plain yogurt
Half a dessert spoon of porridge oats
One large boiled egg

Half of a chicken breast
Salad with peppers, tomatoes, olives and beet root
Small bit of balsamic vinegar

Smallish seabass fillet with chilli seasoning
Three baby potatoes
Stirfried veg - half a carrot, half a pepper, few mushrooms, half a courgette and spinach

Snacks
An Apple
Tablespoon of hummus and half a carrot stick

I think this diet is reasonable and as I have a problem with bingeing that I should be able to stick to it without feeling restricted.

But would I lose weight? I don't exercise much at the moment but I'm starting training for the mini marathon this evening and I'm on my feet in work for three 12 hour shifts a week.

Do I need more carbs? Also, I'm not using any of the crappy diet products so that could affect weight loss, but I think they are a con.

runawaybishop

Please read the stickies as they cover pretty much all you need to know.

You will lose weight as long as you are at a calorie deficient. You don't need to starve yourself to do this and that looks like what you will be doing with the above diet.

Boldberry

Ok, so I could add more. Mmmm. That's ok, I may bulk up the protein a bit more.

seosamh1980

Eat more veg! Half an anything when it comes to veg is silly, pile up the veg, it'll fill you more and is good for you. Have a whole chicken breast. Half a spoon of oats is not even worth it, is it just for a bit of texture, do you not really like it?

Boldberry

It's for texture, I am just conscious of eating too many carbs as I haven't been eating them in recent years. I will probably increase that, I will eat a whole chicken as well.

runawaybishop

If you are tracking everything have you an idea of what you intend on eating a day? Just be aware if you cut too low then you will increase the likely hood of binging. A good amount to cut is 10-20% of your TDEE.

Boldberry

That looks great, will go through it and see what changes I can make.

Katgurl

What is the calorie count on that? Less than 1000 surely? I think you should be eating almost twice that.

Tbh I can never understand these posts. Are you saying you eat like that normally? If so and you're 60lbs overweight there is something really wrong -you need to get blood tests, thyroid etc.

If not and this is a temporary solution then you need to come up with something much more sustainable. There's no point going hell for leather than gaining the weight back again.

Read the stickies and make realistic changes with food that you enjoy and doesnt leave you deprived. I would be starving and miserable if I ate like that every day. Also - are you seriously sitting down counting out ten raspberries or spreading a chicken breast over two days? I mean I admire your commitment but i would have fallen off the diet wagon after 4 days.

I think the actual food choices look good but your problem is not about whether you'll lose weight (you will following his plan) but whether you'll keep it off (history and too rigid restrictions would suggest not)

Boldberry

Well, I read through the stickies and they seem to be full of people arguing. I have a serious problem with binging, but like you said I probably need to wat a lot more for healthy weightloss.

seosamh1980

Katgurl from my reading this is a new food plan that the OP is suggesting to start now, and is running it by people here for us, not what the OP eats now.

And yeah I agree it's too little. I'm the same height, 143lbs, and I'd be hungry after eating that. And what would I do then when I got too hungry? Stuff my face with whatever I could find around, undoing the fact that I'd eaten less (too little) during the day.

runawaybishop

Boldberry wrote: »

Well, I read through the stickies and they seem to be full of people arguing. I have a serious problem with binging, but like you said I probably need to wat a lot more for healthy weightloss.

Going on an extreme/low calorie diet that isn't sustainable makes you so much more likely to binge. The key for you may be to make small changes gradually to your existing diet - remember that your diet should be something you can do for the rest of your life pretty much. Even something as simple as one week changing your 3pm snack of a snickers for a small square of dark chocolate or an apple will start you off on the right track as you can increase the changes as the time goes by.

Boldberry

You're totally right. I have upped my calorie intake for today and will post it later. Im thinking a daily intake of 1700 to 1900 is ok for now until I get a bit lighter.

Thanks everyone.

homemadecider

Why don't you work out the amount of calories you should be eating? Try this link:

http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

Boldberry

That's what I used. Thanks

Boldberry

I made some changes today and the calorie count is about 1800.

Yoghurt - 3 Tablespoons
Raspberries - 10
Half a banana
Sprinkle of oats
Boiled Egg
Slice of ham

Bowl of homemade cauliflower soup - made with tablespoon of olive oil, head of cauliflower, one onion, one medium potato, stock and cup of milk (I probably had about 1/6 of this at lunchtime)
Slice of flatbread
Cup of beet root

Apple

Medium sized Chicken breast with cream cheese wrapped in Parma ham
Roasted parsnips, carrots and potatoes. (3 baby)
Cup of spinach (raw)

2 slices of ham
200ml of whole milk

Better?

Katgurl

the new menu looks much better & also delicous! Best of luck. Keep posting on progress.