Do I need to change my diet?

aoiferahmana

Hi all,

I've recently started exercising more, and have changed my diet in order to lose weight and generally be more healthy. I'm not on a 'diet', but rather look at this as a new, healthier and sustainable lifestyle choice. Over the last few months, I've been steadily getting fitter and have been slowly but consistently loosing weight, which I am very happy with. However, I'm pretty sure, from following other threads, that if I were to post my average food in a day, people would find changes that I should make. I suppose my question is, even if my diet isn't perfect, if it's working - do I need to make changes?

Bruno26

aoiferahmana wrote: »

Hi all,

I've recently started exercising more, and have changed my diet in order to lose weight and generally be more healthy. I'm not on a 'diet', but rather look at this as a new, healthier and sustainable lifestyle choice. Over the last few months, I've been steadily getting fitter and have been slowly but consistently loosing weight, which I am very happy with. However, I'm pretty sure, from following other threads, that if I were to post my average food in a day, people would find changes that I should make. I suppose my question is, even if my diet isn't perfect, if it's working - do I need to make changes?

For people to answer you'd need to post up what you eat.

If you eat processed food then yes you need to make changes.

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

aoiferahmana

Thanks Patww26, you're right but to be honest, I'm already second-guessing myself - what with the mountain of (mostly false) information that's out there! So I guess it can't do any harm to post it and see what people think.

Breakfast: Bowl of porridge with low fat milk, raisins and a small spoon of honey
Tea break: 2 raw carrots/piece of fruit
Lunch: Baked chicken with salad/chickpeas with onions and potatoes/beef and veg stir fry with one cup of brown rice/homemade spagbol with loads of veg and one cup of brown pasta/thai green chicken with veg, coconut milk and one 'nest' of wholegrain noodles
Afternoon snack: Piece of fruit, if I'm going to the gym I'll also have a handful of cashews/hazelnuts/walnuts
If I've been to the gym I have a soy protein shake with low fat milk, and 2 rice cakes with a tiny bit of peanut butter when I get home.
Dinner: Scrambled or boiled eggs with 2 slices of wholegrain toast/homemade soup with wholegrain or brown soda bread/piece of baked or grilled chicken with some brown rice/smaller version of what I had for lunch
Snack: Piece of fruit/natural or greek yoghurt with berries or sunflower seeds/popcorn (either a 30g Manhattan bag or home popped stuff) usually only on a Friday night/homemade smoothie/2 rice cakes/raw carrots/on occasion, a small piece of dark chocolate.
Drinks: 1-2l of water, with an extra litre if training.

I cook everything myself, except the bread. I also go spinning, resistance training x2 and aerobics, and am active enough during my day-today life but that's outside the scope of this post - just wanted to stick it in to give a fuller picture. I sporadically count calories (maybe once a week) although don't have much patience for it as it's not something I can do for the rest of my life! But I usually fall around the 1800 mark, give or take 100.

Thanks in advance for any advice or options - criticism of the constructive variety only please!

Edit: I also don't drink any alcohol! (drank enough of the stuff in college to know it's no good for me!)

oppiuy

Hi,

Ive managed to lose a lot of weight over the years (20kg in some instances) without changing my diet, but through excersise and cutting down portions. That was great and can be done but the problem lies in the lazy months or period when the excersise stop but the wrong foods start going in and slowly but surely your back to where you started.

Earlier this year i set about introuding good foods, stuff i though i could never eat. I have an egg or egg and bacon for brekkie insted of skipping it. Meat/fish based slald for lunch. Meat/ fish and large portion of salad or veg for dinner and i have dropped the wieght and feel a hundred times better tahn before. Ive more energy than ever before. I still have things to cut out like cereal before bed, 4 cups of tea a day, cheese- and i love cheese. But i want to be able to have those lzy periods and not piled on the flab again.

Best of luck with it

oppiuy

Oh and Bread...... bread is the devil. I notice a differnce within 2 weeks once i stopped eating it

aoiferahmana

Thanks oppiuy! Delighted for you that you're doing so well! I suppose what I'm trying to do is create a healthy sustainable lifestyle for myself so that this is something I can keep up forever, and that the weight I lose won't ever come back! Since Jan, I've lost 10kg which might be slow, but I don't mind because I know it's sustainable. I've approx another 10kg that I would like to lose, but I also keep in mind other things like my fitness and energy levels, body fat and muscle mass, and strength increases, so my goal is more rounded than just weight.

I've heard a lot of people say that alright about bread! I don't think I could cut it out totally - and to be honest I'm more of believer in moderation than cutting things out completely - I still have the odd bit of cheese now and again too

Keep up the good work!

Mink

Op if I were to try find anything wrong with your diet I'd just be nitpicking.

As long as you are losing weight (if that's what you want) and you feel well and are healthy then why change anything. Sounds like you have a good amount of protein, veg, fruit, good fats etc.

If it ain't broke and it suits you then don't fix it

aoiferahmana

Mink wrote: »

As long as you are losing weight (if that's what you want) and you feel well and are healthy then why change anything. Sounds like you have a good amount of protein, veg, fruit, good fats etc.

If it ain't broke and it suits you then don't fix it

Thanks Mink - that's kind of what I thought but I suppose I just needed some validation. I'm pretty new to this whole thing, and my mind just goes into a whirlwind when I start looking online - 'should be eating this', 'should be eating that'.......aaagh! I think I'm going to stop doing any more google 'research' and just stick with what I'm doing! It's working so far!

SaoirseRose

Without commenting on anything else (it's obv working for you!), I'd still say to ditch the bread. You won't miss it after a while to be honest.

ncmc

I've started making porridge bread instead of soda bread and you honestly would hardly know the difference. It's crazy simple to make it's basically 1 500ml tub of natural yoghurt, two tubs (using the same tub) of porridge, 2 teaspoons of bread soda and a pinch of salt. Mix together and bake in a greased bread tin for 50 mins @ 160, take out of the tin and finish on a baking tart for the last 10 mins. It's lovely and I personally haven't missed regular bread at all thanks to it.

ncmc

Oh and you can sprinkle oat bran on top for extra oats.

Essien

You're seeing results, your diets sustainable, you feel good. That's the trifecta.

Don't change a thing IMO.

aoiferahmana

Thanks so much lads for all your input! I'll keep going as I am so, but cut out some of the bread! Relieved to know that I'm on the right path at least

Bruno26

[quote="aoiferahmana;

Breakfast: Bowl of porridge with low fat milk, raisins and a small spoon of honey
Tea break: 2 raw carrots/piece of fruit
Lunch: Baked chicken with salad/chickpeas with onions and potatoes/beef and veg stir fry with one cup of brown rice/homemade spagbol with loads of veg and one cup of brown pasta/thai green chicken with veg, coconut milk and one 'nest' of wholegrain noodles
Afternoon snack: Piece of fruit, if I'm going to the gym I'll also have a handful of cashews/hazelnuts/walnuts
If I've been to the gym I have a soy protein shake with low fat milk, and 2 rice cakes with a tiny bit of peanut butter when I get home.
Dinner: Scrambled or boiled eggs with 2 slices of wholegrain toast/homemade soup with wholegrain or brown soda bread/piece of baked or grilled chicken with some brown rice/smaller version of what I had for lunch
Snack: Piece of fruit/natural or greek yoghurt with berries or sunflower seeds/popcorn (either a 30g Manhattan bag or home popped stuff) usually only on a Friday night/homemade smoothie/2 rice cakes/raw carrots/on occasion, a small piece of dark chocolate.
Drinks: 1-2l of water, with an extra litre if training.



Edit: I also don't drink any alcohol! (drank enough of the stuff in college to know it's no good for me!)[/quote]

Your diet is very good but can still be improved by including more nutrient dense foods (seafood, offal, more green veg etc.). Replacing the porridge, grains, bread, soy, honey, popcorn etc. with more nutrient dense foods improves your diet.

You should also eat/drink full fat. There is no reason to choose low fat.

There's also no harm in red wine and cheese if you like. Many benefits to including these in your diet.

aoiferahmana

Thanks, I'll take that advice on board.