Changing Diet

sprinkles

I'm looking to loose some weight and tone up. I don't have an unhealthy diet as such but I don't seem to be able to loose any. I exercise 3-4 times a week. I was wondering if I could get some advice on daily diet - foods I should stay clear of etc..

I know the usual fatty foods are a no go but if I could get an idea of a typical daily routine I could apply something similar to my diet. I generally don't eat breakfast, but I am trying to get in some cereal in the morning now, lunch is usually a brown bread sandwhich and dinner veg + meat.

Anyway any help is welcome.

Thanks

seamus

Give us a (honest) idea of exactly what you have during a normal day.

What do you have in your lunch sandwich, do you use butter or mayonnaise?
What kind of condiments will you have on your dinner? Is your meat complete with fat, or is it lean?
Full milk? How much per day?
What are your snacking habits like? Do you enjoy a pack of rolos with your afternoon coffee, or maybe a few biscuits with tea before bed?
How about the weekend? How much would you drink - what do you drink? Do you find yourself getting a chinese before/after your beers, or on the Sunday evening when you're hungover?

Also, how much do you think you need to lose? The amount of may or may not be overweight dramatically affects how easy it is to lose the weight.

Stark

Brown bread instead of white break - good. Veg+Meat for dinner good. If you're having potatoes, I'd advise leaving the skin on them (the more fibre in a meal,the less fattening it is). As for avoiding fatty foods, don't avoid oily foods. Unsaturated fats in the diet can help you lose weight by curbing your appetite and making the body cling less to its fat reserves (also helps brain function massively).

I don't think cereal is that great for breakfast as cereals tend to be loaded with sugar (even things like Bran flakes are very high in sugar). An omelette would actually be healthier. Eggs contain protein and mostly healthy fats which will keep you full all morning and help boost your metabolism.

How about the weekend? How much would you drink - what do you drink? Do you find yourself getting a chinese before/after your beers, or on the Sunday evening when you're hungover?

The drink itself is the most important thing, beer is very fattening due to all the maltose in it. Chinese food is also loaded with sugar and MSG making it a no no.

What do you have in your lunch sandwich, do you use butter or mayonnaise?

You could try subsituting Flora (or Flora buttery if you don't like the taste of normal Flora) for your butter. Not much of a difference weight loss wise but Flora is healthy fats.

What kind of condiments will you have on your dinner? Is your meat complete with fat, or is it lean?
Full milk? How much per day?

Full fat milk is OK in my book. In fact the fat makes the protein in the milk easier to digest. As for conidiments, watch out for things like tomato ketchup which can be quite fattening. Don't eat too many potatoes, 2 small jacket potatoes should be plenty. I see loads of people eat at least 3 large potatoes with their dinner and this is very fattening (a potato gets converted very quickly to sugar once it hits your stomach and taking the skin off makes this worse).

seamus

Stark wrote:

....

From what I've seen of myself and other people, there are usually one of three things (of a combination of two of the three) wrong with your diet -

a) You're not keeping an eye on the little things. You generally eat sensible meals, sensibly sized, but fall down on the snacks you have, and the dressings and side dishes you include with your meals.

b) You eat sensible foods, and avoid snacking, but your portion sizes are all wrong. This what I suffered from. An attempt eat better led to me gaining weight! A typical Saturday's menu at one point consisted of: No breakfast, Eggs and toast for lunch and pasta bake for dinner, and no snacking. It doesn't sound bad until I say that it was two eggs + 4 pieces of toast for lunch, and close to the entire pasta bake (250g of dry pasta) for dinner - close to 1500kcal on dinner alone. Then I'd top it off with 6-7 pints. Nasty.

c) You just eat the wrong foods in general. Anyone who's actually gives a **** about their diet won't suffer from this problem.

sprinkles

OK lunch today:

2 slices of dry wheat bread with my chicken cupa soup,

brown bread sandwhich with small amount of mayo, ham, lettuce and tomato

I didn't have any breakfast and for dinner I will prob have a chicken breast with carrots, brocolli and potatoes.

I usually have a snack with lunch and again after/before dinner - tea cakes mainly/ Not really big on chocolate or icecream.

My main problem I think is my dinner. I tend to eat healthy but maybe I eat to much.

Can you give me a idea of an average portion of food for dinner and maybe a few varieties.

Ps: I'm about 12 and a half stone and I would like to loose between half a stone and a stone.

seamus

Nothing too major there. Cut out the tea cakes.

The lunch is largish. Try ditch the wheat bread - there's a lot of bread in your lunch! If possible, can you get your hands on fresh soup (from an O'Brien's or somewhere) as opposed to cup-a-soup?

You're worried about the size of the dinner - how big are we talking? As Stark says, potatoes have long been the staple of the Irish diet, but it's a long time since we've been working in the fields. So a lot of Irish still eat too much potato. If cutting down the potato makes the meal small, add more of the other veg, like the carrots, broccoli, maybe throw in some mushrooms or courgette. Dry fry or grill the meat in your meal - the George Foreman grill is gimmicky, but it more or less squeezes the fats out of the meat. If it's chicken breast, remove any skin. If it's pork or beef, remove any fat.
With the small amount of weight you have to lose, you'll need to keep at it. It could take anywhere from 3-6 months, or longer to lose it.

Jefferson Darcy

I reckon if you're training, doing the following will work wonders:

1. Start eating breakfast. Instant oats/boiled eggs with brown bread are great.
2. Switch your lunch and supper meals around. Eat a good lunch of meat and veg and have something light like a healthy protein loaded sandwich or a good salad (no mayo) at night. Your daytime meals should be the largest.
3. Drink 1.5 to 2 litres of water a day.