Does this seem okay, diet wise?

[KeepsAwayTheNargles]

I'm struggling with actually losing weight at the moment due to ongoing health issues that mean I'm exhausted, so I'm just trying to focus on nutrition for the moment... I fear this will be carb-heavy but does it look okay? These are options on an average day, probably carb-heavy

Breakfast:

• porridge with honey and berries/a banana
• 1 slice toast with peanut butter and a banana
• 2 scrambled eggs on 1 slice toast

...and always a coffee.

Lunch:

• wholewheat bagel with cream cheese and ham
• avocado on toast with tomatoes
• tuna salad sandwich
• pasta pesto

Dinner:

• stir fry with chicken, veg and noodles
• diet coke chicken with green veg and wedges
• homemade pizza (again with veg!)
• chicken curry (I'm scared of cooking other meats!)
• homemade veggie burgers (lentil or kidney bean based) with oven chips and more veg

Snacks:

• banana
• apple with peanut butter
• slices of ham
• precooked chicken
• smoothie (homemade, usually featuring bananas/frozen fruit/berries with some almond milk and spinach, maybe some raw cacao powder)

I'm trying hard to focus on this as my difficulty losing weight is that when I'm tired (always at the moment!) I reach for unhealthy foods for short term energy boosts or overeat at dinner. Hoping to preempt this by having a variety of nice snack options etc, also have dark choc for the evening...

I just need to focus on stopping bingeing, but does this variety of foods look ok? Trying really hard to focus on nutrition /health and could use some opinions... :) thanks in advance!

[KeepsAwayTheNargles]

I fell like it needs more nuts...? (I do have pine nuts with my pasta pesto...)

[Seeyounearertime]

Is this what the average person has in a day?
No offence OP but it just looks a heck of a lot of food in a day, breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks?

Today I had:
1 ham and cheese sandwich
3 cups of coffee
1 small chicken pie with 3 tablespoons of mash, 1 tablespoon of veg and gravy.
No snacks.

[SandrasAnnoyingFriend]

You don't need snacks. Let your body get through all the food from one meal before having another.
Carbs are fine but you're having a bit too many overall. Try Greek yogurt with berries for breakfast or a salad with salmon and avocado for lunch. Spiralised veg with your usual pasta sauce for dinner is really nice too.

[KeepsAwayTheNargles]

seeyou I would say most people have 3 meals and a snack. If I'm not hungry I have less, but I don't see how its a large amount of food and considering I'm thinking about nutrition there's no way you'd get everything you need in a day from what you've posted the whole point is I'm trying to replace unhealthy foods with healthy ones - if I leave myself too hungry I make bad choices. Getting over that hurdle first... Telling me I'm eating too much when I'm just trying to make better choices is unhelpful.

Sandras I only have them if I'm hungry, which isn't always. Will try out Greek yogurt and see if I like it :)

[lougle]

It's difficult to tell because you don't list portion sizes-that'll make all the difference. Why don't you use My Fitness Pal to log your food for a while?

[KeepsAwayTheNargles]

I already do, lougle - its around 1800 cals a day which is fine by me :) just trying to make sure its healthy as I can reasonably make it rather than low cal... Wondering if there were any glaring nutritional holes I was missing!

[Seeyounearertime]

I didn't actually tell you anything, I was merely asking a question.

You can eat all the healthy food in the world but if you eat too much you won't lose weight, simple.

[lougle]

You can have quite a lot of food if you make sensible choices. Also, you need to decide if you want to maintain your weight, lose gradually or lose moderately fast, etc.

I have 1200 calories per day and have lost 4.6kg in the last month. An example day is:

Greek yoghurt with strawberry Jam
Prawn and bacon salad (tomatoes, baby leaves, cucumber, beetroot)
Gammon with pineapple and roasted sweet potato, carrots and leeks.
Greek yoghurt with fresh strawberries.

[Lighteningirll]

That looks great

[lougle]

X-posted. Then the best thing is to look at the nutrition breakdown in MFP and see what your nutritional breakdown is.

[KeepsAwayTheNargles]

seeyou I said in my OP that I'm not currently trying to lose weight, just to make better nutritional choices due to being ill.

lougle that salad sounds good! I love prawns, need to get some for lunchness :) will have a foray into the MFP macro area...

[lougle]

I've found it really helpful. The nutrient section even breaks down your potassium and sodium, etc.

[Seeyounearertime]

From the opening post:
I'm struggling with actually losing weight
I'm trying hard to focus on this as my difficulty losing weight

And I didn't actually say anything about losing weight in my first reply I merely asked if that was what an average person has because it looks a lot.

Seems there has been a miscommunication.

I was simply wondering what an average person has because I have no where near that amount, I don't have breakfast, I don't do snacks, I have a light lunch of a sandwhich and then a main meal of varying types to ensure nutritional needs are met.

[ghostoftheMNchicken]

It sounds good, but I too am leaning towards cutting out snacks (possibly eating more at mealtimes to compensate).

seeyou,, it doesn't sound like you're having anywhere near enough food. No fruit and veg? Maybe there's some more in the pie, but a tbsp of veg might not even count as a single portion towards your 5 a day.

One thing I will mention, OP, is that smoothies are often quite high in calories, so be cautious about having one for a snack. You know you're meant to point them, right? (Although I never bothered if it was meant to be a meal replacement because I'm lazy).

Also think it's worth trying to ger used to cooking meat other than chicken. The wider the variety of food you eat, the better imo.

[KeepsAwayTheNargles]

ghost I was thinking of braving beef soon... I do also make turkey meatballs that are a firm favourite with DH and DS! I count what I put in my smoothies, they're much less calories than what I used to shovel in my face they're mainly for super-hungry PMS days too... And of course don't snack when I'm not hungry :)

[KeepsAwayTheNargles]

DH likes lamb rogan josh, might give that a try...

[BooAvenue]

It sounds quite high in sugar and carbs to me.

Breakfast:

• porridge with honey and berries/a banana can you ditch the honey to cut out some sugar
  
• 1 slice toast with peanut butter and a banana make sure toast is seeded whole meal
  
• 2 scrambled eggs on 1 slice toast could you have smoked salmon/tomatoes/mushrooms/quorn sausage instead of toast
  
• how about full fat Greek yoghurt with banana/berries
  

...and always a coffee.

Lunch:

• wholewheat bagel with cream cheese and ham could you add some salad to bulk this out
  
• avocado on toast with tomatoes could you add chicken/salmon to this
  
• tuna salad sandwich
  
• pasta pesto add pine nuts/egg/tuna and some spinach
  

Dinner:

• stir fry with chicken, veg and noodles
  
• diet coke chicken with green veg and wedges use sweet potato for wedges
  
• homemade pizza (again with veg!) use whole wheat pizza base
  
• chicken curry (I'm scared of cooking other meats!)
  
• homemade veggie burgers (lentil or kidney bean based) with oven chips and more veg can you use sweet potato instead of oven chips

[Lovepancakes]

seeyou that seems the most extraordinary lack of food! I eat more like to OP and those choices seems good to me (To be fussy i'd avoid the diet coke ingredient but I'm very focussed on nutrition and stick to 'whole' foods.)

[Lovepancakes]

I like Booavenues' suggestions, I reckon these would be helpful health-wise

[Seeyounearertime]

Eek
TBF I do meal plan to ensure I get enough of everything, I'm staying a level 12st11 at the minute and at 6foot that's pretty good for a bloke who's old

[Lovepancakes]

Ps I took the OP's list as different things she might eat one of rather than one list she eats in one day

[KeepsAwayTheNargles]

Thanks BooAvenue, those are great suggestions :) I've never tried salmon and have a weird fear of doing so, no idea why as I like other fish will have to get over it! Pleased to say I do already add pine nuts and spinach to my pasta pesto so I'm heading in the right direction :)

Thanks lovepancakes - we don't have the coke chicken very often but DH and DS love it (its very sweet though!)

[KeepsAwayTheNargles]

lovepancakes definitely different things I might eat, no way could I eat all of them in one day I'm only 5 feet tall!

[KeepsAwayTheNargles]

Today came in at 1600 - which was an unusually lazy breakfast of Cheerios / pasta pesto with nuts / apple and peanut butter / small steak and ale pie with brocolli, green beans and carrots / raspberry and raw cacao smoothie. Need to fast now for a blood test tomorrow, woe is me!

[BooAvenue]

Salmon is awesome! It's also really easy to make smoked salmon and scrambled eggs (with a handful of spinach and tomatoes) in 5/10 mins in the morning.

Sweet potatoes are your friend as well, swapping them in for standard potatoes feels a bit weird at first but you definitely get used to it.

I tend to avoid peanut butter as it's often full of sugar and I find it very hard not to gorge on .

Also, go for full fat options like yoghurt, cheese etc as they fill you up for longer than the low fat version and usually have a lot less sugar in them.