If you are losing weight what are you eating?

[Nanechange3007]

I'm hungry all the time, please give me some ideas! Today I've had a small omelette for breakfast with tomatoes.
Lunch was a big salad with prawns.
Dinner was gnocchi with green beans and sea bass.

But I'm still hungry so just had a few oatcakes with low fat cream cheese which probably wasnt great.

I have high blood sugar so have to try and avoid sugar and carbs. Did have gnocchi today though.

1000 calories per day or thereabouts. I’ve lost half a stone in three weeks.

Agree wholeheartedly with KingMidas about the joys of intermittent fasting - both for weightloss and for general good health.

I fast more or less everyday - usually a minimum of 16:8 although I now find 20:4 or even 22:2 days quite easy. I am pretty well fat-adapted and strongly agree with the suggestion that your sweet tooth will all but disappear! My house is currently full of chocolate as dp is a primary school teacher with a reputation for loving Galaxy - so guess what he got by the tonne at the end of term? But I'm honestly not interested in eating it.

You've had a really good low-carb day nanechange! Try it for a good few days, a couple of weeks would be ideal, and I bet you feel loads and loads better. You'll start to feel less bloated, more 'stable' both in terms of hunger and mood (because both of these are affected by blood glucose levels), and the weight will start to come off.

After a few days you'll find that you no longer need the 'second breakfast', and then after a while you'll probably even feel you could skip breakfast, or lunch, altogether.

Our bodies are not meant to deal with consistently raised levels of blood sugar and insulin. But as midas says, it is entirely possible to get all of this under control, and surprisingly quickly.

I've lost about 18lb since Christmas, but the easiest 5lb has been recently, since I read the thread about the DOC (who apparently eats a primarily raw vegetarian diet). I don't eat all raw, but much more than I did. I like:
cleanfoodcrush.com/clean-eating-delicious-raw-broccoli-slaw/
www.cookincanuck.com/grated-cauliflower-salad-with-ginger-lime-dressing/
thefitchen.com/lemon-parsley-marinated-mushrooms
www.tasteloveandnourish.com/massaged-kale-salad-parmesan-pine-nuts-pomegranate/
www.craftycookingbyanna.com/salmon-ceviche/

Obviously, not all vegetarian. I alter some recipes as needed. I generally do a batch of something, enough for at least 2 or 3 servings, & store the extra in the fridge for later. So I'm not spending ages preparing food every time - maybe just 1 big batch of something per day, but I might have 3 or 4 different scoops of salad on my plate that I made over the last couple of days. It makes it less boring. I never expected to like raw kale!

I also eat much more fermented food - yoghurt, kefir, kimchi, sauerkraut. Not beer & wine!

I don't eat commercial breakfast cereal. Haven't done for years, it's basically empty calories. I usually have a big dollop of plain high protein yoghurt (either proper Greek, or Skyr) with some homemade granola, & some chopped fresh or frozen fruit. In winter I often eat porridge - proper stuff made with thick rolled or, if I can get them (& can be bothered soaking them beforehand) pinhead oats. No sugar on top, just maybe some fruit.

I also go to the gym 1-3 times a week, if I feel well enough. I'm disabled & sometimes in a lot of pain or have paralysis. If I'm feeling ok I try extra hard, to compensate for the days /weeks when I have to take it easy. Going to the gym has helped with the rate of weight loss, but I've had to be really careful not to eat more after - I can definitely see how it's easy to overeat & cancel out any hard work done at the gym.

I also make an effort to drink a lot more water. I'm not a natural water drinker (or anything else, really, I just don't really feel thirsty. I did recently discover that massively increasing my water intake has basically cured my IBS. I still forget pretty often though.

I don't generally eat lots of chocolate except when it's my TOTM. Then I'm like a ravenous beast. Usually, I have 1-2 small squares of dark chocolate, a couple of nights a week. However I've just eaten a 100g bag of Montezuma's dark chocolate buttons... However that is normal for me pretty much every month, I used to be much worse. Am still losing weight despite the monthly chocfest.

16:8 is amazing with some exercise (walking at least an hour a day & a weekly park run of 5k) I am never hungry and eat very healthy. The weight is falling off, however I have vowed never to weigh myself but I have gone from a size 18 to size 14 in 2 months.

*Today I've had breakfast - greek yoghurt and blueberries
Second breakfast scrambled egg and a sausage
Late lunch 2 egg ham and cheese omelette
Dinner cod and veg curry with cauliflower.
A few squares of very dark chocolate.

That probably sounds like loads but no carbs! I feel full.*

Your food is good. You wouldn’t feel hungry if you have enough good fat and protein. The only improvement I could suggest is reducing the frequency of your meals overtime and leaving bigger gaps in between, to give insulin a chance to drop. Making meals more substantial can help you keep going for longer. It will probably happen naturally as time goes on, you will just ‘forget’ to eat and remember 5-6 hours later.

Re dark chocolate, I used to have dried fruit with my tea to start with, just to replace cake and biscuits. As time went on, I found I needed sweet taste less and less, and eventually just preferred tea on its own. I can’t remember the last time I had dried fruit, indeed had to bin the remaining packets as they went off being open for too long. Now if I want something to munch on, I have some whole almonds with my tea occasionally.

Just keep on at it and it will get easier. Once you start feeling and looking better, plus have improved health markers, it will further spur you on. Well done for making that first step. You won’t be hungry, promise.

You've had a really good low-carb daynanechange!

Thank you!!

I do often find that if I miss breakfast, I can quite easily manage until early afternoon before I want to eat. If I eat breakfast just as a matter of course, I'm hungry all day. The only time I eat breakfast without specifically feeling hungry is if I'm going to the gym, as I can't do much on an empty stomach (I've tried).

Lost nearly 5 stone. I don't eat meat, but apart from that I eat pretty much anything, just in smaller portions, and exercise a lot.

I'm very confused how your blood is 41!!!!

cheese hba1c is explained here...

www.diabetes.org.uk/guide-to-diabetes/managing-your-diabetes/hba1c

That link has converted it for me to 5.9. So that must be my blood sugar level?

I eat the same things but smaller portions than before. I've lost over 30 pounds in the last year, just a few to go.

Today I had:

Breakfast:
Coffee with milk and sugar
Small white crusty roll with butter
Strawberries

Lunch:
Tomato and pasta salad tossed with olive oil, balsamic, chilli flakes, and parmesan

Snack (which I only have when I work out at lunch):
3 rice cakes
1 apple

Dinner:
Chicken breast with black beans and courgette cooked in hot salsa, with a little bit of rice.

I count calories and weigh everything out, so that's all under my daily limit of 1560 net. Today I worked out at lunch. I wouldn't have a snack if I hadn't exercised, and often my breakfast is something like lowfat Greek yogurt with fruit, I just had one roll left about to go off so ate that instead. It fit in my calories though.

Thank you francienolan, I wish I could have a crusty roll!

Breakfast
Fage full fat Greek yoghurt with raspberries or blueberries. Approx 200 calories.

Lunch
Tesco Butternut squash soup whole pot 2 portions less than 200 calories
Or
Tesco roasted tomato soup whole pot less than 200 calories.

Dinner
Spinach bacon and avocado salad.
Salmon and vegetables
Chicken and vegetables
Small 4 oz rib eye Steak and salad

Snacks
Fruit tea or green tea
Olives,
celery
apple
25 g cheese.
Individually wrapped green and black chocolate
Coconut collaboratively chocolate pudding

One coffee with milk
One tea with milk

As a PP says, what other people eat is irrelevant. What you can eat (and lose weight) will depend on your individual height/weight/activity levels

As a PP says, what other people eat is irrelevant

Well, yes and no. It can give someone an idea of the sorts of things people eat within a particular calorie allowance. Yes, your own calorie allowance may be different. Yes, you might have a lower tolerance for carbohydrates but knowing what other people eat and their activity levels can give you an idea of the range.

Really, you need to find a way of logging your own food and activity levels to work out your allowances. Then you can tweak things if you notice any patterns. I log my weight, fat percentage, food and activity on the FitBit app. I find this very easy and manageable. There are other apps such as MyFitnessPal. Also plenty of activity calories burn calculators online as well as calorie counter and TDEE calculators.

Today I'm having:

Breakfast
2 boiled eggs and a ski yoghurt

Snack
Apple and cup of earl grey

Lunch
Same as yesterday - feta and beetroot salad

Dinner
Homemade lasagne (small portion) and salad

If it helps namechange, I got my hba1c down from 45 with low carb and intermittent fasting. Started in mid January, was 41 by April then 39 by the end of May. The spikes of hunger went within a few days of eating low carb.

My friend does 16:8 and is doing really well on it . She's not mega strict with what she eats, so the time restriction seems to be the key for her. She finds it easier to follow than previous plans as she "knows' she can't eat between specified hours

I used to use Myfitnesspal.com and only just found out that millions of logins and passwords were stolen by a hacker in March last year, sold on the dark web this March, and now I’m receiving emails from whichever B bought them called “save yourself, your computer has been hacked” yada yada. Just saying in case anyone else isn’t aware. Myfitnesspal allegedly told everyone affected but hardly anyone knows so I don’t think they did. Not impressed. They can brandish my food details around as much as they want, I just hope I didn’t use that same password on any other sites.....

I've massively cut down on refined sugar. Apart from fruit and in a cup of tea (because tea isn't tea with a sugar ). So no bread, cakes, booze etc.

I was also a terrible snacker previously. I've been trying to have three protein and veg-based meals and no fridge raiding in between.

I don't weigh myself but reckon I've lost nearly a stone in three weeks.

I’ve been doing Moderate Carb High Fat and IF 16:8. I have a cappuccino at 11, lunch (eggs, olives, hummus), fish and veggies/salad for dinner at 6 with nuts and berries as snacks.

Then a nice long fast.

The weight has been falling off. It’s great.

@coatlessinspokane I forgot to add that I've been intermittently fasting too (unintentionally at first). It's wonderful isn't it? I'd read about it on here previously but never understood it or the hype that surrounded it. But I'm a total convert now. And I also enjoy an 11am cappuccino