How much of sweet stuff is ok?

[Sprining]

I need to loose a couple of kgs and then maintain. I’m 5.4 with a small frame, so feel the extra kgs.

Today I’ve had
Breakfast:
Lots of black coffee
A slice of brioche
Half a delicious chocolate/almond croissant
Full fat yogurt with strawberries and banana
Handful of raw almonds

Late lunch
3 egg omelette with cheese and tomato
Homemade strawberry and tomato salsa
Homemade air fryer fries
Steamed carrots, peas and beans
Spinach
Coffee and a custard tart.
A very small piece of dark chocolate

That’s it. I won’t have dinner as I usually don’t.

Exercise - a one hour walk, probably 7,500 steps.

That’s too many calories I guess...? I usually do t have that much sugar but these days I am craving sweeties, maybe Covid stress?

Sorry, I meant to say lose, although looser clothes would be nice 😊

Download free my fitness pal - type in today's food even as estimates and look at what it says.

Roughly guessing that's about 1200 calories? Sounds about right and it seems healthy but I guess if anything, too much sugar.

Thanks, I just did that.
1600 calories!!!
And I need to be at 1290.

No more custard tarts I guess

I need some sweets to counter the Covid stress

@SummerHouse

Roughly guessing that's about 1200 calories? Sounds about right and it seems healthy but I guess if anything, too much sugar.

I was hoping under 1400, but is 1600! A full almond croissant is apparently 500 calories

I only had half, but each calorie as worth it. Delicious moreish beauty. My precious. I’ll try to have only one a month from now...

Will 16:8 magic counter the extra calories, you think...

I’m the same height as you.

This is what I ate today

Yogurt and banana, slice of ham
Wholemeal toast with butter and marmite
Couple of Crackers and cheddar cheese
Salmon risotto with green beans, peas and a salad

I have no idea how many calories that is but that’s a very typical day. I do not like sweet food much at all and rarely eat it. That’s just how I am and that’s why I think I have never been overweight!

That sounds quite light, and there are no sweets at all!

But I think that’s what is needed.

I am vegetarian, so I use eggs and full fat yogurt for protein. And nuts. The latter can be calorie dense, so I really need to cut back the sweet stuff.

I guess if I didn’t have the custard tart and the half croissant I would be within my cal range. But then it means no goodies at all. Ever.

I'd keep the custard tart ☺️

@Loveisthehope 😍

I eat sweets, chocolate, cake all without a limit. Scary...

When I’m being “good” I have one treat a day. A piece of cake, a bag of crisps, a chocolate bar, 200 calories worth. I think in your position I wouldn’t have had the custard tart for lunch after the broiche and croissant.

Oops, I forgot to add the air fryer fries to MFP.

It is now 1,800 calories 😬

That’s true, @Passthecake30. but if I had been good after lunch and passed on the delicious custard tart, I would saved 276 cal.
But with a total of 1,800 (counting the air fryer chips), I would still be around 200 calories over my daily limit.

1290 calories it seems translates into bare minimum eating with no space for sweets.😢

Please ignore the standard 1200 nonsense. Use a calorie calculator found easily online.

MyFitnessPal recommends 1290 calories. I put in a moderately active lifestyle

My Fitness Pal gives a pretty low recommendation that can be hard to stick to. Try the James Smith Academy calculator 👍

@southernbelles, the other calculator is not that far off. Maybe I can have 1400 calories a day. But still, no space to have a somewhat indulgent day. Or even a healthy indulgence like two yogurts on a hot day! (Or a glass of wine and crisps)

Ah ok, sorry. A couple of suggestions I have picked up over time:

-plan your food-work out what you're going to have so there are no 'surprise' calories
-track your food on MyFitnessPal, at least until you have a better idea of calorie content & portion size
-don't make anything off-limits, you won't stick to it. Work the things you love into the calories you have
-don't beat yourself up for days that you have a bit more than usual!
-you could count your calories across the week. So work out the total calories for the week & stick to that. So some days you might have more when you fancy a treat, & other days less to allow for it.
-if you do count calories over a week, & you're a weekend binger (I am!), you could try 'starting' your week on a Friday. Then by Monday you will have had your biggest indulgences & can limit your calories accordingly for the weekdays.

Just some suggestions, you don't have to do any of them planning & tracking are the big ones I'd say, they change your approach to food. One caveat, personally I do have to be careful with calorie-counting as can get a little obsessed. Depends on you as a person

Also take note of the protein amount the James Smith calculator suggests, you will feel more full if you get the right amount of protein. It also means you'll burn slightly more calories processing it, due to the thermos effect of food being greater with protein.

I’d say that’s a fairly indulgent day tbh. Brioche, croissant, custard tart, dark chocolate, fries in one day is a lot.
Why don’t you try fat free Greek yogurt instead of full fat?

Please don't do 1200 calories. Your body needs far more than that. As long as you are in a calorie deficit you will lose.
Talk to a trained professional and have them work out your macros for you. Put it into my fitness pal and work it that way.

I'm 5'5, 145lbs, desk job but play rugby so was training twice a week and I was put on 1700 calories and that's the lowest my trainer would have me on.

Remember that its the calorie defecit that’s important so maybe do some more varied or high intensity exercise to give you a little more to play with. Its not ‘no treats ever’ ..but ‘occasional’ treats , be that once a day as part of calorie counting or at the weekend.

For me you seem to eat loads of sugary treats for breakfast which could be for an immediate energy hit as you won’t have eaten for maybe 18 hrs previously .. perhaps a smaller lunch and a small meal in the evening.

You’d also be surprised how much cheese you can put in a cheese omelette without noticing. I’d weigh everything for a week and then see if you really are eating 1600 calories or even more without realising. The other thing I’ve realised is that I like something sweet and although I could eat loads , often half a finger of kit kat is sufficient to satisfy the craving.