What do you eat if you're trying to lose weight?

[Dillpickles]

I've managed to lose all of 1lb in almost three weeks so feeling a bit despondent.

So, do you eat in a way if you're trying to lose weight? Any tips appreciated :-)

I cut our all the snacks full of sugar/carbs. But otherwise I eat anything I would normally eat, I just eat smaller portions. That way I still enjoy my food, but maintain a calorie deficit.

I have a 3 month old as well OP and I weigh 11st 7lbs with a BMI of 28.5, so you're already doing better than me

I previously had major success with low carbing but that doesn't mix well with breastfeeding so this time I have been calorie counting - 2 weeks ago was 11st 12lbs. I'm finding ready made low cal meals, salad, low cal snacks etc all quite useful for ensuring I'm in a deficit every day. Ideally I'd like to cook fresh low cal meals every single day but I can't be bothered

I've been weighing and measuring everything and logging it on the NHS version of MFP. It's actually really easy once you get into the swing of it. My DH is also doing it so that helps, we're in it together and mostly eating the same stuff.

There are a few things that are healthy but high in calories, for example peanut butter. I would eat that daily on toast thinking it was a good healthy breakfast. It is, but it's also very high calorie.

@Ohpulltheotherone

Anything you like as long as it puts you in a calorie deficit.

Literally.

The best chance of long term fat loss is a small calorie deficit built into a “diet” of all types of food that you enjoy. You are far more likely to achieve a consistent loss without depriving yourself.

Of course, it makes sense health wise to include lots of whole foods as they benefit you far greater than processed foods and you tend to get more volume for the same amount of calories, thus meaning you’ll stay fuller longer.

Example: 200 calories of chocolate is probably a small bar & half of dairy milk.
200 calories of stir fry veggies would be a huge plate full.

However they are both 200 cals and the maths still ends up the same.

Your best bet is to work out the calories you need (based on height, weight, sex, lifestyle), Knock a few hundred off and track your food using a free calorie tracker.
Then choose primarily from the more nutritionally valuable side, with a bit of the less valuable thrown in as and when.

If you don’t count calories you will never know if you’re in a deficit or not - even cutting out “bad” foods you can still push yourself out of a deficit really easily. So I would recommend doing it for even just a week to check your intake and adjust accordingly,
Otherwise you’re just guessing

100% this.

@TorySteller

The only way to lose weight is to eat in a calorie deficit.

You can calculate your TDEE online - this will tell you how many calories you should be eating per day to maintain your current weight. To lose weight, eating in a small deficit (eg 200 calories less than your maintenance) will ensure that you lose weight.

Up your protein intake too, and do some activity - walking, weight training etc, if you’re able to.

Totally agree. James Smith PT has a lot of online content for free that supports this. I haven't needed to lose wait until menopause hit and counting calories is the only way for me. I've lost over 1.5 stones now and steadily losing a couple of Ibs per week.

There are 15 calories in a cream cracker

35 in a Jacob's cream cracker - 440 in 100g with nearly 68g carbs and a measly 10g protein.

Losing weight is not simple or easy!

(If it was - almost- everyone would be slim.)

I don't think it is all about 'will power' either.
Our bodies are set up to fight weight-loss. (It could be dangerous in the wild :) where food supplies are uncertain. )

My experience :
Going on an unsupervised very low calorie diet (600 calories) for about 16 weeks and losing 3 stones. I was cold - insomniac - thinking about food all the time (I weighed and measured everything religiously) - hungry - tired but also determined.

I started utterly sure that a calorie deficit would lead to fat-burning (and that weight loss was all a matter of not being greedy).

It did work... but more and more slowly.

I fought backwards and forwards over the final pounds - though my weighed and measured food intake remained as low as always. (I was obsessive about following my own rules. A single calorie/gram over would distress me. )

Lack of calories wasn't leading to as much fat-buring as it had initially, and my body was somehow running on 'economy-mode' (apparently, this doesn' exist). My only evidence for feeling this is: I felt cold and physically tired all the time. I know that I was just as obsessive about weighing/measuring food and eating the same (too) low number of calories as before.

Like a sloth I just wanted to rest and conserve energy!
I fought this feeling and put in the same effort each day. (I walked and cycled throughout, but it felt more and more exhausting.) Perhaps if I'd employed a tiger to chase me about , a better number of calories could have been burned from my own body fat?

The weight went back on in the following 5 years - though I remained (too) calorie-focused and really tried to keep it down. It wasn't all about eating too much of the things I liked. I knew that if I ate, I'd be warm and more energetic... even though, my weight would creep up.

Some years ago I did some reading about changed attitudes to diet - and 'Keto' eating. This was a bit extreme for me but BIWI's low carb bootcamp here on mumsnet changed things for me.
(Thank-you BIWI - you are a person who really is 'worth it' :) )

On the low-carb plan she offers, I eat more calories but different things: more (MUCH) fat (butter/olive oil/cream/cheese/greek yogurt), normal protein, more green veg.

After an initial tussell with the change (loss of sweet treats) I don't get tired or cold and am never hungry... and the weight goes down.

My normal diet (even on 600 calories) was mainly carbs - especially sugar.

I now think that I wasn't particularly greedy in my past life but that I was using my daily calories on foods that don't work well in my body.

A carb-based diet made me hungry and only briefly gave me energy to be active.

Low-carb eating seems to allow much more food but is also much more satisfying and energy levels don't drop. The reading I've done confirms this.

I'm not using bathroom scales but I've dropped 3 dress sizes since I began low-carbing (this was at the beginning of menopause too) and continue to lose slowly but without pain. I'd like to be one size lower... or perhaps 2. This is normal eating now. Christmas and birthdays and feasts are my exceptions each year.

A typical day

Breakfast; coffee by the boatload
Lunch: Turkey sausages and poached egg / chicken salad / omelette
Dinner: anything not more than 600 calories
Snacks: fruit and a biscuit (if I need a treat)

@Bellexx thanks for that macro recommendation, I've just taken a look.

I'm currently trying to hit 90g protein a day (and not always achieving it) - the calculator suggests 117g . Need to work out how to get more protein in...

I have protein yoghurts, eggs, even protein bars but still not enough...

Drop the calories by upping the veg. It's simple. I no longer weigh much out but

Oats, fruit and skimmed milk
Bananas and apples
Boiled or poached egg

Chicken or turkey breast and mince
Leah steak
Salmon and tuna
Butternut / courgette / beetroot noodles chips and roasties
Spray oil

Sprinkle of Parmesan instead of a pile of cheddar
Big Caesar style salad with a small amount of crisped bacon / croutons and fat free yoghurt instead of bacon sandwiches etc
Citrus, garlic, chilli, tomato sauces and dressings

Eat something nice now and again. I like a Solero or similar which feels like a real treat but works well.

Drop the booze.

Most ‘protein’ branded food is a branding con. The fitness chef on Instagram has some great info graphics about what a waste of money they are.

I eat 100-110g protein a day by:

• getting lean protein in each meal (chicken, tuna, prawns, white fish are all good sources.)
• Adding extra egg whites to my scrambled eggs each morning (I buy them from the Bulk Powders website, but you can get cartons in supermarkets too)
• most evenings I have non-fat Greek yoghurt (really good source of protein) with berries and maple syrup.
• some days I add non-flavoured whey protein powder to my coffee (again from Bulk Powders - the one that’s 97% protein). Mix it with cold milk first before pouring over hot coffee otherwise it goes all lumpy!

The rest of it comes from my carbs and veggies and even a little bit from chocolate.

It’s doable once you get into the mindset and I have a load of go-to lunches and dinners that have a good amount of protein and are also delicious.

For instant snacks I try to have a mason jar of sliced cucumbers, peppers, carrots at the ready .. use with hummus. Curbs most hunger pains and you even out your blood sugar levels.

Good quality (no sugar added/ natural) peanut butter/ almond butter is my treat. Eat with apple slices, peppers etc. Or cottage cheese or Greek yoghurt.
Raw nuts offer protein, moorish satisfying treat and even blood sugar levels vs chocolate bar/ mufffin, smoothie etc.

Typical day:

Breakfast: porridge made with oat milk. Handful of blueberries stirred through and topped with a teaspoon of flax seeds. Half a slice of sourdough toast with peanut better.

Snack: small oat latte and half slice banana bread

Lunch: Vegetable soup with wholemeal roll and humous. Satsuma.

Dinner: Wholemeal pasta with vegetable sauce (tomatoes, olives, courgettes, onions, peppers, basil). Apple tart for dessert (home-made).

Nothing to eat after that until breakfast.

Losing 2-3lbs a week this way. It's a whole food, plant based diet, so not for everyone, I accept. But it works for me. I feel healthier than I have in ages and I'm rapidly losing the "taste" for processed foods. I get that it can sound annoying, but you truly can change your food preferences over time.

I think the basic premise to weight loss is to avoid as much processed food as possible, and cut right back on the added sugar and refined carbs. I do sometimes wonder whether the urge to overeat and even binge (I've been there!) is, at least in part, due to our bodies craving some actual nourishment rather than simply calories.

Personally, I don't think calorie counting is the way to go as it encourages you to obsess about food all the time and make decisions based on "what can I eat for 100 calories" rather than "what is good for my body". (I haven't looked up the calories, but I'm talking about things like having a KitKat because it's "allowed", rather than considering whether you're hungry in the first place and, if you are, thinking about something that would provide a bit of nourishment and hopefully keep you fuller a bit longer and help to gradually lose the taste for processed cr*p like Kitkats).

If you think of your car - you wouldn't fill it up with a bit of old chip fat and expect it to work. Your body is you and if you want it to work properly and last, you need to give it proper fuel. Okay, there's a bit of controversy about what is the best or healthiest diet, but there aren't many people arguing in favour of processed foods (unless of course they stand to make money from the sale of said foods).

There are so many people saying you have to create a calorie deficit - it simply isn't true.

If you eat the right things your body creates its own calorie deficit by increasing metabolism and/or changing your appetite.

So; lots of protein and good fat (butter, olive oil, cheese, meat); no processed food or vegetable oil; reduce wheat; mostly cut out sugar. No need to count calories.

This is from the (life changing, for me) book 'why we eat too much' by Andrew jenkinson.)

So much great advice here thank you all, I'm going to massively up my veg and protein intake (and ditch the jacobs crackers!) and try to relax a bit with the preoccupation of losing quickly.

Today for breakfast I had 2 x weetabix with a cup of tea. Lunch was a banana & some berries with low fat greek yoghurt. Another cup of tea. Dinner is going to be beef stir fry with lots and lots of veg.

I did a 20 min cardio video from YouTube but that's a no go as it caused me to bleed a little. I thought 3 months post section would be sufficient to do some proper exercise but it would appear not.

Going to try and get out for a 30 minute walk every day, even if I have to bribe the kids.

I did weigh myself this morning and I've lost another 1lb, but the way I've been doing it isn't sustainable. I've been feeling really tired in the day time which just goes to show that my body isn't getting what it needs.

[quote TheWayOfTheWorld]@Bellexx thanks for that macro recommendation, I've just taken a look.

I'm currently trying to hit 90g protein a day (and not always achieving it) - the calculator suggests 117g . Need to work out how to get more protein in...

I have protein yoghurts, eggs, even protein bars but still not enough...[/quote]
@TheWayOfTheWorld

I eat 160g -170g roughly.

I get it from adding protein powder to my baked oats 40g (added calories though)

12g from a college supplement I take

Protein shake - 20g - my protein clear they’re like fruit and relative low calories

I usually have around 100g of chicken per meal which is around 28grams so around 56grams

Extra 5grams from cheese

Protein yoghurt 20grams - aldi pouch ones

Chicken is high in protein and you pretty much add what you want to it. I did read your body can only absorb 30g of protein per hour so I try to spread it out.

At first I was worried on how I’d do it but now I’m in the routine. I do try to find things I enjoy eating and check calories fats/ sugars

You’re better to lose it slowly but in a way you can maintain.

Adding more food will help with energy levels. Have you tried a multivitamin? The ones for women have additional b vitamins that women often lack.

Give you body the proper time to recover from your c section. Get yourself out on a walk everyday and get your steps in. You’ll probably do quite a lot just finding round after kids in the house.

Also take a fish oil supplement if you don't get much omega 3

Thanks @Bellexx, hadn't heard of the clear fruit protein drinks before - they look good!

@YouCantBeSadHoldingACupcake

Do you mean 10lbs or ten stone?

[quote JanuaryBluehoo]@YouCantBeSadHoldingACupcake

Do you mean 10lbs or ten stone?[/quote]
10lbs. Gaining 10st over December would be excessive. 4 st off, then 10lb back on, now lost 4lb of the 10lb. 2st to go till goal weight, right in the middle of a healthy bmi.

I appreciate what people are saying about taking it slowly and that is definitely the healthier way to do it. However, that just doesn't work for me as I get bored and impatient and give up. What worked for me was a very low calorie diet for a couple of weeks so that I could see a quick difference and that then motivated me to carry on, albeit with not such a low calories diet after that.

I reached my goal weight and now maintain it by weighing myself regularly and making sure I have a 'diet day' to compensate for any days where I've indulged.

The fact you have a tiny baby though means you should disregard my advice completely and focus on recovering from the birth and coping with the sleepless nights. Maybe come back to this thread in nine months or so and try not to worry about a diet at the moment. I'm sure you need as much energy as you can get and dieting will not help!

Intermittent fasting, one or two meals per day but you can ear as much meat and fat as you like, v low carbs and then fasting the rest of the time. Calorie reduction is not sustainable, seriously OP look up intermittent fasting on youtube and Nina Teicholz: Fat doesn’t make you fat! You need saturated fat and vit K 2 you can only get from grass fed butter. Look up Weston A Price if you want to learn to be healthy and the weight loss will follow, you need nutrient dense low glycemic index foods, I love Barley Pearl to replace rice or potatoes, and you can have stew, steak, roasts, soups, bone broth, fermented foods are the best as obesity can often be caused by gut bacteria (scientifically proven)

Zinc is necessary for healing, magnesium is necessary for hundreds of body processes are most people are deficient. Fat really doesn’t make you fat, margarine was a wartime cheap food and corruption in the nutritional data allowed saturated fats to be demonised, it’s the vegetable oils that are harmful and oxidising, good animal fats are necessary for us as we are not herbivores. The iron in plant foods is not bioavailable to us as iron from beef. Plants have self defence mechanisms like oxalates and phytic acid which, oxalates can build up and cause pain and phytates block absorbtion of nutrients.

Glucosinolates and goitrogens in cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, kale)—can prevent the absorption of iodine, which may then interfere with thyroid function and cause goiter. Those already with an iodine deficiency or a condition called hypothyroidism are most susceptible.
Lectins in legumes (beans, peanuts, soybeans), whole grains—can interfere with the absorption of calcium, iron, phosphorus, and zinc.
Oxalates in green leafy vegetables, tea, beans, nuts, beets—can bind to calcium and prevent it from being absorbed.
Phytates (phytic acid) in whole grains, seeds, legumes, some nuts—can decrease the absorption of iron, zinc, magnesium, and calcium. [2,3]
Saponins in legumes, whole grains—can interfere with normal nutrient absorption.
Tannins in tea, coffee, legumes—can decrease iron absorption.

Just something to be aware of when you’re trying to heal and need all the nutrients you can get.