Is this a nutritious day of eating? Totally lost track of what's good and what isn't

[TabithaTwitchel]

Tried SO many diets etc and embarked on yet another - I need to lose 3 stone and know I can do it but my problem is I've just been so bamboozled by all the differing healthy eating opinions out there

Anyway - can you tell me that this IS a good day of eating and I've made a decent start?

Home made baked berry breakfast crumble ...( frozen cherries and blueberries with an oat / egg whites/ chia seeds/ linseeds / cashew butter topping) served with some greek yogurt

Greek salad with quinoa

Paprika mushrooms on sourdough with a little light cream cheese

All portions moderate and not large but sufficient. I'm vegetarian so no meat or fish

@KnickerlessFlannel 100 calories for breakfast is bonkers and you will not be able to sustain that long term. What are you having? A pot of jelly and an apple?

@Backhometothenorth I oh yes good idea! I do sometimes find cubes of feta a bit .. cloying

Super healthy. All real food. Lots of different plants. Sounds great. And tasty.

I feel like you know all this but theres a voice of doubt in your head. Stick with it - your instincts are right.

I think it sounds decent nutritionally and far better than many people's diets.

I was 4 stone overweight at the start of this year, I've lost my first stone by including more whole foods in my diet and keeping an eye on my calories. I find if I keep breakfast and lunch low calorie I can eat a normal family dinner. E.g. I'll have yoghurt and berries or some porridge with fruit for breakfast, soup and a handful of nuts for lunch and then I don't worry too much about the calories for dinner as long as I focus on including lean protein, vegetables and pulses or some combination of those.

I have stopped snacking and limited alcohol to two days a week and slowly but surely the weight has been coming off.

It sounds like you're focused and have a plan so just concentrate on eating food that is good for you and see how you get on. It is remarkable how much better you start feeling when you are eating healthy food and how quickly you start to notice that if you eat crap you feel crap.

What breakfast are you having for dinner 100 cals?

I think that sounds really good op, there's definitely been an increase in diet trends towards real, unprocessed nutritious food rather than super low calorie intakes. Far more sustainable and healthy

That meant to say under not dinner!

Apologies. I thought you were also having two snacks a day this time around.

All sounds great. Have you tried swapping meals around so you don't have any carbs after lunch? It seems to have a positive effect. Well done op. 💪🏻

@GameOfJones some good advice there thanks. I also feel so crap when I eat crap

Sorry, I am rubbish at tagging people but had a couple of questions asked of me.

1250 is based on my height and activity level. Sadly I'm short, lazy and with a busy job and home life! I am hoping to add more exercise in at some point.

Breakfast is low so that I can eat (with a couple of tweaks) what my family do at dinner times. We don't eat rubbish all the time but just normal family meals so this way just makes my life easier.

Breakfast is usually a boiled egg or a couple of heck sausages or a small cappuccino, or a yoghurt.

I do hope my responses haven't annoyed anyone, it's just what I have found works for me. I used to be of the view that just nutritious eating would be enough to loose weight but in my case I really do have to track meticulously to see any kind of result.

It looks ok, how many grams of protein did you have

I dont agree with others that your breakfast and lunch is too high in calories, it depends how you want to spread your food intake out, some people like to have more in the morning and day, others are the other way round. Nothing wrong with that, you dont need to be prescriptive, you just need to do what works for you

Just wanted to add, I sometimes have a breakfast that is under 100cals, it depends if Im hungry or not. I have an egg, cheese and tuna muffin (basically a mini crustless quiche that I bake in muffin tins). I bake up batches of them and just keep them in the fridge to have quickly if I cant face breakfast (normally porridge and prunes)

Oats and water is not a nutritious breakfast. It's not sustainable to eliminate the parts of your diet full of vitamins, minerals and protein to go "on a diet" and this is one of the reasons why diets fail.

I guess the question is how long have you been eating like that and have you lost weight?

it would be too much food for me to
lose - my TDEE is around 1300 - which is a total pita and personally I find things like your crumble very difficult to accurately calculate calories on, it’s so easy to throw in a extra 100cals without noticing.

same with mushrooms, which depending cooking method and addition of butter to bread could be a 400 cal dinner or an 800 one.

@PickAChew

Oats and milk is a nutritious breakfast. My toddler has it every day and it sets them up until lunch. Nobody is saying you can never eat nuts and fruit ever again. Nuts and nut butter are high in calories and the OP is trying to lose weight. Have a few walnuts, but skip the additional nut butter.

The bread is not nutritionally great. The OP would be better eating more vegetables and filling up on more protein.

It’s an interim measure to lose some weight as the OP says they aren’t with their current diet. It’s not starving yourself. It’s fine to eat chocolate as part of a balanced diet, but I wouldn’t recommend chocolate every day if you’re trying to lose weight, same as I wouldn’t recommend peanut butter everyday. Up the vegetables and reduce the peanut butter, not eliminate completely.

I think it's fine OP, but you need a bit more protein - which is obviously a little more difficult to get if you're veggie.

100 cals for breakfast from PP is ridiculous. The OPs breakfast sounds a lot healthier and has plenty of nutrition.

OP I’d add in more fresh veg like broccoli to bulk it out but without many more cals.

And here I am with my 800 cals worth of porridge for breakfast 🫣

I think that sounds absolutely fine and healthy.
I think the main thing is to find a way of eating that you can stick to. And really low cal diets are not the way! You will slip up.

The only way I've found that works for me is low carb. I used to be a bit of a sugar fiend but by cutting sugar out I now no longer crave it. Over a few months my appetite has completely changed, I no longer get hungry. But the main thing for me was that I didn't restrict and I didn't count calories. As my body adapted my portions naturally decreased and I'm losing weight without feeling hard done by and actively enjoying all my meals (they're high fat so absolutely delicious!).

I know you probably don't want a different way of eating being given but I do think it's really important not to feel like you're restricted. It's a sure fire way to make sure you fall off the wagon.

I think you diet sounds fine - you're concentrating on quality and nutrients which is great.

You might lose with that you might not.

I'd suggest some more protein - perhaps look at your macros - and some activity/exercise.

I thought the whole low calories thing was less of the focus now and more about what you are eating. Higher fat, protein and low refined carbs.

I used to track my calories (1200) and tbh was pretty miserable and restrictive. Lately I have been trying going for full fat options, low or no carbs for breakfast and lunch and then a normal dinner. Also losing weight steadily and enjoying it a lot more than calorie counting .

I often have full fat Greek yoghurt for breakfast instead of a carby breakfast and keeps me full. Stir fry veg or salad with meat/fish for lunch. Or eggs and bacon (although I know you vegetarian!)
Then a normal dinner. No snacks if I can help it!

Thanks for all the thoughts and opinions - it's really useful to read other people's ideas

So on the menu today (day 2!) is ...

Same breakfast! Berries, oats and a dollop of Greek yogurt

Lunch will be this Waitrose recipe card thing ... it's a vegan gooey veg sandwich and comprises of roasting up red onion, butternut squash, tomatoes etc and piling into sourdough along with layers of fresh spinach and some vegan mayo and plant based cheese. (480 calories for those who will be shrieking in horror at how calorific it sounds! I adapt it slightly)

Dinner will be a honey peanut crunch slaw thing with tofu

So all in all, I'll be coming in at about 1600 calories if I was tracking

1250 calories doesn't cover a lot of people's BMR!!

@KnickerlessFlannel not irritating AT ALL! You do what works for you - it's all any of us can do.

Because I'm very firmly perimenopausal it just does me no good to start cutting out nutrients and basically everything need to fuel myself properly. A nutrient dense diet makes me feel better and if I eat 3 proper meals a day, I'm less likely to 'fall off' the wagon and stuff my face

It sounds good to me in terms of nutrition, stick with it and see if you lose weight or track your calories religiously.

It doesn't matter if your breakfast is 50 or 500 calories, what matters is the overall day. My breakfast was over 400, I had poached egg, smoked salmon, avacado, slice of brown seeded toast and coffee. Keeps me going until lunch time and I'm not tempted to snack too much.