What else could I eat?

[NoNameisGoodEnough]

I know this will end up with people who say they can live on 1000 calories a day. That is not me. I aim for 1500 calories per day and I have eaten today what I consider to be a 'good' diet. Porridge, Greek yogurt, blueberries for breakfast, mozerrella and tomato salad for lunch with the smallest drizzle of balsamic dressing, a protein yogurt and a goats cheese ratatouille for tea. This is coming out at 1635 cals and I will be hungry again by 9pm. I am trying to be lowish carb so I know I'm higher on the fat content but I'm focusing on the fewer carbs for the moment. It just seems like a miserable existence with absolutely no capacity for snacks because my meals are taking up all my calories.

My fit bit is telling me I have used 1750 cals so far today so is that OK?

If you can - go to bed hungry - even if that means go to bed at 9

have a cup of tea or such

your body doesn't need much overnight and so you are sleeping through the hard part of diets ( the hungry part )

And if you need to eat more often than 3 meals a day , move the yogurts to snack times not as part of the meal

That's a very personal thing - how many meals you need - 2 big, or 5 small , all is valid and reasonable

That's actually a good idea. I might try that. I do like to eat little and often. Or not so little and often!

I'm small and 63 so need to aim for around 1500 cals to very very slowly lose weight (in conjunction with a fair bit of walking )

I've found it works best for me if I don't have breakfast, or have it late - a nice coffee with a decent amount of whole milk mid morning gets me to lunch. Then it's about lots of veg and fibre, decent amount of protein. Fruit/yogurt/10g nuts as a mid afternoon snack and/or after dinner if I've not eaten quite enough. Then no eating after that.

In reality the only way you will fit snacks in is to reduce portion size of meals or at least non veg elements of meals and then have v low calorie snacks. How much goats cheese and mozzarella are you having? How many cals is protein yoghurt? Are you veggie?

Dairy is high in fat.

Count calories or carbs. Not both.

The reason low carb diets work is because your body goes into ketosis. You need to consume 20-50 g of carbs a day to reach this. You’ve probably consumed more than 50g today.

Two lots of cheese and barely any fruit or veg is not a good diet!
you need leaner protein sources and more fibre

Cheese is high in calories and mozzarella doesn't even have a strong taste. Do you eat chicken, fish as both have fewer calories for equivalent protein.

For snacks cucumber, celery, roots with hummus is always a good option, make your own to reduce the oil in it (increase lemon juice)

Way too much dairy

Eat lots and lots more veg and salad

@ErrolTheDragon I’m a bit younger and same works for me. Pushed my breakfast forward as far as I can so I’m only having 2 meals a day and not eating after 6 if poss. No sugary stuff like biscuits etc.

No I'm not veggie, it's just the way it fell today. I had the ratatouille left over and it needed eating up so I had it for tea. I didn't think I was doing too bad on fruit and veg today! Blueberries, two big tomatoes at lunch, then loads of courgette, aubergine, onion, pepper for my tea. The nutra check app says I have had 10.6 portions today.

I can't not eat breakfast, it is literally the first thing I have to do each day. I wake up ravenous and don't have the energy to get going without eating. I know it's recommended and I would love to do IF but, as I said earlier, I need little and often or I feel dizzy and lightheaded.

I've recently massively upped my fluid intake (not trying to lose weight, it's because of a separate health issue) and I've amazed at how much it's filled me up. I'm usually always hungry between meals, and I haven't been at all since drinking more water. You could try that?

The flipside is needing the loo all the time!

Up your protein. Add some chicken in that salad, cut down the mozzarella.
I don't think yoghurt is the best thing either - slippery food does not give enough chew satisfaction.
I'd ignore the fit bit calories.
I reserve 100 calories for a late evening snack - that's two caramel rice cakes.
And I'd put off that first meal as long as you can .

Never go with how many calories the watches tell you you've burnt. They way over estimate.

What worked for me was splitting the same amount of food into more meals/snacks, so for example having porridge for breakfast and then the yoghurt and fruit a little later as a snack.

What also worked was just trimming off a few calories here and there, so for example one spoon less yoghurt but extra fruit or one spoon less rice but adding in loads of mushrooms or swapping cheese for prawns/chicken. You can keep portion size the same, but lower the calories quite easily by just tweaking the amounts.

I also found going to bed a little hungry (but not starving) for a week or so worked. I was fine after that.