Where is my diet going wrong and keeping me obese?

[BoobsGalore]

I am mid 50s. Weigh 94 kg.
Always been curvy, have lipedema (heavy diet -resistant legs) on HRT.
Spent years on low fat artificial sweetener type diets, now for the last 5 years eat less UPF, no low fat anything. Try to be reasonably low carb.

I am doing intermittent fasting (16/8) since early Aug and have lost 4.5 kg but it's painfully slow.
Tried mounjaro back in Spring but had to come off it after it triggered terrible panic attacks.

I am photographing my meals for my intermittent fasting app. Here is yesterday's food - spinach omelette for brunch and a bean and courgette stew for dinner. I had 2 slices of home made bread, a handful of mixed nuts, and an apple as well as what is pictured. Will add a couple of other days as well. Is it the carbs?

I have noticed I don't drink enough - about 1.5 litres a day of tea, coffee, diet coke (1 can a day, I think it's an addiction) and squash or water. Would that make a huge difference?

soup looks delicious!!!

I thought you had decided to low carb?!

You last meal is much more like it. honestly the other pics were double or triple what I would put on my plate, Maybe get smaller plates? The tablespoon of rice was laughable, thats a proper serving and the curry portion was huge.

What do you think that means?

The OP has been over this so many times. She is using small plates so her portions look smaller than they are. She really isn't eating large portions.

What do you think that means?

Well, @soupfiend, lentils, bread, potatoes, shortbread, plum and tangerines are too carby in one day, for a low carb diet.

No it really wasn't.

Look again because I am sick of this. Look at the size of the peas. You know how big a pea is. I can see 13 peas. That blob of mango chutney is a teaspoon. There are 7 or 8 teaspoon sized pieces of chicken. The jar of curry sauce served 3 people instead of 2 so that is 1/3 of a jar of curry sauce and the portion is well covered in it. The rice is not piled up high on the plate, it was one tablespoon which was used and ok it wasn't a flat measure but compare it properly with the teaspoon sized lumps of chicken.

If you genuinely put 1/3 of this amount on your plate you would be eating less than 3 bits of chicken and about 10 peas, plus 1/6 of a standard sized jar of sauce designed to be 2 portions. In which case it is you who has the disordered eating not me. And for the 5th time those wraps are much smaller than standard sized wraps.

Which, specifically, of my other meals are 3 times larger than you would eat? Given that I am only eating two meals a day? And now losing weight steadily?

Fair enough, I will try to do better.

I think you are doing well.

Maybe, to keep the 'I'd only eat half of what's on your plate' peeps off your back you could place a ruler next to your plate......... if you can be bothered!

NB :
Do you like cauliflower? My go-to carb substitute! Plain boiled, roasted and seasoned with lemon juice and/or parsley, mashed with pesto, mixed with roasted peppers, mixed with curry sauce (Indian or Thai), in a tomato sauce with lots of garlic and basil... There's a recipe for every day of the week!

It's true that the thing this thread has taught me above all else is that many people are really bad at estimating size, lol.

Yes Dr Mindy is a bit extreme.

This thread has taught me that you have an impressive crockery selection, and most people don't appreciate it. Whereas I am a tad jealous.

This thread has taught me that I like to eat seemingly enormous plates of food! OPs meals look like kids side dishes in this house. (All normal BMI before anyone chips in. And we like a Diet Coke too)

To take the heat off OP and to put a cat among the pigeons, here is what a weight stable, tall, active, knocking 60y/o eats.

Banana and apple fritters, vegetable and bean soup, fried rice with everything (I had seconds), plus a mince pie and a slice of toast with houmous. Bang on required calories, macros all worked out and normal.

Anyone what to guess or critique it?

Boobs is doing great, it is hard work losing weight. Everyone will have their own route to take and their own wagon to fall off.

@PaminaMozart

Do you like cauliflower? My go-to carb substitute! Plain boiled, roasted and seasoned with lemon juice and/or parsley, mashed with pesto, mixed with roasted peppers, mixed with curry sauce (Indian or Thai), in a tomato sauce with lots of garlic and basil... There's a recipe for every day of the week!

Indeed! My very favourite vegetable. So versatile. I have a fabulous recipe for a cauliflower purée, which involves cooking it in milk and then blending with lots of butter. It's divine. More prosaically, I roast florets with quartered shallots, in olive oil, sea salt, black pepper and ground cumin.

That's nearly 10bs in just over 3mrhs so just under a lb a week

Slow and steady

Meals look fine portion wise and healthy

Some mn are stuffed on a lettuce leaf !!

Assume you are a vegetarian ?

If not then chicken is fab and filling and high in protein

Def eat protein to keep you fuller

Only thing may be calories as nuts and avacardo are high in calories

Try mfp. The app is free

Mfp also had a camera pic feature so you can easily put in your meals to see what calories they are

It's a wild world where lentils, tangerines and plums are discouraged 🙁

Oh not a vegetarian. Seen the chicken meal. That page hadnt refreshed

That's great so adding in some chicken ham slices to keep you filled. Eating beans /vegs don't keep me full but add protein /meat /eggs /tuna etx and does

Anyway I now weigh 93 kg so the food pictured on this thread has enabled me to lose a kg in the last 2 weeks, so I feel quite content (despite my "laughable" portions.)

The cauliflower tip is a good one, and if you don't want to completely low carb, I sometimes mix cauliflower rice in with a half portion of normal rice to eek it out, and it sounds a good tip to mash it with some potato to reduce potato size too,
Or swede works with or instead of mashed potato.

What?

@BoobsGalore plates look like massive amounts of food.

I love food. I cook, I eat, I love food and have no issues.

OPS plates are HUGE!

If your plates are bigger, you are eating way too much food..

Only if you're a low carber.

I'm 9.5 stone, and 5' 8". My plates are about 1/3 of OPs.

Honestly.

I don't deprive myself.

I love food.

Balls.