To ask what you would eat if you were trying to lose weight?

[Bibs2014]

Breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks.

Interested to see!

Most of these things suggested are not sustainable.
First thing is mindset... it's not a diet but a new way of eating from now. If you just diet as soon as you go back to normal eating you pile it back on and more. If you want low carb and protein then that's what you do forever now.
I eat lots of protein now, don't do cereal or cereal bars. Swapped traditional carbs for things like quinoa, tabouleh and mutiseed flatbreads. Lots of lean meat and fish. Have at least one vegan or vegeataruan days. Lots of fruit and veg. Reduced snacking. Lots of water and tea. No more sugary fruit juices and drinks. Really combat sugar now.
Since doing this weight has come off and continues to stay off.

I lost weight very gradually by changing lots of little things about by diet. I didn't have a healthy diet before.
I stopped having sugar in my tea, wasn't keen on the taste at first but after a week I was used to it.
I drink lots of water, and herbal/fruit flavoured teas.
I cut down in the carbs, I still eat them but in much smaller quantities.
I base my meals around lots of veg some protein.
I stopped snacking as it ruins my appetite for my next meal.
Best thing I read was that it is ok to be hungry when you know you are having a meal in an hour or 2. Nothing will happen if you are hungry for a bit and don't have a snack.

Like PP has said it needs to be sustainable, I manage by 'dieting' during the day (porridge for breakfast, salad with no carbs for lunch and only fruit for snacks) then I can pretty much have a 'normal' dinner. I kept this up for a year and had lost a stone and was keeping it off, then I went on holiday and ate what I liked and didn't get back into it when I got back, I've put all the weight back on but no extra so I'm making changes again now.

Marking my place!

The only thing that works for me is ditching breakfast in favour of going to the gym, having a healthy small lunch eg mashed avocado with lemon & chilli flakes, or plain yoghurt with sugar free granola & berries. Snacks are a handful of Brazil nuts or fruit. Dinner is fish, quinoa and veg.

I find that if I don't eat crap after dinner the weight just falls off.

Works for me but i can't say I enjoy it!

Completely cut out alcohol and snacks.

One piece toast for breakfast
Soup for lunch
Fish or chicken and veg for tea.

That's it.

I go on around 1000 calories a day for 2 weeks and can shift half a stone in that time. Only works if you are not hugely overweight. I may do it 3 x a year. After Xmas and holidays when I put weight on.

If you are bigger and need a sustainable programme then I would initially cut down rather than cut out and take it from there. 1 biscuit instead of 4. One glass of wine instead of a bottle etc etc.

It's hard to cut out everything in one go.

My 1300 calorie days are along these lines:

B: Special K (30g, I weigh it) Greek yoghurt and some berries. Yoghurt is instead of milk.
L: 2 medium eggs (scrambled) on 2 small wholemeal toasts. I use the Warburton wholemeal that is 55 cals a slice.
D: spag bol with salad. Half a plate of salad, small portion of bolegense and 60g of wholemeal spaghetti.

Basically I make sure my evening meal is mainly veg or salad then protein and smallest part of meal is always carbs. I've switched to wholemeal pasta, brown rice and new potatoes portion controlled for most meals.

Snacks: pepper + cucumber and a dollop of humus / banana / handful of mixed nuts.

I easily get 7 a day like this, not quite up to 10 yet.

I use low GI principles.

Thx everyone. Ive tried so many bloody diets over the years! Was interested to see what works for others. Only have a stone/1.5 stone to lose really.

Breakfast: toast and marmite or cereal
Lunch: a sandwich and some fruit
Dinner: sensible portion of a substantial meal, which can be anything from vegetable omelette to pizza and chips.

For me, it works best to not overthink it, just eat what I need and drop the extras. If I make rules I rebel against them. The other key for me is not to even look at the sweets, chocolate, crisps etc in the supermarket. If I don't see it, I can't impulsively buy and eat it. I treat those aisles the same as the meat aisle as a veggie - not relevant to me. I've lost nearly 2 stone. My starting point was 'what did I do differently when I thought I was naturally slim?'

Ok my take on this.

I'm not into cutting out whole food groups, in particular carbs which a lot of people seem to do, but I have found that just cutting down on bread/pasta/rice etc has helped me to lose weight and keep it off.

So..if I have toast for breakfast, I won't have any bread products with lunch, so no sarnie/roll with soup etc, but I'll then maybe have some wholemeal carbs: rice pasta etc with dinner instead.

Or I'll have a low-carb breakfast, maybe have a sandwich for lunch but then try and minimise the carbs at dinner.

My whole way of eating has changed in the last couple of years. I used to reach automatically for a packet of crisps or something similarly salty for a quick snack, and think nothing of it. My wine consumption was out of control for a bit too, and I have really cut back on this, not just for weight purposes but also my general health and well being. Myself and OH would think nothing of drinking a bottle between us EVERY night, which was ridiculous.

I try to eat as clean as possible, and cook from scratch so I know what we are eating.

A typicalish day for me now is:

B - Full fat Greek yogurt, frozen berries, honey and mixed flax/seeds sprinkled on top.
L - Homemeade spicy vegetable soup, w/meal pitta bread or 2 egg ham and mushroom omlette with salad.
D - Tofu or chicken and vegetable stir fry with egg noodles.

I run 3 times a week and do a couple of excellent You Tube videos a few times a week, one for arms with hand weights and one for abs. I've also started doing a pilates class once a week.

I also make sure I walk/run at least 11,000 steps per day - I have a Fitbit which IMHO has really helped keep me on track and made me much more aware of what I am/am not doing.

I personally don't think 'diets' in the traditional sense work as once you stop/reach goal weight it's too easy to put the weight back on again, and often they just are not sustainable longterm.

I believe in changing the way you eat for life.

Oh and I still let myself have treats, a bit of chocolate (just not the whole family sized bar), or a bowl of ice cream (rather than the tub!)

Hope some of this helps

Can I also recommend this stuff to sprinkle on your porridge/yogurt/salads, it's really nice to eat and has a lot of nutrients. I also find it helps me to feel fuller so I'm less likely to want to pick at other stuff.

I only discovered it recently and would highly recommend.

Davethecat - I used to sprinkle that on my porridge / muesli a few years back.

Is that a Holland & Barratt jobbie Dave?

Forgot to add that I make sure I do bare minimum of 10k steps (aim for 15k) and that burns me another 400-700 calories I'm pretty overweight but I tend not to eat my exercise calories

Use MFP as a meal planner, don't log foods after you gave eaten them. Seeing the difference between half a portion of white rice versus 200g of new potatoes always means I go for the new potatoes [well almost always]

Great thread OP with some inspiring ideas for healthy eating and keeping the weight down.

I've been losing and gaining the same 5 lbs for at least 3 years, but would really like to weigh a stone less. Never seem to sustain the momentum of initial weight loss, and succumb to the lures of scones, crisps, dips, sweets etc, etc (you get the idea!)

I got mine in Sainsburys crunchie, I think you can get it in most largish supermarkets.

It is a bit pricey (about £4.50 a pack from memory), but it really does last for ages.

Low carb/low GI works best for me.

So - smaller portions of carb at meals, increased protein to compensate so I don't get hungry, and obviously cut right down on any sweet things and booze. Switch breakfast and lunch to low GI options like yoghurt, salads, eggs etc. Switch any snacks to nuts.

Oh and try to avoid eating the kids' leftovers

I should eat like this all the time but in reality I do it when I feel particularly flabby, then backslide.

Breakfast cereal (bite sized shredded wheat or shreddies) with 1% milk and sweetener

Snacks 0% fat activia yoghurt or fruit or chopped veg

Lunch either left over dinner or jacket potato with beans or a 5 bean chilli or soup. if out on appointments then a pack of sushi

Dinner 5% beef mince bolognaise or chicken casserole with new potatoes or chicken chasseur with roast potatoes (fry lite spray) or chicken salad. loads of veg, I can get 7 portions into casseroles and 3 into bolognaise.

Drink loads of water, tea with 1% mile about 5 cups a day (only 2 caffeinated) sometimes a white coffee but avoid latte etc avoid wine, spirits with diet mixer is fine.

my tip is to not let yourself get hungry, when starting to lose weight try eating a couple of apples with a pint of water.

Carbs in the morning only.

Lots of beans and pulses - they keep you fuller for longer.

No snacks.

Increase water intake, herbal teas etc.

And the big one for me - reduce alcohol consumption. Apart from the calories, it makes me more hungry and I find I crave carbs.

Increase exercise.

I've been overweight all my life, went on my first diet at 7 years old.

My problem has always been cravings for fat and salt and sugar, but sticking to a low fat diet just made all those things worse for years, hence my heaviest weight was 19st 1lb just before Christmas 2015

I joined weight watchers to try and lose it and managed, in just over a year, to lose a grand total of...... 10lbs.

I convinced myself FOR A YEAR that it was working and it was my willpower that was the problem. I hated myself every time i "cheated" for god sake.

Then, a month ago I got pointed in the direction of Bootcamp on MN and the fabulous ladies over there talked me through low carb and how it can help with people who suffer badly with cravings like me. I went away and read everything I could find on low carb diets, the saftey of them, any studies that had been done etc and eventually decided to give it a go for a week to see what happened.

I lost 8lbs in the first 4 days. Went to my weight watchers meeting that night to double check my scales weren't broken! Nope, all real. Probably all water but that's ok, it was a real boost.

The first week was hard. I didn't sleep longer than 3 hours for 2 nights in a row, I had a headache from the lack of sugar and a weird, nervous energy that felt odd. That all cleared after 10 days though.

I decided to carry on for a bit because for the first time in my entire life, I wasn't hungry, didn't really care about food and had energy I didn't know what to do with. I wasn't craving anything at all but didn't feel "full" at all, just not hungry.

I've been on the diet 4 weeks now, and I'm 17lbs lighter as a result.

This is what I eat/ drink:

4 litres of water per day (well, 2 litres unless I'm being uber strict about it!)

under 25g of carbs, and all the carbs I eat must come from nutrient dense veggies like spinach, broccoli, cauliflower etc.

70% of my overall caloric intake comes from fats. (This is the bit I really struggled to get my head around)

The rest of my calories come from protein.

I eat between 1000 and 1200 calories a day.

So in a typical day:

Breakfast: Protein shake with almond milk

Lunch:
Avocado, full fat mayo, cherry tomatoes and streaky bacon with salad leaves.
Sometimes a protein shake
Olives, chorizo, sundried tomatoes and mozzarella

Dinner: So many choices but regular meals:

Rump steak with blue cheese sauce
Stir fry prawns/ chicken with peanut butter sauce and veggies
Slow cooked lamb shank in a port sauce with creamed cabbage
Cauliflower cheese ()
Pork dinner with crackling and a bit of apple sauce and gravy
Chicken curry made with cream
Thai green chicken curry made with coconut cream usually
Lots of salmon done various ways

You just don't feel hungry at all. I occasionally forget about meals, hence the protein shakes and very rarely snack. If I do, it's generally as a result of not drinking enough!

Less. Switch to smaller plates if necessary.
3 meals a day and no snacks.
Lean meat and fish (or other source of protein if veggie etc) and plenty of fresh veg and fruit.
Watch out for the booze - full of calories.
Get enough sleep. I think being tired makes me really hungry.
Exercise in a way you enjoy - more sustainable.
I have to stop myself finishing off the kids' food.

When people say they 'treat' themselves, how often is that? Once a week/month/fortnight?

Bibs2014 when I was on weight watchers, big treats like takeaway or meals out were weekly, they even give you a weekly budget of overflow points just for that

I'd also have got chocolate every evening within my points budget.

Now I'm in LCHF, I never have 'treats' because every meal is a treat if that makes sense? The food you can eat is phenomenal and you just aren't hungry afterwards so no need to binge on anything. That's probably been the biggest revelation for me.

I'm on a diet or really I'm just trying to lose weight by cutting out crap.

Breakfast - spinach and feta omelette
Lunch - salmon with broccoli and asparagus salad
Dinner - coriander pesto pasta and salad (carbs after exercise only).

I've also cut out sugar. The cravings took about 6/7 weeks to dissipate but they're gone now.

The obvious stuff. Perhaps egg and yogurt for breakfast, piece of fruit for snack, some kind of salad for lunch and then grilled chicken and veggies for dinner. 30 mins cardio a day on an exercise and lots of water and herbal teas to break the hunger cycle.