to think i can lose weight on a balanced diet

[lemondropcake]

Over the last few years I piled on 2.5 stone due to stress. My circumstances then changed for the good and I have maintained my weight for the last year.
I'm 5'3 and weigh 13.7 stone and I'm a size 16 - not good!

Phisically I'm really fit, I walk seven miles a day, usually 17,000 steps on average. I'm a postie.

My diet is similar to this everyday

Breakfast: large bowl of cerial with semi skimmed milk and a diet energy drink
lunch: cuppa soup and a tub of pineapple
dinner: a very large dinner of something like homemade curry, minni naan. Rice and three popadums. Or something like two chicken fajita wraps with potato wedges and salad.
snacks tend to be fruit or an ice Lolly.

I hate the thought of going on a proper diet like slimming world, is it possible to lose weight on a balanced diet with exercise?

You can lose weight by eating anything: the key is portion control.

Just lose the triple carbs with your curry. Ma'am bread is very calorific.

As is fruit, if you eat a lot of it.

Try tracking what you eat with myfitnesspal.

Yes, it's definitely possible to eat healthy, balanced meals and lose weight. I've lost a stone fairly quickly by eating as follows:

Peanut butter (Meridian, no added sugar or salt, no palm oil) on wholegrain toast, topped with a mashed banana for brekkie.

Lunch is a big salad with mixed leaves, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, sugar snaps, broccoli, jalapenos, peppers, pineapple or mango, grilled chicken / prawns / smoked salmon / peppered mackerel. With a lovely light soy and ginger and chilli dressing.

Dinner is stir fry / chicken noodle broth with loads of vegetables / veggie curry /veggie fajitas.

No snacks or alcohol during the week. I was consuming way too many calories having a glass of wine with dinner, or some chocolate after dinner, etc.

It's been fairly easy, tbh. I'm always nicely full after a meal, have loads more energy, and am eating 8-10 portions of fruit and vegetables a day. We stopped buying chocolate and crisps etc, as once they're there we'll eat them, but if they're not, we don't miss them!

You really should have a proper lunch though. Cup a soup is not going to keep you going through the afternoon. I used to eat like that, only thinking minimal calories as opposed to nutrition. I'd have one weetabix with hot water for breakfast, a low cal Cup a soup and an apple for lunch, and steamed chicken or fish with vegetables for dinner. I was bloody starving! And then I'd have the odd day where the hunger got the better of me and I'd eat everything! Far better to eat proper nutritious meals and never get so starving that you raid the fridge and horse down everything in it. Though that might just be me .

Of course you can lose weight just by eating healthily. I agree with PPs about using my fitness pal to get an idea of how many calories you're eating.

From the examples you've posted, I would suggest:

• PLEASE lose the energy drink for breakfast
• have a proper lunch
• ease off the carbs in your evening meal

I'm not surprised you're gaining weight. Your diet is really carb-heavy.

Breakfast: large bowl of cerial with semi skimmed milk and a diet energy drink

What on earth are you doing drinking an energy drink for breakfast? You really don't need one. Apart from this, cereal is high in carbohydrate. You'd be better off with a high protein meal, so something like poached eggs on toast.

lunch: cuppa soup and a tub of pineapple

Highly processed food and also high in sugar - as well as carbs.

dinner: a very large dinner of something like homemade curry, minni naan. Rice and three popadums. Or something like two chicken fajita wraps with potato wedges and salad.

Well, large portion sizes won't help you. But given what you've eaten during the rest of the day I'm not surprised you're feeling hungry by dinner time. High carb meals make you hungry later on. But rice, and poppadoms and naan are equally high in carbs.

snacks tend to be fruit or an ice Lolly.

So more sugar - which = carbohydrate.

Your diet is hugely biased towards sugar/carbohydrate. You need to cut that right down, in favour of fat and protein.

I'm sorry - I didn't actually answer your original question

Yes of course you can lose weight on a balanced diet - but there's no one agreed definition of a 'balanced' diet. Yours is way too carb-heavy.

But you need to worry a lot less about exercise - weight loss is much more about diet.

Have you been checked out by your GP? I have PCOS which means I can eat 'clean' (and log eery calorie to be certain), do 10,000 steps per day PLUS some more challenging exercise every other day and I'd either lose no weight or half a pound a fortnight. All because of the PCOS. (Insulin resistance). Some women can have similar without too many symptoms, so it is worth checking it out. With a diet very similar to your's and a similar amount of exercise, I struggled to lose weight at all whereas most women, given the same diet and level of exercise - would lose 2lbs a week or more.

ETA: Carbs are not always the culprit. I once GAINED 10lb on a strict low carb diet (in just around 2 weeks!) Yet could consistently lose weight - albeit very slowly due to the PCOS - on a low fat diet. But what worked for me best in the end was wholefoods - so I even managed to lose 3 stone eating full fat milk, butter, cream - you name it. But everything in moderation. I think any diet that resitricts one food group, like low carbing, can be very unnatural, hard to keep going long term and simply won't work for everyone. I decided in the end to avoid fads and not cut out a single food group - and that worked best for me. Low carbing was disastrous. Everyone's body is different, and I'm always cynical when I see people recommend it.

Low carbing isn't a fat.
It isn't about cutting out a food group.
It's about re-arranging the proportions of what you eat.
High fat, medium protein, low carb.

I'd personally have a large salad for lunch, with cottage cheese and/or small amount of pasta (to bulk out), yogurt and blueberries would be better than cereal and ditch the energy drink.

On this diet you could also include hard boiled eggs to add eg to salad or make an egg mayo sandwich with cress (use reduced fat Mayo no butter or Marge on bread.

BoldKitties when I was trying to lose weight I added fruit (pears etc) for snacks and Ryvita minis for snacks too, also the occasional chocolate bar if I fancied it.

Still lost weight.

Or crudités with dips.

Hah! Low carbing isn't a fad

Ma'am bread

Is that what the queen has with her curry?

It would be really easy to make your diet slimming world friendly. It's really easy and you don't have to weigh much.

Change your breakfast to porridge or weetabix (they would be a healthy extra)

Lunch could be home made soup or if you really want a packet then the 1% fat mugshots are free.

For dinner you can easily make a homemade curry for zero or a few syns. You can have as much rice as you want. You can even syn a naan or wraps for your fajitas.

For pudding you could syn an ice lolly (if you haven't already used syns already) fruit is also free.

I agree to make a food diary and record everything, even it's a few bits of the children's left overs. Also don't drink energy drinks.

I think you can lose weight on a healthy balanced diet.

Thank you thenightsky . I knew there was a joke in that autocorrect fail.

I don't think what you're eating is a very healthy diet though. You don't specify what cereal you're eating, but many are a large percent sugar. The diet energy drink isn't a good choice. Diet drinks are often full of substitute sugars that keep the brain wanting them. You'd be better changing the cereal for porridge with fruit and nuts in and having a tea or coffee. Lunch wise, again cupasoup is often full of sugar and chemicals, you'd be better making up a salad or a homemade soup. The fruit is fine, although I think fruit without the gas is better. Evening meal sounds fine, although we don't know what you're putting in the curry.

I've change how I've been eating for the past two months, I gave up sugar and avoid processed foods as much as possible. I've still eaten loads of fruit (probably five or six portions a day) and eaten potato, rice, bread and pasta. I've also swopped diet yoghurts for full fat, and low fat spreads for butter. Everything has been so tasty and filling. I've lost a stone so far (8 wks). I'm a total convert, after years of doing ww and SW (with on and off success). I've still been out, drunk alcohol. Had the occasional dessert or biscuit, but I really feel like I've lost the monster in me that was a sugar addict (and I ate a hell of a lot of chocolate and biscuits, I was a pro!).

Hah! Autocorrect somewhat excelled itself there! That's what happens when I post on a bus, in a hurry, because I know I'm about to hit a signal blackspot!

OP could easily cut their carbs down to 1/3 of that example day and still not be anywhere near low carbing. Just eating them at a much more moderate level.

You are seriously lacking protein in your diet and it's back to front, you need to more in the morning, have a decent lunch then a lighter dinner. The calories from massive meal you are eating at night are not getting burnt off. Also your food a very processed, slimming world might be a good option just to show you how to eat real food. Also on exercise front walking is fine for maintaining a weight but you need to push your body by increasing heart rate through more rigorous cardio or weight training.

The only thing I am against with slimming world is diet stuff. It is just crap! Personally I have real butter (but just a little bit), real sugar (but just a little bit), full day Greek yogurt (with no added sweeter/sugar) which is really high in protein. You need to start thinking about whole foods and stop eating processed foods. Stop diet energy drinks. Have a black coffee!

It sounds very carb/sugar filled which is not healthy at all, despite the initial appearance of being healthy
Do some research and Google low carb or sugar free etc and so much info out there.
I truly was shocked when I first became informed, I thought I was eating so healthy lots of fruit and low fat stuff, but really it's all crap.

try weight training and eating less processed foods. Bread is processed. So is cereal. Max once or twice a week. Cup a soups have no nutritional value. Make your own, much more filling.

Also low fat=chemical shitstorm.

And finally, check out rebelfit.

Portion control and drop the energy drink. Larger portion for lunch but definitely less for dinner.

Ues you can loose weight and keep a good balanced diet. As PP's say, it is down to the amount you eat. Reduce your food by 10% and you will loose weight. You may feel hungry a lot of the time, but ... it's part of the deal Hungry and healthy or hungry and overweight.,

The OP walks 7 miles a day carrying a heavy bag. I don't think extra exercise is what's needed here, more better nutrition from real food and sensible portion sizes.

Ok, a lot noted. A kick up the bum for sure.

I will prepare a salad when I finish work to eat as a late lunch.
I will cut back on carbs in the evening and try fill up on protein and veg.

I need a big breakfast in the morning, but will try something different. I hate eggs and porridge though.
I love full fat tubs of yogurt like Greek yogurt, they are around 500cals a tub, is that a no go for breakfast?
I know the energy drink is bad bad bad, need to stop this!

Yes I love fruit, especially pineapple. I tend to eat the snack tubs from Morrison's, they are quite big though.