AIBU to think I'm not eating too much?

[Secretlifeofme]

I'm getting a bit frustrated because I am reading healthily and exercising and although I lost quite a lot of weight last year (7kg) a couple of kg have crept back on Oct Christmas and I can't seem to shift them. A friend has suggested I might be eating too much but I really don't think I am! Here's what I have each day:

Breakfast ; a shake made with one banana, a handful of spinach and 75ml coconut milk

Lunch : 100-150g chicken with salad or vegetables

Dinner : a salmon fillet with vegetables, or a fillet of white fish with vegetables, or a red pepper stuffed with lentils, spinach and feta

I have a couple of coffees a day - usually one Americano and one cappuccino - and I snack on a protein bar in the afternoon. And that's it! I have an active job, do about 15k steps per day without trying and do an exercise DVD two to three times a week. On Saturdays DH and I have a 'day off' where we eat what we want pretty much.

So my AIBU is to ask, am I BU to think this isn't too much? I'm 5 foot 2 and currently weigh 62kg, which is at least 2kg over what I woukd like to weigh. Where am I going wrong? Any advice appreciated!

Yeah, I have checked and my watch is pretty reliable.

Some interesting food for thought (ha!) here. On the basis of this thread I won't be taking a protein bar to work tomorrow and I'll avoid the cappuccino! I don't really want to make many more radical changes at the moment but I'll report back. Thanks everyone :) of course sent further advice would be gratefully received!

use an app to keep track of the EXACT amount of calories you eat.

Steps might not be enough for you. Walking or going up or down stairs do not count as exercise for me - not saying they are not, just saying my body disregard them completely. I have tried! Running works a lot better for me, I can see the results within a couple of weeks.

You might also be better off joining a class, or a park run. People can be very lazy with exercise dvd, and not push themselves enough. I would replace my binge day at the weekend by a proper exercise class.

OP, do try fibre one bars! They taste much more calorific than they are! They're about 98 calories and theres a lemon drizzle one and a toffee one.

I also find when I feel starving and lightheaded downing a pint of water and eating an apple helps me feel full.

Get your thyroid checked?
What are your portions like?

Regarding the steps and exercise, you should only count what you do over your normal routine: if you got fat whilst doing a daily 7k steps for example (random number), you won't lose any weight with these 7k - it would be the steps you do on top of that which might make a difference.

Walking doesn't work for me, so it really not helping everyone to lose weight.

Sadly I don't live in the UK and can't get Fibre one bars here (just checked) but could stock up next time I come over, thanks for the recommendation!

I reckon you are snacking more than you think, because you gave your daily diet but when quizzed there’s a biscuit coming in here and there - maybe you are eating more biscuits etc than you realise?

If I were you I'd work out your tdee (total daily energy expenditure) here is a calculator - tdeecalculator.net

That will tell you what you should be eating when you select cutting. It also gives you your macros which if you download my fitness pal you can choose the calorie intake and macros advised on there. It takes a couple of weeks to hit your macros exactly. I was eating 1200 calories and losing sooo slowly. Worked out my tdee and was suppose to be eating 1800 (im tall) and the weight started coming off much faster!

You can also select low carb macros on the website above if you dont like eating alot

Looking at all the very different answers I would experiment and remember that you are the laboratory.

Eg I go by the premise that carbs drive insulin and insulin drives weight gain. I am someone for whom my fasting blood glucose, on a normal carb diet, is the higher end of normal (some would say pre-diabetic). Therefore I have a low tolerance for carbs. Others, due to their genetic make up, would tolerate more carbs (my DH can eat a lot more carbs)

You can mess up your diet by your cheat day, varying the amount of of milk in your coffee by 100ml, frying your dinner in oil, eating too much pasta/rice/potatoes or 250cal protein bars. Every little thing can add up

Unless you are measuring/logging everything that goes into your mouth you really have no clue how many calories you are consuming.

My fitness Pal is awesome for weight loss. Best thing nothing is banned if you can make it fit in your calories, you just become much more aware of the amounts you can consume and still lose weight (5 stone lost)

What’s this? No food at all for 36 hours? How often?

No food, but plenty of drink (allowable sort, I.e. tea, coffee no sugar, a splash of full fat milk if you take milky tea/cream in coffee, bone broth/meat broth with a pinch of salt).

Eat nothing after your evening meal, nothing the next day, have your breakfast the following day. Repeat every other day.

It is a fantastic health practice which has wide ranging health benefits, not just weight loss. I had this eczema rash on my torso that wouldn’t shift. After two iterations of fasting, it’s gone. You feel fantastic when you are fasting as body releases extra adrenaline to help you function as normal. Hunger is cyclical, so really you only need to distract yourself during your usual mealtime window, after that hunger signal is switched off. You feel literally as if you have had your meal.

Highly recommend. Easy, straightforward and very effective.

Add up the hidden calories in drinks and snacks, and definitely no 'off' days while you're still trying to loose weight, it'll come off increasingly slowly as you get near your goal and annoyingly you may need to up your exercise. Get sweaty.

I'm 5'1 and 8.10st, (used to be 14 stone) and I need to loose the 5lbs that have crept on the past 6 months. It's such a pain when it's stubborn weight.

How on earth is her breakfast 900 calories

@StealthPolarBear

Her breakfast isn’t 900 calories, everyone has said it’s breakfast and snacks.
Banana - 110
Coconut milk - Anywhere up to 500 if it’s a cup
Spinach - 20

Protein bar - 273 (I believe thats what the OP stated)

Cappuccino - 100 (plus 2 other coffees)

So actually that could even be over 1000 calories while you could have a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast at 150 calories and some fruit as snacks. I mean even a chocolate bar has less calories than the protein bar most of the time.

Fancy what if you are someone who likes to exercise hard most days?

Thanks Fancy, I might try that.

Start using MFP it is frustrating how some seemingly healthy foods can be quite calorific, it looks very balanced though.

Update - it's evening here and today I took a satsuma to work for my afternoon snack instead of a protein bar. Felt really pleased with myself until I got home starving and had an enormous spoonful of peanut butter before making dinner ah well, tomorrow is another day I guess!

Have you tried my fitness pal? Look at your calorie intake. It’s amazing how much stuff has in that you wouldn’t realise

Too many calories; spend a few days logging with My Fitness Pal and you can see throughout the day breakdown any changes you can make. If you eat roughly the same things each day (which it sounds like you do) you only need to weigh/measure each thing once and then it's easy to find it again on MFP so it takes away lots of the re-work. And knock the cheat day on the head, or at least log it for the first week and see how many calories you're really consuming. Good luck!

Sorry for slight derail but @WorldofTofuness you mentioned appetite suppressants.... what did/do you use?

You need to have better snacks ready when you come home, even a few carrot sticks and tomatoes would be better. Peanut butter is not bad for you anyway, but you shouldn't feel guilty. Starvation diet don't work.

I really believe it helps massively to only eat seated at a table and taking your time. The guilty snacking and grazing mean people don't appreciate their food, and over eat.

Far better to come home, allow yourself a decent snack and 5 minutes of peace then start cooking.

What do you eat at the weekend?

I think it’s really common to be strict with yourself during the week then ‘treat’ yourself at the weekend.

A big breakfast, a takeaway, a bottle of wine, a chocolate bar, Sunday dinner with a pudding. These can add up really quickly without you noticing.

You are eating a lot of protein. Maybe cut down a little bit.