To ask if this is a healthy lunch?

[Vilanelle]

I am easing into a low blood sugar diet.

For lunch today I had a few slices of extra lean chicken breast, green olives, lettuce, carrot, edamame beans, table spoon of low fat cottage cheese, spoon of hummus and a wholemeal pitta.

It beats my usual sausage roll, crisps etc but colleague saying it isn't very healthy.

Was planning on having the same tomorrow as really enjoyed!

How about focusing on what you should eat lots of not what you need to deny yourself.

Base all meals around veg with a bit of lean protein and wholewheat carbs. Add in some dairy and fruit and two portions of oily fish per week and you're on to a winner. Don't obsess about any one food group. It's miserable.

Or a slice of dark rye bread instead of the pita, will be more filling and lower GI

quickly realised I could have a small plate of pasta or a huge one of veggies, so it didn't take long to get in to the swing.
I second this^^
I’ve lost a stone, mainly of fat around my middle, by reducing calories from pasta, bread and potatoes and instead upping the vegetables. It means I eat pretty much what the rest of the family does but I just have a small amount of pasta instead of the 100 + grams I was having and add some broccoli or something on the side.
I haven’t cut anything out, but I’ve changed my habits of toasted sandwiches and sausage rolls as post work snacks and have celery or carrots instead. Toasties are Saturday lunch now, Crisps at the weekend only.
overall, I am eating less than I used to eg I used to eat a whole pizza - I eat half now.

What you had sounds fine. As you say, better than what you were having in terms of vitamins etc going in.

Sounds fine to me, but don’t engage with your colleague about it or they may feel entitled to comment on it every day (which would be very annoying to me)

Dairy marketed as 'low fat' as opposed to regular does more often than not have sugar or flavouring added.

Here's the first research article I found after a basic Google: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4742721/.

Skimmed milk is basically whole milk centrifuged so the fat can be removed. Then it's fortified with vitamins because they've removed some of the natural vitamins because they're fat soluble. Again do a Google, it's not better for you.

People will always give their opinion. Sounds fine to me.

Can you give some examples of low fat dairy alternatives which have sugar added Loulouuz? And we’re not talking fruit flavoured yogurts but actual diary products- semi skimmed milk, reduced fat cheddar, fat free greek yogurt etc etc

Producers don't have to differentiate between natural sugars already in the product and added sugars, which might also be naturally occurring. Just have a look and compare, it's not unusual to find more sugar in the fat free version of a product. I'm not sure why you're caught up on it anyway, a bit of research will show you that on the whole full fat is better for us regardless

So you don’t know of one product?

I’m caught up because it’s incorrect. No point spreading misinformation when people are asking about diet

How much of what you listed did you eat? If you're doing bsd then it's all about the calories, and hence all about the quantities. You need to weigh and calorie count.

Tesco natural yogurt 5.9g, tesco low fat natural yogurt 6.9g. Small difference but literally the first one I looked at. Did you read that article?

Most of the people on this thread think fat free alternatives aren't healthier, they're not. So its not really misinformation

It's not "added" sugar in the lower fat version though - because some of the fat has been removed, there is a higher proportion of the carbohydrate part of the yogurt, which contains lactose. In the higher fat version, more fat so a smaller proportion of carbohydrate. If the manufacturer adds anything to the yoghurt they have to declare it on the packaging.

Here’s a Harvard Medical School article. It’s not quite as simple as full fat good/ low fat or dairy free bad.

www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/is-low-fat-or-full-fat-the-better-choice-for-dairy-products

Fage natural Greek yogurt 0% fat, per 100g, 3g sugar 10.3 g protein, 54 cal
Fage natural Greek yogurt 5% fat, per 100g, 3g sugar, 9g protein, 93 cal

Low fat cottage cheese is fine OP. You’ll have enough fats from the Olives and Humus.

How do you make a chicken extra lean?
Sounds like a very nutritious lunch.

The only thing I can see wrong is having dairy at the same as meat as the calcium inhibits the absorption of iron from the meat.

Did you read that article?

I skimmed it, it’s not about sugar content of products.

As NannyR explained your example doesn’t show any added sugar.

There's no added sugar in plain low fat or fat free dairy like cheese or yogurt. There probably is in the flavoured in and there will be extra sugar or other additives in lower fat versions of things like biscuits, but not in plain dairy products.

The only thing I can see wrong is having dairy at the same as meat as the calcium inhibits the absorption of iron from the meat.
Chicken breast has very little iron - about the same as the lettuce weight for weight. If you were concerned about iron intake, you’d probably eat something else.

OP there’s a lot of confusing information, nit picking and borderline orthorexia on this thread i’d ignore It if I were you. It sounds like your colleague may be trying to sabotage your weight loss - ignore her, you must realise that your new lunch is healthier than the old one.

Clicked on this expecting to see some competitive under eaters in the replies, and I wasn't disappointed.

I still can’t get over semi skimmed milk being sugar water. What ignorance

I love a hard boiled egg but my colleagues do not

Try shelling the egg at home, for some reason they don't smell as much.

OP

Read the actual labels of food, the 'low fat' on the front of the package can mean, 'lower fat than the full fat version but still loads of fat'

There's nothing wrong with fat. If she thinks there is she needs to educate herself.