To ask what you think of my average "working day" food?

[Stamen196]

Just got off phone to doctors. BMI is 37 and I need to get it down to below 30 for many reasons.

Background: I carry my weight relatively well so am a size 16, but this doesn't help as I just let it creep up without many people seeming to notices. I have PCOS, not planning on kids so no particular issue with fertility, but it does affect my ability to lose weight and metabolism.

I would say this is my average working day:

• Breakfast: 6.30am. porridge with honey or fruit and fibre with milk). Cup of tea.

-Snack: 10ish. Usually a mini kit kat or apple, or both if I'm hungry!

• Lunch: 12.30. Soup and bag of low cal crisps such as pop chips for lunch, and maybe a yoghurt if I'm home or an apple. On a particularly bad day, a couple of biscuits.

• 3.30pm: Afternoon snack. If I'm out it's a skinny cappuccino. If I'm in, whatever is in house. I am tired and energy levels low and so reach for 2 biscuits (not if I've had biscuits at lunch though). 🙄

• 8pmish: Dinner. Usual types of thing such as jacket potato, mushroom risotto, salmon stir fry or pasta, but probably a bigger portion than I realise. Veggies in there though. Some sort of sweet thing afterwards... Usually chocolate.

I only drink wine at weekends but I tend to stick to 1 glass. But my weekend diet is probably way worse with a meal out or takeaway featuring at some point!

What do you all think of my average day of eating compared to your own? Is it awful? Any tips would be very gratefully appreciated.
Do you worst....I need it!

@Bahhh

Google it. Bigger bones might weigh three pounds more but not several stone! Skeletons weigh bugger all.

But it makes sense that a wider set person weighs signifcantly more than a lighter boned/set person with more muscle and bone, but not necessarily more body fat.

DP and I are more or less the same height. I have very fine bones, tiny wrists, narrow shoulders and rib cage, albeit wide hips and long thigh bones. DPs shoulders, wrists and chest must be twice mine.

If I was a normal/slim BMI, I would probably weigh about 10-11 stone. DP would weigh at least 14 stone -we've checked this using a US navy measuring tool that calculates lean body mass, even if DP was totally ripped and not a slightly podgy middle aged man, he'd still weight at least 14 stone.

When I lost 7 stone in my early twenties, I didn't even need to try. I just lived in a house 30 minutes walk away from my job, and I'd sometimes do that trip twice in one day. I don't remember consciously dieting but the weight just fell off - perhaps I was just too busy having fun to eat!! Now it has to be a complete discipline and lifestyle change.

Yes, people have different builds, but that's why the BMI ranges are so vast. For my height, for example, I could be between 8st and 11st (or thereabouts) and be in the healthy zone. That range is there to allow for different builds, muscle mass, etc.

I know it's easy to try and make excuses (busy job, heavy bones, muscle mass, stress, whatever) as I spent years doing the same. For most of my adult life I was fat, ricocheting from one "diet" to another and trying to keep my BMI to an "acceptable" 25.
Wish I'd realised earlier that "eat less, move more" does really work. Now I have a BMI of 20 and maintain it fairly easily through eating well (ish) and running. I now realise that, before, I had no idea what a healthy lifestyle looks like.

I am also trying to get my BMI under 30, and have been working on it since March. To help, I've been keeping a daily food diary, so here's a typical day for me, if it helps:

Breakfast - Muesli (50g), low fat yogurt, Latte (made at home with skimmed milk and coffee). Sometimes I have 2 weetabix instead of muesli. At the weekends I sometimes have 2 eggs scrambled and 60g of smoked salmon.

Lunch - Salad with - Lettuce, Tomato, Cucumber, 20g of blue cheese (or feta), a diced pear, 20g cranberries, 10mls dressing (mixed tog in a bowl). At weekends sometimes instead - Microwaved Potato (150g max) and a tablespoon of coleslaw or small (80g) tin of tuna with a tablespoon of low fat mayo.

Dinner - Stir fry Veg (onion, broccoli, carrot, red/yellow pepper, mushrooms - not all of these, but usually three diff veg) with half a chicken breast. Stir fried with spay oil, soy/teriyaki sauce, chinese five spice/or curry powder). With 40g pasta (usually egg noodles or spaghetti). Sometimes a veg curry with 60g rice (dry weights for pasta and rice).
For treats, once or twice a week - Solero ice-cream or 0% greek yogurt with a small handful of raspberries. Very occasionally, a glass of wine (100mls only and ALWAYS weighed out); I usually make a spritzer with fizzy water and lots of ice.

I weigh everything. Weighing, especially at the start so you know how the portions look, is really important. I also walk at least 10,000 steps a day, and try to get over 20,000 on Saturday and Sunday.
I've lost 1-2 lb a week steadily since March - coming up to about 3 stone now.

I'd focus on adding much more veg. Maybe hummus and veg as a snack, add a side salad to your soup/dinner, homemade soup is better if you can manage it. Pack the veg in.

I also find it mentally better to think about adding to my diet than taking away. i.e. "I must eat x y and z veg" rather than "I must not eat x y and z"

Haven’t RTFT but my advice is to try filling up on fruit and veg first. Like you can have your crisps/chocolate but only if you have an apple/strawberries/carrot sticks/whatever first. The fibre in fruit and veg is what will keep you full so you are less likely to want the unhealthy snack especially if you pair it with some raw nuts, hummus, peanut butter etc. They are also low GI which is what you need to lose weight with PCOS (I have it too). Also swap white bread, rice and pasta for the wholemeal versions - again more fibre and lower glycemic index (GI) so you get less of a blood sugar spike which means you are less likely to get cravings. I was speaking to my doctor last week and she reckons insulin resistance is one of the main causes behind PCOS so if you are eating a high GI diet you will hold onto the weight and your symptoms will be worse.

Okay, read the other posts now so have a couple more things to add. First of all for a chocolatey hit I like to have a square of Green & Blacks 85% dark chocolate and let it melt in my mouth, that way you get a really intense flavour - much more than chewing it - and fewer calories than munching a whole bar.
Like you I also usually have soup for lunch usually pair with some ryvita, oatcakes or wholemeal bread. I also usually add some sunflower/pumpkin seeds on top, plus some ground flaxseed (superfood!) and sometimes some inositol powder - it’s a supplement for PCOS.
If you want to reduce carbs a bit I really recommend cauliflower rice which absorbs flavours from sauces really well. I also sometimes get the pasta that's made of lentils/peas/beans but haven't bought any of that since before lockdown as didn't want coeliacs to miss out.
Re exercise, the research I’ve done suggests that intense exercise isn’t good for PCOS so don’t worry about doing boot camps or marathons. I think the best is moderate exercise like swimming or circuit training.

The problem with metabolic limiting conditions is that it is nothing like trying to lose weight for a "normal" person. Yes both require work and effort but the amount of work and effort when your metabolism is fucked and when you have insulin resistance from pcos is on a totally other level. You need to eat. V carefully Imo and cleverly eg the low gi advice.

I eat less than that (2 weetabix breakfast, soup - 350 cals - for lunch and dinner is soup 140 cals and bread 300 cals dinner, I do not snack and drink tea with Skimmed milk, rarely drink alcohol, maybe once or twice a month, some months no alcohol) and exercise is about 10 hours a week, 7.5 of cardio and aerobics and 2.5 pilates for toning, and I still have so much difficulty losing weight, I previously had pcos although bloods seem normal now 🤪, have thyroid antibodies which you get with Hashimoto's and a borderline underactive thyroid. I can put on weight V easily. I eat less and move more than most and am lucky to lose a pound. 2 birthday celebrations in the same month could lead to a 5 pound gain despite everything else I do.

Unfortunately everyone else wants it to be all your own fault and all due to your own greed and laziness as it suits their narrative and judgement of all fat people as a lazy greedy drain on the NHS and scourge on society.

I’m a similar size to you and trying to reduce my weight. I have
Breakfast - 2 weetabix, skimmed milk or non fat yogurt with pomegranate seeds and flax seeds (all weighed out) and a cup of tea
Lunch - wholewheat wrap with ham and salad and an apple or a shop bought salad and a yogurt
Dinner - same as everyone else but a smaller portion.

If I have snacks it’s usually a weighed out portion of berries/baby tomatoes or a couple of slices of ham.

I track all my food in my fitness pal, my goal is around 1500 calories and I’m usually somewhere around 13-1400.

I haven’t eaten crisps in over 3 months as they are my downfall. I’ve also barely had any sweets/chocolate, maybe a biscuit once a week.

I do about 10,000 steps a day.

I’ve lost 10kgs (22lbs) in the last 3 months.

Unfortunately everyone else wants it to be all your own fault and all due to your own greed and laziness as it suits their narrative and judgement of all fat people as a lazy greedy drain on the NHS and scourge on society.

This is untrue. Why would you say that?
Most people have tried to help and offered tips and suggestions, just as the OP requested.

Focus on foods that help you stay fuller for longer, and drink lots of water so you’re not confusing hunger with thirst.
I’ve been using MFP since May and I’ve lost just shy of 2 stone.
I weigh things out, and tend to enter my meals for the day in in the morning so I know what I have left over. If you have an apple, try having it with 10g of peanut butter, I find it fills me much more, and means I’m not starving by lunchtime and don’t then need an afternoon snack.
Instead of crisps I’ll have a babybel as it’ll fill me for longer, and I’ll have some carrot sticks too, together they’ll be similar in calories to the crisps you’re eating and full you up much more (there are a few exceptions obviously!)

I’ve always had a horrible relationship with food, but now I find it’s much better and I question myself before I have something I don’t need to eat when I’m feeling stressed or low, and my energy levels are amazing in comparison to a few months ago!

Hi OP! Late 20s, PCOS currently losing weight here have lost just over 1.5 stone so far unfortunately you’ll have to make some pretty big changes if you want to start losing at a decent pace, but I’ve found my PCOS has really got a lot better so it’s worth it!! Use PMF—you’ll be amazed how much more you’re eating that you think. Make sure to count every little thing, like oil.

First: I use non stick pans for everything and literally binned all oil/butter. Seriously I can guanratee a high proportion of the calories from your homecooked food is coming from that!! Same with cheese (e.g. Parmesan) on pasta too—just no worth it when you see the stats!

Choc, crisps, biscuits, alcohol need to go away—I was the same with eating them multiple times a day, you will find it really tough but honestly when you stop for say a month, you’ll find you don’t crave them as much, or can no longer eat them.

Your food sounds really carb heavy—look at bulking it out with veg.

A wholesome homemade meal can still be really bad from a weight loss perspective, and a soup or salad is not necessarily a healthy option. So it’s easy to tell yourself you’re being good when you’re not.

You need to go cold turkey on take away unfortunately, and really cut back on eating out. Eating out here is so unhealthy, even for stuff that looks decent.

My top foods: eggs!!! The best snack!! Also Skyr yogurts—they are really healthy but genuinely feel like eating a bowl of cream also blueberries or fancy carrots.

Jesus H Christ. A morbidly obese person lists their clearly excessive food intake complete with chocolate and biscuits several times a day. Why the resistance to join those dots? Yes things are different for different people, but in this specific case the OP's calorie intake is sufficient to maintain a morbidly obese body mass. Therefore she eats too much. That's it.

Also alcohol unfortunately is THE WORST, like a few glasses of wine is just calorie central!

It's very easy to gain weight round the middle with pcos, definitely go for a lower carb (and carbs should be wholemeal etc.) higher protein way of eating.
Having meals like Omellette, stir fry with lots of chicken, scrambled egg on 1 wholemeal toast instead of porridge, Greek yoghurt with a few berries instead of biscuits. For the chocolate craving you could grate 2 squares of chocolate on top of the yoghurt.
Good luck op, slow and steady wins the race, a lifestyle change for long term is the goal instead of a diet to loose the weight and then gain it back after going back to 'non diet' eating

@FullTimeYummy

Jesus H Christ. A morbidly obese person lists their clearly excessive food intake complete with chocolate and biscuits several times a day. Why the resistance to join those dots? Yes things are different for different people, but in this specific case the OP's calorie intake is sufficient to maintain a morbidly obese body mass. Therefore she eats too much. That's it.

A BMI of 37 is not morbidly obese...

I would cut the honey from the porridge at breakfast. No kitkat at snack time and cut out the milky coffee/latte.
Substitute the biscuits for a few nuts or a banana if you really need a snack but in honesty if you are eating three meals a day you don't really need to snack at all.

Eat your evening meal a little earlier - maybe 6.30 latest, and then do some form of activity after dinner even if it's just a short brisk walk.
I don't think your diet sounds terrible but cutting out all the sugary snacks and cutting back on wine will definitely make a significant difference. And be honest with yourself about exercise - steps are ok but if you are just pottering around at snail pace (not saying you are just giving an example) then it's not going to have much benefit.
Increase your activity levels, a brisk walk getting your heart rate up and feeling a bit sweaty everyday is a good start and build up from there.
Good luck.

Also: a few times a week, if you’re in a rush, do just chicken breast and veg for dinner. So nothing else, and not cooked with any oil or butter. Don’t feel the need to pressurise yourself to always make meals interesting—yes it’s good to have fun meals, but they don’t all have to be. It fills you up with the minimum badness.

Also alcohol unfortunately is THE WORST

Yep. Not just the calories in the booze itself; but the fact that it's metabolised first and slows the rate at which your body burns off the rest of your calories.

Couple that with the way it relaxes your restraint, so you're more likely to eat crisps/chocolate/whatever; and also the fact that it makes you less likely to exercise the following day if you're feeling ropey after one too many.. and it's no surprise that giving up booze can be hugely beneficial if you're trying to lose weight.

I lost around half a stone after I stopped drinking, and I didn't drink that much before.

I've lost over 8 stone and have rarely eaten my evening meal before 6.30, it's more like 8pm in the week and 6.30-7.00 of a weekend - later if we're having a takeaway or going out. I don't think it matters what time you eat over a long period of time, it all balances out in the end.

I upped my protein, cut down my carbs but didn't cut them out completely, added some fats like oil and butter and did away with the junk during the day. Snacks (if needed) were hard boiled eggs, a small piece of chicken, cherry tomatoes, I found I was eating enough at mealtimes to not have to snack but I did bulk my meals out with veg

Also PCOS is a bitch. Your diet sounds like it would send my weight into free fall—I ate like that before, with more exercise, and put on weight exponentially.

The shit truth about PCOS is that you may need to work harder than most to lose weight. I have a very active routine (similar steps to you, plus multiple PT sessions per week) and lose 1-2poujds per week on around 1300 cals (PFP calculated), low carb and keeping data and sugars fairly low. We all lose weight at different rates, ynfortuantelynyou need to work with your reality.

I should add that I have hashimoto's and had a TSH of nearly 15 when I was diagnosed - I'm only adding this because I do understand that some conditions (not the same as PCOS I know so I hope I don't offend you) can make weight loss harder. I may just be fortunate that weight gain wasn't really one of my main symptoms - I had put on a little extra but cutting out sugary snacks and wine was enough for me to get the extra weight off.
Good luck 🍀

I think it may be portion size op! And you really need to put the calories into an app to work out where they're all coming from.

I only eat dinner. You’re eating too much

You 100% need to have a look at your portions. It's easily done with a set of scales. I've seen your OP, and your follow-up where you reckon you're eating 1800-2000 calories a day, and I'm not entirely sure that's correct. Porridge and pasta add up very quickly if you haven't weighed them out. (I'm not saying you need to weigh forever, just do it a few times to have an idea of what xyz weight of whatever item looks like)

And don't allow yourself to fall into the "it was one potato and that equals x calories" trap, one potato can be absolutely massive or really small. Same thing with anything that can be counted, 1 chicken breast, 1 hamburger patty, etc.

As for weekends: so let's assume you are only eating 1800-2000 per day during the week. That's great, but a takeaway alone can be a day's worth of calories, never mind what else you're eating at the weekend. You can have them of course but you need to compensate for them if you're wanting to lose weight. Calories add up over time, they don't follow a clock.

I highly recommend trying a low carb diet for a while. I did keto for a year, and while I don't do it anymore, I've learned a lot from it and have success losing/maintaining weight now that I am more mindful about what I'm eating, and I have carried on avoiding certain foods I have no off switch for such as pasta etc. I agree with others who have said having more protein really helps for feeling full. Hard boiled eggs are good snacks. Nuts good but only if you can stop eating them (I struggle with that so I don't!)