To think “healthy eating” isn’t the best way for lose weight?!

[dontchasewaterfalls]

I did Slimming World for a number of years and I managed to lose 3 stone and keep it off.

Since having my baby at the start of the year, I’ve gained 2 stone.
Since Slimming World classes were shut, and I wanted to try something different, I decided to just try and eat healthily rather than actually following the Slimming World plan.

I’ve been doing this a few months now and I’ve only lost 5lb, which I could easily lose in a week following Slimming World!!

So what exactly am I doing wrong??

Here’s what I’ve eaten today -

Breakfast
Two weetabix, topped with a handful of raspberries and a small banana. (Semi skimmed milk)
Cup of tea.

Lunch
Tuna (1tin made with light mayo) 80g Wholemeal pasta(dried weight) lettuce, tomato, pickled beetroot. Light Mayo.

Dinner
Fajitas.
Chicken breast, peppers, onions, mushrooms (dry fried) 2 x small wholemeal wraps.
Handful grated cheese.

Snacks
Pomegranate seeds
Large orange
Chocolate fudge Alpen light cereal bar

That’s a typical day for me. I do occasionally have some chocolate or a pack of crisps.

Once a week, usually on a Saturday night, we will have a takeaway. Hubby and I will share a pizza and chips, or I will get chicken tikka pieces in a pitta with salad.

I don’t drink any alcohol. I have at most 3 cups of tea a day and the rest of the time I drink water.

I don’t do any organised exercise, but I do go for a walk every day which is usually 45-60 minutes.

I’m not counting any calories, just trying to eat sensibly. But it’s not working well.

What do you think I’m doing wrong?
Should I just go back to Slimming World?

As past posters have said, the only thing that causes weight loss is a calorie deficit. I have done a lot of BF when mine were younger. Normal weight loss won't affect your milk supply. At worst, it is actually possible to end up underweight but still have plenty of milk. But, that only happened when I was tandem feeding and had zero free time to eat properly. One BF baby should be fine. Still a blurry haze but fine! Don't ditch the snacks; it's like hanging out laundry and getting rain. You'll end up skipping your snacks on a day when you literally can't put the baby down and be filled with regretful hunger! Xx

@Heidi1976 Is the endo/ecto/meso distinction (in terms of weight gain/loss) to do with fat/protein efficiency, then? I've never heard that before. Can you recommend any articles or studies? I'm fascinated.

OP, there’s too much sugar in there I’m afraid. Wraps and pasta are both sugar. Swap for brown rice or sweet potato. Also no chocolate fudge! I’ve now cut out refined sugar and white carbs and dropped a dress size (10 to 8) in 4 weeks. Eat as much veg as you like to fill you up!

Good luck!

gobbynorthernbird "Why would anyone swap pasta for a different shape of pasta?"
Couscous might be superficially similar to pasta but it is not in fact pasta.

inthethickofit19 "Which shakes do you have?"
I am currently drinking 'Huel' but other brands are available lol.

Reading here sometimes is like reading webchats for anorexics where they advise each other of the fastest way to lose, how to maintain iron self control, get used to being hungry, etc. It's all disordered eating.

I should just step away from the thread I know but it's so upsetting to watch people push all these madly disordered ideas (no carbs! Two weetabix is a huge meal! Try fasting!) on a relatively new mother and convince her that she's just not trying hard enough, while a few voices in the wilderness try and say that slow and steady weight loss and cutting herself some slack while she's breastfeeding is just fine. As you say, it's so reminiscent of pro-ana boards.

Couscous is a type of pasta. It's made from semolina and water.

@Hardbackwriter OP has specifically come here to solicit people's opinions, and that's exactly what she's got. Nothing disordered has been suggested. Fasting is not disordered. Low carb is not disordered. Feeling hungry is not disordered.

Why are you so upset?

As said upthread, it's ok and normal to feel hungry between meals. If you want to lose weight you just need to put up with that as a natural consequence of eating less. You absolutely can't snack in between meals/eat more at the next meal.

Yes, but if it were as easy as that, nobody would be overweight, because all diets would succeed! "Just live with being hungry, don't overeat and don't snack". Genius! Why has nobody suggested that before?!

@wowfudge

Couscous is a type of pasta. It's made from semolina and water.

couscous is made of crushed durum wheat semolina, not the ground type used for pasta

Op i think Mn is not great place to ask for healthy eating advice. You are losing weight so whatever you are doing is working. It sounds like it just needs a bit of tweaking not the total diet overhaul some people on here are suggesting and bleating that carbs are the enemy. Get to know your BMR - its a good starting place.

@Rollmopsrule

Some bleating science for you.

www.healthline.com/nutrition/23-studies-on-low-carb-and-low-fat-diets

Calorie counting worked for me. The only thing that really did. Also, I found I lost weight gradually but it was easier to keep it off.

Yes, calorie counting is somehow painted as bad. I suspect that's because it's fairly easy and doesn't make the diet industry lots of money.

I use the free My Fitness Pal app. If I stick (fairly roughly) to the calorie aim I will be losing weight within a week. It's pretty slow, but I know if I stick to it it works.

I've fallen off the wagon a few times but need to remember that even a few bad weeks don't mean I can't turn it around again.

I don't eat perfect healthy food and I eat what I enjoy. But if I can see how the day/week is going in terms of calories, I find I make better choices.

A big treat or takeaway at the weekend can up your average if you have it regularly, so I try to balance it throughout the week.

I feel like I've gradually learned what better habits look like.

I find calorie counting bad, not because it doesn't work, but because it's boring and time-consuming (which made me give up doing it) and it concentrates only on calories and not nutrition. And it still requires the same level of willpower that any other method requires. But yes, at least it's not lining the pockets of the diet industry.

That’s a lot of carbs

Not RTFT.
The food in the OP looks like a lot.

Breakfast
Two weetabix, topped with a handful of raspberries and a small banana. (Semi skimmed milk)
Cup of tea.

Too much carb. Ditch the banana or one weetabix. Have full fat milk.

Lunch
Tuna (1tin made with light mayo) 80g Wholemeal pasta(dried weight) lettuce, tomato, pickled beetroot. Light Mayo.

Ditch the pasta. That's quite a large portion, probaby 1.5 servings. How big is a tin of tuna and how much mayo?

Dinner
Fajitas.
Chicken breast, peppers, onions, mushrooms (dry fried) 2 x small wholemeal wraps.
Handful grated cheese. - small handfull or large handfull?

That sounds quite a sensible meal

Snacks
Pomegranate seeds - ok
Large orange - ok
Chocolate fudge Alpen light cereal bar - probably ok but do you need it.

I'd have a cooked breakfast - 2 poached eggs or scrambled eggs.on wholemeal toast

Fruit as snacks.

Eat the fajitas for lunch, light salad in the evening.

@Goosefoot

The problem is the OP has a distorted idea of how quickly she should lose weight, and a distorted view of eating, and seems to not care all that much about long term effective weight loss or the risks to her health or losing more quickly.

I’d say that’s a bit of an unfair judgement.

The NHS recommends that a healthy realistic weight loss is between 1-2lb per week.

I’ve only lost 5lb over the last 3 months.

I do care about my health and long term effects of weight loss.

I shed 3 stone and I did keep it off for nearly 3 years, with the odd 1/2lb gain here and there.

During pregnancy and lockdown I’ve just created had eating habits again.

I read somewhere that it takes 12 weeks to create a habit (good or bad)

Weight loss is down to one thing and one thing only. Calorie deficit. It doesn't matter where your calories come from.

You are prob only in a slight calorie deficit through the week then at the weekend ruining it.

@Eckhart Google the Metabolic Type Diets, there is loads of info online. I normally think this sort of stuff is a bit of a gimmick, but I've struggled to lose weight for such a long time and every time I low carb/high fat - the weight drops off. It's really interesting. There are questionnaires online to find your type out etc.

"Weight loss is down to one thing and one thing only. Calorie deficit. It doesn't matter where your calories come from."

Many experts beg to differ these days.

Repeated snacking raises blood sugar. If you spread out your calories over the whole day (e.g. 20 small snacks) vs 2 meals, for example, your body doesn't have time to enter fat burning mode, because of the insulin spikes, which tell your body to store the calories as fat.

However if you were to, for example, fast or leave longer between your meals, or eat different types of foods that raise blood sugar less, your body can enter fat burning mode more efficiently and for longer.

Calorie restricted diets can work, but only in the short term. You will eventually hit a wall and most will be unable to lose more weight despite maintaining a low calorie diet once you hit this point. Such diets are unsustainable and result in most people regaining the weight back. Changing eating habits (frequency of eating, type of foods etc) does work.

[quote dontchasewaterfalls]@Goosefoot

The problem is the OP has a distorted idea of how quickly she should lose weight, and a distorted view of eating, and seems to not care all that much about long term effective weight loss or the risks to her health or losing more quickly.

I’d say that’s a bit of an unfair judgement.

The NHS recommends that a healthy realistic weight loss is between 1-2lb per week.

I’ve only lost 5lb over the last 3 months.

I do care about my health and long term effects of weight loss.

I shed 3 stone and I did keep it off for nearly 3 years, with the odd 1/2lb gain here and there.

During pregnancy and lockdown I’ve just created had eating habits again.

I read somewhere that it takes 12 weeks to create a habit (good or bad)[/quote]
What you've done in the past isn't necessarily what will work now, because you are nursing. Some people do lose while breastfeeding but many don't, because the body is wants to maintain fat levels in order to maintain milk production. You may well find that when the baby reduces nursing significantly - often at about 1 year, or you wean, you will drop a lot of weight and also just feel less hungry.

What you are eating now is very healthy and a pretty good habit, much better than specialist diets like cutting out carbs or using shakes. They are difficult to maintain long term, often expensive, and don't create a useful habit. Plans that require a lot of time or self-control tend to fail when things become stessful or you can't maintain a routine. Weight loss that is slower is far more likely to be permanent.

You might be able to speed up a little, but I would do it by tweaking things and looking at the results. If you cut out that banana at breakfast, what's the effect? How do you feel? It's also good to add some physical activity, it may or may not help with the weight but you will be fitter. But it also may just be that you won't drop much until you finish with nursing.

This thread is turning into something from an extreme weight loss forum.

Suggesting 1 weetabix as half a tin of tuna to a fully grown woman, is insane.
A toddler would eat more than that.

OP from what you’ve posted, I don’t think you are eating too much, especially for a breastfeeding mother.

I would cut out the weekly takeaway, have it once a month instead. If you must have it weekly, swap the pizza and chips for things like grilled chicken with salad.

Keep an eye on your snacks swap the crisps and chocolate for things such as nuts, fruit, rice cakes, and veg sticks.

People here will give you an answer to the question you asked “What am I doing wrong” people love to point out what they think others are doing wrong and how they should do it right (their own version of right)

It doesn’t mean their answers are correct or appropriate for your circumstances.

Please make sure you first and foremost look into dieting and breastfeeding.
Anything too extreme can affect your supply.

Ignore the posters who have suggested cutting out carbs and breakfast.

I would suggest having a look at the NHS website. They have a a 12 week weight loss programme which includes exercise.
It aims to help you healthily lose between 1-2lb a week, which is a much more sustainable weight loss than 5lb.

I believe it will be much more useful to you than MN.

Good Luck OP.

@Heidi1976 Thanks, I've had a google - there is lots to read! I find the whole low carb/high fat thing fascinating. I was a 'It's as simple as calories in v calories out' person for many years, up until very recently. When you start looking at the biological processes, it's so much more complex. I mean, it's true, but the reasons behind why people find it so hard to drop their calorie intake sufficiently is so complex.

People here will give you an answer to the question you asked “What am I doing wrong” people love to point out what they think others are doing wrong and how they should do it right (their own version of right

followed by

*Ignore the posters who have suggested cutting out carbs and breakfast.

I would suggest*

Haha. Your right is the right right, right?

@Eckhart

People here will give you an answer to the question you asked “What am I doing wrong” people love to point out what they think others are doing wrong and how they should do it right (their own version of right

followed by

*Ignore the posters who have suggested cutting out carbs and breakfast.

I would suggest*

Haha. Your right is the right right, right?

@Eckhart

I am not saying that my right is right for the OP.

But surely you cannot think that telling a breastfeeding mother to cut out breakfast and carbs Is good advice or right?

My suggestion was to favour the NHS website over MN.