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?

I was walking everyday but not losing anything. Started doing at least a mile but making sure it was as fast as I could go.
I actually managed to lose my 1st pound (& I have managed to cut my mile time from 18mins to 16mins!)

I have now started to log on my fitness pal to identify where my excess is coming from. It makes me resist eating the "few treats" which in reality were everyday. I don't know if you are like me but seeing it written down made me stop & think. Do I really want it or just mindlessly eating.

Also I found wraps seemed to be really high calorie for what they are!

@Marmite27

Currently my favourite lunch is 50g peri peri chicken, 70g Tilda fire cracker rice (about a 3rd of a pack) salad (romaine/leaves, tomato, cucumber, pepper, red onion and grated carrot) and beetroot dressed in balsamic vinegar. Then a apple to follow.

I’ve just realised I didn’t have my apple today which is why I was hungry and ended up having an orange before the school run.

@Marmite27

That sounds nice! 😋

I do like those Tilda rice packets. I’ve had those with lunch before.
However I do tend to have the full pack.
What do you do with the left over? I feel wasteful if I bin it.

Work out your TDEE using an online calculator then look to reduce the calories every day. You don't need a huge daily drop to lose weight - you'll just be hungry and miserable - consistency is the important thing.

Also try eating more protein - same calories per gram in protein as in carbohydrate, but it takes longer for the body to process and keeps you feeling fuller for longer. Eat a larger portion of chicken at lunchtime or make an omelette with it and have less pasta. Also try to eat more leafy green veg - they are naturally low in calories, high in fibre and nutrients and fill you up.

If you do this, cut the snacks and choose something lower in calories than pizza and chips, such as chicken tikka or chicken shashlik eaten with salad or veg when you have takeaway you'll lose weight.

Cut the carbs. Porridge instead of weetabix, more salad instead of pasta, romaine leaves instead of wraps.

I've had a couple of friends who said they struggled to lose weight when breastfeeding & then it seemed to drop off when they stopped. Even with no diet change so maybe there's some biological / hormonal aspect?

I think it is calorie deficit, I often don't eat all day when I'm working as I'm too busy and get caught up in what I am doing, I will then eat biscuits e g 3 Jammie Dodgers Nd one meal later that night, probably includes carbs like a veg stir fry with rice, maybe have a beer/glass of wine but if I have walked minimum 10,000 steps I lose weight, in all honesty pretty quickly say in 3 days about 2 lbs. When I think about food due to being on a 'specific diet', I don't lose weight and actually put on weight sometimes.

@doctorhamster

It's nothing to do with carbs (slimming world allows many carbs!) You're eating too more calories now than you were on slimming world.

The carbs in her weetabix alone is 104 calories.

Too many carbs. Ditch the fruit for nuts, no pasta, or wraps with the Fajita, they both contain loads of carbs.

I w just logged your days food to get a calorie count and it's 1539 calories, that's without logging any drinks so if you have milk and sugar in tea and multiple teas a day that would add.

I also used standard measurements like 1 tablespoon of mayo per portion, if you're having more than a tablespoon then again that would add more onto the count.

@goose1964

What are your portions like? With a curry I have 3 tablespoons of rice but my son and husband have double that, same with pasta, always wholemeal and a small portion.

I definitely have way more than 3tbsp of rice...

I always measure pasta and it’s usually 80g for lunch and 100g for dinner (dried weight)

I do think my portions are on the larger side, which I put down to years of the “unlimited free food allowance” on Slimming World.

@dontchasewaterfalls...Use lettuce leaves in place of your wrap

I wouldn’t eat pasta for lunch if trying to lose weight. Just have the tuna and salad.

That's a high carb diet you need to reduce your carb intake. Have your tuna with salad instead and maybe drop the wraps

Re the packet rice - we have one between three of us! Empty half into a container and don't heat the whole packet - will be fine the next day to have hot or make into a rice salad with crunchy veg and a bit of rice vinegar.

@FatGirlShrinking

I w just logged your days food to get a calorie count and it's 1539 calories, that's without logging any drinks so if you have milk and sugar in tea and multiple teas a day that would add.

I also used standard measurements like 1 tablespoon of mayo per portion, if you're having more than a tablespoon then again that would add more onto the count.

Ooh thanks!! I don’t measure the mayo, but I have become pretty good at my blobs being Tbsp sized without the need to use the measuring spoon.

I usually have at the most, 3 cups of tea.
No sugar and just a drop of milk.

Carbs have the same calories per gram as protein and fewer calories per gram than fat.

I would cut out the occasional crisps and chocolate, gradually reduce the lunchtime pasta portion down to about 50-60 grams, use a bit less mayo and cheese, maybe cut one wrap from dinner, do 15 to 20 mins of exercise a day. Leave one of the pizza slices. Lots of little changes that you won't notice but will add up over time instead of overhauling your whole diet, especially as you seem to do well keeping full on carby foods.

You’re just eating a normal amount. It is healthy but it’s just a normal amount that most people would eat to maintain, not lose.

@2020iscancelled

Also you can eat carbs until the cows come home. Carbs are NOT a problem.

Calories are the ONLY thing which count when it comes to losing weight.

For full disclosure - Protein is recommended for easier weight loss bc it has better satiety and also burns differently to carbs but if you prefer carby stuff then that is absolutely fine.

Just stay in your calorie deficit. Eat what makes you happy WITHIN YOUR CALORIES

This is exactly what I do, eat whatever I want so long as I don’t go over my calorie allowance I can loose weight or maintain no problem.

There are a lot of calories in carbs?! Well that's just not true. Gram for gram carbs and protein are the same at 4Kcal per gram. Compared to fat which is 9Kcal.

Calorie deficit is key.

Based on what you put for what you had today personally I would have slightly less pasta. I tend to have 85g cooked weight. And with tea I'd have 1 wrap over 2 and bulk out with more veg. Dropping one wrap could be up to a 200kcal saving depending on brand.

The calories in carbs and protein are the same gram for gram. The reason the OP isn't losing more weight, and she has lost some, is that she isn't in consistent calorie deficit.

Pizza is very high in calories, as are chips. Once you add the weekend calories to the weekday ones there will be no, or very little, calorie deficit over the course of a week.

@Twillow

Re the packet rice - we have one between three of us!

Oh wow, and I’ve been having 1 to myself.

When I followed slimming world, they were 2 syns for a packet, so I would have that with a salad and some chicken, ham or fish.

I’m not following slimming world now, but I think I’m still probably in that frame of mind of having big portions.

A lot of calories OP. Use something like MyFitnessPal to track them properly.

For lunch I'd have something like a 2 egg omelette with some peas and mushrooms and a bit of fruit - or a 1 slice of bread open sandwich with cold meat and salad. I've no idea on how much you want to lose per week, but i'd guess for 1-2lb you probably need to be on about 12-1400 calories. That doesn't go as far as you think...

You don't say how long ago you did slimming world or how long it took you to lose the weight. If you're still BF-ing then there's potentially a hormonal thing going on too, and I'm guessing you're not as active as you were when you were doing SW either.

What I'm saying is that sometimes you can just 'think' the weight off and at other times, it's a long, slow burn. The good news is you are going down! So it's a case of sticking at it.

I hate faddy diets, but think the overall advice here is good: check your TDEE to find out how many calories you need to eat to lose weight, track every single thing you eat on my fitness pal (boring AF but necessary) then see where you can make changes. And add more exercise wherever possible.

It's dull. Embrace the dull. The quick fixes just don't work.

So from a SW point of view you've had 4 HExB's (Weetabix, wrap x 2, Alpen bar) or 2 HExB's and potentially 18 syns in wraps, depending on the type.

That'd stop me losing!

@fairynick

I was afraid that this was going to be the case.

I’m always so hungry though.