To think I can eat this and lose weight?

[bendywendygivemeablast]

Struggling to lose half a stone🙄

I do a spin class every day for 30 mins, this is what I ate today and kind of typical for me:

Breakfast
1 slice low carb bread with peanut butter
2 black coffees

Snacks:
1 Maryland cookie
2segments of chocolate Orange

Dinner:
Salmon fillet
Jacket potato with cheese
Roasted broccoli and cauliflower with grated parmesan

AIBU to think even with the two naughty slip ups I should still be able to lose weight given that I exercise every single day?!

How long you've been underconsuming food will also play a large role.

^ this was my first thought. if we're talking years not weeks then this is going to be difficult not impossible to rectify.

That’s far too much food
Maybe just have the one segment of chocolate orange?

@Booksandwine80

That’s far too much food Maybe just have the one segment of chocolate orange?

How can you know it’s too much food with no potion sizes? Cutting out segment of chocolate orange only cuts 50 calories. That’s negligible across a day’s eating.

Do you have access to a microwave at lunchtime OP? You can make/buy soup ahead and reheat it in about the time it takes to reach for the chocolate and biscuits, and you'll be fuller for longer

It is absolutely not true that you can 'bugger your metabolism'. The average person has about 100 cals in leeway of non-essential metabolic functions that they can shut off or modify to reduce your overall calorie expenditure. If you don't eat enough, you will lose weight and you will continue to lose weight. How long have you not seen weight loss? It isn't linear and all kinds of things can make it fluctuate.

Forget the fixation on a scale weight. If you go back to resistance training and eat more you’ll get better results and be happier. I’ve massively simplified it, but doing lots of cardio and undereating is neither productive or sustainable.

@bendywendygivemeablast

Thank you everyone. I think I'll have to start actually logging the calories and mixing up the exercise. I have been eating like this for a long time, now I'm wondering whether I've destroyed my metabolism?

Definitely doesn't sound like you're eating enough. Find a good nutritionist who is considered a 'feeder' who helps to fix hormone imbalances through the food plan and that should get your metabolism on the right track.

Eat lunch. Your body is storing fat in starvation mode. Also, healthier snacks, not chocolate orange

Why “1/2 stone”? Why not inches?

Surely you want a good waist to hip ratio, no fat round the middle (where it damages your organs) and to be toned.
Half a stone extra of muscle is different to half a stone of fat. Did the scales get out the tape measure. Cut out processed stuff.

If you eat very low calories then you'll lose weight.

However, the urge to binge your tits off at the weekends will be epic! Remember, it's your average weekly calorie deficit that counts, not day to day. If you eat 1,000 cakes Monday to Thursday, but then have takeaways, booze, treats, etc on a weekend you can easily eat back then deficit. Much smarter to up your calories to a lower defecit that you can stick to every day

• calories, not cakes! Freudian autocorrect 😂

That’s far too much food hmm

Lol! Depending on the size of the portions of cheese that lot comes to about 1000 calories:
Slice bread and pb = 120
Jacket potato & cheese = anything between 300-400 depending on the cheese
Maryland cookie= 50
Chocolate = 50
Salmon fillet = 200
Veg with cheese = 100ish (again depends how much cheese)
= 920 ish cals

It's really low. If anything she isn't eating enough and her body is going into starvation mode and clinging on to the fat.

OP - I would up your fruit and veg and intake, add a bit more protein (maybe a couple of boiled eggs with roasted tomatoes and mushrooms for lunch or a chicken salad) and lay off the spinning class every day (do it three times a week) and see if there's any change.

And definitely don't stop having your treats - life is far too short.

If you really do struggle to have any kind of lunch I recommend porridge for breakfast. I eat it on my work days and am still not hungry by the evening when I get home. I do keep a big bag of nuts in my office and usually try to have a few handfuls if I'm going to the gym or for a swim after work though.

I actually started making overnight oats with 3 or 4 big spoonfuls of oats, double the volume liquid (I use half almond milk half water). Mix in a jam jar or small tupperware with whatever additions you want and stick it in the fridge overnight. Can eat it cold or heat it up. I have a different flavour every day - honey and cinnamon, banana and peanut butter, blueberries, spoonful of jam, peach puree...there are a shitload of recipes online. 10/10 recommend.

@Tobleroney

Eat lunch. Your body is storing fat in starvation mode. Also, healthier snacks, not chocolate orange

Why the hate for 100 calories of chocolate?

Or... be happy being half a stone heavier. It all sounds so complicated and clinical.

If you swapped the snacks for some food (by which I mean some protein/fat/carbs, not almost entirely sugar) and upped the energy consumed then, you'd probably be slightly less hungry in the evening and less likely to accidentally overdo it in the evenings if that's what you are doing.

After all, a hardboiled egg might not be as excitingly naughty, but two of those in a sandwich with tomato, spinach and some mayonnaise would be far more satisfying for roughly the same calories. And if you're tired and hungry, it'll perk you up far more than the sweet stuff.

Do deadlifts. You can pretty much eat about 8 times that and lose weight.

Also, you say you exercise every day but if the other 23.5 hours are quite sedentary you are likely to have quite a low basal metabolic rate. If you start weight training again that will increase the amount of calories you burn at rest but other things include standing more, taking stairs instead of escalators, walking every now and then. Nothing extreme just being active.

Look up insulin resistance.

Bread, sugar, potato.

You're keeping your insulin high which will stop you burning fat.

If you had more protein, less carbs and much less sugar you could eat a good sized lunch and dinner, not be hungry and lose weight quickly.

Far too much, get rid of all the food, up the exercise to 26hrs a day.

You probably aren't eating enough. Have some lunch, even if it's just a packet veg soup or a yoghurt with some nuts sprinkled on top. They don't require morning prep and can be eaten with one hand so don't impact much on your time, if your schedule is really slammed.

Also stop referring to 2 bits of chocolate orange and a cookie as "naughty slip ups". That kind of mentality keeps you down and stops you from relaxing into a long term healthy lifestyle. They are just bits of food that you choose to eat at that time. You are allowed to eat chocolate if you want to. It's not "naughty" and feeling guilty about it helps nothing. Plan in into your calorie budget, eat it, and bloody enjoy it.

You must be starving on that OP.
You'll be well under your recommended calorie intake if that's typical of the amount of food you're eating a day.

Too many carbs (bread & potatoes) and not enough vegetables, particularly green leafy ones. Eat loads more lettuce, broccoli, courgette, tomatoes, peppers. You could also add more protein - eggs, chicken, Greek yoghurt.

You haven't messed up your metabolism. There's no such thing.

Bottom line is if you've not lost weight your not in a calorie deficit.

Start weighing portions and enlist the help of my fitness pal.

Finally don't eat back your exercise calories. And keep exercising. Any activity is good.

I do a spin class every day for 30 mins

To add to what others say about your exercise - don't rely on this to burn of calories. If you do the same thing everyday & only for 30 mins, and are then fairly sedentary for the rest of the day, your body will have adjusted & be used to the effort required in spin.

Try some cross-training - do different forms of exercise over your week, and get in some regular non-studio/gym exercise. Walk instead of driving or catching the bus etc etc etc.