Making a "healthy" meal plan is futile

[MooseBreath]

I'm trying to lose weight. Over my 20s and after having 2 kids, I am no longer a good weight and I am trying to fix that. It is entirely because my portion control is crap and I love crisps.

I'm trying to eat healthier with weight loss in mind, without letting my children see their mother struggling with food. I also want them to know that moderation is key. We walk the dog every day for 45 minutes and have frequent dance parties and play active games throughout the day.

I thought my plan was healthy, but when I add up calories, it just works out that I won't be losing any weight at all (1722cal). No crisps, no sweets, no baked goods. But I don't know what to cut out without losing the energy to care for my boys and dog!
Breakfast: Raisin granola in a cup of milk
Lunch: Scrambled eggs, baked beans, and avocado with a slice of toast
Snack: Carrots, cucumber, and celery with hummus
Dinner: Baked gnocchi casserole with bacon

I don't see how I can make this better without starving myself. AIBU that demonstrating moderation will never work while I'm trying to lose weight?

They aren't unhealthy, you just need to need to factor in the calories when eating them.

I think you should just listen to your body. It has a funny way of telling you what you need! But we lose touch with it.

Considering you say you always want crisps. Strikes me your body is telling you it needs carbs, oil and salt to survive. I have that body also!

So find something you can eat which fulfills this craving. When I want salt and oil I usually go for tomatoes doused in olive oil, salt and pepper. Can have with white pitta, on bread as bruschetta, as a side to a sandwich etc.

You need to understand the difference between healthy generally and what is useful for weight loss

Of course humous and avocado is 'healthy' meaning (in my eyes) that it is nutrient dense, lots of vitamins and minerals in those two things.

But watch the portion sizes when you want to lose weight only because they are also calorie dense (although not as much as a pizza or burger or cake for example)

So I had humous for lunch today. I had 197 cals worth, which is a lot. But I had it with one ryvita so my whole lunch was a reasonable amount of cals, high in protein, high in good fats, high in fibre and tasty.

Nothing wrong with either of those two foods, even if you're losing weight, just watch the amounts or dont have both on the same day, or same plate. Also make your own humous and then you have control over the oil in it.

It really makes me wonder how people can eat snack foods (actual tasty ones, not just fruit and plain popcorn) without sacrificing a filling meal.
I don't understand why people eat snacks.
I don't understand why people want to eat empty carbs like gnocchi, rice and pasta. It has no flavour, and means I feel hungry after a few hours.
Fruit is tasty.

I make my own hummus. It's easy and doesn't need oil - I just add some of the aquafaba if it's too dry.

If you’re a crisp fan why not make your own veggie crisps.. kale crisps with a little salt are absolutely gorgeous!

I don't understand why people want to eat empty carbs like gnocchi, rice and pasta. It has no flavour,

You are supposed to put something on them. Foods work together. Secondly, they have flavour if they are cooked right.
Few billion people manage

If you like crisps, just take off elsewhere. I still have crips with my drinks at weekend and had throughout my weightloss. I just accounted for it throughout the week. That's the beauty of calorie counting. You can have occasional foods alongside daily foods, just account for it overall. What's a life without pizza 😁

I don't understand why people want to eat empty carbs like gnocchi, rice and pasta. It has no flavour.

You don't just eat them dry - you add sauce, spice, herbs, protein and flavour!

If food has no flavour, you're not cooking it properly.

@coffeecupsandwaxmelts , it has some flavour but it's not very exciting, and I don't see the point of them. Why not just eat the sauce, or something that has flavour.

Carbs have lots of flavour if they're cooked properly.

To turn it around, why would you just want to eat plain sauce without any extras?

Carbonara without oasta would be plain weird

I'm trying to diet at the moment. Ideally sticking to one meal a day, lunch, a big salad. Tuna for protein. Tomatoes are good because they fill you up but are low calorie. Avoid cheese. Take vitamins.

I'm losing about 2lb a week.

I wouldn't eat the sauce on its own, I'd bung in a pile of veg.
Pasta and rice doesn't have a lot of flavour however you cook it.
Potatoes can have a lot of flavour, although mash is pretty bland if you use all rounder potatoes and don't add anything to them.

This is the problem with diet advice on MN. No one knows op's weight and height, current diet, exercise levels etc. It may be that 1700 calories a day will provide a healthy 1-2lb loss every week. I had 1670 calories a day and lost 6-8 pounds a month myself.

And cutting carbs, fine. But in honesty,
Some people have diets of a packet of crisps and a chocolate bar for breakfast so going from that to granola in the first instance isn't so bad! Baby steps op, that's how you stick to it.

I also got rid of scales, haven't weighed myself in 6 months. Best decision ever!

I've always struggled to lose weight. I managed it once - two stone. The only way (for me personally) Gym most days (Mon-Thurs) and eating three meals with lots of volume from vegetables.

The key struggle of my diet was that I was often ravenous. Usually after the gym or late at night I was hungry! But I'm pretty sure that's the point - you're in a calorie deficit so you're meant to be hungry.

Bacon isn’t a diet food!

It can be. You can lose weight on any food so long as its in a calorie deficit.

2 slices of bacon is 90 calories. It's fine to eat.

One salad a day is all you eat? That's too far imo.

I ate bacon when on a strict meal plan years ago! Okay it was bacon medallions so the fat was all cut off it but grilled it and stuck had it on the side of my breakfast - as part of an overall balanced diet no food should be off limits, every food can be a diet food so long as you’re in a calorie deficit. You would lose weight just eating Mars bars every day so long as the amount of calories you were consuming in doing so was outweighed by the amount of energy you used up.

Is 1700 not fine for loosing weight? It normally would be.

You can work out a rough calorie deficit online so do that and experiment.

There is a high level of madness in some of these replies.

So I had humous for lunch today. I had 197 cals worth, which is a lot. But I had it with one ryvita so my whole lunch was a reasonable amount of cals, high in protein, high in good fats, high in fibre and tasty.

On what planet is 197 calories a lot? and on what planet is that plus a ryvita a reasonable amount of calories for a main meal?

Eat what you want obviously but that is not a meal.

The madness these threads brings out is just extraordinary.

Same here. Rarely below 1800. Maintaining at around 2000 as a moderately active, not at all tall middle aged woman. No low fat anything.

What do you eat for calcium? Iron? How do you plan to maintain when you've finished your restrictive crash diet?

That's a good meal plan. If you eat reasonable portions and only that then you will lose weight unless you are completely stationary or absolutely tiny. What about drinks?

Fwiw I eat beans and avocado and cheese /eggs quite often for lunch and don't think it's excessive. I would also have some toast for breakfast as well as the cereal and a dessert of some kind after dinner. I drink quite a lot of juice and some sugary drinks (usually one can of a healthier soda, eg Cawston press, with lunch, also some full-sugar squash). Also beer and wine (in ample quantities). My BMI is about 19.

Nothing about what you are planning to eat is unhealthy or bad. A lot of people here have completely disordered relationships with food and are not a healthy weight. To gain weight and be overweight you have to eat far too much for a long time. If you stop doing that and are patient you will lose weight slowly. I think it's great not to make too much of a fuss about it, either in front of your children or in general. There are many more important things:

You seem to be missing vegetables! A roasted veggie plate for dinner would work better. Sub oatmeal and egg for breakfast with tomato juice.