Is this too much lunch for a diet?

[Hatehooveringsomuch]

Trying to shift a couple of stone.
I eat v healthily, but probably too much, I don’t work out normally, but have started again.
I’m a person who has to cut back a lot and not eat much/work out daily to stay slim.
In the past when I was v slim, I went to the gym and had less carbs & smaller portions. I’m trying fasting also.
I’ve had no breakfast, just got in from school run, morning work and walking the dog.
Is this too much?
There’s two tins of tuna and two crackers, the rest is just salad? Assuming that’s okay?
Dinner is broccoli, cauliflower, carrots & chicken, piece of fruit afterwards.
I’m attempting to cut right back on carbs, my portions seem big though 😂but I’m hungry
Desperate to lose weight

Do you use myfitnesspal or something similar? It's useful to put calories there truthfully , if not every day, every so often. It depends which meal you want to be your main meal (what works for you). If you are losing weight on what you eat now, keep going.

Try cottage cheese with tuna, or adding few egg whites.

@Thepeopleversuswork

i think you’re forgetting that op came on here and actually asked for tips on how to diet and eat less - people are just obliging! What do you think they should be saying?!

No you wouldn’t.

A 600cal meal divided between three people is 200cals. A 200cal meal as a main meal isn’t healthy or filling. I can believe you’d split two tins of tuna between three but you wouldn’t feed your family a third of that plate of salad, a third of one cracker etc.

Oh go do one. 2 tins of tuna is not enough for 4. Unless you mean 4 under 4.

bet your last roast chicken lasted 6 meals for 10 people

OP, one (old, but good) tip is to drink a glass of plain water maybe half an hour before you eat, and drink water between meals. Helps fill you up and also keeps you hydrated.

As for green salad, I don’t use mayo, I make a mustard vinaigrette with olive oil, apple cider (or other) vinegar, a bit of honey and a squirt of Dijon or whichever mustard you have on hand. Adjust amounts to your taste. Quite delicious and the olive oil is healthy. it is really good with spinach - citrus salad.

For more savory salads I make sort of a green goddess, with kefir or yogurt, a dash of olive oil and vinegar and lots of fresh herbs, a dash of salt, and pepper to your taste. Blend in blender or food processor. Low call and delicious. Goes really well on salads with eggs.

Of course this thread is full of the usual suspects "I have half a lettuce leaf once a week and I'm STUFFED". Tedious beyond belief.

They should be saying something realistic

eg if you add seeds to salad, that adds some crunch, flavour and nutrients and is a great substitute if someone is inclined to use croutons

15g of porridge is a bird's portion. 15g?!

This thread has become
some sort of pro-ana bullshit

Well we ( healthy weight average heights ) use a tin of tuna for two and so two tins for 4 sounds reasonable

That's basically every weight loss thread on MN at the moment. You could easily do a bingo card

"we've lost sight of a healthy weight/normal portion"
"eat fewer carbs/you don't need carbs"

@LuckySantangelo35

i think you’re forgetting that op came on here and actually asked for tips on how to diet and eat less - people are just obliging! What do you think they should be saying?!

Personally I think the picture the OP posted looked fine. Healthy and reasonably low fat. It was the pile on of people going "oof, two tins of tuna, you'll be morbidly obese by the end of the week" and getting the vapours at the prospect of having mayonnaise with anything which creeped me out.

But as a general point diet is an area you should tread carefully around because it's a trigger point for a lot of mental illness and a lot of people struggle with disordered eating. If someone posts about it the general assumption should be that you should be sensitive and considered in what you say.

Rather than saying: "no wonder you're overweight if you eat two tins of tuna".

Not only is this one of the nastiest things I've read on here recently, this poster couldn't possibly have known if the OP is overweight.

@Thepeopleversuswork

you think it’s fine. But most people think that two tins of tuna is excessive and not conducive to OP losing weight the way she wants and so have said so. Op asked for opinions on how to lose weight. Do you think people should lie and tell her it looks like a fine lunch for a person on a diet when they don’t really think that? This is a forum where people ask an honest question and want honest responses. It really is as simple as that.

No, not just you. They're always like this though. I find it quite sad really.

Pages upon pages of women obsessing over calories.

I wonder are there similar 12 page threads on male-dominated forums. There aren't.

Anyway, as someone who lost several stone a few years back, has kept it off ever since, and has retrained in nutrition, here is what I have eaten today.

Breakfast - smoothie made with a tablespoon of oats (which is appropriate for a smoothie, not a portion of actual PORRIDGE as suggested by a PP), a scoop of protein powder, greek yoghurt, ground flax, milk, half a banana and frozen berries.

Lunch: mozzarella and avocado salad (100g mozzarella, not low fat, and 50g avocado), dressed with olive oil, lemon and salt. Slice of sourdough bread.

Dinner will be potato hash made with new potatoes, spinach, red onion, peppers and a fried egg on top.

I haven't had a snack but if the mood strikes me I shall have apple and peanut butter or a babybel.

@Hatehooveringsomuch it looks fine OP. If you're fasting have you read fast feast repeat and the obesity code? Also listen to intermittant fasting stories podcast for inspiration. You dont need to count calories and measure stuff thats so boring. Eat a variety of stuff mostly whole foods, listen to satiety signals and stick with water and black coffee when you're fasting. It takes at least a month to become metabolically flexible where you tap into your fat stores so dont be discouraged. Gradually build up your fast from 16:8 until you find what works for you. Good luck

@QueenofKattegat

OP is on a diet and she has ASKED about how to eat to lose weight. Of course posters are gonna post about how she can cut calories!

@Hatehooveringsomuch do you like vinegar? Apple cider vinegar with a bit of extra virgin olive oil is a nice healthier alternative to mayo (although not quite as delish). Agree with most posters that 2 tins of tuna is a lot - it's probably better (and more cost effective!) to have 1 tin and then bulk out the salad with some lentils, beans or grains like quinoa which will probably be half the calories compared to the tin of tuna and will likely keep you fuller for longer!

MN classic

You dont need to count calories and measure stuff thats so boring

I beg to differ, as someone who has been there and done that. It wasn't until I counted calories that I lost the weight. Weight loss is calories in vs calories out, it's as simple as that. Yes the quality of the food affects satiety, and you're going to get way more bang for your buck with a plate of varied vegetables and protein than you would a twix, but in basic terms if you ate 1200 calories a day and your mate ate 2000, then you'd lose weight and your mate wouldn't, even if their 2000 calories was made of salmon, chicken, greek yoghurt and vegetables and yours were made of Happy meals and kinder buenos.

Yes. Like if I'd made a full English for breakfast. That could be a light lunch, then a heartier dinner in the evening.

OP is never not going to struggle if they think that's a single serving, ESPECIALLY when they think that's a diet serving.

@LuckySantangelo35

Do you think people should lie and tell her it looks like a fine lunch for a person on a diet when they don’t really think that? This is a forum where people ask an honest question and want honest responses. It really is as simple as that.

No I think people need to exercise a bit of sensitivity and understand that there are limitations to their knowledge when dispensing advice on something so extremely sensitive. No one knows anything about the OP's diet, her weight, her metabolism, her financial position or her mental health. It was a pretty silly post in the first place but anyone with any intelligence would understand their response would be subjective, non professional and highly likely to trigger someone.

And people like @KippersForBreakfast who, in a classic of the genre, told her she was "overweight" (based on nothing) and said two tins of tuna was enough to feed a family of four, shouldn't be allowed on the internet. But, as PPs have pointed out, these threads always drag out screed of pro ana handwringing.

MFP and calorie counting may be effective, but god, it's so boring and joyless. I am getting by without it, and I am in my 50s, simply by knowing roughly what is calorific and what is not. It will probably take me longer to lose weight but am ok with that.

@GeriKellmansUpdo i think it is difficult to learn what is calorific and what's not if you're not counting calories or at least paying attention to them