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

It’s like folks can’t get past the two tins of tuna thing even though the op has clarified it’s two mini tins and the portion size is evident on the image, and never seen an outcry over a dollop of mayo in my life. 😂

Over 60% of adults in the UK are overweight or obese. You only need to look around you in all but the most affluent areas to see that we have lost sight of what a healthy weight is. Or look at the types of food and drink, and sheer quantity of calories that people consume each day, to see that we have lost sight of what healthy food consumption is.

Musmnet threads bolster this every single day. Every time someone argues that vanity sizing doesn't exist, or BMI doesn't apply to them; that they are in fact perfectly fit and healthy and only wear size X clothes; even when a quick BMI calculation or glance at a photo clearly shows that they are extremely obese.

If mayo non negotiable then try the low fat variety.
Heinz is better than hellman's

Rice crispies do taste sweet if you go a little while actively cutting out sugar.

Modern processed foods add sugar because sugar tastes nice, so we buy stuff with sugar.

I mean they taste like little pieces of unflavoured cardboard to me, so I can't say the sugar conspiracy has worked there.

I do very occasionally eat it but Of course its healthy to avoid added sugar! Sugar adds nothing other than its tasty. Some nutritionist. It stops glucose spiking as well.

I picked up some tips from that..I can certainly see how you lost weight and maintained it. Well done 👏 do uou have a treat day at all?

Give Slimming World a try. It works for me as I like big meals and it gives clear guidelines. I’ve lost 2.5 stone and am nearly at my target weight. Doesn’t feel like a diet.

IMO the obesity problem is not going to go away. Society and the NHS are going to have to adapt to deal with it, because the basic fact of the matter is unless people actually want to lose weight and are prepared to put the work in, long term, then they simply won't do it. It's no use berating people or claiming we've lost sight of what is normal - this is normal now. Absolutely no tactic put in place by any country to tackle obesity has worked. Nothing is going to work, short of actively rationing people's food.

I did not say sugar was healthy, I said it was unhealthy to cut something out completely. In my experience people who do that can't sustain it and put the weight back on. It is perfectly OK to have the odd slice of cake or bar of chocolate, as long as it isn't every day.

A 'nutritionist' is not a protected professional title and anyone using that term could have done a week's online course or a 4 year degree - MSc.

Which are you @Pollis ?

I am a little surprised at your comments on sugar.
I am assuming you mean that having some sugar now and then is fine, as long as it's part of a balanced diet?

And by sugar you mean added refined sugar in cakes and confectionary, not an apple of a bowl of blueberries. Yes?

I know you say you're not calorie counting but without an idea of the calorie content, how do you propose to achieve a deficit across most days?

1 tablespoon (and I assume thats a flat tablespoon not heaped), 15g of Hellmans is 102 calories - you could probably double that with a big heapy spoon of it...

Crackers can vary massively too - I like Ryvita Crackerbreads, 23cal and they're big (ok they also taste like polystyrene but i actually like the flavour!) - jacobs cream crackers are 35 cal each so your two (assuming thats what they are) is 70cal - i can have three crackerbreads which are twice the size, for 69cal, and thus feel fuller and like I've eaten something 'nice'.

Flavour - hummus (also contains protein), learning to make your own dressings can really help too! Just adding interesting things to the salad helps - I chuck in apple, nuts, salad leaves with some spice or pepper to them. The more you do it the more you realise these things have flavour.

I don't really have a treat day no, if I have a day where I eat more than I normally would I don't see it as a treat, it's just part of life.

@SpringTime2020 Yes, there's a lot of those sort of attacks, it's very unpleasant. A sign of very disordered attitudes about food, weight, health.

instead of mayo, maybe greek yoghurt mixed with lemon juice, garlic and salt?

important to get a good breakfast if possible and not starve yourself. also you do need carbs... nothing wrong with a slice of bread as long as not excessive.

I am not a salad person so I like to eat stir fried veg with some sort of chinese or Japanese dressing. something like bibimbap also good to get the veg in. warm salads are also nice, maybe some nuts and seeds for crunch? trying some Asian flavoured dressings?

@Thepeopleversuswork

but op herself has said she wants to lose a couple of stone” so therefore must be overweight to some degree

Yes, I'm talking about refined sugar. And FYI I've done the degree. I used to work for the NHS.

@Pollis It's not unhealthy to cut something out completely.

(What are you qualifications by the way?)

Maybe you are not explaining yourself very clearly.

Is what you mean that it's not good to have a 'taboo' food simply because that makes it 'taboo' and can actually create a craving?

I used to work for the NHS.

Oh dear.

The same NHS where the healthy plate image is mainly carbs? (And only an after thought saying they should be wholegrain, if possible)

The healthy plate model that fuels diabetes.
Yes, NHS 10 years behind science as usual.

I think the idea is that people say
I will NEVER eat sugar again. Manage it for a week then fall into a bag of chocolate and feel shit about themselves
Whereas if you allow yourself to have the chocolate a couple of times a week if you can stick to a small portion you're more likely to keep it up

And realistically who is never going to eat any form of sugar again, ever for the rest of their life?

Yes I agree, everything in moderation is fine.

Wow! Nice supportive comment there....

Im sorry but the calorie in vs out theory has been debunked. There is no accurate way of measuring calories in or out based on modern research. Also how the body metabolises almonds vs cake is very different. The body doesnt understand calories, the body understands nutrients. Evidence also shows that over 90%of people who lose weight with 'low calories' diets put all the weight back on again. Also the individual gut microbiome of each person also metabolises food differently. Theres a lot of evidence to show reducing ultra processed food and giving your body a rest from eating daily helps to stabilise the blood sugar and allows you to be able to understand your bodys satiety signals and hunger signals properly. Ultra processed food messes with that hugely so you can eat a bowl of ice cream and feel hungry an hour later.

I'm not really sure what's unclear. My professional experience has shown me that those who cut something out altogether when there is no medical requirement to do so (e.g. coeliacs cutting gluten) tend not to be able to sustain it long term and put the weight they lose back on (often more weight). That's why it isn't healthy to cut things out. Unless you think constant yoyo dieting is healthy.

If your relationship with sugar is such that you couldn't let yourself have a small slice of home made cake on your birthday, for instance, I would argue your relationship with food is as unhealthy as someone who would eat the entire cake on their own.

I hope that is clear.

I agree @bonfire.

It's about control. Banned foods can become attractive.

But there is no nutritional value in refined sugar. So to say leaving it our is unhealthy makes no sense.

If we're talking about the emotions and psychology of food then yes, it can be detrimental to rule something out 100%.