To think what I eat in a day is ok?

[Bibblybumblebee]

So I’m overweight and yes I’d like to loose some weight but I honestly don’t think my diet is that bad. I tend to eat the same most days

Breakfast
25g granola or oats
Low fat Greek yogurt
Berries
Honey

Snack
Banana / apple

Lunch
Beans/egg on whole meal toast
(Small amount of real butter)

Snack
Kit kat and a cuppa

Dinner
Jacket Potato cheese/beans
or
Sausage and mash/roast potatoes with veg

We only ever have a takeaway if it’s someone’s birthday

and we only have a pudding on a Saturday night which will be something like ice cream or cheese cake

In a size 16/18 and I do have PCOS

It might not be the healthiest but also it’s not horrendous surely?

It doesn't sound 'bad' as in massively unhealthy but if you're taking in more calories than you need you'll gain weight.

Not horrendous but it's obviously not working for you.

Do you write down what you eat & drink? Coffee & wine needs to be accounted for. Try MyFitnessPal app.

Overall the day would be improved by more veg, particularly leafy greens. And posters will say fewer carbs will help.

What are you hoping to achieve by asking this question?

To be told that it is unfair/not your fault you are overweight when you eat an "ok" diet?

You will get some responses that are from the competitive under eaters saying they would never eat a carb and kit Kats are ultra processed food etc.

The truth is you are overweight (so am I) so you are consuming more calories than you burn.

We don't know anything about the portion size you are eating. We cannot accurately calculate your calories and neither can you.

Yes, you could eat a worse diet. But you could eat a better one.

Sounds ok to me. I’d suggest tracking it MFP in case the portion sizes are too large.

No it sounds fine (subject to portion sizes) but if you have a slow metabolism you will gain weight. Exercise will help speed up your metabolism. I would also go to the gp to get thyroid checked.

impossible to say unless we knoww how tall and active you are, if you are 5ft nothing and sedentary it'd probably too much, if you are a 6ftt marathon runner you are starving yourself. You could probably lose the kitkat tbh.

Its impossible to say without knowing the portion sizes. It does seem to be quite a carb heavy diet which isn't advisable if you have PCOS.

Track your calories. Use an app. It's a pain in the bum to begin with but you'll be shocked at how many calories are in something you think 'isn't that bad'.
You don't need to do it forever but it's the only way to make sure you are eating less than you need to. There are lots of online calculators to help you work out how much less you need to eat to lose weight.
A lot of us are woefully uneducated about what we shove in our faces.
You don't need to do any faddy diet, make small gradual changes and they'll stick.
Bottom line less calories in!!

Probably not enough non-carby veg.

How much exercise do you do? If you don't move much then your fuel needs are very low and your portion sizes may not be appropriate.

Use a smaller size of plate to help with portion control. Half the plate should be non-carby veg (ie not things like potatoes or beans) about a quarter carbs and a quarter protein.

I’m 6ft and apart from walking I don’t exercise

My portions are ok as I weigh out my breakfast and lunch.
However I don’t measure my evening meals.

I suppose when you have no idea how others eat it gets you thinking of how I eat is wrong?
I have a friend that just forgets to eat.
I have another friend that has take away every Friday.
Guess I want to know where I am
on that spectrum.

This.

PCOS is insulin resistance related so you need to go low carb.

It’s a lot of carbs isn’t it!
When I have beans with my Jacket I’ll have an entire tin.

I don’t eat meat (sausages are veggie ones) so I think I replace a lot of protein with carbs

At the end of the day OP it doesn't matter how unfair it is or isn't or how you compare to other people and what they are eating.

Your body is overweight because it's getting more calories than it is using.

It's unfair yes, because of course your diet isn't crazily over the top (but you know that). But bodies are what they are. You probably do need to cut the carbs down a little.

Sounds absolutely fine. Not much variety though and could do with more fruit/veg. The reality is though that the pounds are not going to fall off unless you work for it - you need to be exercising not just for your weight but for your general health as well.

It's less than me and I'm a normal weight so I have no idea why you would be overweight. Do you exercise?

I have started fasting for part of a day (working up to a whole day!) and genuinely don't think about what I eat on the others although do prefer healthier foods. Could you try that?

Breakfast
25g granola or oats
If either have added sugar they can be very high calorie and will give you a sugar surge/drop
Low fat Greek yogurt how much?
Berries good
Honey how much? Honey is very calorific!

That's a very high sugar breakfast that clearly isn't keeping you full for long. Try more protein like egg/beans.

Snack
Banana / apple again sugar, healthy but an extra 100 cals

Lunch
Beans/egg on whole meal toast
(Small amount of real butter)
How many slices of toast? Thick sliced? Seeded? A whole tin of beans is nearly 300 cals. 2 slices of bread another 300. Your butter probably 50 cals.

Snack
Kit kat and a cuppa
empty cals

Dinner
Jacket Potato cheese/beans
The cheese could easily be 500 cals on its own. Do you have more butter?
or
Sausage and mash/roast potatoes with veg
Sausages are very unhealthy. Have a piece of real meat.
More butter/cream in mash?
Roast potatoes in oil?
How are the veggies cooked?

What else do you drink, lots of hidden calories in alcohol/ coffee/ juice.

We only ever have a takeaway if it’s someone’s birthday

Seeing food as a treat is a problem.
A big takeaway is easily over 2000 cals on its own.

and we only have a pudding on a Saturday night which will be something like ice cream or cheese cake
One of those desserts could easily be 600 calories on its own.

It only takes an excess of 3500 cals to gain a pound of weight.

Unless you are on your feet all day/ very active you will gain weight on this diet unless your portions are absolutely tiny.

I think you must eat more than what you are claiming otherwise you wouldn't be the size you are.
There must be hidden calories somewhere- full fat coke or booze maybe.

Also what I have put down that I eat is the truth. But I think anyone looking at me must think I sit on my sofa all day eating crap which just isn’t true.

I would start with the NHS advice of making sure your getting 50g of protein a day and a least 5 portions of different veg and fruit a day.

Your breakfast is also very sugary. Leave out the honey and swap the sugary granola for nuts.

It feels a bit lacking in veg and also protein for me - if I ate similar I'd be raiding the biscuit tin as it wouldn't feel satiating enough.

I'd try tracking calories, but also there's some simple swaps you could do which might help. My advice is track how you eat normally with no changes for a week, then make small small swaps. More sustainable than changing everything overnight.

Breakfast - switch to a lower fat higher protein yoghurt, I like Fage 0% or Skyr (watch the sugar content in these). I'd also gradually reduce the honey.

Lunches - I'd try and get more protein here. I'd add an egg to your existing lunch at minimum (replacing a slice of toast if there's already more than one). To be honest I'd go down the "massive salad" route with a few spoons of grains (e.g. quinoa), selection of chopped salad veggies and a protein such as chicken or prawns.

Dinners - likewise, focus on veggies and protein. And portion size! Dinner is where I struggle most with portion size as I would typically meal prep lunches in advance.

Diet wise I tend to follow a few "rules" where breakfast is 300-400 calories, lunch 400-550 and dinner 500-700. Have snacks to hand such as protein bars or weighed out portions of nuts so I don't hit the biscuit tin. I aim for minimum 30g protein in each meal, and lunch and dinner both have to have at least three portions of veg in, with breakfast usually a portion of fruit. I "volume eat" so my plates of food are fairly large but bulked out with a lot of low calorie items. A lunch can have nearly half a cucumber in for example, and if I have spaghetti I add strips of courgette to make me feel like I am eating a huge bowl of pasta.

I'd also suggest things like switching to lower fat butter (e.g. lurpak to lurpak light), low fat sausages (I really like the Sainsbury's own brand ones), if making an omelette do one whole egg and 75-100g egg white (the cartons make this really easy).

You don't mention drinks, when I started calorie counting last year I realised my cup of tea was 90 calories and I was drinking more than five a day. Make sure you are factoring drinks in!

Plenty of good veggie alternatives to increase your protein intake these days! Also very beneficial as most are far lower in calories and fat than real meat. We are a veggie household - we use Quorn chicken pieces in salads, stir frys, curries and fajitas. Their mince is also very good in a bolognese. Linda McCartney does a fantastic ‘duck’ and pancakes meal kit - super low in calories and amazingly tasty, just like the real thing if not better.

This is really helpful - thank you

90 calories for a cup of tea?! Surely that is with a huge amount of sugar and milk added?

I would say this is significantly less than most people eat.