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?

This is a nice low carb vegetarian dinner

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/egyptian-egg-salad#commentsFeed

Read this and totally forget about calories.

https://www.diabetes.co.uk/in-depth/zoe-harcombe-calories-energy-balance/#:~:text=Dr%20Harcombe%20explains%20that%20if,periods%20of%20poor%20food%20availability.

Oh also I eat falafel and hummus in a pita with cucumber or carrot for lunch. And tray bakes with roast veggies and halloumi quite often.

It's not what you're eating but when and also the macros.
Can you:
delay breakfast so that you can intermittent fast .
Swap the low fat for real Greek yoghurt which is a great source of protein.
Increase nutrients and protein in each meals. Eggs are great, meat but not sausages (torpedos of lard) .
Move your evening meal forward so you have a feeding and fasting window
Ditch the Kitkats

It depends how much of the plate is veg. My mum adds one floret of broccoli to her meal and says "I always eat veggies!". In my opinion the plate should be half or a third of vegetables.

I reckon portion sizes and also how much do you exercises? Probably some luck too. I’d make sure majority is fruit is veg and up water intake. Also if you want to lose weight you need to eat less than normal.

Granola is full of sugar btw I’d do something else. Have you tried slimming world?

People who are advising the OP's diet is fine, or that you'd lose weight on it or that you have a bmi of 21 and it's fine are totally discounting that the OP is insulin resistant.

What works for people who are a healthy weight and aren't insulin resistant and don't have PCOS won't work for her.

And calories in vs calories out is overly simplistic and won't work either.

I am not even saying it is a bad diet from the point of weight loss. I am saying it is very unhealthy to eat that much processed food and sugar daily. Once in a while is fine.

Michael Pollen said ‘eat real food, not too much, mostly vegetables’ - which I fully subscribe to!

you have been given lots of solid advice here OP (apart from the people suggesting Keto, don’t do that! Seems to work for some people but as a vegetarian you’ll get sick of eggs very very quickly!)

just echoing what PPs have said about having a bit more protein and veg. And cutting out the ultra processed stuff if you can bear to lose the kitkat! It doesn’t look like you’re getting your five a day.

if I was you I would…

• have the eggs for for breakfast instead of lunch.
• make a hearty veg stew for lunch - can make a big one on Sunday pm for the whole working week
• have a salad with your supper to bulk it out
• work on drinking water or mint tea instead of diet drinks + sugar free squash.

your diet reads like someone who feels a bit cheated if they don’t have that comforting full-of-carbs feeling after a meal. I think the solution is not to ‘cut lots out’ but to add in the good stuff so you crave the afternoon biscuits and evening stodge less.

I don't think it's great but with a small adjustment it could be loads and loads better!
At the moment, you aren't eating any vegetables! And very little protein, and I think if you count the amount of carbs/ sugar, it would be over what's recommended.
Also, eating five times a day will result in weight gain because you're spiking your insulin throughout the day. Try eating more satisfying, protein rich meals with lots of veg, and eating them in a smaller window of time if you can.

your current diet:

25g granola or oats - Granola very high in sugar - porridge with oats and whole milk fine though.
Low fat Greek yogurt - low fat options are usually UPF
Berries - high in sugar
Honey - very high in sugar

Snack
Banana / apple - OK but overall this is adding up to too much sugar

Lunch
Beans/egg on whole meal toast - Egg and beans fine, although heinz beans can be high in salt/ sugar -bread OK if the toast isn't UPF, but most sliced supermarket bread is.
(Small amount of real butter) - fine

Snack
Kit kat and a cuppa - UPF/ very high in sugar

Dinner
Jacket Potato cheese/beans - more carbs and beans?! No Veg?
or
Sausage and mash/roast potatoes with veg - more carbs, sausages are highly processed and high in bad fats and salt

I think with very slight adjustment it would be much better, and you can cut out the snacks because these meals will be more satisfying:

Porridge with oats and berries/ banana, nuts and seeds, and possibly a small amount of honey
or
Berries/ fruit with full fat Greek yoghurt, nuts and seeds, and a small amount of honey
(no granola)
Water

no snack

Lunch:
Homemade baked beans (make with tomatoes, onions, garlic, spinach, paprika, cumin, parsley etc - make a big batch and freeze in portions)
Plus two eggs, with feta, either on its own on one slice of non UPF wholemeal bread
Fresh herbs on top/ side salad if wanted
Water

no snack

Dinner
A leaner protein, such as fish, with vegetables inc. root veg, and a side salad with avocado
Water

Good luck!

6ft is tall. It’s carb heavy, sugar heavy too.

That's a lot of carbs and no veg. Add a salad to your baked potato and have some low cal vegetables soup with lunch.

You need to calculate your TDEE - look it up. It tells you your daily calories with or without excercise. Mine is 1800 calories daily - Ive obviously been eating more than I need - hence the weight gain!!! I’ve upped my protein per meal and added in intermittent fasting - lost 16 pounds - lots of good advice already for you. Good luck.

Calories in vs calories out is certainly too simplistic (the 'what' and 'when' matter a lot!) but the idea that it doesn't matter at all is likely to be unhelpful.

If your insulin responses etc aren't already out of whack then maybe you can just eat (healthy) foods to appetite but if you're starting from a point of being overweight and your metabolism is impaired then for many of us it's a useful reality check.

Is your 50g cheese a guesstimate? Because 50g looks tiny when weighed out, most people have loads more than that.

I agree with PPs, lower carb and fewer UPFs will very likely be beneficial.

Thanks so much for all the supportive messages. I’m definitely taking lots of advice and having a look at my carb and sugar intake

Try switching your breakfast yoghurt to full fat, and removing the granola and honey

You might find you aren't needing the cuppa and kit kat later on

Also.. how much do you move?

have some nuts instead of a KitKat. just cut out that processed shit. It take a little while to get used to but it's well worth it.

Berries are low sugar.
100g of raspberries 4.4g.
100g strawberry again around 4g

They have around the same sugar levels as onions and less than things like parsnips... And nobody is calling those high sugar!

They're low- when compared to bananas and mangoes which are around 12g per 100g

I haven’t read all the responses but have you looked into how to lose weight with PCOS? It’s virtually impossible to lose weight with insulin resistant PCOS with what your eating on your sample day. It’s very high in processed carbohydrates and fructose so even the high sugar fruits like bananas should be avoided.

It might not be what you want to hear but low (refined) carb and a low sugar diet will keep the PCOS weight gain under control. As a fellow PCOS sufferer I sympathise and I know it’s rubbish but I can lose a good couple of stone at a steady rate if I eat low carb/sugar and I still allow myself the odd take away and wine or I’d never stick to it.

Ditch the Quorn sausages so crap, and don't fill you up.

Better having decent cheese, eggs, lentils etc for filling nutrient dense foods.

I make a very nice red lentil "meat loaf". I'll dig out the recipe. You can use it in place of the weird over processed Quorn sausages.

If you crave chocolate every day, quit it! Go cold turkey. You won't miss it. Not really. Especially if you're having decent meals and snacks (if you must snack).
or consider dark chocolate/cacao powder.

It's the crappy processed foods that are the killer.

God, swap your KitKat for a homemade flapjack and you'd do better!!

What beans are you buying that are 600 calories for 400/415g??? Lard infused beans?

I just spot checked Heinz, Sainsbury's and branstons and they're all c.400 cals for 400/415g (full sugar versions)

An adult should have no more than 30G a day.

100G of raspberries at 4G. a teaspoon of honey is 6G. That’s 1/3 of her daily allowance already…before we’ve even started on the granola or yoghurt (7G in 100G). So OP could easily be having 20G of sugar in breakfast alone.

That is bad and we need to acknowledge that.

You're over eating on your portion sizes. Half a tin of beans, no cheese or butter, but with a large salad would be a brilliant adjustment.