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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

How would you rate my food today?

83 replies

BlazesBoylansHat · 26/09/2025 21:15

I'm trying to be more mindful of UPFs + also lose the last 10lbs of a 3 stone weight loss .

Breakfast: porridge made with half & half water & low fat milk, tiny sprinkle of brown sugar, small glass of freshly squeezed orange juice (from the juicing machine in supermarket), proper coffee with low fat milk

Lunch: homemade soup (roasted butternut squash, carrot, sweet potato, red onion, garlic, fresh ginger, turmeric, cumin, coriander, chilli flakes, salt pepper, low fat coconut milk & chicken stock) with a slice of organic wholemeal seeded sourdough with real butter

A tiny pink lady apple

6pm- proper coffee & 1 fun sized bag of malteasers (was really tired after work )

Dinner: fesh salmon cooked in foil with spring onion, thinly sliced Red pepper, grated fresh ginger, chilli flakes, fresh coriander & soy sauce served with roasted asparagus & steamed new
potatoes

A clementine

Water with lemon slices to drink

OP posts:
ThisMustBeMyDream · 26/09/2025 22:33

Ps. I've screenshot your soup! Can you elaborate on the quantities please 🙈. Sounds delicious! I try to make a soup each week, but it's been less lately as I'm bored of the same 3 on rotation!

GoldPoster · 26/09/2025 22:33

I wouldn’t have the orange juice, it’s bad for the blood sugar. I’d have a square 75 or 80 % dark chocolate instead of Maltese’s. Otherwise sounds good

BlazesBoylansHat · 26/09/2025 22:52

ThisMustBeMyDream · 26/09/2025 22:33

Ps. I've screenshot your soup! Can you elaborate on the quantities please 🙈. Sounds delicious! I try to make a soup each week, but it's been less lately as I'm bored of the same 3 on rotation!

Of course!

I just made it up really but its v nice. I used to work close to an incredible deli & they made the best soups. I really missed it when I changed jobs so I started trying making my own versions.

I peeled & chopped:

1 x butternut squash
2x decent sized carrots
1 x medium sweet potato (just because i had it from another recipe)
1 large red onion
1 x fresh red chilli

Put everything into a large roasting tin
Drizzle with olive oil ,add salt, pepper, about a teaspoon of turmeric, cumin, coriander & sprinkle of chilli flakes (depends how spicy you like things)

Roast in a hot oven for about half an hour until its browning

Transfer to a large pot, add sliced fresh ginger & a tin of coconut milk (i used low fat) & chicken stock. Simmer for about 15 mins & blend.

I use less stock & if its too thick when blended i add boiling water to thin it down a bit.

I hope you like it!

OP posts:
BlazesBoylansHat · 26/09/2025 22:54

I forgot to say it added 5 or 6 unpeeled garlic cloves to the roasting tin & squeezed out the cooked garlic when adding to the pot of stock

OP posts:
DisplayPurposesOnly · 26/09/2025 23:00

My point about the orange juice and the clementine wasn't about two citric fruits, FFS. The OP was about losing weight and the OJ is adding calories w/o any benefit (all the sugar of several oranges and none of the fibre).

Similarly butter is an easy way to pile on more calories unless youre very strict and so with soup I wouldn't bother.

If the OP is happy she's losing weight, then that's great. Sadly I had to cut more calories to lose mine.

Squidgemoon · 26/09/2025 23:06

I am dieting at the moment and I simply can’t maintain a calorie deficit if I eat three meals a day. So I have to ditch breakfast, which makes me sad as I love breakfast, but it has the added bonus of meaning that I am doing 16:8 by default.
Your food choices sound good OP but unless the portions are tiny, I don’t think you will be in much of a calorie deficit so won’t lose the last bit of weight quickly.

Whenwillicatchabreak · 26/09/2025 23:21

BlazesBoylansHat · 26/09/2025 22:14

Wow

I’m actually not being snarky, I mean if this is genuinely going to be a lifestyle change/the norm for you it would be absolutely insufferable (for you as well as those around you) to go into so much faffy detail. It’s fine. No matter how you dress it up.

BlazesBoylansHat · 27/09/2025 12:02

Whenwillicatchabreak · 26/09/2025 23:21

I’m actually not being snarky, I mean if this is genuinely going to be a lifestyle change/the norm for you it would be absolutely insufferable (for you as well as those around you) to go into so much faffy detail. It’s fine. No matter how you dress it up.

I have no idea why you have taken such exception to my post.

I'm not actually being snarky, I mean if you're genuinely getting this worked up about a totally random post on the Internet it would be absolutely insufferable (for you & those around you) so perhaps scroll on by. It's fine.

Anyway......moving on to today's food

I had porridge with stewed apples & coffee & juice

On that note - I mentioned that it was freshly squeezed as it has pulp & i understand that this makes a difference to its benefits?

Lunch will be scrambled eggs with baked beans & 1 toasted slice of the seeded wholegrain sourdough

Dinner is falafels with hummus & spicey couscous & salad with homemade dressing

How does that sound?

OP posts:
GreyCarpet · 27/09/2025 12:20

It's high in carbs. That would he my only thought.

I prefer to eat low carb and find that it much better than low fat for weight loss and is easily maintained.

If it works for you, then stick with it. If not, try something different. In terms of flavours, UPF and other nutritional benefits, it looks great.

GreyCarpet · 27/09/2025 12:25

Also want to eat as well as I can without breaking the bank so not really buying berries at the moment & I'm not so keen on frozen ones

I find frozen berries are OK if they're in something like yoghurt. I wouldn't eat them on their own with cream like I would with fresh though.

Whatareyoutalkingaboutnow · 27/09/2025 12:27

Looks great to me. 👍
If I was being really picky I'd say don't have juice.
Imo fruit juice is one of those "healthy for you" lies told by manufacturers for profit.

Full of sugar and high calories, the actual benefits are usually missing ie the fibre in the whole fruit.

BlazesBoylansHat · 27/09/2025 12:40

Thanks!

@GreyCarpet what's making it too high in carbs? How would you tweak things?

General advice is drop the juice so once this bottle is gone i'll try that for a week & see if it makes a,difference

I am more interested in making sustainable changes to healthier eating than quick weight loss as i'm in a pretty good place now & i'm happy for the remainder to come off slowly but to be able to keep it off.

OP posts:
Quatt · 27/09/2025 13:22

I would have added lentils to the soup for protein. Depending on the size of the beans portion that feels a bit carby for lunch

GreyCarpet · 27/09/2025 13:30

BlazesBoylansHat

I'm not suggesting you cut these out because there are benefits! But just to explain siince you asked...

Breakfast: porridge made with half & half water & low fat milk, tiny sprinkle of brown sugar, small glass of freshly squeezed orange juice (from the juicing machine in supermarket), proper coffee with low fat milk

Porridge is high in carbs. Obviously the sugar. People have already highlighted the juice.

I don't generally eat breakfast during the week but, when I do, I have scrambled eggs made with (real) butter. I'd never have low fat milk. I don't like full fat milk so have semi skimmed in tea but always have double cream in coffee first thing.

I don't eat breakfast because I eat around 6pm and don't feel hungry until lunchtime.

Lunch: homemade soup (roasted butternut squash, carrot, sweet potato, red onion, garlic, fresh ginger, turmeric, cumin, coriander, chilli flakes, salt pepper, low fat coconut milk & chicken stock) with a slice of organic wholemeal seeded sourdough with real butter

Butternut squash, carrots, onions and sweet potato, sourdough bread are all high in carbs. Red onions are lower in carbs than white though. So I'd make that soup with pumpkin, red onion and full fat coconut milk. I'd include everything you have spice wise. I wouldn't need bread with it because it would be filling enough (for me) with the extra fat.

Dinner: fesh salmon cooked in foil with spring onion, thinly sliced Red pepper, grated fresh ginger, chilli flakes, fresh coriander & soy sauce served with roasted asparagus & steamed new potatoesotatoes*

I'd have all of that without the potatoes and have something like tenderstem broccoli instead.

As far as fruit goes, pink lady apples are very high in carbs because they're so sweet.

Lunch will be scrambled eggs with baked beans & 1 toasted slice of the seeded wholegrain sourdough

I'd have the scrambled eggs with smoked salmon or good qualtiy ham and a homemade hollandaise sauce. Again, without the bread. Baked beans are high in carbs due to the sauce. I know they're supposed to count as one of your 5 a day but, for me, the bad in baked beans more than cancels out the good!

Dinner is falafels with hummus & spicey couscous & salad with homemade dressing

Chickpeas are high in carbs. So the falafel and the humous are high. Couscous is a carb. I'd make pork souvlaki or chicken gyros (without the flatbread) and homemade tzatzikii (with full fat yoghurt) if I fancied something like that. I do sometimes have humous because it's delicious but all of that together would be high in carbs.

I eat a lot of salad with EV olive oil and AC vinegar dressing, protein and a lot of green leafy veg but very little fruit other than berries.

I don't ever feel the need for treats but will occasionally have a small amount of 85% dark chocolate. Once I lowered my carb intake, even double cream.started to taste sweet because my taste buds changed so much!

I'm not hugely strict about it. I don't eat bread, pasta or rice though and don't make substitutes either but generally keep my carb intake on the lower end. My calorie intake is about 1500/1600 per day but I've lost 2 stone and kept it off for yonks now.

So not even massively different to what you're eating really.

I'm not advocating low carb necessarily (it's hard to eat out for a start!) but given that all carbs are converted to glucose in the body and any glucose that doesn't get used is stored as fat, if you're trying to lose weight it's probably worth bearing carb content in mind.

GreyCarpet · 27/09/2025 13:42

Can't edit but, if pumpkin isn't available, I'd use butternut squash or maybe with swede rather than sweet potato because sweet is much lower in carbs and, with everything else added, you wouldn't be able to taste it. Besides, I like swede. Butternut squash has about 2/3 of the carbs of sweet potato.

Swede is also a good lower carb alternative to potato. It can be roasted and mashed. Some people make swede chips but I don't like them because they don't go crispy. But roast swede with garlic and rosemary is delicious.

Swedes are only really any good from autumn to spring but freeze well when chopped.

TheGreatWesternShrew · 27/09/2025 13:50

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BlazesBoylansHat · 27/09/2025 14:01

Thanks @GreyCarpet

It's great that its all worked out for you & you've kept the weight off but I don't think that style of eating would work for me.

I think my goal is to eat food that is as close to what my grandmother would have eaten as I can. By that I mean as close to its natural form as possible.

I try to aim for a broad variety of vegetables & salads & some fruits as i can.

Information about food & nutrition is wildly confusing 😕

For me its a win to stay away from all the stuff I love like takeaways/ chips / crisps / sweet stuff / wine etc

But its interesting to read all the different opinions as I thought my choices were pretty good

OP posts:
BlazesBoylansHat · 27/09/2025 14:03

Sorry I meant to add that I know you're also eating food in its pure form but I dont think i can get into the carbs in veg mind set. Though I appreciate it works for you

OP posts:
GreyCarpet · 27/09/2025 14:05

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Nope.

GreyCarpet · 27/09/2025 14:43

BlazesBoylansHat · 27/09/2025 14:03

Sorry I meant to add that I know you're also eating food in its pure form but I dont think i can get into the carbs in veg mind set. Though I appreciate it works for you

Yeah, I get it. It's not easy and I know its not for everyone but it's just about being mindful and eating properly, isn't it?

RachelGreep87 · 27/09/2025 15:01

How can you sleep after having coffee at 6 pm?

MiddleAgedDread · 27/09/2025 15:05

Very low on protein and probably only just hits your 5 a day.

StepawayfromtheLindors · 27/09/2025 15:07

Massive stealth boast OP 🙄

murasaki · 27/09/2025 15:14

If I ate food my grandmother did id be eating shoe leather meat, and the veg for tonight would have been put on to boil about a week ago. No thanks.

murasaki · 27/09/2025 15:15

RachelGreep87 · 27/09/2025 15:01

How can you sleep after having coffee at 6 pm?

Agree, 2pm is my absolute cut off.

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