Diet help! I’m a carb monster

[Gruelless]

My diet is not very good. And my weight is creeping up. I went out this weekend and my jeans felt so tight. I need to do something about it.

A normal day is

7am two slices of wholemeal toast and butter

12pm lunch (main meal)- pasta with tomato sauce, tofu and stir fried noodles and veg, mashed potato with veggie bean chili, gnocchi and pesto, cous cous with halloumi etc etc

6pm tea- pitta with hummus and falafel, quesadilla, cheese on toast, soup, bread with cheese and ham and a yoghurt etc

Snacks: Just chocolate 😬

I am not a vegetarian but I don’t eat a lot of meat. I love fish. I like vegetables but not fruit. I live off carbs. Does anyone have any suggestions? I’m a lazy cook and generally batch cook at the beginning of the week. So I like food I can reheat easily later on.

I‘m 168cm (5’6“) and 65kg.

Oh and I also drink far too much wine, which I will be cutting down on

It's not a terrible diet! You are lacking in protein though. I'd switch out breakfast toast for Greek yoghurt with berries and some high cereal if you want some carbs mixed in.

It'll be the wine and chocolate that are causing the weight gain which I'm sure you know! If it seems obvious I'm afraid it usually is!

Your lunch & dinner are fine. Just fresh fruit nuts & natural yogurt for breakfast and bin the wine & chocolate for a while until you’re happy with your weight. Shouldn’t be too difficult.

Your diet looks pretty good! How much chocolate and wine? Do you eat differently at weekends ie takeaways and nights out?

Also what’s your target weight?

Its just a bit bready and noodly/pastary

So breakfast could be a small change to one slice of toast with egg on top, or beans with a bit of cheese on top, or mushrooms with cheese on top

Lunch, either increase the proportion of veg to pasta/noodles or replace the pasta and noodles with the veg completely

Evening, something like cottage pie, moussaka with aubergine instead of potato with it, chicken casserole, stews etc. Minimise the bread coming in. I dont think you need to make massive changes

I find bread is really bloating, both in terms of actual inches and water weight, it doesnt suit me at all.

Surprised nobody has mentioned but if you start calorie counting with an app (I’m using nutrachcek after recco on here and it’s good and cheap) even for a month it helps you understand and see where your calories re coming from. Portion size will be important! A tablespoon of olive oil has 123 calories!
otherwise your diet is very healthy and that’s a great start. Finally alcohol makes you crave carbs and throws your hunger hormones out of wack so you are more likely to overeat the next day.

I agree with using a tracker to input your calories. Your diet looks fairly healthy but if you’re eating more than your maintenance then you’ll gain, despite the food being fairly healthy. I’ve lost 6.4lbs since 1st Jan and eat French fries and ice cream daily. Obviously small portions and not that healthy but I’m focusing on losing and making sure I still have some treats to keep me going

In total agreement with @tenthavenue and @Zanatdy. You'll be surprised at how many calories are in foods, things like the butter you put on toast, 2 slices might not seem a lot but the calories in butter will be so much more than you realise. And any oils you put in your other meals can be the difference between low calorie and high calorie.

I started by tracking calories, weighing everything out, EVERYTHING!!! you start to get to know portion size/calories so after a while i stopped but learnt so much. And i swear it works. You have to trust the process.

Have a look at Team RH on facebook, you'll learn so much.

Also, i don't know if you do any exercise but if not definitely through some in. It's all about calories in vs calories out.

No need to cut chocolate or carbs out of your diet completely just need to eat things in moderation and be consuming less calories than your maintenance. There's a calorie calculator online that will work out your maintenance calories. This means if you consume your total maintenance calories your weight will stay the same, consume more and your weight will increase, consume less and your weight will decrease. I use the word consume because it's not just about eating. Burning calories (meaning exercise) goes towards it too.

Hope this helps 😀