Not losing weight despite massively cutting back

[Morgun]

Can anyone analyse what I’m eating and tell me where I’m going wrong? I’ve cut back so much yet the scales are not shifting. I’m 5ft 8 and 16st

breakfast - porridge oats, 2 slices of wholemeal toast with low fat spread, a fat free yogurt and a banana

lunch - pasta salad with a wholemeal roll and a packet of low calorie crisps.

Aftetnoon snack - apple, nuts and sometimes a fat free yogurt but not always

dinner - homemade spaghetti bolognese (wholemeal spaghetti), 2 small slices of garlic baguette, a weight watchers mouse and a piece of fruit

evening snack - a couple of biscuits

this is far less than I used to eat yet the scales are not budging. I’m being told to cut down further but I can’t see what else I can do, I’m struggling as it is.

That sounds quite a lot of food. For example, for breakfast, I would either eat the oats or the toast or the fruit/yoghurt rather than all of them. Also, until the scales atart tipping in your favour, be mindful of your snacks. Such as swap your evening biscuits for rich tea fingers (only around 37cals!)

My advice is to log what you're eating via Myfitnesspal. It will show you how many calories you're consuming and the nutrients.

Good luck!

That’s well over 2000 calories a day. You won’t lose on that.

That's an absolute fuck tonne of food op. You're eating two meals at each sitting to be frank and i'm not surprised you're not loosing.

Easy changes would be...

breakfast - porridge oats and a banana

lunch - pasta salad - with a whole tin of tuna and heavy on the salad.

Aftetnoon snack - a yoghurt and a very small portion of nuts

dinner - homemade spaghetti bolognese (wholemeal spaghetti), a weight watchers mouse and a piece of fruit

evening snack - an ice lolly

It’s a lot of food. I don’t think you realise how much food you’re consuming, even if you have cut back from before or made swaps - I had this exact same problem.

My weight was slowly creeping up and I couldn’t understand why as I didn’t think I was overeating but I was massively underestimating my calories. For example, I was eating 800 calorie lunches that were composed of couple of falafel, hummus, salad with feta, olives, some rotisserie chicken. In my head, all of this was healthy - which it is - but it wasn’t low calorie like I thought it was.

Try tracking and logging your calories - you’ll be surprised what can add up quite quickly!

I have porridge, no snacks ever, lunch similar but no pasta just salad, dinner, just the spag bol, no garlic bread, mousse or fruit to maintain. To loose I need to swim for an hour a day. Similar height, 3st+ less weight.

I think everyone has covered it. For me that’s 3 breakfasts (I’m 12st so def not in a competition to eat less than anyone!)
I would have one of the above or cut to two and then to one to ease yourself down (I believe in reducing slowly as your more likely to stick to it) I’d move your banana to a snack either before or after lunch wherever you feel like you crash more.

I’d drop the bread from lunch not needed with pasta double carb and keep the crisps if you need to. Or move the crisps to the snack and reduce your afternoon snack (snack to me is one thing not 3). Again evening meal I would ditch the garlic bread (I love it though so if you have a few slices just drop to one etc) then pick the desert not biscuits, mouse and fruit just choose one.

I only eat 1200-1300 kcal a day and am a size 22. If i eat more I gain weight. I had a tumour though and they think its permanenelty messed things up. My point is i feel your frustrations!!!

Wayyyy too many carbs and just too many calories altogether. You definitely do not need to be eating porridge AND toast, and fruit and yogurt. You also do not need to eat crisps or biscuits every day either and def not garlic bread alongside dinner! If I ate this much I’d put on weight at quite an alarming rate!

For me to lose weight at a gradual rate I eat -

Breakfast: Greek yogurt with a drizzle of honey with chopped banana
Lunch: Scrambled egg with half a slice of sourdough toast
Snack: 1 piece of fruit
Dinner: rice, meat & salad

If I have snack it’ll be things like rye crackers, cheese, cucumber, carrot, Houmous etc. and I’ll sometimes have a shortbread biscuit with my tea.

I also walk a minimum of 5km five times a week, but usually it’s around 7km.

Far too many simple carbs, not enough protein and hardly any vegetables. It’s a very sugar/carb insulin spiking diet.

You need to cut out the pasta, the bread, the porridge. Eat a high protein, no sugar yoghurt: Fage Greek yoghurt is ideal -the 5% fat one will give you satiety without the excess calories.

You eat a lot of calorie dense but nutritionally empty food. I think you’re going to need to change the way you think about what you eat.

Base each meal on a base of gren, red, yellow vegetables eg broccoli, courgette, pumpkin, squash. Then add the protein: a chicken breast, a tuna steak, a piece of fish (no batter, grilled, steamed or fried with a spray of olive oil).

You’re eating processed “liwfat” stuff - what is the sugar content? Why not just have a whole food such as butter (in moderation it’s fine) or a small teaspoon of a nut butter.

Ate you weighing everything? People generally underestimate servings and calories.

But basically replace all the junk carbs (bread, pasta, rice, oats) with vegetables and a lean protein source.

OP - with respect - I can see you changed your meals, but the changes are not massive. You used to have carbs with carbs for your meals, and you still have carbs with carbs.

Of course you are not losing any weight - you have porridge+bread; pasta salad+bread+chips; pasta+bread, and then a snack of cookies....

You need to up fiber - fruits, vegetables, salads. Add lean proteins - chicken, fish, etc. And cut out double/triple carbs.

I think you need to start calorie counting and having some idea of how much energy you're burning on the average day.

What you're eating may be a huge cut back but if you are still eating around the same amount of calories you're burning the scales are not going to move.

For me as an overweight 53 year old, porridge and toast and yogurt and fruit is a huge breakfast and very carb heavy. It's carbs again for lunch plus crisps, then an afternoon snack (nuts, although nutritious, are incredibly calorific), then a double carb dinner (pasta & bread) plus a pudding and biscuits in the evening.

Unless you're training for a marathon, I think you're overdoing it on the calories by quite a margin.

If you're not sensitive to a sarcastic dose of truth, try Team RH via facebook. Their daily steps to cals/micronutrients are really generous.

You do need to consistently put in the slog of steps and weighing/measuring/logging all food intake, though.

Your still eating a lot of food based on what you havw written here.

Breakfast- i would have a small amount of porridge made with milk with a banana in it and a drop of honey.

Lunch - pasta salad on its own os plenty. What dressing are you using on it as dressings can be surprisingly calorie laden.

Afternoon snack- nuts are really high calorie so best to cut these out totally.

Dinner- spaghetti bolognese is fine unless its made with tons of oil or laden with cheese. Garlic bread is very high calorie wise so best to cut it out.

Evening- biscuits cut these out.

How much fluids are you drinking a day? Try drink 2 ltrs od water a day and walk 10k steps a day. This can be done by fitting short walks into your day to day life. For example walk your kids to school, park further away from the shops and walk etc

The weight will fall of you if you make these changes.

I eat, typically

Breakfast - either nothing or 200 cal portion of porridge
Lunch - either bought sandwich if I'm in the office (any as long as not more than 400 calories); or vegetable soup and a roll (no butter) or cottage cheese/tuna/other protein with wholewheat crackers
Dinner - either meat/fish & two veg (not potatoes) or jacket potato with filling of choice (as long as it doesn't take me above my calorie allowance) or pasta with veg and pesto. Followed by plain, full fat yoghurt and fruit.

At weekends I might have a 'brunch' such as 2 scrambled eggs on 1 slice of /unbuttered toast mid-morning and then nothing till dinner.

Snacks - none. Drinks - herbal tea, occasionally a black coffee, some days a zero calorie fizzy drink; and plenty of water.

Having said that you are eating way over!! As I said I only eat 1300kcal MAX despite being so heavy because anything more and I gain weight. I have stabilised at 18stone and a size 22-24 which irks me so much as I eat so clean but there you are!!

Could you try adding more protein?

I had half a wholemeal pitta with scrambled egg, spinach, feta and tomatoes for breakfast. Home made tomato and red pepper soup for lunch. Greek yoghurt and some strawberries with honey for snack. Dinner is in oven now and is steamed mackerel cooked with pakchoi, garlic, ginger, chilli, asparagus, soy sauve and tenderstem brocolli. I might have some rice on the side too but feeling a. bit sick today

I am 5ft 8 and that’s A LOT of food.

Breakfast - 2 crumpets with marmite and 1 x Nescafé cappucino.
Lunch - small yoghurt and bag of crisps (the lower calorie ones like Pom bears or pop chips)
Tea - standard evening meal fare (pie and mash, spaghetti and meatballs, roast dinner, beef stew and dumplings, curry and rice etc) I keep this portioned reasonably - it’s not tiny by any means (usually equivalent to around 800 calories worth)

I might have a small chocolate bar if I feel like it.
Drinks wise the rest of the day I drink instant coffee with sweetener and water. Might have 1 cup of tea with sugar (don’t like sweetener in tea).

But that is my average daily intake. Which is a lot less than yours.

Jeez, that's three breakfasts, two lunches, two snacks, pasta twice in one day, and bread, crisps and more bread - garlic bread, no less - and several sugary things. Also hardly any fruit and veg. That's really not my idea of a diet. What were you eating before??

Well done for making positive changes. I think you need to reduce down the portion to make a difference. For breakfast I would do porridge or wholemeal toast. Have berries instead of the banana. For lunch maybe maybe just a salad with either cous cous or bread. Dinner i would stick to chicken/fish/ lean steak with baby potatoes and loads of veg. Snacks I would go with popcorn, jelly or low cal crisps. Its hard going but we'll done and don't get disheartened.

So as you can see I’ve cut down a hell of a lot

Really not sure you have, in honesty.

Download a food tracker and weigh your food for a few days.

I think you'll be surprised at how much you're over consuming by.

Read on. She has posted that. It featured not a single piece of fruit or veg and I'm struggling to believe you wouldn't be hospitalised with constipation and vitamin/mineral deficiencies after a couple of months like that.

Breakfast
Porridge oats (40g dry oats with water/milk) → ~150–200 kcal
2 slices wholemeal toast + low-fat spread → ~180–200 kcal
Fat-free yogurt (small pot ~125g) → ~70 kcal
Banana (medium) → ~100 kcal
Total: ~500–570 kcal

Lunch
Pasta salad (1 medium portion ~250–300g with light dressing/veg) → ~350–450 kcal
Wholemeal roll → ~150 kcal
Low-calorie crisps (typical packet) → ~90 kcal
Total: ~590–690 kcal

Afternoon snack
Apple → ~80 kcal
Nuts (small handful ~25g) → ~150–170 kcal
Optional fat-free yogurt → ~70 kcal
Total: ~230–320 kcal

Dinner
Homemade spaghetti bolognese (wholemeal pasta + lean mince/tomato sauce, medium portion) → ~500–600 kcal
Garlic baguette, 2 small slices → ~150 kcal
Weight Watchers mousse → ~80 kcal
Piece of fruit → ~80 kcal
Total: ~810–910 kcal
Evening snack
Couple of biscuits → ~120–150 kcal

Total: ~120–150 kcal
Approximate Daily Total: 2,250 – 2,640 kcal

I think you need to both cut calories and as others have suggested switch from high processed carbs to more protein and fibre. Your breakfast will be massively spiking your insulin and making you hungry all day. I would suggest tackling this first - good options are greek yoghurt, nuts and berries, eggs/omelette, fish, cottage cheese etc.

Next I would cut your evening snack, you will loose a lot of weight by limiting your eating hours. Aim for 12 at first and then to nearer 8 eating hours a day.

Breakfast
Porridge oats (40g dry oats with water/milk) → ~150–200 kcal
2 slices wholemeal toast + low-fat spread → ~180–200 kcal
Fat-free yogurt (small pot ~125g) → ~70 kcal
Banana (medium) → ~100 kcal
Total: ~500–570 kcal

Lunch
Pasta salad (1 medium portion ~250–300g with light dressing/veg) → ~350–450 kcal
Wholemeal roll → ~150 kcal
Low-calorie crisps (typical packet) → ~90 kcal
Total: ~590–690 kcal

Afternoon snack
Apple → ~80 kcal
Nuts (small handful ~25g) → ~150–170 kcal
Optional fat-free yogurt → ~70 kcal
Total: ~230–320 kcal

Dinner
Homemade spaghetti bolognese (wholemeal pasta + lean mince/tomato sauce, medium portion) → ~500–600 kcal
Garlic baguette, 2 small slices → ~150 kcal
Weight Watchers mousse → ~80 kcal
Piece of fruit → ~80 kcal
Total: ~810–910 kcal
Evening snack
Couple of biscuits → ~120–150 kcal

Total: ~120–150 kcal
Approximate Daily Total: 2,250 – 2,640 kcal

I think you need to both cut calories and as others have suggested switch from high processed carbs to more protein and fibre. Your breakfast will be massively spiking your insulin and making you hungry all day. I would suggest tackling this first - good options are greek yoghurt, nuts and berries, eggs/omelette, fish, cottage cheese etc.

Next I would cut your evening snack, you will loose a lot of weight by limiting your eating hours. Aim for 12 at first and then to nearer 8 eating hours a day.

I’ve just run that through My Fitness Pal and it came in at 2349 calories, that’s not a calorie deficit unless you are an athlete.

I was conservative with portion sizes. You also have not mentioned drinks, sugar or milk.

I think you need to drop 900 of those calories.

Not enough protein.
Switch out most of the carbs for protein and weight will come off.

At the mo your body is consuming your muscles to make up any missing energy...

Do you not eat any fruit or veg?

Sorry but your lunch is really lacking in nutrients and you're getting hardly any calcium. Women need 700-1000mgs a day.

Wow. Chocolate granola and a cereal bar? A bacon roll and a sausage roll?

Well to be fair you have made some substantial changes, so I'm surprised you haven't lost anything.

Have you tried fasting? Sometimes it's easier to just try to forget about food altogether!