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.

Cmon now; not one person has said they eat half a slice of toast, and the op isn’t losing weight so if she’s not gaining she’s eating enough cals to maintain 16 stone weight. So it’s a lot.

I thought we had veered off into a general philosophical discussion about whether eggs outranked bread and yoghurt generally? (someone raised an island-with-only-eggs-for-the-rest-of -their-life scenario)

ETA I've said above and I'll say again, IMO the ideal is to switch between the items from one breakfast to another. They each have their own benefits.

250 for oats, 64 for toast, 100 for banana and fat free yoghurt 100 so the OPs breakfast might only be 514??

Most bread is closer to 100cals per slice (including a scrape of butter) if you're going to focus on that, rather than the 'triple' breakfasts.

That may have been me.

Our stomachs empty food within 2 hrs. That doesn't mean we have to fill them every 2 hours. We can live off our fat and glycogen stored in the liver for days actually! Might not feel great, but we don't need to eat every 2 hours.

She did confess to a weightwatchers choc mousse thing which will be full of crap.

And she did say low fat yoghurt- which is usually low fat=high sugar' artificial sugar and thickeners.

Wow, I didn’t realise it was within 2 hours! You learn something new every day :)

Actually it’s 2-4 hours and can take up to 6 for a,large meal.

I promise I’m not sponsored by Fage 😂 they’re just my go-to for yoghurts.

I agree! And a Greek friend of mine says the Fage 5% fat is the closest she's found in the UK to the yoghurt that's standard at home. It contains only milk & yoghurt culture, and is high in protein. And with a bit of honey, or banana, or protein powder is an amazing sweet treat.

This is key. I'm a big eater, but I go for volume in vegetables - broccoli, tomatoes, lettuce. cauliflower, spinach, peppers, courgettes. Two whole courgettes roasted and with some soy sauce or grilled with tomatoes is a huge volume of food for very few calories, but great nutritional value.

Base your diet on vegetables (not starchy ones though) and add in lean animal protein or tofu, chick peas, beans, or lentils.

I'm a couple inches shorter than you, but that menu would see me gaining straight away. I disagree, as to me that really is 3 breakfasts I'd have porridge OR toast OR yog w/ banana. For lunch, it'd be pasta salad OR a roll and crisps.

I'm currently trying to cut back to lose a bit of weight, and so I'm calorie counting - this is my menu today:

Brek - porridge (35g)(126cal) w/ 100ml no sugar almond milk (15 cal) and 50ml water
Lunch - x2 chicken protein sausages (132cal) with beans (164 cal) and x2 scrambled egg (120cal)
Snack - satsuma (16cal), small apple (50cal)
Dinner - jacket potato w/ tuna & mayo (320cal), Alpro choc dessert yogurt (119 cal)

Some cals left spare so might have a treat of a small kitkat or add some more protein to my dinner.

Yes I've definitely had things "reappear" more then 2 hours after children have eaten!

Also fresh raspberries and chopped almonds.

Or apricot or nectarines sweated down in a dash of water to make a sort of sugarless compote. You don't actually need the sugar: this intensifies that tart-sweet taste of the fruit which cuts beautifully thought the 5 percent Fage creaminess. And again, a few chopped almonds for nutty crunch! I love apricots and almonds together.

@TheRealGoose If you ever have to take meds on an empty stomach the instructions say 1 hour before food or 2 hours after food.

Obviously if you're eating a 4 course Xmas dinner, 2 hours won't be enough.

For a woman that sort of diet is not sustainable or healthy. Your bones will suffer if you carried on that way. You need 700-1000mgs calcium a day (either from proper dairy or green veg, or pulses or canned oily fish with bones.)

You're eating 3 breakfasts for breakfast op.

Also we have to remember 5ft 8 is quite tall and OP may have a BMR or indeed lifestyle that needs that many cals at breakfast??? We are all so different.

For anyone who it's helpful to, here's an example of what I eat in a day, which is high protein, high fibre and non-upf:

• coffee with semi skimmed milk and one sugar
• 200g fat free Greek yoghurt with a scoop of protein powder (I use a brand called Exalt which is all natural) made into chia seed pudding (1tbsp of chia seeds, soaked), with blueberries, flaked almonds and a tsp of maple syrup
• snack: 1 x 150kcal 85% dark chocolate bar
• a salad, with leaves, tomatoes, cucumber, 1/2 avocado and either a tin of tuna and 2 hard boiled eggs OR a chicken breast, dressed with extra virgin olive oil and lemon juice
• snack: banana
• homemade beef koftas with bulgur wheat, asparagus, corgettes, green olives a sprinkle of Feta cheese and spicy dressing made from fat free Greek yoghurt
• snack: sliced apple with 1tbsp of peanut butter (made with 100% peanuts)

I've got no idea about my calorie intake, but I maintain my weight at 8st11 (5ft4 and 41 years old) eating this as a very active person. If I ever became less active, I'd drop one snack at a time until I found a level.

Appreciate the tip.... but do remember, that is TODAY's menu. I never said I eat this exact food every day.

Tomorrow's lunch is salmon fillet and tenderstem broccoli for example. I'll reheat a homemade veg and lentil curry for dinner.

It's a snapshot essentially.

I'm also dairy intolerant so do struggle on the calcium side....so take a calcium and magnesium supplement daily.

Um she’s maintaining at 16 stone. So no she doesn’t need that many cals.

At breakfast they said though
she could have that 500 cals for breakfast and the same again for lunch and tea and still lose

That’s prob correct, but she’s not..which is the problem, she’s consuming between 2000-3000 cals a day on average and maintaining.

To be fair to the OP, high carb, low fat has been pushed as appropriate "diet food" for a while now, so it's no surprise that OP believes this to be the case. Not only that, if OP is 35+ she has been raised in a pretty toxic diet culture (the 00s were absolutely brutal!) and so good, healthy advice is muddled in between all the counterproductive advice.

Carbs aren't evil, and you can enjoy carbs, they should just be consumed in moderation.

OP, further advice is to utilise foods that help to add mass to your meals that help bulk them out. Vegetables like cabbage, spinach and leeks, side salads to meals (instead of the garlic bread for example), legumes like barley can be added to soups. This will add to the satiety of your meals leaving you feeling fuller for longer and should reduce your need for additional snacking.

To be fair to the OP, high carb, low fat has been pushed as appropriate "diet food" for a while now, so it's no surprise that OP believes this to be the case.

This is spot on - and one of the main reasons obesity has risen since the 80's when the low fat doctrines came in. My earliest childhood memories of nutrition philosophies were of magazine headlines and products labelled "Low Fat", all pronouncing fat to be the enemy of health. Even now I have to remind myself to choose the fatty option over the upf and sugar/sweetener laden alternative.

To be fair to the OP, high carb, low fat has been pushed as appropriate "diet food" for a while now, so it's no surprise that OP believes this to be the case.

High carb./ low fat disappeared as guidance years ago.

Sadly, the NHS is still promoting the 'healthy plate' showing mainly carbs as if we're all working in fields or mines.

But there is plenty other info out there which is up to date showing how the healthy plate is mainly plants, with lean protein.

It's been changed years ago.

The only people still promoting it are the food manufacturers cashing in on ignorance and perpetuating the myths.