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.

But - as many pp have told you - you ARE. You have ONE of those things, not all of them. You're eating far too many carbs, not enough protein and barely any vegetables.

Honestly - and I'm one of the people who HAS successfully lost weight by doing calorie deficit (I've kept it off for 30 years, too) - you WILL lose weight if you take the advice being given. And to be brutally honest - it often means coping with feeling hungry if you've been used to eating an awful lot more for a long time.

For breakfast I would have porridge OR toast OR yogurt. Sorry OP but you ARE having 3 breakfasts!

Too many carbs! Swap the carbs for protein. Cereals are also high in sugar. If you must have them, have bran flakes, followed by a hard boiled egg, no bread. Or two eggs and one slice of wholemeal bread instead of the cereal. Swap yoghurt for greek yoghurt & add fruit, blueberries, rasberries etc, you can buy them frozen it's cheaper. Do you really need garlic bread as a side or is it habit? Only use less than 3% fat beef or swap for pork, chicken or turkey mince. And definitely, definitely up your veg intake! You could add onion, carrot, mushrooms, courgette, peppers and chick peas to a bolognese and use a stock cube and tinned tomatoes instead of buying a ready made jar of sauce - they're not the healthiest. There's so many improvments you can make. Ditch the crisps for fruit or a handful of nuts too.

That’s a lot of carbs with very little protein and fruit/veg. Your breakfast is quite substantial as well and do you need the biscuits? It might help to speak to your doctor who can point you in the direction of a nutritionist. Sometimes it seems the quantity we are consuming should give results but it’s often the type of food we eat that holds us back.

Thank you. You are right, I really need to re think the carbs in my diet. I thought high fiber was good for PCOS, but maybe not for me, so I'll aim to swap with something higher in protein.

I need to be careful not to overdo it on the protein though due to an issue with my kidneys, but a few extra pieces of chicken and less process tinned soup won't hurt.

Thanks again!

Yes. That’s 3 breakfasts.

I don’t eat any breakfast at all. Breakfast makes me hungry. You need to eat intuitively, and cut out the bread.

That’s all quite calorific .
when I went on a pre diabetes course one portion was one slice of toast .
low fat produce are high in sugar or sweeteners, so better off with full fat options to keep you satiated .
lots of carbs there.
watch your portion control .
for instance think of the size of a ready meal for one( obviously don’t eat one if you can cook ) that’s usually about 400 calories . Compare that with the size of your meal . This how I realised I ate too much .
Serve on a side plate that’s the size your meal should be . Fist sized protein . Fist sized carbs the rest of plate veg or salad .

Find your trigger . Mine is tiredness or emotion . If I find myself feeling snacky I know I need my bed.
go to bed earlier .

lastly some of our metabolism and hormones are out of kilter that’s why the injections work as they create a better environment for your body to digest food .

You need to be thinking about your macros too and you want to be eating more protein to stay fuller for longer. You need to be in a calorie deficit on like 1,400 ish cals per day I'd say and measuring out your portions - can you track your eating on My Fitness Pal? And you need to be consistent week on week.

Also, what are you drinking? Coffees/lattes, wine etc. will all massively add calories.

I'd make the below changes:

Breakfast - 40g porridge oats and banana

Morning snack - 2 x rice cakes and 10g peanut butter

Lunch - can you make a salad without pasta and add a protein like chicken or tuna? Lose the crisps

Afternoon snack - Fage 0% yoghurt 100g, plus a scoop of protein powder (protein powder will keep you fuller for longer and the chocolate one is tasty)

Dinner - Have a look at Guosto for some of the lower cal options, they have recipes online and super easy to make!

Evening snack - Look at Halo Top ice cream, 150g with 100g blueberries is DELISH and also so much better for you

Hope this helps!

fat free yogurt does unfortunately have calories. Would you be interested in slimming world? It’s great for carbs and fruit/ veg etc. I lost a lot of weight with it before but it doesn’t fit in with my life atm so I’m calorie counting

Bless you @Morgun. I hope you return. Know it seems all having a go. We aren’t. We are just advising

lots of really good advise been given.

The main thing is how many cals you have been eating and people have done it and I’ve put in mfp and it’s over 2000 a day

obv depends on your weight and height but for example I was eating tons and doing slimming world but not losing weight and didn’t know why

but was eating huge jackets or pasta etc and that’s the cals and on mfp was 2000-2500c a day 🙀🙀🙀

to lose weight I need to eat 1200c a day

now I’m maintaining I’m on 1800

if I eat 2000c a day , every day - sure I would gain and def not lose weight

I weigh everything and cereal is 30g and pasta 50g and jacket 200g tops or half half of one with tuna

yes good to eat carbs. I do every day but small ones

eats lots of protein to keep you full and stop muscle from disappearing

97 percent of people on slimming world regain. It’s a way higher regain rate than anything else. I guess it’s how they make money. And also as it is simply not sustainable for most people, and doesn’t teadh good eating habits with all the volume eating yoh can do of the carbs, then the syns and low fat crap they push.

Is that statistic true? That seems incredible. What about the leaders, they've all kept the weight off havent they?

I thought SW was one of those programmes that the NHS refers to, so SW is being paid by the taxpayer to completely fail (if those stats are accurate)

That's utter nonsense! Bread is simply food. Calories are all that matter.

Yes it’s true, couldn’t comment on the leaders those stats aren’t published I don’t think. it is in sw interests for people to regain, it’s a business, it’s how they make their money. The stats are googleable.

anecdotally the people I know who did it all regain and have to keep going back until they can’t take it any more and try something else.

its also a terrible way of eating, all the free foods, volume eating carbs, everything low fat and low sugar, eating crap processed foods as treats, that no one can sustain, I mean who wants to eat low fat laughing cow cheese s boiled egg and ryvita for breakfast for ever.

I eat bread every day whether toast , sarnie or like a burger /kebab in roll /pitta

and lost weight

agree it’s not what you eat but the amount of calories

I really don’t understand the WW and SW thing of eating all of these processed foods and adding up points? Some of it is food that is SO bad for you, but it’s a diet where you lose weight so a lot of people think it’s the holy grail of dieting.

I agree. So many people slate bread, but if you get a loaf that isn’t highly processed and eat it in moderation with a diet of lots of fruit, veg, unprocessed proteins etc, I really don’t think it’s the end of the world. I’d take a slice of sourdough (proper sourdough) toast with butter and honey as a treat than a snickers bar 😂. Got to get my carbs and sugar somehow 😂😂😂

I was thinking of sourdough - but with butter and marmite

I’m a simple girl 😂

It really is the simple things isn’t it. I absolutely love bread! 😂

With regards to the bread thing - I partly agree that yes it’s calories that count, but from my own experience of losing weight, I can be on 1150 to 1350 cals but if it consists of a cheese and ham toastie , a banana and a moderate portion of say spaghetti big or chilli and rice, I just don’t lose weight quickly or consistently . If for the same cals I have 2 eggs and cottage cheese, blueberries and Greek yoghurt and a whole pack of prawns and salad or chicken and vegetables and 1 small dollop of mash - I will lose weight reasonably consistently and quicker . I think some of it must come down individually to how we handle blood sugars and some seem to handle carbs better than others within the same calories. Certainly as I’ve got older ( now 63) I struggle with weight loss if I eat a fair chunk of carb - even within what on paper should have me losing - ( I can maintain easily but not lose) I do think maybe with the WLI that is what is making a difference to many - blood sugar control as well as the smaller portions ( and no I’m not on them - did 6 weeks and stopped)

There’s no way I would lose any weight if I was eating bread. I could stay the same weight but not lose it.
That’s just me though (and my friends and also my sister) , yes I everyone is different but bread is a bastard.

Any bread at all?

I didn't say she had to, it was a suggestion. I follow this diet and I have lost weight every single time without fail. I did it when I was injured and couldn't go to the gym. Ive seen family members do it, it was given to me by a coach I had at the time. I know it works and I have pictures of my results.

Every single time? So you don't keep it off?

I’m not sure that makes logical sense. As it says you can’t keep it off, so for most people that would be considered a huge fail of a diet. As the objective is not just to get it off, but to change your eating habits so it stays off.