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.

Far too much bread involved in this and pasta.

You have very little protein and very little veg involved in your diet.

The post wasn’t about sandwiches or butter or fillings, it was about bread. Just bread.

Regardless of weight loss, everybody needs vegetables for health.

And to be honest, yours is some of the dodgiest. 1300 cals a day would see her lose less than a pound a week in reality and she can have a perfectly healthy and filling diet for that. Volume eating is never to be recommended.

You are eating a hell of a lot of food for eat meal and you haven’t put weights and measures of them but looks like way more calories than you need if you want to lose weight.
weigh and measure everything you eat and drink log calories correctly following tdee, if you still don’t lose reduce calories a day by 100 a day for one week until you see a loss. But looking at what you are eating far far too much, shocked you are eating all that and snacks on top, think you’ll be shocked just how many calories you are actually eating.
I was expecting less than half the food you are eating.

Well done for cutting back, but you need to drastically reduce the carbs (you’re having bread with every meal!), cut out the nuts, crisps and biscuits, and eat lots of veggies. The yogurt and mousse are probably packed with sugar and/or artificial sweeteners, neither are good for you so ditch them too. Fruit is also high in sugar, maybe replace the apple with some crudités. Good luck!

TBH that's twice as much as I eat in a day and I'm not trying to lose weight.😂
You're eating a lot and all carbs.

Breakfast would be one of those- porridge with fruit, or toast , or yoghurt.

Lunch would be salad with loads of leaves and other veg, with no pasta, but with chicken, or cottage cheese, or prawns, tuna, sardines. No roll.

You don't need an afternoon snack.

Dinner- spag bol and a piece of fruit.

Evening snack- nope, you've just had an enormous dinner based on your list!

Eat your last meal at 7pm and have nothing till breakfast time.

Yes, but people don't generally eat bread, just bread.
Maybe you do. Generally people don't.
They eat baguettes , filled rolls paninnis.......

it's hard OP. I eat:

White joghurt with a handful of nuts and oats and a banana for breakfast

A poke bowl for lunch (lots of beans, fish/meat, veg)

Dinner along the lines of meat and potatoes and veg, omelette and veg, pasta with pesto and cheese and veg etc.,

Glass of wine, a cottage cheese/piece of fruit for a snack, a biscuit here and there.

That's to maintain, alongside exercising 4x per week. If I wanted to lose weight, I have to cut the bottom row mentionned and then life is miserable :)

ARm yourself with food scales that measure to 5g, and figure out the calorific value of every single morsel that passes your lips. Measure the milk in coffee and add it to your calorie list. You will be eating far too many calories because of portion control and hidden fats, e.g. does the pasta salad have mayo, how much oil in the bolognese, is the porridge with milk, etc. Knowledge of calories is the reason why it's not moving. You will only need to do this for a week maximum before you have re-learned portion control, but it's key to success.
The second thing is the quality of the calories you are eating. This won't make you lose weight slower or faster - a calorie is a calorie generally speaking - but if you eat largely protein and veg, some dairy, some wholemeal grains, you'll find it far easier to stick to, you'll feel satisfied for longer.
Completely cut out biscuits.
I find food cravings went down significantly when I cut out all UPFs but I think there's not much scientific backing for that. But it can't hurt.

You’re eating healthier but not necessarily many less calories and as others say it’s carb heavy. Are you exercising more? You need to burn more calories than you’re eating to lose weight. Have you tried counting calories. There are many low cost apps that help you do this

I’m currently knocking down the kgs after having a baby, and this is working for me:

Walking dog twice a day
Yoga once a week
Strength training 3 x a week at home for 30 minutes (kettlebells).
Cycle and walk where possible.

Breakfast: Flat white coffee with full fat milk and no extras. One or two small breakfast taco filled with two scrambled eggs, half an avocado and hot sauce.
Or half a bagel with halloumi, a teaspoon of honey, and tomatoes. Sometimes a slice of sourdough with a poached egg. Berries in summer. Citrus fruit in winter. Fills me up until late afternoon.

Snack: 3 tablespoons of skyr or a piece of 99% dark chocolate or sometimes 5 almonds or a piece of cheese.

lunch: typically skip as I’m still full from breakfast. Otherwise something like beef chilli; an omelette or chicken thigh with a small portion of rice and spring onions.

dinner: I eat whatever I want, but ensure it’s a relatively small portion. Mainly burritos, pasta with aubergine/courgette/meat, lamb shawarma, donburi bowls with eggs, bahn mi, fish with vegetables, etc.

Then a couple of negronis or wine glasses a week and a pastry on Saturdays.

And remember there is no magic to losing weight - it's calories all the way because it's just a chemical process People just don't realise how much they are eating.

OP it can be so disheartening when you make changes to your diet and don’t see a change, the most likely reason you are not loosing weight will be to do with the amount of calories you are consuming, in comparison to calories you are burning in the day.

I would definitely be recommend calorie counting, my fitness pal is a good app to start with. It can be really surprising how many calories are in certain foods, nuts are a perfect example, they are calorie dense. I know you have mentioned your food intake, however have you tracked your drinks as well? For example 3 cups of tea a day with milk and sugar, a glass of wine, a bottle of coke here and there can add in calories that are so easily consumed and not thought about as part of the overall calories consumed per day. I would start with tracking your calories over the space of a week, ensuring you are including drinks and cooking oils as well as foods, this will give you a true picture of what you are consuming calorie wise, then you can look to go into a calorie deficit. Protein rich food is a good way to feel fuller for longer as well, if you struggle once in a calorie deficit. I have lost 2 stone after having my little boy by doing this.

Exactly.

Stick to a portion of protein for each meal- eggs, chicken, fish, lean meat, cottage cheese, plain yoghurt with no sugar added- try Fage Greek.

Add some wholegrains to one or two meals- brown rice, wholewheat pasta, lentils, oats.

A portion is as small as your fist- about 1/4 of the plate. The rest should be protein and veg/fruit.

Aim for 3 portions of fruit and 5 portions of veg a day.

No snacks.

It's a huge amount of food. regardless of the carbs,.protein, fibre etc. it is multiple meals for single meals, 3 breakfasts and 2 lunches in one. Most people trying to lose weight don't have the luxury of garlic bread with their spaghetti Bolognese

I would suggest finding out what calorie deficit you need to be in and then weigh and track everything on MFP that’s the only way

This is a lot of food for a day, and so, so carb heavy…

Two pasta meals in the same day?

Yes, but the previous poster said "You won’t lose any weight while still eating bread" which is clearly not correct. OP might not lose weight while eating the amount of bread she's currently having but it's incorrect to say you can't lose weight if you eat any bread.

That is a lot of food, even if you weren't on a diet.

and oats, biscuits, bread, etc etc.

You’ve clearly tried to make changes, but I think you need to revise the basics in your meal planning.
To lose weight you need to:

• be in a calorie deficit (increase your activity level and step count ) and understand what your Total daily energy expenditure is and target 300-500 cals below that EVERY DAY
• Measure your portions to reset your understanding of what a normal portion size actually is e.g. 30g of granola (the suggested portion size) is actually a tiny amount when weighed.)
• Eat least 30-40g of protein per meal,

eating far fewer carbs and a lot more fibre (vegetables, beans, whole grains).

Breakfast could look like - 2 egg omelette with cheese/ham/tomato/ smoked salmon and avocado and spinach OR black bean and egg burrito in a wholewheat wrap with guacamole

Lunch- salad with salmon or chicken breast

Dinner - mince/bean chilli with brown rice, broccoli/ green leafy veggies

snacks could be measured portions of nuts with crudités OR
low fat high protein Greek yoghurt with berries but ideally only one snack time PER DAY.

No need for puddings, sides etc.
Also, what do you drink? Ideally majority water.

Keep going and heed the advice on this thread and you will see changes.

You are eating too much. You have to weigh your food and count the calories, you can't just 'eat less than you used to'.

I agree what your food is very carby, needs more protein (and more veg) but the most important thing is to accurately calorie count. Nutracheck is a good calorie counting site.

That is so much food and not much different at all from your before!

For breakfast I have yoghurt and fruit or two boiled eggs, that’s it.

Lunch is a tuna sandwich or such with carrot and cucumber sticks.

Snack is lentil cake and baby tomatoes,

Dinner is fish or chicken with at least 3 veg, no additional carbs.

No evening snacks.

Count calories, up protein, weigh everything and check you’re consuming fewer calories than you’re burning.

You’ve done great work OP, shifting loads of UPFs and snacking on fruit.

I’d try one low/no carb meal a day and see if that helps? Natural Greek Yoghurt and a sprinkle of granola and a large fruit salad would be a higher protein, lower carb breakfast, or maybe soup for lunch with no bread, whatever would work.

Once you’ve figured out one meal and done that for a few weeks, see if you can reduce carbs in another