Please help - nutrition

[stumpy12]

I'm the heaviest I've ever been.

I'm 5'4 and got on the scales this morning to find I am 11st 6. I can't believe I've let this happen. At my lightest I was 8.5st.

I'm hate what I look like an constantly feel like crap.

I've eaten nothing yet today other than one bit of my sons leftover tortellini and a cup of coffee (which clearly is unsustainable and unhealthy).

I start circuit training tonight and hope to do that twice a week, along with two big walks. I need help about what to eat pre / post workout as it's late but I'll be starved after!!!!

What do I eat and when?!

@R4ID these meals sound fab! I would be happy with that as that's the sort of food I generally enjoy and that bolognese is what I made last night for the kids / husband. I have some leftover so could have that tonight instead of the pasta bake I'm making them.

That sounds like LOADS of food though. I never really have 3 meals in a day which suggests to me the food I am eating is either too large a portion, or just not the right food for me.

Really appreciate your reply

If you under eat your body will store fat and you can reach a standstill with weight loss - this may be the case for you?

You can enjoy the pasta bake btw just count the calories, have a smaller portion than usual and a big plate of salad with it - don’t forget to add a healthy fat to each meal eg an olive oil dressing to the salad 😊

A "portion control plate" can be useful, especially when family cooking. It means that if we have something like spaghetti bolognese, I'll put salad on the vegetable half, then bolognese on the next quarter, and the pasta last. Same meal, but I've got better portions of the food groups.

I 5:2, so tend to do fajitas on a fasting day as the family can eat the wraps and I pick the protein/ vegetable parts of the meal, so I can fill up on healthy, nutritious, but naturally lower calorie foods.

Won't make it home to make lunch today as the kids are starved! We've stopped off and I grabbed this instead of my usual toastie...

Amazing. So much nutrition in that bowl! Cooked chicken/eggs/prawns,
fruit and mixed nuts are other good things to grab when you’re out and about!

@R4ID it was delicious too!

I know you said you wanted to lose as much as quickly as possible but honestly, give it time. Slow and steady wins the race.

I was 3 stone overweight. I've lost almost 2 and the last stone is very slow in coming off but that's ok, I'm confident I'll get there. If it takes another year, so be it.

What has worked for me is not denying myself anything but moderation and making better choices is absolutely vital.

I used to have takeaway/junk food 3/4 times a week. Now I might have it once a month.

Chocolate and sugary snacks were a daily thing. Now it's more like 2/3 times a week and I always go for low sugar/dark chocolate.

I used to be a daily drinker, now it's more like once a week.

All of these things take time to bed in. If you try and go too extreme too quickly it will likely fail. I've failed numerous times in the past.

Good luck!

Wow! Fabulous achievement, well done!

I can definitely resonate with this. Wine is another thing, I normally have some every weekend but think I might cut down there too.

Like you, I think not removing everything will help or I will hate it and slip into old ways. The problem is, if I have a few crisps or a couple of sweets I don't want to stop so maybe cold Turkey is best. Who knows! I think I'm just going to play around until I find something I don't hate completely

Today has went well.

For breakfast I had banana and a coffee, lunch was a salad and a coffee, dinner was chicken with whole grain rice and spices and some mixed frozen veg.

I figured I could switch the meals around and tomorrow can be pasta night whilst I'm at my HIIT Class.

I've also drank around 2L of water

I'm feeling ok, I think I need to realise I don't need to eat until i am stuffed. Previously I'd have thought I was still hungry, but actually, im just not full to the brim....

That's great, well done!

I think in the early days, abstaining completely from most of the bad foods is a good idea and then you can start to reintroduce things slowly, like a bit of chocolate, the odd doughnut, alcohol etc.

A lot of it is retraining your brain and once you're in the habit of making healthy choices, it becomes way easier to moderate or just say no altogether!

Thank you! Tomorrow is another day and we go again. Fingers crossed I can keep this up

Is a completely from scratch small (think children sized) pizza ok with side salad for a meal today?

I was going to do some form of eggs but making the kids homemade pizza and this would feel like a real treat

A small amount of cheese of course....

You just need to add up the calories and see if it fits with your plan. To make it a balanced meal add some form of protein eg chicken/ham. To make it healthier low fat cheese, olive oil dressing on the salad and use wholemeal flour for the base.

That sounds fine. I have the small snack sized pizzas too. I also have mine with chips so you're being really good if you just have a salad!

Today has been good again!

Breakfast was banana and a coffee
Lunch was a homemade pizza base with tomato, some ham and sweetcorn and a small amount of cheese with salad leaves and cucumber
About 5pm I was feeling hungry so I made 2 scrambled eggs with a teeeeeny bit of milk to see me through my circuit training which my watch tells me I burned 490 calories during!

I'm home and not feeling hungry at all and going to have a nice soak in the bath as my whole body aches

Thank you all for letting me diarise this and pop up with silly questions by the way

It sounds like there’s some good choices but make sure you don’t over restrict. Two eggs on their own isn’t much for dinner when looking at what else you’ve eaten in the day. The emphasis you put on the small amounts of cheese and milk tell me you have a “diet” mindset about this where you see restricting as “good” - this is great for a while but unsustainable especially if you’re prone to bingeing at times. Eat to satiety - if that means a bit more cheese or a slice of bread then that’s what you need. Cheese and milk for example are not bad foods! Yes, watch your portions, count calories if that helps but do eat enough to sustain and nourish your body. I won’t talk about the nonsense that is starvation mode but your body deserves food! I’d have some tomatoes and mushrooms with the eggs, maybe a milky coffee (this is my choice of treat over carbs!), or some avocado. Plus something nice and satisfying like Greek yoghurt with berries for pudding.

Agree with PP it sounds like you are still massively under eating which

• Makes the body store fat and inhibits weight loss
• Doesn’t provide enough energy to do high intensity workouts and you will soon start to feel like crap
• Leads to binge eating

2/3 ‘meals’ today have not been meals but very small snacks

I've already planned tomorrow so hopefully a better day

I've found a recipe for a feta and semi-dried tomato omelette so I was going to do that for lunch with side salad and then I'm making a nice beef stew for everyone for dinner which they will be having home baked bread with (though I'm going to leave that out)

I think I'm going to find it easier to eat more on days I'm NOT exercising as I'm finding it hard fitting it all into my evening

Have the bread and have some breakfast too! It’s ok to eat properly 😊 A protein shake is good for before/after a workout if struggling to fit in another meal

Stepped on the scales today and have seen a loss (more than I expected)... that said, I'm not silly and know this is likely water rather than fat! But it's given me a boost and hopefully shows I am in the right direction.

According to my tracker I've consumed 1195 cals today which is the most so far this week in a day. I've eaten lovely "good" food though and felt satisfied.

I can actually see a difference in my skin since upping my water intake which is nice and I don't feel bloody exhausted like usual!

I've also skipped my usual Friday wine for a bottle of water which surprisingly hasn't bothered me at all. I might switch it out and have a gin and slimline tonic tomorrow night!

Just thought I'd drop by with an update... I am officially under 11st!! Only by a few grams but I'm taking it!

Had a few days where I've been dyingggggg for some haribo but I've stuck with it and seeing some results.

I've been doing HIIT three times a week and starting walking where possible instead of using the car.

Just knocked up a lovely lunch of poached eggs, avocado, spinach, beetroot and tomatoes and looking forward to singapore beef noodles tonight!