What do you all eat

[Whatwouldscullydo]

Just that really.

I'm trying really hard to eat better as well as attending the gym on a regular basis. Mixture of weights, cardio classes and trying to get 2 5k runs in on the treadmill/outside if I can a week.

As a result I am always bloody hungry 😩.

I.am finding it so hard to get enough protein and stay within a sensible calorie limit per day. Carbs are practically a no go now as there just isn't the spare calories fir them. I'm having to resort to shakes and those high protein puddings/wraps etc you can buy which seem quite high calorie in itself. But lower than the food otherwise required to match the protein intake. I'm.always boiling eggs to have with soup , I get through stupid amounts if chicken and eat tuna out the can like a bloody cat. But it still seems impossible to match all the macros ( thank u my fitness pal for this particular rabbit hole) and stay within calorie allowance.

A typical day will look something along the lines of

Breakfast- greek yogurt with granola and berries. Or ready brek with protein powder and almond milk.

Lunch- chicken or tuna salad wrap in a high protein wrap. A couple of jailed eggs. Piece of fruit. One of those protein puddings maybe .

Dinner. Soup with a couple of eggs or chicken added and a toasted protein bagel. Or salmon/chicken with salad.

Snacks will be along the.lines of fruit . Some medjool dates if I fancy something more sweet like.

I Try to keep around 1800 calories but sometimes it seems impossible. I don't like relying on the processed stuff like shakes but I'm not sure how to do it..

So,

What do u all eat..I need ideas really.

Carbs!! I eat carbs because if I don’t then I can’t function. My diet isn’t massively different to yours but I eat more of it. Add toast and some potatoes to your day. You’ll feel better for it.

I do miss more carbs 😂 to be fair I feel better for less carbs that's cos befire my diet was quite carb heavy and protein light amd I wasn't the best with fruit and veg so hard to know what change to credit for feeling better. Carbs are now just something I add if there's room for them after the higher emphasis on fruit veg and protein.

Where's all your fruit and veg in that?! Doesn't look like you are getting much fibre either.

For context I'm a masters age, period menopausal competive cyclist. I train on the bike about 10 hours a week. Walk about 10 miles a week. Do about 90 mins of heavy weight training a week. And about 3.5 hours yoga/ stretching/ foam roller a week. I have a sedentary full time job.

I have a huge bowl of porridge every breakfast. I soak about 60g of jumbo oats in unsweetened soy milk. Then dump a tonne of frozen red berries in and mix up some fresh chopped ginger.

I time my training so I'm doing it more or less straight after breakfast, then I'm well fuelled.

If I'm doing less than 90 mins, I just need water. If my session is over 90 mins, I still just drink water. But will snack on bananas, dried figs (my body is used to the fibre so I don't have gastro issues). Post session I'm afraid I sin somewhat and have a whey protein shake (no additives, sweeteners), but whizz it up with bananas and, any fruit that's going off.

I'll normally have a few apples and a few scoops of peanut butter.

Normal lunch. Usually avocado on rye bread, hummus on rye bread. I'll chop up onion and tomato to add in as well as some spinach leaves.

Mid afternoon I'll snack on more fruit.

Tea is usually somink homemade like a Dahl and rice. I'll make sure there's a few servings of veg either as a side or mixed in.

Evening I'll probably have a peanut butter and marmite sarnie.

If I skip the evening sarnie I can lose weight (perimenopause and on HRT).

Grr that should say 'peri' menopausal!!

I eat alot of salad...with added baby spinach. I mix berries with my yogurt and have about 3/4 pieces of other fruit a day.

Sometimes I have salad then stirfried veg in replacement of a potato/pasta element.

Not keen on avocado. I like hummus though. If I don't have time.fir lunch I dip veg into hummus or cream cheese😳

You need way more veg! And carbs. You don’t need to give up carbs. There is a lot of fat in sauces and sandwiches and things. Stick to whole meal cwrbs like pasta and rice and get full. Loads of veg. Can’t state the veg enough.

The soup is usually a home made one. Full if carrots butternut squash , sweet potato, lentils chilli ginger and garlic. Blended up then I throw in some frozen spinach .

I’ve lost heaps of weight on slimming world because I eat unlimited fruit, veg, wholemeal pasta or rice and and ‘treats’ I keep to under the syn number. Works very well for me and I don’t get hungry.

If you're cutting the carbs, then you need to up the fat. That, along with the protein, will stop the hunger pangs. Hunger is caused by an imbalance of your hormones (not an empty stomach!).

Anything too carby - including your bagel, wrap and dates - will result in an increase in insulin, which is the key hormone which drives your hunger (along with grehlin and leptin). A low carb diet will be medium protein and high in fat. So avoid low fat/light foods.

Is wholemeal pasta better and more filling than lentil pasta? I'll definitely grab some. I have brown rice

You need to decide which approach you're going to take! If you want to go low carb, then pasta (of any kind) doesn't work.

A lentil dahl with extra pulses and veggies

I eat

Homemade smoothie with 4 or more rupee of fruit and high protein yogurt.

Lunch, salad (around 6 types of salad) with protein and a roll/bread.

Dinner, Protein with lots of different veg and a small portion of carbs. For example a roast dinner with a couple of roast potatoes, meatballs, sauce and tonned of veg, fish, veg, rice etc etc. I’d ditch the soup and have a regular dinner.

I always feel satisfied.

On my training days I have

Breakfast: 2 scrambled eggs & 2 turkey bacon rashers (can make as an omelette type thing as well with spinach/peppers etc without adding many more cals)

Lunch: 100g chicken breast in a wrap with lots of salad leaves etc in to bulk it up

Snacks: Fibre One bar & an apple

Before/after training depending on time: 80g coco pops with whey protein (this is a massive portion of coco pops fills me up massively)

Evening meal: Tuna pasta salad

Snack before bed: Protein yoghurt with some frozen berries and almond butter

It’s about working smarter not harder, that is a LOT of food, I’m never ever hungry but it’s 1750 cals roughly and 160 grams of protein x

I wasn't intentionally low carbing. It was more that trying to stay within calorie limits, there wasn't really " room" for them all the time.

I never do low fat stuff as that's usually disgusting. I prefer the full fat greek yogurt from m&s but it's so expensive for a small tub so I have to kinda make do with the big tub of fage which only comes in 0 or 5 %.

I can't do full fat milk. Would I be better off adding soya or oat cream to the almond milk in the readybrek to up the fat content a bit?

How about more beans? I've been buying Bold Beans, they are so lovely and their website has loads of good recipes. Gives you extra protein and they can fill you up. Lentil salad (Merchant Gourmet pouches are handy) is another good one for me, with roasted veg, salmon and green salad.

These are all great thank u.

I will compile a plan for the week when I get home ( at the gym after work right now 🤣 )

Would I be better off adding soya or oat cream to the almond milk in the readybrek to up the fat content a bit?

This is why I was saying you need to decide which approach you're going to take! If you're eating things like Reddybrek, which are high in carbs, then you're better off not adding in the extra fat. High carbs + high fat = weight gain!

I average out at about 7-10 hours of exercise a week - varied. I do 16:8 so I don't have breakfast. I'll have a brunch or lunch which is high protein plus a piece of fruit and dinner high protein and high veg plus greek yogurt and fruit.

Brunch/lunch
2 scrambled eggs with smoked salmon or bacon on a small slice of homemade 100% rye bread.
Salmon and spinach frittata - I make a big one for dinner one evening and then have left overs. It usually works out at 1 egg and 1/2 a salmon fillet per portion.
2 chaffles (egg and cheese waffle) with 1/3 tin low sugar and salt baked beans
Tuna and mixed bean salad
1/2 tin tuna and 1/2 avocado mashed up on a small slice of rye bread.
1/2 tin tuna and 1/2 tin of baked beans on rye bread or chaffle
Dhaal (home made with extra veg eg grated carrot or swede when I make it and then I'll wilt in some greens when heating it up).

Dinner is usually something from The Doctor's Kitchen website so lots of beans lentils and veg although I often add a portion of chicken or fish if I need to up the protein content. If I'm making a curry I may well serve with dhaal instead of rice - I make in bulk and freeze it.

If u have it if love to take that Dahl recipe. I do a fair bit of batch cooking and that sounds perfect

How high is your protein goal and how did you calculate it? If you have to use artificial sources at every meal to reach that goal, there might be something wrong with the number.
I can't see how eating in this forced manner can be beneficial to your health goals.
Where did you get the advice on your meal plan from?

I have that app. Somehow it gave me a daily intake off 2200 calories which personally I thought seemed way way to so need to play around with it I guess. I've been aiming fir round 1700/1800 instead. It calculated my protein intake to around 111g which sometimes seems do able, managed it OK today. But when I have a " wasted breakfast" like just toast or im out and have to skip lunch it seems to just prove impossible.

No bullshit shakes, just eat regular food. You need more calories if you are actually working out a lot.

I thought the advice was to not eat back the calories you burn? Although that app does seem to add them on.

On a side note it's disturbing how few calories you do burn off exercising. If the digital screens can be trusted then a 5k run barely gains u 300/350. 45 mins of spin class isn't much more...I tend to double up on classes where possible or it almost seems pointless.

I was trying to get from 64 to 59 and on a typical day I'd eat: 2 white coffees for breakfast, 300g fat free cottage cheese with tablespoon of lemon curd for lunch, tea with skimmer milk all afternoon, and a weighed portion of whatever I was making for the kids (bangers and mash, macaroni cheese, shepherds pie, Bolognese as an example). My evening meals are purposely full fat, high carb. I just worked out what portion size I could have to meet the ridiculous 1250 cals MFP gave me to lose the weight. It worked. I look great, and I'm so tired 😂