Why is it so hard to know what to eat? Help anyone...?

[Tanz825]

Hi,

Since I've had my little girl I've put on 2 stone and I've come to the point now where I'm ready to lose it again but I don't know how. I know that may sound silly. I don't want to do any crash dieting I just want to eat healthy and work out. So I'm treating it more as a lifestyle change than a diet but it's so confusing to know what is a healthy daily diet. Yes all the websites say to eat lots of fruit and veg but how much? Some sites even say eat so many portions a day but what is classed as a portion? I know that a woman is ment to have between 1500-2000 calories a day and you need to burn more calories than you take in to lose weight. Again this is where I get confused how do I know how many calories are in what? I can look at one site and it will say x amount for an apple and another site will say y amount. And if I making a meal do I add the individual calories for each item I'm including to get the total calories? All I want is what an average day or week should include so I can work from there. I feel like such an idiot not knowing how to eat healthy and the more I'm trying to figure it out the more upset I'm getting. Can anyone help me or recommend any books or what helped you?

Thanx
Tanya

Food Focus is a good site. I've joined but not very motivated at the moment so not keeping track.

Have you thought about a club? Slimmingworld meant to be pretty good.

I've just started using www.myfitnesspal.com/ which is free to use and very handy for calorie counting. It has a database with basic and branded food, you put in your current weight and how quickly you want to lose weight and it tells you how many calories to eat. You then fill in a food diary each day and it adds up the calories, fat, protein, carbs etc and you can also add in exercise calories.

Yes, if you're making a meal you have to add the calories for each individual item, on myfitnesspal you can input all the ingredients, tell it how many you're cooking for and it works out the calories per portion.

I'm finding calorie counting much easier than doing WW or SW because calories are so freely available on food packaging and a lot of chain restaurants now publish calories either on their menus or on-line.

Yes, the amounts for basic foods such as an apple may vary but I wouldn't worry about it too much. For one thing an apple isn't going to break a 'diet' even if you do underestimate by 10 calories or something, but also they're natural products and vary in size, natural sugars etc so they will differ in their nutritional values. So long as you're counting a sensible amount you'll be OK.

I don't think its possible to say its X number of calories as its different for each person depending on their height, weight and activity levels. Unless you are very tall or very short or very active, I'd say start with 1,400 a day and see how you go.

re: what to eat, as a rough guide your plate should be at least half vegetables, maybe even 2/3. I personally find I loose weight best on a lower carb regime so for me a meal would be 1/3 protein, 2/3 veggies. When dieting a couple of pieces of fruit a day is enough.

My fitness pal is very good as calories do matter, but more important is to ensure that you are getting adequate nutrition, which sadly isn't really possible if you stick to 1400 calories a day and eat lots of carbs, and sweet treats. Budget one 100 calorie treat a day.

If you need more help then I'd recommend something like the south beach diet book, or Tom Venuto's body fat solution.

re: apples being different number of calories it depends on how big the apple is, and what variety.

Hi Tanya, I would second what forever said about proportions of food and using myfitnesspal. It will educate you along the way about what is what calorie wise and also a great motivator for getting off your bum...it is so satisfying to see a calorie deduction when you log a workout .

As a general approach I would advise generally trying to eat things as close to their natural state as possible, ie not processed. This would immediately cut out or reduce things like ready meals, white starchy carbs like pasta and bread, lots of breakfast cereals (with exception of porridge). This is where lots of hidden sugar, salt and fat lies. Second, try and make sure you eat lean protein with every snack or meal - chicken, fish, eggs for example. Protein fills you up more than any other food type and your body has to work harder to process it, so burns more calories.

Next focus on veg rather than fruit, because there is a lot of sugar in fruit, although an apple is obviously a better choice than a biscuit, it's not as good as a plate of crudités !

Don't put the focus on eliminating fat, but choose the 'good' ones, olive oil, raw nuts, avocado, oily fish for example and be careful with portions..a spray of olive oil to cook and no more than a palmful of raw nuts a day. Just because they are good, doesn't make them calorie free!

I also second forever's view about treats, if you're not to feel like you're depriving yourself you need something each day, maybe a skinny latte with sugar, a few squares of dark chocolate or a small glass of wine perhaps?

Re exercise, aim for 30 mins a day and hopefully you will manage 5 days a week successfully. Be sure to include resistance/weight training, by building stronger muscles you will get a body that looks great and burns more calories.

Good luck, let us know how you get on !