Help, what food should I cut out?

[GirlWithTheMouseyHair]

Have 1stone of post baby weight to lose by my birthday in mid may. Baby is 3.5 months and ebf. Also have 3yr old, DH who works late and no help with childcare. Hoping DH can start committing to coming home early once or twice a week so I can get to capoeira or yoga, but otherwise exercise just consists of walking children to parks etc.

Am knackered and an over eater who picks in the evenings. Refuse to relinquish alcohol but am cutting back.

What can I get rid of?? Try to eat healthily anyway, so I guess cut out the snacks and sugar/Processed foods, white carbs? All major carbs?!

As a general approach, I would try cutting out processed food as much as possible and all carbs after 4pm.

Try and pick on protein when you want to snack, a palmful of nuts (no more than 1 per day), a boiled egg, piece of chicken, some tuna or prawns. Alternatively some miso soup, half an avocado, a small banana. If you get sweet cravings have a couple of squares of dark choc. Keep your one small glass of wine a day or equivalent if that is what you would miss most if you stopped altogether.

You don't want to cut back too much or feel deprived when you are knackered and bf. Your body will be craving sugar and carbs because of the sleep deprivation and you need calories to bf properly so keep it well powered with plenty of healthy food. Don't eat when you arent hungry but don't leave so long between meals/snacks that you are ravenous either, that will probably result in a carb binge .

Try and include protein every time you eat. This should keep you feeling full and stop the cravings that sugary snacks increase and play havoc with your insulin levels. Have eggs on toast and or porridge with fruit for breakfast, a baked potato with tuna or beans or a big salad with protein and maybe some cannelini beans or similar for lunch. Just avoid the starchy (or all) carbs at dinner. Walk as much as you can. Maybe try shred dvd or similar if you can summon the energy at home? Enjoy a takeaway or a meal when you eat as much and whatever you want once a week.

Probably you will find this becomes more of a way of living than a diet, you should lose weight although not too rapidly. You shouldn't feel hungry. The key is to hang in there to get where you want to be but not feel like it's a huge effort and temporary way of living...like most diets that when you stop you quickly put back more weight than you lost and you discover you've screwed your metabolism in the process. If you find you aren't losing weight then try tracking food and exercise with livestrong.com or myfitnesspal, these apps will tell you the calories you are consuming in everything and based on this you can judge what to avoid, whilst still using the "rules" above.

Good luck

Thanks so much for that, exactly what I needed, some rules and guidelines that are realistic to stick to!!

Whoop!

I agree with Sleepwhenidie - also make sure you're drinking enough water (often you snack thinking hungry when you're thirsty). Will help with the bfing too. Dont go for drastic weight loss - just slow and steady. And if possible try to do an exercise dvd at home when kids are napping/sleeping.

Yeah after the first 2 months of drinking water constantly I've gone back to wondering if I've even had one glass all day!!

Last two days I've walked MILES pushing 3yr old in buggy carrying baby in the sling so must have helped. Right?!

Definitely will help!

Sugar is an absolutely wicked stuff.
The more you eat, the more you want. If you can manage to start the day with NO sugar, it is relatively easy not to eat it, as the craving does not kick in. It also seems to actually make me HUNGRY when I have eaten sugar. Scary odd stuff.

It is hiding in all sorts of processed food like cottage cheese and sausages. and, I am sorry to say, wine :(

Good luck with your diet, and I like the DC-gym!

Sugar is in wine?????

I know I'd lose a lot and quickly if I ditched alcohol but I can't! Not with emigrating and dealing with consequences of that on daily basis with 3yr old with usual day to day crap of being mum to him and baby....

Sorry girl it is :(

The problem is all to do with insulin production, and how the body responds to sweet things. It is why we are always ravenous after a night on the p*ss. But again, it is one of those things hat once you have stopped for a few days the craving goes away.

I have been doing this for three weeks as I am a LARDARSE and am determined to be slim again. I can honestly say that I have had NO cravings for sugar and my jeans are now a whole size smaller.

Sorry, that is not helpful if you really don't want to ditch the wine :)

and I don't want to substitute it as its not even the alcohol I crave, tis just a lovely glass of red

Wine isn't high in carbs at all. I calorie count using MPF, I try and make my diet high in protein, lower in carbs. I believe this has stoppped me having cravings, which is an amazing benefit of lower carb eating. I have kept wine in my diet because it stops me eating in the evening. I now only have a properly measured glass of the lovely red stuff, it does not lower my resolve and break my diet. I have lost more weight having a lovely glass or two of wine and calorie counting this month than the previous month when I cut out all junk and alcohol and ate healthily - man that was miserable.

There is the perfect healthy diet and then there's the diet that works for you and your needs.

One glass of red - esp when you've had a hellish day and have a small baby - is an essential GirlWithTheMousyHair. Just be virtuous all day and treat yourself for a day well done with your glass of wine at the end of the day. If you avoid chocolate/crisps/mindless snacking its fine to work into your diet.