Does anyone want to join me in 3 healthy meals a day and no snacking plan?

[500Decibels]

I'm an overweight grazer and feel like I've lost my way totally.
I eat far too much and hardly remember what feeling hungry feels like.
I'm not going to be strict about what I eat - just normal sensible meals with vegetables. If I eat out then I'll make a healthy choice.
Anyone fancy it?

Porridge and a green smoothie

Pea soup, a slice of wholemeal bread and a banana

Chilli, rice and broccoli (big bowlful but I was starving). Oh and a glass of Sauvignon blanc ??

Lots of tea, water and Smints today when I felt like snacking

First day done.

B. Beans on toast
L. Veggie quorn and lentil bolognese
D. Veggie quorn and lentil cottage pie with loads of veg

I don't have shares in quorn, I just batch cooked with it this weekend and had nothing else in as I hadn't been shopping

I made the most of being able to snack at the 60th bday party, but have lost a pound in my first week, which I'm pleasantly surprised about. Today I've had granola, bran flakes cereal with rice milk & a banana, a large bowl of Armenian soup (it's from Cranks cookbook, basically lentils & apricot, delicious) & a pomegranate. I predict dinner will not be as healthy or exotic!

The nice brand of liquorice tea was Yogi Tea, they also do cinnamon tea bags and chocolate ones, but I like the liquorice ones best.

Today:

B: scrambled eggs and half buttered bread
L: avocado salad with a little cheese, melon
D: paprika pork and pasta and peas

I think I ended up having some Greek yoghurt yesterday evening as I was starving!

Day 2 done, I'm also trying to cut down on the coffee and drink more water.
I skipped breakfast which I often do as I don't generally have time in the mornings so instead had an early lunch, jacket with cheese and salad, tea was a quorn burger with 2 mini corn on the cob then a supper of avacado, feta and tomato salad.

Thanks for the tea tip off cheapskate, I'll definitely add that to my shopping list. I went decaf for all drinks monroe but as a side effect I noticed my skin was miles better so that might be a bonus if you cut your coffee.

I've had visitors which has made sticking to the plan really difficult. I started by making us all scrambled egg and smoked salmon on toast, but then I wasn't making the decisions about where we were eating so it went downhill from there. Cheese scone mid morning, salami and mozzarella focaccia costa lunch then Indian take away for tea. They're leaving tomorrow so normal service will resume!

Hello all - mind if I join you belatedly? I started a thread about the 'No S' diet, (No Snacks, No Sweets, No Seconds, except on days starting with 'S'). But, as someone on there just pointed out, it's pretty similar to what you folks are doing.

Do you all keep the no snacking rule the whole time, or do you allow yourself a treat or two at the weekend?

at Holmes, I'm oscillating between the two threads - helps keep my fingers away from snacks!

Last night's dinner was sausage, broccoli, sweetcorn & fried onion mixed in Dolmio stir in sun dried tomato light sauce on boiled basmati rice. Told you it wouldn't be exotic, more like lets see what's in the fridge that needs using up!

Hi Holmes! For me the no snacking is a goal rather than a steadfast rule. I can snack if I really need to, but really find most of the time I manage not too. However I did give in to a snack this afternoon (pmt!!).

B: fried eggs and tomato, half buttered bread
L: open tuna mayo sandwich (one bread), radish, cucumber
D: lamb koftas, one pitta, natural yoghurt, cucmber, tomato.
Snack: banana and a mini ritter chocolate! (First chocolate since started this which is amazing really as I used to eat it everyday).

Oh purple I've already given up the week day wine, not sure if I'm ready to go cold turkey on the caffeine yet!

I know I'm only on day 3 but I've stuck to the 3 meals, no snacks so far. I'm pretty certain I am going to be a lot less strict at the weekend.

No problem Monroe! I quit caffeine because of migraines and I had horrendous withdrawal symptoms to start with but modern decaf tea and coffee are pretty good so I don't find it too hard any more. I'm much less strict on the weekend. I usually aim for vaguely sensible rather than tight control!

B scrambled egg, beans, one sausage, bacon, toast and fruit juice.
Snack of edamame beans
L leftover tikka masala sauce with half a tin of chick peas
T leftover pilau rice with random bits of last night's pickle tray, red pepper and paneer
Slice of lemon and coconut cake

Hello I am a bit late to the party but can I join in? Only will be a bit hit or miss until next week but just marking place for now!

This seems like such a logical diet plan, and I like the simplicity of just eating at meal times, without too many hard and fast rules about the types of food you just eat.

Has anyone here managed to stick at this for a decent length of time? I'd like to think it's a more sustainable way of eating than a short-term diet plan - particularly if snacks and sweets are allowed at the weekends!

Today:

B: porridge
L: random salads from work canteen - chickpea and chorizo and zatar chicken
D: a bit of DS's leftover macaroni cheese, an omelette and some berries

Now off to bed to avoid snacking temptation!

I've been doing it for 7 weeks now and lost 8lbs, although that includes a week of indulgence on holiday and a wedding where I didn't hold back! I hope my time of the month is hiding some loss too so I'm hoping to see some change soon!

I do make a mental calculation of the calories of most of my meals however and weigh the more calorific things so I don't go ott. I usually aim for 200-300 for breakfast around 300 for lunch, 100 accounts for milk in teas and then dinner can be 400 - 600. (I use bbc good food recipes a lot and they have calorie information). I do think this type of diet is simple to follow, but hard because I do feel hungry all the time, but I figure that you can't lose weight without being hungry. I do find it weirdly empowering however - I feel in control of my weight for the first time in my life! Really hope I can stick to it and get down to a healthy weight.

That's great MugsLife well done. I know I've been doing it 3 days but it does feel sustainable and because I'm not specifically cutting anything out I don't feel I'm depriving myself, just trying to make healthier choices for my meals.

purple I only drink coffee in the morning then switch to water for the rest of the day so don't think I'm doing too bad.

I've held off weighing myself but will be interested to what (if anything) I lose this week. Is there a better time of the day to weigh yourself for a more accurate figure?

I'm not weighing myself at all. I've decided that this is the way I am eating from now on, and that's that. I'm going to try not to think in terms of weight loss and am going to try and stop thinking about what I should or shouldn't be eating. 3 normal meals a day, and a little treat or two at the weekend. It's so simple and so obviously what we should be doing, that it seems crazy that a whole millions-of-pounds industry has grown up around weight loss. I'm sure our grandparents and great grandparents would be at how complex staying slim has apparently become. And do those complicated diets ultimately work? ... no. If they worked, then the diet industry would lose its business, because we'd all be slim by now!

Apologies - bit of a morning rant .

You are so right holmes - is not rocket science, you just have to eat less. I do think eating like our grandparents did is definitely a good way of thinking, I try and just eat normal foods that haven't been messed as much, so full fat dairy, butter, lots fresh veg and a little fruit, meat (lean and fatty), fish etc. i don't think any fats are bad for you, only eating too many calories and lots processed foods is what makes people unhealthy and overweight. I personally don't even eat cereals because they are suprisingly highly processed.

I think cutting out dairy, which many faddy diets do, is a bad idea as it would be very hard to get enough calcium and your body will just take it from your bones and there's no way of putting it back...

I these juice diets just like torture - kale juice for breakfast anyone? Er, no thanks!

I would also recommend Michael Pollan's In Defence of Food.

Hi guys! Have been off thread for ages, but still sticking to the plan.

I did the 100k last sunday. 3h37, so 17.4mph for 63 miles! Garmin told me I'd burned 1600 calories, so it was a Maccy-D's on the way back, which wasn't as nice as I was hoping!

Still trying not to snack. Have got it down to eating at meal times, and then something with a proper coffee after tea (like a small bit of choc or a bag of crisps), and maybe some fruit later.

I am now just under 67kg, I was 76kg in February, so it is going in the right direction. I have stolen back my jeans that DD1 (12) has been wearing, and they are much less tight than they were. I'm heading for 60kg (ideally), as I know I feel good at that weight, and not gaunt (small skeleton, so any extra looks like loads even if its not).

Must get back out on my bike. Well done everyone for keeping at it! It is such a simple idea, but yes, the diet industry wouldn't make any money if it just said, "Don't snack".

Exactly, MugsLife! I like Michael Pollan a lot - it was that book which first made me stand back and go 'Whoah - this dieting thing is crazy!'. But it then took a while to accept that I did need some kind of rules or system to curb my tendency to stuff myself with anything sweet that caught my eye. Hence the No S thing.

Controlling when you eat and how much you eat feels somehow much more sane and normal than being restrictive about WHAT you eat. It's so much easier socially too. "No, I'll pass on the cake thanks - I'm trying to cut down on the snacks' just seems more acceptable (unless you have an intolerance ) than "No I've given up gluten/carbs/sugar etc". How many people will really manage to give those things up for life? And if they don't', then what's the point? I've done low carb. I lost a load of weight, looked and felt fab. Then fell off the waggon and put it all back on and more. Same old story!

I'm all ranty today and not posting what I'm eating . I like reading about people's meals, so here are mine for today:

B: cup of tea, bowl of unsweetened nutty muesli with milk

L: lots of salad veg with butter beans in pesto, a couple of slices of salami and a wedge of chilli brie. And an apple.

D: will be jacket potatoes with either roast veg or ratatouille or maybe creamy mushrooms and courgettes.

Good for you, IdStillRatherBeKnitting! I'm a painfully slow knitter too. I went out on my bike yesterday for the first time this year. I'm normally a painfully slow runner, but I'm recovering from a foot injury and was going stir-crazy without my running. It's a bit bloody hilly for cycling round here though (Lake District!).

I totally agree holmes. Any eating plan which isn't eat sensible portions of proper food and try to minimise the junk is a big no no in my book. When I've done diets before I've ended up feeling so guilty about slipping up that I ended up comfort eating and giving up. I want to be able to eat with my husband and not become obsessed with food. I'm back at my happy weight now and seem to be maintaining it so I'm very pleased!

Fantastically well done on both the bike ride and the weight loss knitting.

Today I've been to body combat (I got a random comment about my arms looking good which was nice) and am knackered.

B two eggs scrambled on wholemeal toast with a tiny sliver of goats' cheese, apple juice
L paneer salad with red and yellow peppers, spring onion and sesame seeds
T breaded chicken goujons in a wrap with salad, Greek yoghurt, corn on the cob, peas and homemade guacamole. Maybe some lemon and coconut cake I still have hanging around the kitchen?

Mmm. Liking the sound of your chicken wrap meal!

Holmes :)

Today:

B: porridge
L: tuna mayo open sandwich
D: roast veg pasta and cheese

Lots of sense being talked - agree with your points Holmes. And well done on your weight loss Mugs.

I'm finding the no snacking rule means I'm thinking about food less - which helps in an office full of foodies and bakers where there's always some tempting homemade cake on offer.

B: green smoothie, porridge
L: chickpea salad, falafel, yogurt, sugar-free date brownie that a colleague baked
D: Stir-fried Thai pork mince with broccoli, peppers and spring onions