So I thought it would be slimming to give up sandwiches but I have put on weight

[NoahVale]

whats the deal with that?
I have taken pasta/rice salads every day, no cheese
where did I go wrong?
and was I wrong about bread?

thanks , have joined myfitnespal.
great incentive.

It's not - it's just a choice really.

That's not a wacky suggestion.
If you want to lose weight it involves changing what you eat yo remove items which have usually been responsible for weight gain. That's dull so you have to want to change enough to put up with it.

Sometimes we don't care enough about the weight so the hardship seems impossible. It's just a choice so it's not wacky to bizarre to suggest that maybe you don't really want to lose it.

crosspost there.
oh dear.

And that's not necessarily a bad thing. Maybe you are fine as you are with your sandwich?

no dont want to continue with sandwiches

What sort of things do you like? Low calorie diets aren't great in the long term - they are hard to stick to as you want to snack & aren't allowed to, plus it's hard to make sure you're getting all your nutrition on a limited calorie intake.
Any diets that suggests you completely cut out a food group is also generally not a good idea. And I'm not referring to low-carb, I mean zero-carb, as again it's quite unbalanced & leaves many people craving certain foods. You need some form of carbs, there are carbs in most vegetables.

Then I would stop having any pasta/carb/rice type carb and take lunch of soup/salad.

Having no or very low carb feels weird at first but it doesn't seem weird for long and it's very effective.

What are you eating in a typical day? Maybe we could give some alternatives/suggestions?

i like olives and feta, tomatoes, water cress, carrots, nuts, humus. lentils, chickpeas

I do actually agree with Telephone but I am just talking about lunch.
I'm guessing the op has carb with breakfast /dinner.
Low carb at lunch is easy because you usually have to plan, pack and take it with you.

it does sound weird, the low carb thing.

my salads have included carrots, tuna, olives, sweetcorn, tomatoes, peaches, and either rice or pasta,
i was for a long time having toast and marmite and butter for breakfast so i assumed that was the baddy. the toast and the butter.
i eat pasta, rice in the evenings, less frequently potatoes.

if you want to eat pasta, cook it and cool it. something happens to the stach that makes it act like fibre.
are you weighng it? it is very easy to over portion pasta.

I've recently lost 2 stone and I eat sandwiches. Not everyday though. I use Warburtons thins instead of bread and fill them full of salad and chicken.

Homemade soup is another idea. Loads of veg whizzed up with stock.

Left overs is also a good lunch idea. Make a nice big stir fry for your dinner and keep some for lunch the next day. Curry's and Chilli are good for that too. I don't eat rice with either and although that sounds weird, you do get used to it.

And definitely get the hang of mfp. It really helps you see what you're eating. You can eat bread and pasta as long as you stay within your calorie allowance but what you'll realise is they are quite high calorie so you get better 'value' by eating other stuff.

Another vote for my fitness pal. I used it to loose weight after my 12 week miscarriage. Worked a treat.

I still eat carbs like bread, pasta and rice. I don't feel full without them. It's all about portions really. And no junk food.

it does sound weird to eat a curry or bolognaise without any carbs

What are you eating for breakfast now?

You can make cauliflower rice instead for the curry, and sliced courgettes to go with bolognaise

I had toast and granola for breakfast. Sandwich for lunch. Normal dinners following the eat well plate for relative portions of veg, meat and carbs. Snacks are yoghurt, nuts and fruits. No sugary drinks. It's really that simple.

now i eat fruit and fibre, apart from today, as it is the weekend i reverted to white toast with butter and marmite

i do drink a lot of tea and coffee and take sugar in all of them

Fruit and fibre is really sugary in case you didn't know.

Can you try a low carb lunch? Eg a boxed salad with some kind of protein - egg, fish, canned mixed beans, hummus, falafels, small portion of cheese, olives, nuts. Homemade dressing. I make mine at night, put in the fridge, no messing about in the morning. I also sometimes make my breakfast the night before - mix some unsweetened muesli & half a grated apple, in orange juice in a bowl. Cover in cling film in the fridge. In the morning mix up again, then put a dollop of yoghurt & enjoy, this travels perfectly well if you need it to. It's quite filling.

A salad with pasta (as in 10 spirals but loads of leaves, cucumber, beetroot, tomatoes etc) is ok.

A pasta salad made almost entirely from pasta is going to be quite stodgy.

Ok so how much sugar in tea and coffee are we talking?
Fruit and fibre is pretty high in sugar.
What yogurt are you eating?
Ideally for breakfast you're looking at natural yogurt with some oats and berries. Or scrambled eggs/omelette

i will the low carb lunch - thanks