A thread to critique what I'm eating - is it healthy?

[conniedescending]

Ok...am trying to lose weight, get healthier and increase exercise but also trying to get to grips with what is a 'healthy balanced diet' and portions size/ balance etc I have a sweet tooth so have tried to cut as much sugar as I can. Am also prone to large portions and eating until I'm stuffed full rather than eating until I am no longer hungry.

I have realised that I eat more if I snack between meals...so an apple will then lead to crisps/ cake/ cheese and still have my evening meal so I'm not snacking unless desperate.

This is going to be where I record what I eat, even with mistakes. I have been allowing myself one richer meal a week such as steak or fish pie and a small dessert afterwards. I'm also exercising 6 times a week - strength and cardio. Have a sedentary job so need to do this.

So here's what I ate yesterday:

Breakfast- 45g low sugar muesli, raspberries, blueberries, handful of nuts,skimmed milk

Lunch- tuna salad, 1/2 tin tuna, mixed salad leaves, cherry toms

dinner- grilled chicken marinated in chilli, lemon, coriander, reduced fat hummus, one wholemeal pitta, mixed salad, homemade salsa.

Drinks- cappuccino, x3 decaf tea (all skimmed milk), water

Today-

Same breakfast

Lunch- x4 oatcakes with cottage cheese, salad leaves, tomato, celery with small spoon peanut butter

Dinner- will be spag Bol made with Turkey mince and whole grain spaghetti, added veg

Drinks - probably as above?

Does this sound ok.....any suggestions or improvements? Basic calculations are around 1200 calories?

That sounds great to me, very healthy, plenty of fruit and veg. Only thing is I see very little 'treats' on there. Obviously you don't want to be eating chocolate all day, and I notice you're trying to cut down on sugar but is there any danger of you craving chocolate/similar and binging on it because you miss it? I'm not you so perhaps you're different, but personally I find a small 'treat' - a square of dark chocolate/a small low sugar jelly etc every day or every other day keeps cravings at bay, and stops me (mostly!) going mad with the sweet stuff. Also, not telling you what to do but do you eat before working out? Asking as if I'm working out at 4, lunch was at 1 and dinner is at 7, I'd eat a banana or something beforehand, otherwise I'm starving when I finish working out and crave the bad stuff, meaning all my good works undone!

Hope this helps

How much sugar is the low sugar muesli? I'd replace that with oats.

4xoats biscuits seems like a lot, how big are they?

How much fat isnthere in the houmous and is there sugar (in various forms) in it?

Wholemeal puttas can be quite big, could you do with half of one?

Inorder for all of this to be 1200 calories the portions must be really quite small.

Do you know how much chicken amd how much tuna in grams?

What sor tof time do you est your dinner in the evening? (Not too late is better)

Coffee and tea dehydrates you, less of that is better and how much water do you drink? (Aim for 2 litres)

Also if you want to loose weight rather than maintain weight then I think that you can do without the treats, at least for a certain amount of time until you are happy with how your weight loss is going. Treats just work against what you are trying to achieve.

It depends what kind of person you have,
Sometimes one is too much and a thousand is not enough. (Personal experience)

As a starting point it looks great!!

What would be good is if, over time, you can move to a no added sugar muesli
The first lunch you mentioned looks very small - did you feel satisfied afterwards?
With pasta, keep an eye on your portion size as it is SO easy to have more than a portion size

Also, keep an eye on your calcium intake - you should be aiming for 3 portions a day - your second day was close with the cottage cheese and milk on your breakfast cereal but just keep an eye on it

Keep up the good work!

It looks too low in fat to me. I'd be starving! I'm a size 8/10 if I keep my fat intake high and my carbs low and cut out sugar completely. That means my blood sugar is steady all day and I don't feel like snacking.

But everyone is different - if you feel full and healthy eating like this then it is fine! As long as you're full enough - I'd seriously be dizzy and unwell only having a low fat salad for lunch.

Everyone has a different view on what way of eating works for them and what is considered "healthy". I keep my food as unprocessed as possible and I don't eat dairy in any form. I do eat loads of fruit and vegetables/salad, salmon, chicken, fish and nuts and get sweetness from maple or raw honey where needed. I don't drink alcohol. I have treats in the form of homemade cakes or puddings but not too many.

Agree different people have different ideas. I posted what I eat on here and got laid into by one poster cause i have 2 bottles of Lucozade a month!!
What you are doing sounds good but your lunches look small.

My main rule is produce not products