advice on weightloss!

[Toraleistripe]

I am nearly 50 and have never had a weight problem. I could always eat what I liked and never gain. Then started losing a lot of weight for no reason and after a worrying period of tests turns out I am coeliac and was essentially starving to death! So now I am healthy, avoiding gluten and my weight has increased. All good except it is increasing too much! I am the heaviest I have ever been in my life!

I am 5ft 7 and now weight around 64 kg, around 10stone 4 or something. I am still a size 10/12 and my BMI is still in a normal range but I would prefer to be half a stone lighter.

I have stopped eating just anything I fancy. Have stopped drinking wine and all alcohol really. I run/do an exercise class 3 x a week but weight just creeping up. Don't eat sweets or choc vey often.

Yesterday I had yoghurt ( full fat I concede) and granola for breakfast, cheese on toast 2 slices for lunch, late afternoon snack of hummus on rice cake, a sneaky packet of crisps. Tea was baked potato and beans with a sprinkling of cheese, then an orange. Not that bad surely? I am trying to reduce portion size a bit too.

What's my best option diet wise? With a small amount to lose what might work. I realise crisps are a no no and need to change to low fat yog but the thought of 'diet food' fills me with horror!

Any suggestions of a way forward?

I do eat lots of veg though.

Tell me about good fats? Remember I can't eat meat and fish.

You could have 4 or 5 eggs for breakfast which is what I might have. Nothing else. No carbs. That tends to make people feel very full until lunch time.

Good fats if you are veg might be frying your low cal veg in olive oil or coconut oil so a lot of your calories are from fat which fills you up and stops you wanting to eat more. Or have an avocado at lunch time for lunch with your other veg etc O I would be taking allthe granola, rolls, potatoes out entirely.

Good fats: nuts, seeds, oils, avocados, olives, pulses. Among quite a few greens. All will give you glossy hair and good skin too.

No potatoes????? I can miss out bread easily but I love jacket potatoes.

Might think about cutting down on carbs. I couldn't eat 6 eggs though!

I would eat potatoes after all they're from nature and full of goodness. But I'd go for a palm sized one (fist size) and load up with salad or veg

I don't eat them usually but you have to find what works for you. there was a TV programme on recently with one lady eating a largely veg and potato diet and anothere lady (a doctor) who cut her carbs. Both women were 19 stone. They both did a lot more exercise and both tried to eat less. the cutting down carbs one lost more (but that might have just been fixed by the programme but it certainly accords with most recent research and our ancestors probably did eat roots they dug up but they would have been pretty small one not the massive large cultivated potatoes of today).

...and our ancestors would have burned like 1000 calories digging up said root veg!

Instead of normal potatoes, how about sweet potatoes and squash, or swede, celeriac?

More lentils, more squash, more protein. Swede mash doesn't taste that different to white potato mash but has much less sugar.

You could have a hearty lentil and veg casserole, served with a baked sweet potato.

Or butternut squash, halved, baked with garlic and olive oil, mash the flesh and top with feta and walnuts, back in oven for 5 mins, yum!

Think whole foods rather than alcohol/crisps/choc etc - well, all those are sugar really, eat non-processed food instead.

If I were you I'd be having:

Chickpea/lentil salads with lots of different veg and nuts. Tangy dressings, add dried cranberries and oranges.

Home made soup - I.E. Lima bean, red lentil, carrots, veg stock, onions, tinned toms, red pepper. Cook, blend. Add chopped spinach. Eat two bowls if you like. Crackers and cheese if you fancy it.

Curries, stews, casseroles, with loads of veg, lentils for bulk.

Roasted veg - make leftovers into a salad or a soup.

Snacks should be hummus, veg, nuts, cheese, peanut butter, fruit, oatcakes, yogurt, hard boiled eggs.

You could also do a nice hearty frittata with cauliflower, onions, sliced potatoes and goats cheese or a nice spiky cheddar.

Good luck, OP!

I really need to get back to work

Thanks for good ideas. Had Greek yog for breakfast,mvery small amount of nutty and fruity granola, salad and cottage cheese for lunch. Had a rice cake too though. Made butternut squash soup for tea.