Trying to be realistic with how much I can cut out. Balanced diet. Thoughts?

[justonesherryformedicinalpurpo]

Like many I am an all or nothing kind of person when it comes to being healthy. So when I'm healthy I am (in my opinion) really healthy, but the problem with that is I am quick to crave the naughty stuff. Very quick. And those junky days turn into weeks and then I realise I've hardly had anything nutritious. It's shocking really.

I am not overweight but I am 2 stone heavier than I would like to be. I almost 6ft tall so carry the weight well but I do think my metabolism is fairly good because I can get away with eating what I do better than some. And it seriously can be extortionate amounts.

I am trying a balanced approach. What do they say, 80% healthy and 20% unhealthy?

Example

Breakfast: porridge made with egg and water. Topped with berries and a tsp of honey / smoothie of half banana half avocado and yoghurt if we are out particularly early (or similar) / no added sugar muesli like the Alpen brand / maybe eggs on a slice of toast if I fancy it.

Lunch: wrap with houmous and roasted veg, maybe some meat and salad / homemade soup / vegetarian pasta/noodle dish if I can be bothered / carprese salad / roasted sweet potato with feta and salad

Dinner: cottage pie with sweet pot mash and green veg / chicken noodle soup / thai chicken curry with rice / steak with egg and sweet pot chips and greens / chicken pie with scrunched up filo pastry and veg etc. Need to include fish...

Snacks: no more than 2 a day. Some fruit. Nakd bar. Salted popcorn. Portion of nuts and cheese. Couple of hard boiled eggs with hot sauce.

Now the good bit...

Treats: share a big cake with DD after ballet on Tuesdays (a new habit but one we love).

Take away once a week. And probably share a Ben & Jerrys ice cream with DP (or similar). No fizzy drinks. I can easily cut this out tbh and I am not bothered about crisps either.

Now I have written those treats down I feel like it is a lot but compared with the rest of what I have listed it is balanaced. I think. And realistic. What do you all think? Too much or too little of something?

Today I had a homemade smoothie for brekkie as we were out early. Cake. And then a houmous, chicken and lettuce wrap for lunch. Probably will keep me going till dinner. And I've done about 1hr 20 mins fast paced walking with toddler and baby taking turns in the sling! And atm I don't feel desperate for more junk because I allowed and accepted the cake.. and thoroughly enjoyed it too.

Sorry for rambling and very likely boring you all and if you have read this till the end THANK YOU!

*sorry 40, 30, 30

Nancy
As boring as it is, I think counting calories is the way forward as then you won't be cutting out any foods at all

I slightly disagree about just counting calories as there are other factors related to the calories than just their count.

In my opinion, if you get very hungry and eat a packet of crisps (526 in 100grms of one brand), you will also have had a poor kind of fat, and a lot of carbohydrates & you will probably still be hungry shortly afterwards and eat the next nearest thing. The crisps will give some short term energy, most of which will be quickly stored as fat, but not add vitamins, growth and repair, or fibre for digestion. Moreover, by its nature it will produce an insulin surge on your body. This induces more hunger, as well as storing energy as fat in the body.

By contrast, if you ate a small piece of grilled chicken/vegetarian options, a large portion of something like broccoli and some olive oil (150 + 70 + 100) 320 calories of high protein; vitamins, minerals & fibre; oil that fuels the brain as well as the body.) you would not feel hungry for hours, and your body would have had what it needed. There would not be a high insulin surge and you would have naturally eaten 200m calories less.

In my opinion it is better to promote the second sort of food as a priority.
Then have the crisps/other similar snack if you really want them, or as an occasional treat, but not otherwise.

Obviously nutritionally it makes more sense to up the protein and veg, but it is a lot harder to stick to that. I have lost 6 stone and I am now a fitness fanatic but it was all about baby steps at first. I wouldn't cut out any food groups at first, just count calories and then once you are used to that, start tweaking your macros if you still aren't where you want to be.

The fact of the matter is you need to do what you can stick to OP, the diet you posted doesn't look that bad to me so just work on the portion control first so you don't feel deprived and take a decent multivitamin to fill in the gaps. 2 stone will come off in no time.