Am I eating too much fruit and therefore not losing weight?

[Marushka82]

Hi everyone, I'm hoping someone here could help me answer the question of why I'm not losing weight (and always feel hungry!).
I currently weigh 11 st (70 kgs) but ideally would like to get rid of 11 pounds. My weight seems to be stuck and fluctuates between 68-70kgs (and has been like that for at least a year). I don't feel overweight, but I used to be slimmer (before DD) and just want to feel better about my shape.
I exercise (usually a mix of HIIT, weights, some cardio, but not too much unless I go for a run) usually 3-4 times a week for about 40 mins (can only do evenings after DD goes to bed)
I don't smoke, barely ever drink alcohol (I'd say once a month), barely ever (less than once in two months) get a takeaway. I don't eat out, cook all my lunches (bar an occasional sushi from Wasabi once every fortnight) and dinners from scratch. Don't keep any sweets at home and I don't really eat any sugary snacks/fizzy drinks etc.
I would say I eat clean and healthy most of the time with an occasional treat once in a while. Yet I'm not losing weight and feel like I'm hungry all the time so feel like snacking at work (doesn't help we're not too busy at the moment, I don't do a lot of snacking when busy!).

I usually have:
Breakfast: overnight oats with chia seeds, almond/cashew/coconut milk and some berries (plus 1 Tbsp honey or agave for sweetness) or smoothie (usually banana plus some frozen fruit and almond milk) -
with homemade granola (1/3 cup). On Sat/Sun I'd have some boiled or scrambled eggs, rye bread and avocado instead :D Love my eggs and avocado!
Snack: carrots and houmous (about 1 heaped Tbsp so it's not like I'm pigging out!) or cucumber and cottage cheese
Lunch: usually a salad made at home: e.g. roasted sweet potato, spinach, tomatoes, avocado, some black beans, a bit of olive oil or I'll have a salad with brown rice, edamame, spinach, avocado and smoked salmon with a tamari dressing. That kind of stuff.
Snack: greek yoghurt with berries and honey usually
Dinner: either some made turkey meatballs with tomato sauce and wholemeal pasta or turkey chilli with avocado and brown rice or some salmon and prawn curry with mange tout and courgette etc.
Snack (I am starving after exercising): sometimes greek yoghurt with berries, sometimes banana with peanut butter, sometimes apple.

I can see from this that I might be eating too much fruit.
I also drink lots of water and green tea (no black tea and only occasionally coffee). Where am I going wrong? I'm tempted to see a nutritionist/dietitian but scared I'll spend money to hear I need to eat wholemeal rather than white carbs, no processed food, no sugar etc, which is something I already know hmm

I'd be grateful for any feedback, I'm getting sick and tired of reading stories of people who give up one thing and miraculously lose weight!

Your portions might be too large, even though the food is healthy. It's hard to say without weighing how many calories you're actually eating. You are also probably not burning as many calories as you think as most people overestimate this. You might be eating your calories back, or even more, as you say you are starving after exercise.

Also how long have you been exercising/eating like this? It can take a long time to notice a difference if you are already a healthy weight.

There are a few foods in there that altho considered "healthy" are calorie dense and therefore easy to over eat.

Things like avocado,humous and honey all contain a a bunch of calories. Honey isn't particularly filling either.

thanks for your replies!
I've been eating like this for over two years!
I have a feeling I need to get back to counting calories which might help me control my portions. I'll probably cut down on fruit too and increase my veg portions.
What do you normally eat in a day?

I eat like this, and can easily gain weight if I don't watch portion sizes - a reasonable portion of peanut butter/houmous is ridiculously tiny, and 100g of full fat Greek yoghurt has a fair calorie whack too. Your breakfast sounds quite big too (1tbsp of anything sugary, regardless of what it is, is a lot of sugar on top of fruit etc in smoothie).

Ok, so I do Slimming world, so I've looked at the syn values of what you eat in a day to give you an idea.

Breakfast: overnight oats 7 syns for 40g with chia seeds 6syns for 30g, almond 2 syns for 100ml/cashew 1.5 syns for 100ml/coconut milk 9 syns for 100 mland some berries (plus 1 Tbsp honey 2.5 syns or agave 3.5 syns for sweetness) or smoothie (usually banana 4 syns per 100g plus some frozen fruit 1.5 syns per 100g and almond milk 2 syns per 100ml) -
with homemade granola (1/3 cup) *5.5 syns per 25g.

These two breakfasts on sw would be between 14.5 and 25.5 syns. You are allowed 15 a day! I know you are not following this diet, but the fact is that although lots of these foods are very healthy they are also calorific. Obviously I've got no idea how much you eat as a portion, but this gives you an idea.

You could do the oats with ff yoghurt rather than milk, add fruit, chop up a banana into it in the morning?

Eat the fruit rather than make a smoothy, that would be free and be filling. Can't comment about the granola as you said you made your own, that focus is for a plain granola.

On Sat/Sun I'd have some boiled or scrambled eggs, rye bread and avocado instead :D Love my eggs and avocado!

This would be fine but an avocado is 14 syns for a whole one.

Snack: carrots and houmous 2.5 syns
(about 1 heaped Tbsp so it's not like I'm pigging out!) or cucumber and cottage cheese free if it's fat free, 1.5 syns per 100g if not

Could be on around 17 syns by now.

Lunch: usually a salad made at home: e.g. roasted sweet potato, spinach, tomatoes, avocado 14 syns, some black beans, a bit of olive oil 6 syns a tbsp or I'll have a salad with brown rice, edamame, spinach, avocado and smoked salmon with a tamari dressing. That kind of stuff.

Salad looks great, if you swapped oil for balsamic vinegar it would be much lower cal. On about 37 syns now.

Snack: greek yoghurt 3 syns per 100g if full fat with berries and honey 2.5 syns per tbsp usually

Not the fruit that would be the problem with this Snack! About 42 syns now.

Dinner: either some made turkey meatballs with tomato sauce and wholemeal pasta or turkey chilli with avocado and brown rice or some salmon and prawn curry with mange tout and courgette etc.

They all sound really healthy and yummy, but potentially on your third avo of the day now, clocking in at 14 syns each, so 42 syns on avocado alone! All these meals are free if you use lean meat, so if you have had an Avo in the meal 56 syns in total.

Snack (I am starving after exercising): sometimes greek yoghurt with berries, sometimes banana with peanut butter 4.5 syns per tbsp, sometimes apple.

If you have the peanut butter snack finishing the day on 60.5 syns.

Now I'm sure that's not accurate as you have just given egs and I'm guessing quantities etc, but even some healthier foods are very calorie dense and can affect weight loss.

Wow that was long! I'm not suggesting you have to join sw by the way! But personally I don't think it's the fruit that is stopping you losing weight.

Nuts, avocado and greek yoghurt are all very nutritious but also very calorific due to the high fat content. Personally I would cut back on consumption of these foods a bit, rather than stop eating fruit, which is also very nutritious but less calorific.

I agree, loads of very high calorie and fat foods there!

I find it interesting that you say you are always starving after exercise. I have upped my exercise recently and find that I'm not at all hungry afterwards for a good couple of hours, so it's really helped me stop snacking on an evening. Not a criticism at all, just honestly something that I find interesting.

I'd try ditching the in between meal snacks. I don't feel deprived but don't eat any breakfast (personal preference, not a suggestion), eat a no carb salad or soup for dinner with a piece of fruit and a 100 cal cereal bar for lunch. Then some protein, small amount of carbs and plenty of veg or salad for dinner. I might have something in the evening if I am hungry, like a little granola, but otherwise try not to. I am not hungry most of the time eating like this.

I'm quite a bit heavier than you atm, but am losing eating as above.

Ok, I see what you are saying; however, I'm definitely not having three avocados a day! More like half and not every day. For the smoothie, I don't use all the milks at once, it's either almond or cashew or coconut (not the tinned one iyswim)
I would rather have full fat yoghurt but have less of it than have a fat free one as they usually have something added to them, but yes, I agree I should probably cut down on something! I will most likely try to eat fewer carbs and up the protein so I feel full for longer!

I didn't think you would be eating 3!

Have you tried Skyr yoghurt? It's fat free, and high protein. Not full of sugar either.

Sounds like lovely healthy food but a lot of it and maybe too much sugar and fat.

Avocados are amazing and I love them and it's good fat but it's still fat. If you want to lose weight - leave them for the weekend.

You have quite a sugary breakfast everyday. Your breakfast might be about 500 calories actually.

Oats, Greek yoghurt and berries - half a banana for sweetness.

Try walking more if you can. Great about the exercise - I do HIIT every morning for 45 minutes and burn on average 280 calories and I'm dripping/use quite heavy weights. It's not a lot is it

Get my fitness pal - be honest and see how many calories you're eating. Bet you get a shock when you put everything in. To lose weight you should be eating about 1200-1400 a day. 1400 when you're exercising.

Read this out to DP and said why do you think she isn't losing weight ...

'Because she's eating like a body builder and she isn't one'

A cheeky perspective for you. Hope you don't mind xxx

I don't think you're eating too much especially if you are doing that amount of exercise. You seem to be eating all the right things and that seems like a balanced diet. I wouldn't use slimming world to judge if you are eating too much. It doesn't work for everyone. I'd probably go to a personal trainer or someone in the fitness industry and ask for their advice. It might be the times in which you're having your meals and exercising. I try and have a protein and a carb post workout and stick to lean proteins and good fats at all other times. Days I don't exercise, I keep my carbs low, even good carbs. I'd also watch my fruit intake in terms of portion control.
Apart from this, this looks the healthiest diet I've seen on here for ages. Maybe you should take photos of yourself instead of weighing and try and see changes visually? The scales are a minefield to be honest. My weight can fluctuate by half a stone overnight.

@Clarabumps do you not think OP might eating too much for someone who wants to lose weight? It's a healthy diet but a lot of it and she'll probably be maintaining her weight rather than losing it. It is all about calories in vs calories out. So they're definitely balancing out somewhere

Too much, too many carbs, too many meals.

I'm on the BSD, which is basically the opposite of slimming world. 800cals per day, low carb, eat as few times as possible (no snacks).

During the week I have full fat Greek yogurt with frozen berries and ground flaxseed for breakfast at around 11am. Lunch at 4pm is either a lentil and feta salad, salad with eggs, cheese or tuna, or soup with no potato or flour. Dinner is an omelette with home made coleslaw or a curry with cauliflower rice, or fish with vegetables or stir fry.

At weekends I only eat once or twice and often go without food for 18-24 hours without even thinking about it.

I've lost 3 stone in 18 weeks. It's completely changed my life.

It is all about calories in vs calories out.

It's so much more complicated than that!

@TittyGolightly

It isn't

Well I'm from a family of GPs not nutritionists

@TittyGolightly how long do you plan to do that for? Is that short term?

That's potentially 3 500-600 calorie meals (depending on your portion sizes) plus snacks at about 200-300 calories a go.

So you're clocking in around 2100 calories on the low end.

Just to clarify, I wasn't suggesting the op had to do sw to lose weight, I was just pointing out that if she was sure would not be expecting to lose on those meals.

There's nothing wrong with eating complex carbs and fruit as part of a healthy diet!

@alpacasandwich if could like your post I would. That + exercise = maintaining your weight I think OP.

You do 8-12 week sessions of 800 cals per day (lost 2.5 stone in first 12 weeks). Had 6 weeks off on maintainance (follow principles but don't count the cals). I've been back on it for 3-4 weeks and lost another half stone or so (I don't weigh very often but am shrinking out of my clothes rapidly). Once you've lost the weight you just follow maintainance. I've found it really easy.