Is my diet healthy/balanced?

[BobbyEgg]

Does anyone else struggle to know if what they are eating is balanced enough or is it just me? I wondered if people could give me thoughts about my typical diet?

B- alpro yogurt with berries and a puree made of pineapple and mango. At the weekend I may have a smoothie too.

L- either a chicken salad, vegetable soup or home made hummus on ryvita thins with cucumber

T- either home made curry/stir fry or salmon with a vegetable slaw. If I have the slaw with the salmon I normally make an Asian dressing to go with it.

Snacks - grapes, plain popcorn, and another fruit e.G. Nectarine or orange

Drink lemon squash during the day.

In terms of exercise I go swimming or to the gym 4 times a week and then for the last month I've been aiming for 10k steps a day.

Thoughts appreciated.

I love the variety and sounds like lots of fruit and veg.

Obviously it's very low carb. I think some people find that a very effective way of weight loss but in terms of balance the body needs carbs for energy. I believe it also provides one of the primary building blocks for serotonin which effects mood and energy. Hence why people get "hangry" when they've not eaten or not had carbs...because energy and mood drops.

I love the variety and sounds like lots of fruit and veg.

Obviously it's very low carb. I think some people find that a very effective way of weight loss but in terms of balance the body needs carbs for energy. I believe it also provides one of the primary building blocks for serotonin which effects mood and energy. Hence why people get "hangry" when they've not eaten or not had carbs...because energy and mood drops.

It looks healthy in terms of nutrients. My first thought was I'd be starving! To have fruit for breakfast then a light lunch if be ravenous. Do you get hungry eating like that? If so would suggest more protein (maybe an egg based breakfast). There's a lot of fruit in your diet (which is obviously great in terms of vitamins) but it is sugary. If you have a breakfast of berries and a fruit puree plus a smoothie at the weekend that's a hell of a lot of sugar and doesn't keep you full for long. I have to eat a lot of protein, veg, whole grains (in moderation, I can't eat too many carbs) and fats to feel satisfied for long periods of time.

Everything you eat is healthy, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that your whole diet is. Nutrition is an absolute minefield!

I’ve found the Cronometer app to be really useful for finding out if I’m eating the right things. It’s a free app and works a bit like MyFitnessPal. The difference is that it gives you a detailed breakdown of all the nutrients you need and how much you’ve had of each. It works best for things that are cooked from scratch, which it sounds like you’re doing most of the time, as it lists up to 80 nutrients for raw ingredients. It’s far less detailed on processed foods.

Looking at what you’ve set out here, I think your diet may be low on both iron and calcium and possibly some of the B-vitamins and a few of the trace minerals. But it’s difficult to say with certainty as I don’t know what’s in, for example, your curry. A curry that’s mainly vegetables will give you totally different nutrients from one that’s mainly meat or pulses.

If I were you, I would start by looking at your snacks. You eat a lot of fruit, which is fine, but if you swap one of those for say a handful of nuts you’ll be adding a different group of nutrients to your diet.

I’d also look at introducing some more pulses and whole grains and some more dairy/ dairy alternatives.

I hope that helps