One year into my Unsuccessful diet (food diary included)

[weightloss21]

I'm looking for advice on where to go next as I feel I have hit a brick wall and not sure what else to try.

I'll try and make this as short but informative as possible.

I have always struggled with my weight. From last January I decided to track my food more carefully and start intermittent fasting by not eating breakfast and having black coffee instead. Within this time I have done the strict keto diet but didn't lose any weight.

Instead of going over every diet I have tried etc I will just write down my food diary more recently. Snacks can be from 0-3 per day and / means or.

More recently:
Pre - 2nd lockdown - work full time 5 days a week, on my feet all day job.
Breakfast = black coffee
Lunch = nothing/apple/babybell
Dinner = soup/stew/jacket potato/salad/meat&veg
Weekends = roast/spag bol/pasta etc - higher carb food

2nd lockdown - wfh sitting down most of the day. Upped exercise to 2/3 days a week (at home) either exercise bike or HIIT.
Breakfast = black coffee
Lunch = Salad/omlette/soup
Dinner = meat & veg/ fish & veg/ salad/ soup
Snacks = fruit/cup of tea,coffee,hot choc/babybell/boiled egg

Since last Monday (25th Jan) - reduced eggs as was eating a lot before.
Breakfast = black coffee
Lunch = Protein shake
Dinner = meat,fish & veg/ salad/soup
Snacks = apple,orange/sugar free jelly/teaspoon of peanut butter/cup of tea,coffee

I have a cheat meal once a week which usually consists of something like = lasagne/cottage pie/pizza/pasta and bowl of ice cream and a choc bar eg twix, mars bar etc

Since last January I haven't lost any weight. The first lockdown I didn't have a cheat meal but it didn't seem to make a difference (or I was losing it and then putting it back on).

My current meal plan isn't working so I am not sure where to go from here. Please do you have any suggestions/share your food diaries as I am at my wits end!!

@weightloss21

I did not realise that having a tin of soup to myself for a meal wasn't something that other people do so obvioulsy that is going to change.

If I had my protein shake = 200kcals
Half a tin of soup = 100kcals
Then that would only be 300kcals a day.

If I maxed out my snacks which is up to 3 a day say on an apple, cup of tea, sugar free jelly then my total would be about 500kcals - without weighing it.

Look please don't let the competitive under eaters shame you for eating a whole can of soup. Half a can is around 100 calories and only a person with an ED would think that's normal for a meal. You need to get real about your calorie intake over the week and make sure you're in deficit of 3500 calories over the 7 days. Up your activity and weigh every morsel.

I think in this context, pictures of food/meals are more useful than diaries. Is it vegetable broth or broccoli and Stilton soup? Small jacket potato with beans, or half a kilogram of spud with loads of beans and cheese?

@weightloss21

It's not the 6 days of low carbs that is making it difficult for you. It's the one day of high carbs and calories.

I would agree but then everyone says you should never go on a fad diet it needs to be a lifestyle change. But surely giving up carbs altogether would be a fad that people can't sustain?

There is zero point doing low carb 6 days a week and high carb one day. Just focus on calories and eating plenty of roughage and satiating complex carbs.

I’m sorry but I find it hard to believe that anyone’s ‘cheat day’ can regularly be less than 1500 calories unless your portions are minuscule.

Ham and pineapple pizza = 650 kcals
Twix = 250 kcals
Ice cream - cornetto/two scoops = say 500kcals (cornettos are only 200ish)

Absolute most = 1400kcals

I think you need to stop focusing on the tin of soup. You know full well it’s totally fine and it’s not eating a tin of soup that’s the problem

It’s the other things you’re eating. And possibly your cheat meal. I’m not sure I consider lasagne, ice cream and chocolate as just a treat meal, it’s more of a bit of a binge, it’s a lot of calories.

The science is clear op. If you’re maintain on fifteen stone you eat averaged over a week approx 2400 calories a day. So you’re massively underestimating some where. There is no way round it.

Have you tried IF? I know that everyone bangs on about this, but it is really effective

Btw Op you are probably underestimating your calories and that’s why you are not losing weight

I think in this context, pictures of food/meals are more useful than diaries. Is it vegetable broth or broccoli and Stilton soup? Small jacket potato with beans, or half a kilogram of spud with loads of beans and cheese?

It is usually tomato soup as I have an obsession with it at the moment. I don't eat potatoes unless on my cheat day but it is probably more than a normal portion size - but I still make sure to stay under 1500kcals (preferably 120kcals).

I know everyone's into Keto and fasting, but the best weight management programme I've been on is eating regularly, small portions, small amount of healthy carbs with some meals, and just normal eating but with an eye on the calories.

I think starving yourself over breakfast and lunch creates a situation where you are so hungry by dinner you are eating big portions, so essentially it's the same as having eaten all day. I would eat one egg and a bit of yoghurt in the morning, a lunch like yours so a nice soup or a big salad with some protein, then a decent evening meal but smaller carb portion than in the past and with an eye to not adding extra calories through cheese all over stuff, or calorific drinks. I also have an evening snack, usually yoghurt and berries and some oats, but could be apple, miso soup, I hate going to bed hungry.

You seem really miserable about your food and I suspect you are eating a lot of calories in the weekend on treat day as well.

I think different eating plans suit different people, fasting does not suit me as I get over hungry then eat too much and I get headaches through low blood sugar- it doesn't mean they don't work for some people, they are fabulous and I know lots who do great on 5:2 or 15 hour fasting, but it's not for me.

You have to know yourself, I'd rather have a small treat every day and not go crazy on the weekend, and I couldn't sustain exercising on no breakfast or lunch, just not healthy at all.

I use a calorie counter, weigh most days and try to move more. Weight loss is very slow, but steady.

It’s the other things you’re eating. And possibly your cheat meal. I’m not sure I consider lasagne, ice cream and chocolate as just a treat meal, it’s more of a bit of a binge, it’s a lot of calories.

I definitely used to binge when I was younger so I do have to be careful about this! But it is me and a group of friends from work who go to the supermarket and have a cheat lunch once a week - so we will buy the ice cream or pack of chocolate bars and spilt it between us so I'm not sitting at home having a proper binge if that makes sense?

The science is clear op. If you’re maintain on fifteen stone you eat averaged over a week approx 2400 calories a day. So you’re massively underestimating some where. There is no way round it.

Yes I know I am doing something wrong which is why I have come on here asking for advice. But I do track my calories so I am wondering whether other people have advice on what they did like maybe on macros or eating little and often etc

Have you tried IF? I know that everyone bangs on about this, but it is really effective

Yes this is what I do now. But not found it very helpful. I don't eat between 8pm and 12pm.

But I obviously do need to work on my portion size as I thought a tin of soup to yourself was ok

Nothing wrong with a tin of soup - but I don’t think it’s good diet food as you’re just hungry again after an hour unless you have some bread with it. It is essentially like having a drink and not a meal - you’re stomach doesn’t need to put much work into digesting it.
As a pp said it would be good to think about what kinds of food are lowish in calories but will still keep you fuller for longer like whole grains, beans, bananas. Better to eat some pasta for lunch and not snack than a tin of soup and then two or three snacks before tea because it didn’t keep you full.

I do agree with other people that maybe I should increase my carbs every day but this is mentally difficult as I have trained myself they are bad.

Someone did say that any diet that recommends you cut out food groups is unhealthy so I agree with the PP who said about keto. Could it just be the new fad? Like cutting out fat was but now we know different.

Better to eat some pasta for lunch and not snack than a tin of soup and then two or three snacks before tea because it didn’t keep you full.

Yes I agree. My snacks aren't high-calorie - they are an apple or cup of tea etc but they are unnecessary and probably mess with my metabolism.

Are you finding you binge or spend lots of time thinking about 'treats'? I would up the cals a bit, because you can still be in deficit but it'll be a lot more sustainable, and if you eat a good balance of food then you will lose weight without being as tempted by weekend splurges or whatever I would bet.

Are you not having breakfast just to keep cals down, or are you not a breakfast person? I would be ravenous by lunch if I didn't eat anything, and much more likely to eat absent mindedly later in the day, or to have big portions (even healthy meal Cal's stack up if you eat too much).

Personally I would aim for 1500 daily minimum, and search for some more exciting meals, plenty still under 500 calories. Also try and introduce some strength training, increased muscle mass helps you burn more at rest, and also it's good for you anyway! It's a marathon not a sprint, and finding sustainable ways to change the way you eat rather than unsustainable changes imo.

I gained a lot of weight when my thyroid was so called 'normal'. Turns out I was very undermedicated and the GP didn't test my T4 levels, only TSH, which admittedly looked normal and fine. But the T4 was below the desired range and it seems the TSH didn't tell the true picture. I needed a slightly higher dose of levothyroxine and that's when I began to feel better and the weight went back to normal.

You have to know yourself, I'd rather have a small treat every day and not go crazy on the weekend, and I couldn't sustain exercising on no breakfast or lunch, just not healthy at all.

That's part of the reason I cut out breakfast so I could exercise and burn the stored fat rather than the food I have just eaten - if that makes sense. But it obviously isn't helping.

Firstly please have your thyroid checked by a doctor.

Secondly, read 'Dely don't Deny'
It might not work for everyone but it currently is for me!

One of the main points in this book is don't have days off unless it's a special occasion, but eat something you really enjoy everyday at your main meal.

It also sounds you have an unhealthy outlook on food by some of your posts OP:

I haven't eaten eggs for the past two weeks as I was eating eggs a lot and think it could have been part of my problem thinking they are 'heathly'.

Eggs are healthy in that they contain a good combination of protein, fat, nutrients etc, but of course they have calories. I think viewing foods purely on calorie content isn't going to be overly successful in the long term, but understanding a bit more about food in general might be.

@weightloss21

I think in this context, pictures of food/meals are more useful than diaries. Is it vegetable broth or broccoli and Stilton soup? Small jacket potato with beans, or half a kilogram of spud with loads of beans and cheese?

It is usually tomato soup as I have an obsession with it at the moment. I don't eat potatoes unless on my cheat day but it is probably more than a normal portion size - but I still make sure to stay under 1500kcals (preferably 120kcals).

Wait, how can you be low carbing if you're eating tomato soup???!!!

Are you actually counting carbs? Or calories? Are you actually counting anything, or just estimating?

Are you not having breakfast just to keep cals down, or are you not a breakfast person?

I started not having breakfast as I looked into intermittent fasting and to cut out some calories and to be able to exercise on an empty stomach. But now it has become a habit that I am not hungry in the mornings so if I did start eating it I would probably just have a banana or something.

It is now 1pm and past the time I usually have my protein shake but I am not hungry at all but if I did eat earlier then I would probably be hungry - I don't know if that's good or bad lol.

@weightloss21

I’m sorry but I find it hard to believe that anyone’s ‘cheat day’ can regularly be less than 1500 calories unless your portions are minuscule.

Ham and pineapple pizza = 650 kcals
Twix = 250 kcals
Ice cream - cornetto/two scoops = say 500kcals (cornettos are only 200ish)

Absolute most = 1400kcals

If that’s your cheat day OP it’s no wonder you’re not losing weight! That’s not just calories that’s a hell of a lot of sugar and unhealthy fats.

I’m not a perfect eater but I wouldn’t consume that in a week, let alone a ‘cheat day.’

Are you using a food scale and measuring cups to accurately track everything that passes your lips? Because you're underestimating your calories somehow.

Ignore anyone who says you're not eating enough calories, starvation mode is the most ridiculous fat logic myth ever.

In fact, check out reddit.com/r/fatlogic and www.reddit.com/r/loseit

@Bessica1970

You have been eating too few calories historically (when you restrict too much your body responds by cutting your output to match, so you’ll feel lethargic, cold, your skin and hair/nails suffer). Unfortunately if you just increase your calories now your body will store the extra as fat.

If you haven’t already, read The Obesity Code and Feast, Fast, Repeat. It completely changed the way I eat. I can see you have already dabbled with IF, but if you’re going to fast, you need to do it properly (fuelling your body with sufficient, healthy food in your eating window.

thats really interesting. but I don't get following that logic how come people (me included) lose on the 5:2?

I've lost 25kg three times (once after I gained loads by eating my feelings after a breakup, twice after gaining a lot during pregnancies) using myfitnesspal and it's calories in/calories out. Weight loss starts in the kitchen and you can lose weight even when completely sedentary if you consume fewer calories than you burn. Exercise helps, but fix your diet first.