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!!

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

My tin of tomato soup has 20g per can - my daily allowance is 30g.

I know some people go as low as 20g (which I'd still be in range for) but I don't count my salad carbs as they are next to nothing - lettuce, cucumber and my protein shake is 2.8g
The calories is 210 per tin of soup.

I think it would help you if, for two weeks, you did the following:

1. Weigh and log everything you eat. This may surprise you.
2. Don't have a "cheat day" (hate that term).

I bet you'll make progress.

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

I will definitely give this a read thanks!

Well as you seem to be counting carbs, then I will state categorically that you will not lose weight if one day a week you are eating hundred(s) of grams of carbs.

Look into microbiome. It sounds like your body is clinging on to everything you eat because me and all my friends eat loads more than that and are not overweight.

I would add lots of pro and prebiotics to your diet. Kerfir, kimchi, garlic etc and lots of fibre and variety. Natural Yogurt, unpasteurised cheese etc.
I don't think counting calories is reliable (or desirable) as different people process them differently.
I would definitely focus on your gut health to see if it improves your weight.
Also - just to check - no diet coke or anything is there? That's terrible for weight gain.

I agree I eat a lot of sugar on my cheat day - it used to be just the main meal and choc bar but then a new girl joined who always wants to buy cornettos or fabs etc as she loves cold treats but I will suggest that maybe alternate it so we are only having one dessert with our main meal treat.

I also find the 5:2 logic frustrating as many people when doing the 5:2 diet will eat what I eat on my normal days on their fast days - so surely if I do it 6 days a week its better but obviously not.

There was a programme a while ago about naturally skinny people and this woman who would trough down a big mac before a full dinner and was still tiny. Turns out her microbiome was amazing because she ate such a variety of fermented foods and different vinegars, soy products etc.

allsmeerf

What do you typically eat in a day?

Well as you seem to be counting carbs, then I will state categorically that you will not lose weight if one day a week you are eating hundred(s) of grams of carbs.

I did dietdoctor for four months without a cheat day and didn't lose anything so I agree I don't think cutting out carbs every day works.

@weightloss21

allpaddingtonbearsmarmalade

You are eating a lot of carbs. Since last year I have tried to cut out all starchy carbs like pasta, potatoes, bread, porridge etc unless its on my cheat meal.

Do you track these? Or just track calories?
I have had no luck when tracking carbs and I actually wonder if me eating very few carbs 6 days of the week is actually making it more difficult for me to lose weight.

🤷🏻‍♀️ I personally don’t hold with cutting out food groups as a blanket approach for all people. I like carbs, could literally eat nothing else, but try to vary them and add in complex carbs where I can. Carbs aren’t the enemy but equally everyone is different and what works for me might not work for you. My point was more that eating regularly and predictably, no cheat days but also having days where I don’t track to allow myself the mental break, weighing everything and being consistent week in week out has been effective. If I want chocolate and can fit it into my calories then I’ll have it. If I can’t, then I don’t.

I keep an eye on my macros out of interest and definitely feel “best” when I nail the 50/30/20 carb/fat/protein split, but equally struggle to get a lot of protein without eating a lot of meat, and I don’t like meat heavy weeks either (though ironically this week’s dinner plan is almost all meat!) My main nod to limiting carbs is not having pasta every day and making sure we’re having a variety rather than always pasta!

Look into microbiome. It sounds like your body is clinging on to everything you eat because me and all my friends eat loads more than that and are not overweight.

I definitely will thank you.
I have been on many fad diets before and none seem to work or work and then as soon as I eat something off-limits it all goes back on and I think I have messed up my body in some way now so I am definitely going to look into this and try and heal my body instead of punishing it.

This is bit confusing. I didn't catch if you are actually weighting out the food. If not then that's your problem.

Not losing anything on below 1000cal is simply impossible unless you are in a coma or have rare metabolic disease.

It's ok. We all made mistakes and assumptions and went wrong somewhere at 1 point or another😁 You sound confused a bit if I am honest by all different advice and how you mash it together it sounds like you are doing 5 but actually none.

If I were you I take a step back, take few days and look into 1 properly. Maybe start with the calories. That helped me. BUT! You cannot guestsimate! If it doesn't work in few months, try something else.

Also, you need to look at what you are eating. Swap some stuff for veg or actually add some extra veg. It doesn't look to me like you are eating much of veg. 1 tin of soup per person is absolutely fine btw.
And if only thing you eat on your "cheat day" (bloody loath the term!) is 2 slices of pizza, kitkat and corneetto, you really need to look at it. It's fine to have these, but throw in some good stuff for the intestines too on that day🙈

@weightloss21

I agree I eat a lot of sugar on my cheat day - it used to be just the main meal and choc bar but then a new girl joined who always wants to buy cornettos or fabs etc as she loves cold treats but I will suggest that maybe alternate it so we are only having one dessert with our main meal treat.

I also find the 5:2 logic frustrating as many people when doing the 5:2 diet will eat what I eat on my normal days on their fast days - so surely if I do it 6 days a week its better but obviously not.

So on your "cheat day" you're eating a carb-laden main course, a pudding, and then an ice cream?! As well as your other meals that day?

I am 65kg which is a bit overweight for my height but have lost 3kg (about half a stone) since January and I eat:
Breakfast: egg, 1/4 avocado, 50g salmon or handful of berries and 100g Greek yoghurt (full fat unsweetened), 10g of flaked almonds

Lunch: some sort of homemade soup, maybe with a slice of sourdough if I’m hungry - soups would be tomato/celeriac and fennel/pea and ham/broccoli and spinach, whatever I fancy.
Dinner: all sorts of things but this week we’ve had chilli and cauliflower rice, chicken and Mediterranean veg skewers and salad, Spanish style vegan sausages and greens with potatoes.

Snacks - apple, chopped raw veg, sometimes olives. Sometimes I have a small pudding of berries with a tablespoon of cream or two squares of dark chocolate.
Ive lost about 1.5lbs a week eating like this since Jan.

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

I would agree it is definitely difficult to understand what is normal and healthy when there are so many people/internet forums saying completely different things.
Even on here, there are some saying I eat too much, some saying I don't eat enough etc.

There was a programme a while ago about naturally skinny people and this woman who would trough down a big mac before a full dinner and was still tiny. Turns out her microbiome was amazing because she ate such a variety of fermented foods and different vinegars, soy products etc.

Eating a lot and maintaining the same weight assisted by good guy bacteria isn’t the same as weight loss though. A lot of people think that maintaining weight and losing weight needs the same approach, but it doesn’t. I’m slim, I eat a fair amount because I’m not trying to create a calorie deficit I’m just saying the same. If I wanted to lose weight I would have to eat less - and I wouldn’t find that easy. Eating less than your body requires is hard and you need a lot of will power.

I love the beating you're getting on here over the occasional kit kat, like you've admitted to stealing from poppy tins. Only on mumsnet.

The amounts you have listed are tiny. If they are an accurate picture, then you definitely are not eating very much at all and should be checked out for thyroid etc.

Why not focus on health. 3 healthy meals per day, at least 5 fruit and veg. Nutrients and microbiome very important to your health too. Take the emphasis away from weight and calories and see how you get on?

I find this thread quite sad. An adult woman eating a three egg omelette or a whole tin of soup is not eating too much! I have a BMI of less than 19 and would happily eat BOTH as lunch.

1. Eat proper food, not low-fat diet stuff. Eg full fat yoghurt etc.

1. Don't snack.

1. Don't eat anything sweet, other than whole fruit.

1. Eat 3 good meals a day, which includes a proper breakfast.

Once you get into the swing of not snacking it becomes much easier to manage your weight.

I find this thread quite sad. An adult woman eating a three egg omelette or a whole tin of soup is not eating too much! I have a BMI of less than 19 and would happily eat BOTH as lunch.

This is what I was referring to upthread.
You’re not trying to lose weight, you’re maintaining your weight so it’s not the same.

This is bit confusing. I didn't catch if you are actually weighting out the food. If not then that's your problem.

I was weighing it out but now I weigh it out less as I don't really need to as I can look on the packets.

Eg. My protein shake - 2 scoops with water = 200kcals which is already calculated for me.
If I have a chicken breast and salad I will look on the back of the packet and see how much a chicken breast is and then round it up just in case. My salad I do guestimate using MFP but I look on the packet and know it is approximately correct. If I have an extra lettuce leaf I don't panic because I can't see how that will ruin my diet.

I would agree it is definitely difficult to understand what is normal and healthy when there are so many people/internet forums saying completely different things.

Healthy is everything in moderation. No one will ever change my mind about that.
Plenty of veg, don't shy away from fruit. Meat, eggs, dairy. Then things like breads, sweets.
Eat everything but have most veg then build the rest of the plate. This honestly helped me lose so far 40kg (i think I made a mistake on one thread in conversion and put 40kg in wrong amount of stone btw so fuck it I am going in kg all the way now😂). Simple calorie counting.

Just go back to basics in some way, get used to fresh and good for the belly food and then look at weight loss again.

Don't have half a tin of soup. You will be starving. It's tough, but try skipping the treat day for a week or so and see if scales move. I'm maintaining at the moment as I'm having a takeaway once a week and I know I need to stop.

So on your "cheat day" you're eating a carb-laden main course, a pudding, and then an ice cream?! As well as your other meals that day?

No I won't have my other meal on that day! Sorry, should have made that clear.

Big food companies hire psychologists to target women. They have caused the obesity pandemic. The way we judge other women as lacking willpower and being greedy is disgusting.