Ideas and top tips please!

[ClandestineAdulation]

Hello!!

Starting Couch to 5K soon and decided to have a bit of a diet overall with it.

No booze, no chocolate, no biscuits and no crisps - the idea is making me want to cry but I think I can do it with the right tools!!

Can you recommend breakfast/lunch/dinner/snack ideas for me and have any tips on staying on top of it all? Anything that works well for you?

I have about 3 stone to lose before I’m happy with where I’m at but will see how it goes…

"No booze, no chocolate, no biscuits and no crisps"

Rather than completely cutting them out, you could allow yourself one day a week where you indulge, or allow yourself 2-3 small portions a week. Got to be realistic. You're right to be cutting right back on processed sugar though

Meal planning is absolutely key. Plan a week's worth of meals in one go and do a weekly shop for everything you need. That way you know what you're eating each day

Meal ideas
Breakfast - 2 slices rye bread or wholemeal banana bread with full fat yogurt and blueberries, soya milk porridge with chopped fruit or nuts
Lunch - leftovers from dinner, soup and one slice pitta bread with hummus, vine leaves with big salad, scrambled eggs with one slice wholewheat toast and chopped tomato and cucumber
Dinner - soup, vegetable curry, roasted chicken and vegetables, salmon kebabs with brown rice and steamed broccoli
Snacks - apple, peach, banana, handful of walnuts / other nuts, carrot sticks, small pot full fat yogurt with seeds on top (one of these per day)
Loads of water, limited tea / coffee

No 'low fat' or 'low sugar' anything, and cook / prepare food from scratch as much as you possibly can. Listen to your body, and keep moving!

Thank you!

I absolutely have to have a plan otherwise I just can’t stick to it, and I’m so awful for snacking and grazing throughout the day.

I have to learn to curb temptation when it comes to crisps etc., because if they’re in the cupboard I’ll just eat them!!

I'm exactly the same with crisps. I've signed up to a 4-week programme with a local PT and just finishing up what's in my cupboard now!

I find using Myfitnesspal helps enormously, both with tracking what food I eat, but also to count macros. I find if I eat around 100g protein per day I'm never as hungry.

And I completely agree with having a 'day off' each week. It may mean you lose weight a little slower, but you'll find you're able to stick at it for longer.

I really do just have to be stricter with myself I think!

I’ve successfully lost weight in the past but want to be able to incorporate exercise into it too, and if I plan well enough I’ll be more inclined to stick to it.

Trip to the supermarket after work is planned - I want something that I can grab out of the cupboard when I’m craving something salty or sweet!

I love cooking so that’s not an issue at all, it’s just knowing where to start with meal plans etc.

Absolutely brilliant that you love cooking - that will make a healthy diet so much easier. My most used cook book is The Green Roasting Tin - a load of veggie and vegan recipes which are mostly just chop stuff, mix stuff, shove it in the oven for 30-60 mins, eat the amazing results! Highly recommended

Oh sounds amazing!

I’m going to I look up some recipes this afternoon and write up a plan for the week… sod work

My sort of woman

Waitrose website also brilliant for lovely new recipes. People think that getting into health and fitness has to mean starving yourself and denying yourself, and it doesn't. AT ALL. Yes there will be times when you say no to yourself but it's done with an eye on your overall goal of feeling and looking better, not punishing yourself