Could someone help me critique this diet

[tearsandtiaras]

I am in a kickstart diet, lost 5 stone 1.5 years ago. Then maintained. Put on 4 kilos in april and maintained until now.

Now i want to lose the last 1.5 stone.

I have a very demanding job so I would like to have a nutritious plan as well as low cal.

I do 16:8.

At lunch i have
7 slices of ham 130 cal
Mixed nuts 240 cal
One banana 100 cal

Snack
One apple 80 cal

Dinner
Vegetable soup 6 veg and ginger 300 cal
Grilled chicken breast in lettuce 240 cal
Mayonnaise 200 cal!

Obviously the mayonnaise is excessive buts its my only treat!

I mix up the chicken with eggs or tuna and different veg in soup. But this is the staple

Could i improve this nutritionally?
I also drink 2l of water a day with apple cider vinegar

Should add I have pcos so trying to do low carb

I also gym 3 times a week and walk 16,000 steps a day

You have a 470 lunch with very little nutrients. Alternate with tomatoes cut in cubes, cucumber cut in cubes, chickpeas, a bit of spring onion, and homemade dressing.
Then the next days, green beans, with tomatoes, red onion, a can of tuna in water.
Baby spinach, a few walnuts, half a sluices pear.
With PCOS you need to increase fibre and reduce saturated fats as well. Banana isn't exactly the best choice, opt for a pear, a kiwi, blueberries, watermelon if still in shops.
When I have a soup, especially a rich one like you have, I don'' have anything else after .
Alternate with days when you have asparagus, mushrooms with garlic, with some hard tofu.

Within your calories allowance, you can opt for better choices.
Careful if you sip on vinegary water all day long

How much you move makes no difference for wight but is great for mnetabolic health

Thanks, some good points , i like what you said about lunch and the banana. I have to disagree with you though on movement- calories in and out is offset by movement. My fitbit calculates my allowed calories for the day with a 1000 calories deficit, the more i move the move i can eat!

Fitbits are notoriously inaccurate. Out of interest, how many calories does it say you are burning in a day?

Around 2800-3000

You are free to believe what you want, but science has looked at how the body manages the calories and the calories out will be compensated by cutting other metabolic expenses. You have a daily calorie budget, and your body uses them for many cellular processes. If a big chink is going out with exercise, the body will cut some of the other processes to maintain balance. Not only will it make you less active, but some immune system pathways are less active, your liver, and so on.

The Duke University Professor who explains it way better than I do is Herman Pontzer.

So focus on the CI as in calories in, more than the CO calories out. They don't count if this is a regular thing and your body adapts. Pontzer tested people running marathons, a hunter -gatherer tribe in Africa who has 5 fold the amount the activity and so on. You can read a bit here www.science.org/content/article/scientist-busts-myths-about-how-humans-burn-calories-and-why

The exercise calories do not pass the science test. Exercise is great for your health, counts almost nothing for weight loss

I lost 5 stone using calories in and out on my fitbit with a 1000 calorie deficit a day.

If i only had 200 calories left at 5pm for dinner i went for a 35 mins walk to get another 270 ish . It does work.

I would still be starving after that lunch.
Try a higher protein alternative to keep you feeling full for longer. I like egg white omelette with cherry tomatoes, mushrooms and spinach, maybe some Turkey/chicken.
Then what about 0% Greek yoghurt with some chopped fruit or a small amount of granola.

I also don't think you should eat back any exercise calories.

Assuming the ham is processed I would cut down on that and replace with another protein

I agree on getting rid of the ham for health reasons.

Do you leave the whole vegetables (or most of them) in the soup or just broth? If it's the latter I'd mix that up a bit and have the veg as a salad or stir fry instead. You're not getting much fibre otherwise.

I'd definitely find a more nutritious replacement for the mayo (guacamole? hummus? tahini?).

I have similarly restricted diet and take a multivitamin every day as a bit of a safety net in case there's some obscure but necessary mineral I've overlooked.

Another thought - have you recalculated your 'calories in' to take your new, lower weight into account? You may now need less than you think. And I would definitely scrap the idea of eating back exercise calories - to me, those (if they exist) are a bonus.

Thanks everyone. Im going to change the ham. Also I hadn't thought about guacamole as option instead of mayonnaise, good shout!

My fitbit calculates the calories in and out depending on my weight and steps so I use that as a guideline

Stop including what your fitbit calculates, they usually WAY overestimate. Calculate calories based on Goal weight. Doesn't have to be a big deficit (which 1000 would be but was unlikely to actually have been)

What's the point of the ACV?

What do you do at the gym?

Not sure what ACV is ?

At the gym i do 45 mins of cardio, 20 mins of weights and 30 mind swim 3 times a week.

Works well , lost 5 stone as i said. . No problem with it, or fitbit, i was asking for tweaking my diet for more nutrition thanks

Yeah Fitbit really really overestimates calories burned. It told me I was burning 140 calories per mile walked! Research online said it was more like 75 (I did a few calculators).

So in 35 minutes (like the walk in your example) I would manage 2 miles. Fitbit told me I was burning 280 calories doing that. I was actually burning roughly 150 calories. I do a lot of exercise, so Fitbit was giving me something like an extra 350 cals per day in total! That really ate into my 500 cal deficit! Once I corrected it the weight started coming off. So yes you can eat the calories burned, but you MUST be accurate. Just because it worked when you were heavier doesn't mean it will work when you are trying to lose the last bit.

Sorry, missed your last. I think your diet (given the parameters) is fine on any one day, but really mix it up day by day. Change fruit/meat/fish/veg for different ones. Do you eat dairy? Greek yogurt really fills you up. Would you consider switching out some of the mayo? I use a mix of mayo and Greek yogurt when making coleslaw and it's really nice.

Blimey that’s pretty low isn’t it? Rather you than me.

I think a bit more of the complex carbs would be better for your energy levels and health, but I’d it’s very short term it probably doesn’t matter

What is your current diet?

I'd switch the nuts at lunch for either some cottage cheese to have with the ham/protein or Greek yoghurt to have with the banana. Then you might get closer to the 20g of protein you should aim for at each meal/snack. If you really want to tweak your diet I'd look at protein intake first as your calories are clearly already low.

Not enough vegetables !!

Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.

No UPF - drastically reduce sugar, salt and bad fats.
Don't drink calories.
Eat lots of vegetables.
Moderate amounts of lean protein.
Small amounts of UNrefined carbs.
Limited fat - EVOO and a little butter.
Some fruit for snacking.