Am I eating too much to loose weight?

[ohaaahh]

Breakfast 1 slice of toast with a tiny bit of jam and a banana

Lunch -I small jacket potato (from Tesco's bag of 4 with 1 small Tin of beans

2 Bourbon biscuits (as I felt ridiculously shaky and light headed )
A few blueberries

And tea will be chicken and something say 500 calories

I'm 5ft 7 and weigh 11 stone 10
37 and want to get down to 10 stone by Christmas if I can.

I'd add:
A lot more veggies
Cut the sugar
Add some nuts for the second snack

I'd say you're not eating enough of the good stuff

Carrying weight on the stomach is suggestive of some degree of insulin resistance which is so common in women when they get a bit older/peri menopause. Have you had your a1c tested lately?

I would try to reduce starchy carbs, bread, potatoes, rice, pasta and up healthy fats (full fat dairy, extra virgin olive oil, nuts, fatty fish etc), veg and protein. Try to eat more lower sugar fruit such as berries rather than bananas. This will also help to keep you much fuller. The amount you are eating might be OK depending on portions but you will find it so much easier to loose weight if you shift what you eat.

I got down to bmi 19.5 doing the above and lost all my tummy fat without ever being hungry and my new 'diet' is now a way of life.

I think what I struggle with is unless I have a carb with my main meal I feel hungry
Today I'm going to try having eggs for breakfast
Lunch -some sort of tuna salad
And dinner tonight not sure yet but I have chicken breasts and lots of veg

Does anyone have the joe wicks books?
I've just ordered a few
Any good meals in those ?

It might be helpful to consider doing Noom on the free 2 week trial? It's been super helpful for giving me structure and educating me at the same time.

I've just done it and now paid for 3 months. Essentially it is still losing weight via reduced calories, but it doesn't place any food as being "off limits" and also gives you daily 'lessons' to help you examine your relationship with food. They ask you a few questions about where you are now and where you want to be and give you a calorie window per day to eat in so as to lose 1-2 lb a week (it's more about forming long term habits than rapid weight loss that isn't sustainable).

I've learnt a lot since starting - ie the importance of weighing out food / accurately counting calories as otherwise you likely aren't being accurate. Also (biggie!) avoid undereating as this is just as problematic to weight loss as overeating. On too few calories your body goes into starvation mode and starts to hang onto fat instead.

I'm 5ft 7 and was 10st 12lbs, 2.5 weeks in and I'm down 5 lbs whilst still enjoying the odd glass of wine and not feeling deprived/ hungry.

Thanks so much for everyone's tips and advice
I'm writing all of this down in my notes on my phone
I'm disgusted in myself I allowed myself to get to nearly 12 stone
It's frustrating as I never gain wait on my top half just always bottom

*gain weight

I realised I actually forgot to write what I have for lunch Friday, Saturday, Sunday. I’ll usually have a homemade chicken and lentil soup or bagel thin with tuna mayo pickled red onion and jalapeños. I also usually have another piece of fruit each day in addition to fruit I’ve had for breakfast.

This isn’t a low carb diet. I eat carbs in every meal, these being fruit and oats for breakfast, bread (wholemeal bagels and pittas), sweet potatoes, potatoes, wholegrain rice, beans, lentils and vegetables for lunch and dinner.

You don’t need to cut out carbs to loose weight. I’ve lost 12lb in 10 weeks eating carbs at every meal. Like you I carry weight on my stomach, I have been through a very stressful period in plus probably peri and just natural tendency to gain weight on my stomach and face first. I’ve noticed a big difference already with losing weight, doing meditation, and reducing stress plus sleeping well.

If you fancy a biscuit have it as part of a fruit and Greek yogurt bowl. So a blob or two of Greek yogurt, cut some fruit up and then crumble one biscuit on top. I also add pumpkin seeds for a bit of crunch. That way you'll actually be satisfied and you'll have satiated the craving for biscuits/chocolate.

Try eating more vegetables with your meals. They'll fill you up. Look up 'volume eating'.

And I echo the above poster, you don't need to cut carbs to lose weight. But I'd choose certain carbs over others, so potato instead of pasta, and seeded granary bread over white bread.

Cut most added sugar, carbs are fine as long as you stick to healthier grains and vegetables. Add healthy oils and fish/seafood for variety. Absolutely do cut down or better cut out alcohol completely. Exercise / cardio. Otherwise your food calorie intake sounds fine!

Your diet looks fine to me, you are barely eating anything and should lose weight.

I hate to think was posters would like if I posted what I ate. Way more carbs in my diet than the OP has written, and I am losing weight just fine!

I go on holiday in 16 weeks and would love to loose a stone for November.
I have a natural small build ,so the weight is noticeable to me.
I did 20 sit ups last night and that was a struggle
I do exercise daily -I've started taking the stairs than the lift too and I walk everywhere

The worst thing for me is the feeling shaky /lightheaded when I'm hungry

'The worst thing for me is the feeling shaky /lightheaded when I'm hungry'

This is a key sign of hypoglycemia. After eating a high carb meal your blood sugar with spike and then the overproduction of insulin will lead to a drop below baseline which will cause these shakes. You really need to get your blood sugar more stable and this will solve the hunger pangs and help you to loose weight.

Looking at your photo, eat more in the morning so you don't faint and stay off the martinis and biscuits. You'll be fine - eat the banana.

Is your food volume sufficient? Add a heap of fresh salad, go big on veg and fruit! Sweet potato is filling and nutritious, chickpeas etc. No need to feel shaky from hunger while losing weight!

I'm gonna pack the dinner tonight with good stuff
I've just bought lots of veg /spinach ,broccoli etc

What about wholemeal rice ?
Any good ?

i don't think it's enough

@ShinyAppleDreamingOfTheSea

You're the one being silly.
The diet she described is a terrible diet. It is severely lacking in vitamin C, leafy vegetables, fruit.

I don't think people realise the long term effects they're having on their body by not eating enough fruit and vegetables. There are many studies looking into it.

The recommended daily minimum portions of fruit and vegetables, which she is not meeting, were a compromise because they wanted to recommend amounts that people would actually eat - not the amounts that are healthy, which would be much higher.

Don't kid yourself so that such a low intake of fruit and vegetables is healthy just because a lot of people have poor diets. It's unhealthy.

That sounds like a wonderful idea.

I'm a big fan of wholemeal rice, I also like cauliflower rice. Good plan with the veg, I always try and cucumber sticks or fruit handy to snack on

@musicalgymball

Well yes I would agree that one needs to eat fruit and vegetables - however - the OP posted that she has fruits (banana and blueberries) and new potatoes and vegetables with her evening meal. I believe that the baked beans she had with her lunch also count. Perhaps you didn't read her OP properly ?

Sure another portion wouldn't go amiss - but you know the saying about not letting the aim for perfect stopping the good ? Keep on at someone pulling their perfectly adequate diet to pieces and they will just give up and head for the KFC

Hello, I find this comment really useful, and it’s simple to follow but I was wondering do you count your calories or just go by the principles above?
thank you