Diet plan to lose a stone or so

[L1R876]

I lost 4 and a bit stone last year and since the start of this year, I seem to be gaining weight. I was just over 13 stone and I got down to bang on 9 stone. I am 5ft6/7 ish.. I am currently 10stone 5 and lots of my clothes don't fit me. I am down to just a few outfits that I can wear.

I lost weight by reducing portion sizes, cutting out sugar, junk etc and walked everywhere. I have tried to identify where I am going wrong, but I can't seem to work it out.

It annoyed me the other day, cause I have some really nice light blue vintage Levi 501 jeans (which I bought for summer) and they don't even button up.

My meals are -

Breakfast - 45g of no added sugar muesli, 150g of 0% Greek yogurt and some berries.

Lunch - salad, tuna, whole meal pitta and salad cream.

Snack - banana and sometimes some nuts

Evening meal - usually something like potatoes, fish/meat and veg.

Before bed - maybe 2 digestive biscuits with a cup of tea or a cereal bar.

I exercise and try to do 10,000 steps every day too.

I think the first thing to do is use an app to track every single calorie you are consuming – meals, snacks, milk in your tea, sauces and dressings, and so on. You can do that for a few days. The second thing to do (probably the other way around, actually!) is work out your BMR and TDEE. I like this calculator – https://www.sailrabbit.com/bmr/.

I think that's a good start. Then when you have all of this information, you can look over what you've been eating and tweak accordingly your meals and snacks and your eating habits.

For me, I like to keep things as simple as possible. I aim to consume 100g+ protein every day and I eat a lot of vegetables and fruits for the volume. I don't ban bread, bananas, or anything else, and I eat chocolate every day because I like it and I want to.

@uhOhOP I feel I eat ok, but i know I probably have to consume less to get the weight off again.

It's just so frustrating!

I understand that kind of frustration!

Do you think it is perhaps portion sizes that are the "problem"? Do you track your calories? If not, it might be worth doing. Tracking your intake might help you identify where you're going wrong, as you put it. And seeing your day's meals and snacks all on the screen can help to identify what swaps can be made, which might help you cut your calories if that's needed, or help you to feel satiated for longer – maybe instead of eating x I can eat a piece of cheese, or whatever it might be.

Now that you only have a smaller amount to lose it gets harder. Track your calories, James Smith academy or Sean Casey have free calculators.

The biscuits before bed? Is it for hunger or habit? 150 cal
Banana and nuts for snack? 250 cal

Just these two things count for 400 cal which could make the difference between losing or gaining.

I guess habit and hunger. Sometimes I don't have the snacks in the day. It depends how I feel. I have noticed that I do get hungry before bed and often wake up in the morning hungry too.

I guess I will just have to get used to eating less, to get slimmer.

At what time do you have dinner? It is ok to wake up hungry at 7am.

Depends. Sometimes 6-6:30 or as late as 7-7:30.

With the dinners the list, you shouldn't be hungry, it seems more a craving than hunger.
You could increase the veggies at dinner. Not the potatoes, but say the tomatoes, or broccolis .

Yes and I will try that. I do have a lot of vegetables. And around 200g of potatoes. I do weigh them out. As I did that when I lost the weight before.

It's just annoying that I have gained!

I meant do not increase the potatoes.
Of course it is annoying that you gained, but what are the differences? What were you eating before? Just calories counting ?
Can you try to remove the processed food? the pita, salad cream?

Yes calorie counting and I ate very plain. So no sauces etc. and also no snacks. I think I just introduced them back in, so I didn't lose anymore weight. But it seems to have made me gain again.

I could maybe try no bread or pitta etc with my lunch.

I know I'm going to have to cut back a lot more to get back to 9stone.

Can you make your own bread? I make my own with wholemeal spelt. Or do you have a real bakery - not a franchise chain which uses frozen stuff
It is not the bread, but industrial stuff.

I think I'll just try and stop snacking again. See what happens.

Snacking is definitely the first thing to cut. I was listening to the ZOE podcast. Nobody snacks in France, everybody snacks in UK.

I will definitely look into stopping the banana/ nuts and also the biscuits before bed. That might be enough.

I just can't wait to shift the stone and a bit!

I read somewhere "cut the crap, not the carb" . Good plan and good luck.

Thanks @TheFirie I feel my diet is pretty good. So I can't quite understand why I'm not losing.

@L1R876 if I were you I would 100% eat slightly more at lunch and dinner and don16:8 fasting oh and up your water intake 3L a day

I would bet on biscuits and nuts. Substitute for a nice slice of watermelon.

It is ok. You are leaning how your body reacts with food. Nuts, especially if roasted and salted , are a diet killer. A few raw nuts are fine but when trying to lose, every calorie counts sadly,

@mrssunshinexxx so skip breakfast?

I already drink lots of water.

What meals would you suggest?

@TheFirie you're probably right. Nuts although are good for you, can be counterproductive when trying to slim!

I think I'm going to start tomorrow by not snacking. Let's see if I can do it

You can totally do this.

Thanks @TheFirie I can't wait to fit back into my smaller clothes!