Can anyone work out where I’m going wrong?

[Lowin2024]

Prefacing this by saying I know I don’t have much to lose - I want to lose 5lb, but I am short and small framed and that amount is very visible on me. I’m almost 40.

I thought the issue was my snacking. I typically get really hungry around 4 and eat several hundred calories worth of biscuits, crisps at that time and often quite a bit of post dinner chocolate. I’ve totally eliminated that over the last 3 weeks and I’ve increased protein at lunch to keep me fuller. In 3 weeks I’ve not lost a single pound.

This is a typical day for me:
I do intermittent fasting so no breakfast, but I have a black coffee when I get up.

Lunch - something like 2 scrambled eggs, cottage cheese on toast and a piece of fruit. Or I might have a homemade soup with seeds sprinkled and some bread topped with hummus.

Snack - a couple of rice cakes with peanut butter

Dinner - always homemade, often a bean chilli on quinoa with guacamole, a veggie curry on brown rice, sometimes a piece of salmon with potatoes and veg. Fruit or sometimes yoghurt for dessert.

Exercise - I try to get 10k steps a day, usually manage 5/7 days, and then in addition, pilates on Mon, body combat on Weds, gym session with weights on Fri and Sun.

I feel like I’m doing so much and yet NOTHING has changed! Am I missing something obvious here?

I don't know apart from the obvious which is that if you are close to your ideal weight it will be more challenging and slower progress.

When I temporarily counted calories I was shocked at how many calories hummus has, half a pot can be in the region of 300 calories which could definitely wipe out any deficit. Maybe switch the bread out for something less carby/calorific too?

Hummus and peanut butter are both high (but healthy) fats even in small amounts. Try replacing with something lower in calories.

Do you have any suggestions of things which are lower calorie but still high in protein? I’m mostly veggie and find it hard to get the protein in which is why I think I was reaching for the crisps and chocolates!

You didn't ask me but I am also vegetarian and have had the same issue finding the right protein sources. and have this cottage cheese from Riverford:

https://www.riverford.co.uk/organic-dairy-and-eggs/cheese/cottage-cheese

It's more of a European-style curd cheese than anything in the supermarkets. 15.4g of protein per 100g.

(If you decide to order from them please can I send you my referral 😅)

There's also things like pea or hemp protein powders. I don't know about them, though.

Could you try making your own pea dip instead of houmous?

Peanut butter is tricky, perhaps only have one rice cake and have a banana instead, or just a scrape of peanut butter?

It sounds like the crisp binge is the problem, can you swap out and have toasted wholemeal pitta triangles, or toasted chick peas? Carrot, pepper and celery sticks mimic the crunch, or is it the salty savoury flavour you're after? Pretzels might be a good switch.

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/crushed-pea-mint-dip-carrot-sticks

This one looks good, and the ricotta means it will still be rich enough 😋

I was going to say chicken drumsticks...but then re read and saw you are veggie 🤐

Maybe post a new thread asking for low calorie high protein veggie snacks! Sorry!

Also I'm 2 stone overweight so I have no business dishing out advice to you! 😝Good luck!

Rice cakes are also a bit of a red herring, they're marketed as healthy and while they're not unhealthy as such, I don't think they are especially the healthiest choice. They're still white carbs when it comes down to it.

Edit: sorry if all this comes across as hyper critical, obviously the diet seems healthy, it's just as you have asked to look for ways to lose weight at a (presumably) already healthy weight.

Quite simply you are eating more calories than you need and are not in a calorie deficit. If not already I would start to record everything you eat and drink in an app (my fitness pal for example) then you'll see how many calories your hummus, peanut butter etc is costing you.

I'm 42 5'3 and 54kg. I normally put on 2kg over the summer and every September I have to calorie count religiously to lose it. Intermittent fasting doesn't work for me as I tend to eat more calories then I need in the eating window.

If you combine IF with calorie counting to ensure you're in deficit that you should definitely lose weight no matter little.

No advice but I’m in exactly the same boat - 1 lb weight loss for me since 1 Jan despite drastically overhauling my diet (I have cut out ALL alcohol, processed treats, etc etc and eating really healthily).

I’ve exercised lots too, on average per week:

1x weights session at the gym, running 2/3 times per week, a couple of longer hikes per week, Pilates class 3/4 times per week . plus an absolute minimum 10,000 steps every day without fail

I am 5”7, started at 11 stone but would ideally like to be 10 stone

Oh and I’m 41 and have recently started HRT.

You could use the app Nutracheck for calories counting.
It's super easy.

I agree on the peanut butter/ hummus front. If you have soup, why do you need the extra hummus? Same for 2 scrambled eggs, why do you need cottage cheese on top (I know, it tastes delicious! But you are trying to lose weight...)

Also, 3 weeks is nothing. It can take months for you to change eating habits and reach your goal.

This

Peanut butter is ridiculously high in calories btw. So is hummus.

Thanks so much everyone. I was a very religious my fitness pal user at one time so I’m quite on top of how many calories are in things, but I’m thinking it might be worth doing it again to be really sure because maybe I’m having too large a serving now that I’m not weighing.

To answer questions such as why would I have hummus as well as soup, it’s because veggie soup has zero protein and part of my issue was that lack of protein was causing me to snack. So adding a side like that has in theory helped me to curb the snacking.

According to my Fitbit my average calorie burn is about 1800-1900 a day. I’m fairly sure that I’m not consuming more than that, but maybe weighing out is the only way to be sure!

It’s nice to see it’s not just me! Clearly am going wrong somewhere though even though it feels like I’m doing it all!

Eat breakfast. Maybe unsweetened porridge (or lightly sweetened). Maybe an egg or avocado on whole grain toast.

Do weight lifting as well as your steps. Hand weights can be done while sitting down in the evening. You could also try press ups, pushing back from a wall with your arms - you can look up simple exercises online.

Enjoy nuts for a snack.
Have your hummus with baby carrots.
Check the ingredients of your peanut butter - don't eat PB that has added sugar and oils.

I'd cut the carbs, you'll see it come off. Have the hummus and peanut butter but with veg instead. Plus as others have said, count the calories. Don't just dollop on tablespoons, weigh everything. Tiresome but it works.

@Lowin2024 if you feel you need more protein, you could add chickpeas, lentils or quinoa to your soup. This cuts out the oil & thahini from the hummus.

Or try this lovely recipe for broccoli soup, it's a winter lunch stable for me:
500g broccoli
500ml veggie stock
250ml semi skimmed milk
75g cottage cheese
Cook and blend to a chreamy consistency. - I just use a soup maker!
Season to taste with salt & pepper
(I like to add a bit of nutmeg and sometimes a potato to make thicker ... )

Makes about 4 of those microwave soup cups!

You can have it with bread ect. But I think it's surprisingly enough on its own.

I’m short with only a little weight to lose and as well as cutting out anything calorie dense I have to be brutally ruthless about portion control. Cooking healthily from scratch is not the same as low calorie by any means.

What works for me is

• breakfast of 30g all bran, a splash of milk, a couple of tablespoons of berries + a tablespoon of 0 fat Greek yogurt
• lunch of home made soup + a single slice of toast and butter (and I know how little butter I can have) OR a Massive Mumsnet Salad with minimal olive oil and one protein portion eg an 80g tin of tuna
• intrinsically virtuous dinner (baked salmon, veg, new potatoes, carefully calculated mayo or butter) or weighed/small portion of something less virtuous
• no snacks, full stop

Depends if you are happy with using supplement type stuff. You mix this with water to make a peanut butter paste/thick liquid. Tastes pretty good IMO. I dunk apple slices in or add it to baked oats.

Can you start weighing your food and logging it on my fitness pal? I started doing this Jan 2nd and have lost 9lbs.

Your diet sounds really good. I'd say it sounds like you just need to continue as you are, it may be that you need to wait months and over time there will be small amounts of weight loss. A small improvement would be to combine your snack into the end of lunch. The peanut butter is good to reduce the glucose spike from the rice cake. The bread is okay if it's just a small slice, hummus is a good addition to the bread, seeds are a great addition to the soup. Apart from combining the snack with lunch, you could also try switching up the length of your fasts (fast like a girl).