I didn't realise how much the little snacks were hurting me!

[concernedchild]

I'm a large lady. That's being polite. I'm 19st13lbs. By virtue of this weight, my maintenance calories are 2600.

I'm eating at 1800 odd, and have been really frustrated that I wasn't losing weight. Surely an 800 calorie deficit should have the weight falling off me.

But I recently tracked all the extra snacks that "definitely can't hurt" and realised I was eating closer to 2500 a day!!! No wonder I wasn't losing. I was absolutely shocked by this and also a bit annoyed at myself because I was working hard in the gym and just not getting anywhere.

So yeah, just a rant. But now I'm taking berberine to kill the food noise and I'm eating in a proper deficit. Hoping to lose a stone in the next 50 days

It's only innacurate if you put in someone else's entry. I don't do that, I either scan the item or put in my own weighed and known entry and after a while all your regular items appear and you can input those.

I like the large salt and vinegar snack a jacks (or tescos version as they're cheaper!) with Philadelphia spread on them!!

Literally a top ten snack!! I'm going to try the 5 cal cheese crackers with Philadelphia light

@concernedchild I also like salad cream on a pork pie but probs best avoided if counting calories 😂

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 I'm not a pork pie girl because the jelly gives me the ick but salad cream 🤤

@concernedchild I find celery is a handy vessel to squeeze salad cream into the groove......

Semi-skimmed milk is 47 kcal per 100ml. Do you drink about 350ml of milk in your tea per day?

@OnTheRoll 200ml would be about 100 cal and it adds up very quick

I don't touch nuts, far too calorific and a waste of calories however "healthy" they are, you can get far more filling food for the calories in a handful of nuts which isn't going to fill you up at all.

Ah, but they're great combined with other things. Fruit and yogurt is nicer and more filling with 10g of nuts.

I use an app now. Likewise, couldn't see why I wasn't losing weight. Turned out I was drinking the majority of my calories (and I don't just mean alcohol) My mochas with milk and sugar were 150cals per glass alone, and I could have a good few in the morning.

I don't like nuts but 10g is like one or two nuts 😭

Exactly - why bother! You can have 150g of blueberries for less calories than 10g of nuts

@concernedchild I find with notes, you just have to be a bit more thoughtful about which ones you eat. I could sit and much through a huge bag of walnuts or brazils very happily but it would be my whole days allowance of calories.

Pecans are more strongly flavoured and break down nicely into little bits, so smashing a couple of pecans and sprinkling on top of some Greek yoghurt gives more bang for your buck.

I have the same approach with things like chorizo, a really tiny piece of chorizo, chopped small and added to scrambled eggs is hugely flavourful and makes a real difference in the richness of the dish, compared to something like ham or turkey.

Sad I know but 10g of almonds is 10 almonds. 10g of pistachios (shelled) is about 20 to 25.

This makes sense to me, I eat very strong, intensely flavoured food, you cant eat/dont want a lot of it

I also make my own nuts by toasting them up and roasting them in flavoured oils. quite strong spices on them and then a small amount is quite powerful. I get through a lot of smoked paprika!!!

The good news is that once you get out of the habit of snacking, you’ll find that you lose weight pretty easily. I had a colleague once who switched from a high-snack department to working with me. I don’t snack — no particular virtue, I just don’t. She lost a stone without noticing.

Good luck!

@soupfiend flavoured oil is another gem. 1tsp olive oil is 40 calories, add a teaspoon of garlic olive oil to tenderstem broccoli and then roast it, or chilli oil on cauliflower or green beans and you end up with a really delicious side that's low calorie.

I'll often do things like chicken, veg and chips which DD and DH will have and just replace the chips in full with the roasted veg for me. Quick easy, all in the oven at the same time and doesn't require lots of faff.

Can I ask how you are getting on with the berberine supplements? Any side effects?

Every treats usually high in calories. We are used to be hunter gatherer. We used to be eat so little and moves a lot millions years ago. Our body design are still the same. People only need a little bit of food and moves a lot. Otherwise you gain weight. I am over weight but i’m still on my journey and I’m surprised how little people supposed to eat. I wont full with a bowl of salad and 2 eggs but apparently thats my body need for lunch without adding treats and stuff. So yeah no processed treats because we our body nit design to eat that crap food without kill ourself try to burn that calories in the gym.

Kitkats were what I first calorie counted. I'm not on a diet as not overweight (apart from trying to eat healthily) but when my kids were little, one was actually underweight for his height, so the school nurse advised lots of calorie laden food. So I remember just out of interest trying to find out what everything he and I ate was worth. I remember having a daily kitkat after my lunch with a cuppa and that 107 calories figure stuck in my head ever since and I compare everything to that! 😂

OP, 2500 calories is a fair ole whack of calories. I'd have to work hard just to take that in each day, I think. I do think it's not rocket science but it is about awareness of how many calories are in each food. There was a telly programme on the other day and there was a lorry driver who was v overweight who was trying to lose weight, and was shocked that he was putting it on after supposedly choosing healthy food. Turned out he had a tub of trail mix in his cab and was having handfuls of that through the day. I mean, it's trail mix. Meant for people on trails, hiking, needing the energy to keep them going. Not someone sedentary sitting in a vehicle all day.

So yeah, not rocket science, but just takes a bit of thought and educating yourself about calorie content, how much you burn in energy a day and appropriate portion size (easier to do if your maths is good and you have some scales to weigh your food)

Hi,

I used to struggle to keep my weight under control but I gave up sugar and wheat and the problem went away entirely. I'm not sure why. Now I do really feel hungry any more and I just eat meals and never need snacks. I wondered if would be helpful to mention because I really struggled and was constantly hungry before.

Exactly - why bother! You can have 150g of blueberries for less calories than 10g of nuts

They're similar in terms of calories (60 for that many blueberries, 55 for 10g almonds). And sure, the blueberries are a greater volume but it's mostly water. I'm not convinced they'd be more filling than 10 almonds and a cup of tea.

But the other difference is the effect on your blood sugar... fruit is healthy but having it alone may cause sugar spikes and then dips so you're likely to feel hungry again sooner. That's why it's better to have some protein and fat too - hence the fruit/greek yogurt/nut combo for a better balance plus variation of textures and flavours.

It’s great now you’ve realised, you now know what you can change that’ll make a difference.

I’ve recently started noom after a year of disordered eating on MyFitnessPal. I was very cynical but my relationship with food has become awful and I couldn’t see the wood for the trees.

I’m really impressed. Little “lessons” that you read actually seem to be getting in my brain and I’m naturally making better choices. I’m also planning better meals and not as hungry so I’m not snacking as much at all. It’s so weird because I don’t understand how it’s having such an impact, however, I do log EVERYTHING! Tea, black coffee, every crumb that passes my lips.

Good luck op!

A life of no cake, bread or sweet things doesn’t sound like one I want. I’m can’t imagine laying on my death bed saying I wish I are less cake and chocolate. But great if that works for you.

I think weight loss is about finding one closest to your lifestyle and sticking to it.

Not that I'm aware of!