Taking a photo of everything I eat

[Friedbanana]

Hello! I started a thread like this a few years ago and I found it sooooo so so helpful and managed to lose a stone and keep it off, however recently that has crept back on so I thought I’d start another thread!

So starting tomorrow I’ll aim to post a photo of every single thing that passes my mouth except from tea!! I just think it helps keep me accountable. I have a really big appetite and find it very easy to be in a calorie surplus if I don’t log calories, even though I hardly eat any processed food anymore! But i do currently have a good relationship with food (used to be very much in the binge/restrict cycle but got over this by stopping restricting too much)

i tend to avoid gluten and processed foods due to a sensitivity to gluten, and also cut down on added sugars last year just trying to look after my health! I used to have the sweetest tooth but strangely don’t miss sugar that much! I mainly eat vegetarian but very occasionally eat meat/fish!

I’m about a size 10 now and 5 foot 6, so I know I’m not overweight but I just feel more comfortable with less body fat and about a stone lighter!

currently doing 1 PT session and 2 group gym classes a week, focused on strength training, I’m also trying to do 2/3 x 5k runs a week. Aiming for 20k steps a day. As I said I just find it sooo hard to restrict food much atm so I’d rather burn more calories through exercise and be able to eat more! I don’t currently have scales so I’m gonna go more off how clothes feel/fit than the weight!

I’m going to aim for a calorie deficit of 250-600 calories a day!

Today’s food (just screenshot of MFP as I didn’t take photos)!

Cals in: 2191
cals out: will be about 2500 by the end of the day
Steps: 21000 including a very slow 5k jog
Deficit: 309

Not many snacks today, it’s my running day but it’s been raining for the whole day so I did Sh’Bam to cheer myself up instead.
Not happy with my protein intake again but it’s hard to keep it reasonable on the days we have meat.

That food looks amazing @CortieTat !!

Today had my usual breakfast but then no idea what kind of calories I had for the rest of the day and I also didnt take pics.. But I had a few canopes then a 3 course Indian meal plus a slice of cake 😅 lots of gluten consumed so I’ll prob have a bad tummy.. and I’m currently scoffing on corn cakes just cause I’m tired 😅 just about got through a whole pack 😅 only burnt 2400 cals so I’m guessing I’ll be in a pretty big surplus and prob cancelled out the week’s deficit but I’m just glad I managed a deficit on a few days at least! Monday tomorrow so a chance for a nice fresh restart! 🥰

I weighed myself today and I’m the same weight as last week so my maintenance is going well. Breakfast: overnight oats.

Lunch - dinner from yesterday minus rice, I don’t like having big meals and the leftovers were quite substantial. Added some soybeans because everything is better with soybeans.

Very late breakfast/lunch, and I have a little rash on my face from all the unknown food yesterday- probably lots of sulphites so I think it would be that

Bacon and lentil soup, bread, a teeny granny Smith, an orange and a few blueberries that needed using.

It's June why are you eating bacon and lentil soup I hear you cry? Because its bloody freezing. The extension of soup season is the only positive of this sodding weather.

This looks delicious 😋. Strawberries here are still super expensive, I usually wait for the start of the summer to buy them more often but then also the broad bean season starts and I always end up buying tons of broad beans instead of fruit 😅.

Basically kedgeree but as a risotto.

Day 1 of tracking food again.

Managed a 1500 calorie day, 2 litres of water and a 5km run.

Porridge for breakfast
Tuna Salad for lunch
Carrot, celery, cheese and crackers for a snack

Dinner was chicken with a tomato and courgette sauce, rice and quinoa mix! 😋

Dinner was a takeaway pizza, we share one with DH and choose the option packed with as many vegetables as possible per square cm. Stuff on the other half of the plate is pizzasallad. You always get your greens with pizza here :-)

Also had my share of strawberries today (jordgubbar). Just finished BodyBalance and I feel great. I wish they had more tai chi inspired parts in Body Balance because it’s my favourite part.

teriyaki salmon with brown rice and veg for dinner and sauerkraut and olives as my weird snack, plus I had about 130 g of almond butter 😬😬 none left in the house so I’ll be ok tomorrow 😅😅 it’s my weakness!

A banana, a couple of spoons of vanilla flavour protein yoghurt and some raspberries from my allotment.

My usual breakfast: overnight oats. Today with extra linseed

This plus an oat decaf latte for breakfast/lunch 🥰 and for sleep I fiiiinally got my 8 hours!! Still really want to go to bed much earlier and get up earlier so that’s my goal for today!

Had some leftover brown rice in the fridge so used that opportunity for some lovely me time with resistant starches. Grabbed random vegetables and seaweed to make a quick miso-based soup with rice.

Looks lovely @CortieTat i keep meaning to try making miso!

I’ve eaten better today but not sure if I’m in a deficit as I’ve not tracked..

Snacks- can of chickpeas, beetroot, sesame seeds, banana

Dinner- roast asparagus and cauliflower , summer pilau from the Meera Sodha East recipe book (I got this for my birthday and am trying to do a new recipe a week from it, it’s all veggie /vegan and the ingredient lists aren’t big/not loads of steps which always helps me 😅) actually went back for seconds so I had this bowl x 2 😅 it was sooooo nice and very easy! I’ll try it with brown rice next time though and see if it works as well as brown rice def fills me up more..

We had salade niçoise for dinner which I love! Easy, a big hit with the whole family and my favourite source of resistant starches. @Friedbanana miso is very easy to make, just dissolve miso paste in water and you have a soup. Only one important thing is to buy quality miso paste which should only contain fermented soy, rice and salt. There are two types of miso - white and red. The red paste is more earthy but both are nice. I add them to various other dishes to boost the flavour.

Had a peanut filled mochi today (kids got crazy in the Chinese grocery store when they saw them) and a very tasty date and nuts bar. Also ran out of oat milk. And did Les Mills Shapes.

Breakfast- chocolate + raspberry porridge
Lunch- two poached eggs + half an avocado on seeded toast
Snack- more toast with hummus + roasted peppers
Tea- Gnocchi with roasted veg and then a mini magnum for pudding

Can tell I’m on my period as I’m raging for CARBS 😂

Hectic morning, last day of school for DC so we went for the official ceremony - which is traditionally a song performed by every class, a speech and the last song done by the teachers. 1.5h outside, standing still. I had quick breakfast, leftovers from the fridge- rice and veg. Big mistake! I was freezing, miserable and hungry! First time I can understand people complaining that they can hardly make it on 1200 kcal! I don’t eat big meals but this was way too little. On the way to the city to do some admin stuff and I’m miserable, cold and starving.

Overnight oats with coconut milk for breakfast today as I had 1/3rd a can coconut milk left over from yesterday’s dinner.. added some seeds after the photo! Remembered to order some magnesium supplements today so will see if they help increase rem/deep sleep! Been really struggling with concentration/productivity during my WFH days, so I’m gonna try and gradually get up earlier and see if it helps

Also had a decaf oat latte on this morning’s dog walk ☺️

@Friedbanana how do the overnight oats with coconut milk taste? Do the milk separate? I tried to make mine with oat milk only but the results were disgusting, oat milk separated into some white stuff and a watery substance. To make it work I have to use at least 20 ml of something that’s properly fermenting and based on cow’s milk, like kefir or onaka. I’ve never tried coconut milk though.

Lunch was a large salad from the salad bar in the local shop, on the way home. Didn’t take photos

For dinner I made Goya Chanpurū from this recipe:
https://www.justonecookbook.com/goya-champuru First time trying bitter melon. It’s is indeed special, the bitterness is something else! It isn’t necessarily the most healthy dish, I haven’t had pork belly for ages. Worth trying though and we were so eager to try that I only took the photo of the lunch portion for tomorrow. I used tempeh instead of tofu.