A boring thread of calorie counting/whatever accountability

[AspirationalTallskinnylatte]

Hi, fucking hell, I'm trying to gradually make changes and loose weight sustainably but I keep falling off the wagon to the point that I'm flat lining/ beginning to trend upwards so I'm going to try calorie counting instead for a while while I get back down. Threads like this have helped me in the past, but I'll probably only post weight I what I've eaten - anyone want to join & encourage each other?
I'm 5 foot 10, 88kg and would like as a first goal to eat 1500 -1600 calories a day and get down to 85kg before Christmas, with a longer term goal of getting to 80kg and possibly staying there, possibly getting to 75 (which is actually a healthy weight for me.

@SnugglyJumpersMakeItBetter That’s a good goal to reset to for Xmas eve.
@RainbowWife That is a good loss so far. Do you rate Gousto? I’m stuck in such a rut with meals, I need to look for more variety to start enjoying cooking again.

@SilverPearl oh YES do I recommend Gousto, it's changed everything for us. I do accept it's expensive- we get 5 meals a week for the 2 of us and it's around £48. But that's about what we spent on a meal out once a week which we don't do anymore, because we're having meals we actually enjoy at home.

I've always disliked cooking but in the 6 months or so we've used Gousto I now really enjoy it! It makes it so bloody easy. We eat things I'd never have been motivated to try before (like yesterday's butternut squash dahl- I never ate dahl and the recipe would have put me off) and it's so simple. At first I stuck to basic meals like pasta dishes etc but now I try new things every week.

And for calorie counting it's so clear too. We stick to meals around/under 700 and it's so easy to do. This week for example we have in our box, which we eat weekdays:

-Butternut squash and coconut dahl with cardamon rice
-Shredded hoisin chicken wraps
-Sweet chilli and sesame chicken udon
-Lebanese style aubergine with spiced lamb and tabbouleh
-Loaded patatas rancheros with greek cheese

@RainbowWife Thanks, that selection looks delicious!

Tues 24 Sept:

Breakfast: Smoothie - 150

Lunch: Vegetable soup - 200
English muffin with butter - 200

Snack: Popcorn - 50

Dinner: Mediterranean vegetable couscous - 400
Banana -100
Nectarine - 100
Yoghurt - 50
Oat bar - 250

Total: 1500

Well, better than yesterday. I think 1500 is reasonable for the first week, to ease into things. I had one walk of around 40 minutes.

Yeah that does sound nice @RainbowWife . Welcome @SnugglyJumpersMakeItBetter
I weighed myself this morning and I'm finally trending down again. Today's food:
B. English muffin with omelette (350)
L. Chicken kareage don (late lunch in a cafe and deffo a mistake calories wise)
D. Homemade pad Thai (600)

It's hard making the right decisions when eating out @AspirationalTallskinnylatte! That's you and @SnugglyJumpersMakeItBetter both with the English muffins today, I want them now.

Today I've had;

B: Coffee with oat milk, and a bowl of muesli with greek yogurt and honey (I'd run out of my usual Aldi pots!) - 275

L: Leftover roast chicken and piccolo tomato sandwich - 425

D: Shredded hoisin chicken wraps (Gousto meal) - 523

S: Cheesy fake wotsits (99), a fig (26), half a pack of raspberries (19) and a cadburys highlights hot chocolate (38- about to have this with GBBO!) and 2 dates (52)

186 left. Good day!

Everyone’s food looks delicious! @AspirationalTallskinnylatte Glad your efforts are showing on the scales.
I have a routine health check tomorrow so will get weighed. I’m interested how it compares to my last known weight (we don’t have scales at home). My body composition has changed over the last 5 years which is why I’m keen to get back into strength training. 18k steps today, 30 minutes strength training.

1400 calories looked like this;
Shredded wheat milk and walnuts
Tuna salad sandwich
2 whole meal toast
Red lentil curry with cauliflower and kale

Hope it goes well today, @SilverPearl 18k steps is amazing! I barely do 3 (disabled)

Am feeling hungry (or possibly just a bit depressed and bored) and have already had 1400 calories today:
B. Large portion of greek yogurt, berries and homemade granola
L. 3 slices of buttered toast with baked beans and cheese, plus half a banana with a spoon of greek yogurt and more granola.

A friend is taking me out for a curry later as a thank you for a favour I'm doing him. I will avoid poppadoms and lager as a nod to the diet and maybe have grilled meats rather than brinjal bahjee.

@RainbowWife Thank you! Total cholesterol is slightly high, but the “bad” reading is within normal limits, so will just watch my diet. Sorry, not trying to be competitive posting my step count, I just don’t drive and am lucky to have the time to take long walks for relaxation.

@AspirationalTallskinnylatte A good meal out with a friend sounds like the tonic you need.
1400 cals today
Shredded wheat milk and walnuts
Chicken pasta salad (shop bought and higher in fat than my normal lunch but very filling)
Lentil curry from yesterday with whole meal bread.

Wed 25th Sept:

Breakfast: Glass of juice - 100

Lunch: Soup - 200
Muffin with butter - 200

Dinner: Cheesy mushrooms on toast - 500
Rocket leaves - negligible
Banana - 100
Yoghurt - 50
Oat bar - 250

Total: 1400

Very happy with that so early in the game. I didn't get any exercise at all, which is unfortunate, BUT I'm very proud of myself because I cooked pasta pesto for the little one I nanny for today, and I didn't eat the leftovers! I LOVE pasta pesto so it took great self control but I did it!

@AspirationalTallskinnylatte I was absolutely starving today too, felt irritated with myself. Wonder if I'm due on. I never have an idea and am surprised every month. At nearly 40 I am going to fix this and get one of those period trackers RIGHT NOW! Anyway have a lovely evening out and enjoy your food.

Today I've had;

B: Coffee with oat milk, and my usual Aldi strawberry and granola yogurt - 215

L: 2 slices of toast with butter, slice of ham, 2 boiled eggs - 537

D: Loaded patatas ranchez or something (Gousto meal) - 553

S: 3 caramel snackajacks (153), a ginger nut biscuit (47), a fig (26) and 2 dates (52)

60 left. Tricky day.

1400 calories
Shredded wheat with milk and walnuts
Tuna salad sandwich
Pasta with broccoli and white sauce
Apple and natural yoghurt

Hope everyone had a good day.

Today I've had;

B: Aldi strawberry and granola yogurt (as always) - 195

L: Ham and piccolo tomato sandwich (50/50 bread) - 333

D: Stuffed aubergine with spiced lamb and tabbouleh - 551

S: Prawn cocktail crisps (128) and 3 biscuits (yum- happy I stopped at 3- 141), options salted caramel hot chocolate with oat milk (62) and 2 dates (52)

181 left. Good day!

I'm a bit scared to add them all up this evening as although I've tried I know the calories have really mounted up today! Ok, well, here we go!

Thurs 26 Sept:

Breakfast: Smoothie - 150
Fruit cup - 50

Lunch: Red pepper - 50
Guacamole - 250
Spinach and cheese mini muffins - 200
Cake bar - 100

Dinner: Jalapeno houmous - 200
Spinach bites - 150
Head of lettuce - negligible
2 x folded flatbreads with butter - 250
'Cheats trifle' (frozen raspberries, Activia yoghurt, ground oats) - 300

Total: 1700

Ouch! So annoying when I'm aiming for 1400. I had one walk of about 50 minutes so not enough to counteract it. I need to meal plan better.

@SnugglyJumpersMakeItBetter all we can do is try!! A 50 min walk is very good.

@SnugglyJumpersMakeItBetter You were hungry, you ate a balanced range of foods, and you logged it. That is a win. I tried a walk tonight and got defeated by horizontal rain!

1400 calories approx. Almond cake was at a MacMillan coffee morning so estimated.

Yoghurt, pumpkin seeds and blackberries
Tuna salad sandwich
Lentil soup
Yoghurt and blackberries

Also did strength training. I find it relaxing, just me and the weights against gravity.

Everyone's doing so much better than me! I feel like I am trying but the calories are still really mounting up! It's quite alarming how many I must have been consuming before!

Friday 27 Sept:

Breakfast: Smoothie - 150
Nectarine - 50
Oat bar - 250

Lunch: Tomato soup - 150
2 x durum wheat flatbreads with butter - 200
Cake bar - 100

Dinner - Spinach and ricotta tortellini - 500
Babyleaf salad - negligible
Olive oil dressing - 200
Mango - 150

Total: 1750

And I'm still hungry! Dammit this is hard! I had one walk of about 40 minutes.

Thank you for previous supportive messages guys!

Today I have had;
Lunch: leftover chorizo stew 500 cals
Dinner: salmon with new potato's, peas and kale 560 cals.
Another 130 cals from the whole milk in my coffees and teas.
So 1190 call for the day....was just thinking about how hungry I am and was thinking about having a snack. But writing this down I think has strengthen my resolve not to over indulge so I will forgo any snacking tonight.

@SnugglyJumpersMakeItBetter you can't compare everyone to yourself as you don't know their starting weights etc. You're doing your best! The best part of calorie counting for me is seeing what massive amounts I was eating before and realising where I was going so wrong. Keep going!!

Yesterday I ate:

B: Coffee with oat milk, and my usual Aldi strawberry and granola yogurt - 215

L: Jacket potato with beans and a bit of cheese - 344

D: Sweet chilli and chicken udon - 535

S: Freshly squeezed pineapple, orange and spinach juice (178), a fig (26) and 2 dates (52)

293 left. Very good day!

Sat 28 Sept:

Breakfast: Juice - 50
Porridge - 200

Lunch: Spinach cheese muffins - 200
Cucumber sticks - negligible
Houmous - 200
Flatbread with butter - 250
Cake bar - 100

Dinner: Roast vegetables sprinkled with cheese - 300
2 x Durum flatbreads with butter - 250
Cherries - 50

Total: 1600

Actually that's not as bad as I thought. Ideally I'd like to get to an average of 1350 a day, but as it's the first week I don't mind easing into it. I don't want to get hungry and give up. I had a decent walk today too, around an hour.

Hi guys! I’m thinking about switching to calorie counting after two decades as a committed (and then periodically uncommitted!) Weight Watcher. So hoping to pick up some tips and ideas….

my current streak has been about 4 months and I’ve gradually lost a stone in that time to bring myself from 13 and a half to 12 and a half stone. At 11 and a half I get to healthy BMI and ideally I’d settle around 11 stone as that has been a weight I’ve enjoyed in the past.

I turn 41 at the end of October and hoping to be within striking distance of 12 stone by then to justify buying a new dress for a planned spa weekend, let’s see!

@OneDayIWillLearn Hello!