What we ate today in a calorie deficit - whole food edition (and how do we feel?)

[thenewaveragebear1983]

I am on a long running ‘what we ate today’ thread, but I am currently trying to cut out ultra processed foods and Eat a (mostly) whole food diet. Mainly because I am really suffering with a looooooong list of minor ailments that are not independently any issue but as a collective, they are really dragging me down. My plan is to do the next 30 days (barring a weekend away) and to see if I notice any improvements, while also sticking to my calorie and exercise goals.

Yesterday - scraped in under maintenance calories but need to be lower to actually lose weight
bf cheese omlette
lunch chicken with lots of stir fried vegetables and quinoa
dinner salmon salad with beetroot and cucumber
snacks ice cream and iced latte, sq dark chocolate

Two days ago:

Overnight oats
Leftover stuffed peppers, stir fried vegetables (cabbage, pepper, fennel), crisp bread with cream cheese, ikea vegetable balls
Filet mignon (made by DH) mixed leaves salad with cucumber and spring onion with homemade vinaigrette and another salad - cauliflower, puy lentils, onion and fermented cucumber with sumac and olive oil.

Snacks: been very naughty after the Midsommar feast - red wine, three coffees, magnum, avocado chocolate mousse.

2662 kcal, LM Barre. Done Barre after having a glass of wine with dinner. I managed the whole 50 minutes but I honestly don’t recommend combining wine and exercise that involves jumping 😅

Yesterday:

Paleo granola, fjälfil, banana
Stir fried cabbage and red peppers with ginger, cauliflower and lentil salad from yesterday, two pieces of crisp bread with Arla cream cheese
Gf pasta with parmesan cheese, pine nuts, asparagus, sprout beans and brussel sprouts

Snacks: dubai chocolate (homemade), two coffees, matcha, a doughnut and red wine (200 ml)

2535 kcal, LM Body Balance, 6 km very brisk walk (it was raining and I had little one in the carrier)

Yesterday
skyr and berry paleo granola
chicken roasted in my ninja with peppers and microwave sweet potato
Smoked tofu and veg stir fried with quinoa

UB workout 20 which means I have now completed the Caroline Girvan ultimate beginner series! On a less happy note I had another go at les mills shapes on YouTube and definitely need to lose some weight before I can get that workout done properly!

@Clearingaspace huge congratulations 🥳🎉🎉🎉🎉 I remember one of your first posts here where you said you couldn’t finish a whole workout and now you’ve completed a whole programme! 💪💪💪💪

I looked for the LM workout that got me addicted to them, it used to be available for free on YouTube, Body Attack 105. I think you might enjoy it, it used to give me a huge endorphin rush.

Instead I found this: I love her, she’s full of positive energy. She must be over 60 now. Her son takes part in Shapes #3.

Have you tried Body Combat? I don’t like it but it has lots of moves that exercise your core kind of in passing, so it can be good before Shapes.

@CortieTat thank you so much - I have surprised myself! ! i love body combat, but I can see why some people don’t like it. I do feel a bit silly doing it 😂 I will try that body attack one at the weekend! I did one of Caroline Girvan’s Max workouts today and it was definitely a step up 🥵

my food today
bf avocado on sourdough
l salmon, salad, edamame and beetroit
d butternut squash pasta, chicken, peas, half packet of rocket spinach watercress (rsw incase I eat it again!)

afterworkout Oreo ice cream 😝

This week we took matkasse (ingredients for dinners together with recipes) with 4 dinners from one of the supermarkets. It leaves a lot to be desired. We received something that looks like 16 tonnes of pasta with 5 milligrams of vegetables. But it’s interesting to try something new!

Two days ago:

Overnight oats

Mung bean glass noodles with cabbage, wakame, thai basil and chili

GF penne with 13% cream, squash and salmon, grated parmesan (recipe from matkasse, not impressed)

Snacks: two coffees (oat milk) frozen yoghurt with granola, dried passion fruit

1827 kcal, 5 km walk with baby in the carrier, LM Body Balance.

@CortieTat i was thinking your penne sounded good 😂 I was looking at a box scheme here called Fresha but there were hardly any low carb options as the majority all involved rice (I really need to cut carbs for a bit I think, and the options left were basically what we already cook anyway.

yesterday
yoghurt and keto granola
chicken pizza (I added some seeds and avocado to pretend it was healthy)
roast chicken and potatoes, leeks cabbage broccoli carrots mangetout

plus too many biscuits and iced latte
workout unleash 24 🥵🥵

Two days ago:

Overnight oats with poppyseed instead of chia, banana and yogurt
Mung bean noodles with mushrooms, broad beans, zucchini, leek and smoked tofu, in my favourite warming sauce (cinnamon, ginger, soy sauce, chili and tomato purée)
Takeaway pizza (vegetarian and gf)

Snacks: three coffees with oat milk, bubble milk matcha tea with tapioca pearls (no sugar option), dark chocolate, dates

2356 kcal, LM Shapes #4 (my favourite), 7km walk with baby

Yesterday:

Overnight oats (chia back in stock)
Buldak with wakame, soybeans and savoy cabbage (hot kimchi taste, didn’t manage to detect any kimchi)
Curry with halloumi, apple, sprout beans, brussel sprouts and rice. It’s another matkasse recipe and after heavy modifications it’s actually edible and DC loved it.

Snacks: two coffees with oat milk, magnum utopia double cherry, a bit of nougat, dates and a piece of crisp bread with cream cheese.

2397 kcal, 3 km walk with baby and LM Sh’bam (the older ones are fun, done number 14)

Yesterday:

Overnight oats
Artichoke and homemade dips (first time I cooked an artichoke)
Fish soup (the last recipe from the matkasse). It’s salmon, potatoes, leek and carrots topped with grated horseradish. I love fresh horseradish and I’m sure we are going to make this soup again.

Snacks: two coffees, two scoops of ice cream, a chocolate bar, dates, strawberries and a slice of cheese.

2644 kcal, two short walks with the little one. Les Mills Functional Strength

Your artichoke looks very pretty @CortieTat
I cooked one once but didn’t seem to be much to actually eat on it? How did it workout for yours?

i didn’t have the best day yesterday in terms of weightloss, i was supposed to be fasting in the evening but ended up snacking too much on biscuits and toasted sourdough.

late bf kefir yoghurt and paleo granola and iced latte

Late lunch seafood risotto made with minimal rice, hm chicken stock, peas asparagus, spinach watercress and rocket added at the end

workouts post breakfast walk with dh, 30 min spin bike, 5 min stretch Maddy Morrison on yT,

@Clearingaspace not much too eat on ours indeed! I made hummus and the other dip was cottage cheese so the lunch was quite substantial. It’s also very high in fibre, my app showed over 50 grams on that day!

Yesterday:
Rye bread, peanut butter and banana
All you can eat Chinese/Asian buffet - I mitigated the fallout by getting a huge plate of vegetables, they had some stir fried sprout beans which I like anyway
Egg, cottage cheese, red cabbage with ginger

Snacks: three coffees, oat cookie, 188 ml of brut cava, Lindt Dubai chocolate - epic fail, ours turned out to be so much better.

2526 kcal, 20 mins of hypopressives (intermediate flow)

Yesterday

Overnight oats
Sweet potato noodles with smoked tofu, egg, broad beans, sprout beans and savoy cabbage
Pancakes with banana, yoghurt and peanut butter

Snacks: dates, two coffees with oat milk, magnum, 188 ml of red wine

2635 kcal, LM Shapes, 7 km hike with baby in the carrier.

That’s a fantastic amount of fibre @CortieTat - I have copied you and made a couple of dips the last day or so:

yesterday
bf cheese omelette
L salad with a topping of red pepper and chickpeas and paprika whizzed together - too watery
D tofu, quinoa stirfried vegetables
snacks mars ice cream, almond iced latte and coconut chia oat cakes (not as healthy or Felicia’s they looked!)

w/o lymphatic drainage one and I started a YouTube Caroline Girvan workout called iron

Try grilled, pickled peppers to blend with chickpeas? The result won’t be watery, but they are slightly sour from vinegar. I often use them when I don’t have fresh ones or in winter. In here they are available in Arab/Turkish shops or supermarkets with international foods aisles.

Yesterday

Overnight oats
Leftover pancakes (just one) with peanut butter and banana
Carrot “rösti” - we do them whenever we have too many carrots - with grated mozzarella and garam masala; stir fried fennel and onion, yoghurt dip - one with horseradish, the other one with thyme and oregano.

Snacks: 188 ml of red wine, two coffees, crisp bread with a slice of cheese, banana with yogurt and granola, cinnamon buns baked by DC.

3046 kcal - the cinnamon buns took me by surprise :-) 10 km walk with baby, easy hypopressives flow.

Good idea re pickle peppers, actually ,reading your post last night reminded me I had cooked some peppers in my ninja airfryer and rescued those and put them in the fridge! but will probably eat those in salad.

My ds was supposed to buy four basic cottage cheeses from the supermarket for dh but he bought 4 ‘basic’ large plain yoghurts instead! So I am trying to use it up in things like smoothies/shakes as I can’t eat it plain. So I made overnight oats with chia and frozen chopped ‘breakfast topper’ fruit. I wasn’t super excited to eat it this morning but was quite nice.

yesterday
bf cheese omelette
L dip made with mackerel sun dried tomatoes, capers and butterbeans, salad leaves, cucumber and beetroot.
D chicken quinoa stir fried vegetables
S oat biscuits, apple dark chocolate tea and coffee, protein shake with ice and espresso
workout day 2 iron and MM cool down both from YT

@Clearingaspace you are on fire 🔥! These are “proper” length workouts, you’ve made huge progress since the beginning of this thread 💪💪💪

Yesterday:

Overnight oats
Ikea veg balls, slice of rye bread with peanut butter, red cabbage stir fried with ginger, sprout beans and broad beans. Broad beans are my favourite food and we buy several packs of frozen ones every time we visit the supermarket chain that stores them. They come from UK, too!
Sushi (we were out with the whole family, first time in a restaurant for the little one - she’s at the stage of staring at everything in awe)

Snacks: two coffees, protein bar

2146 kcal, LM Shapes #5 and a 6 km hike.

I like to listen to podcasts when walking and I am currently binge-listening to a series broadcast by our public broadcaster (SVT/SR) called Dystopia. It’s very good, talks about various societal issues from different angles. I listened to an episode about inflation yesterday while sweating in the heat.

Thank you so much for the encouragement @CortieTat to be fair most of these workouts so far have breaks so it is less intense. I used to exercise 10 years or so ago when my kids were little and as I was trying to get it done before they got up so favoured a rushed 20-30 minutes but it was more tiring somehow! My 3 dc are all teens now and being able to exercise is one of the few things that’s probably easier 🤣 plus feels like setting a good example maybe. I think I was definitely inspired by you working out with a small baby as well as older kids!

broadbeans - I like these a lot but sadly the rest of the family all want peas! I seem to like the opposite legumes to my them. I am also the only one who likes mackerel which I understand uk folk aren’t so keen on preferring to import cod. To be fair battered cod with chips is yum! My lot all moan about the smell when I eat mackerel but it is so good!

yesterday
BF overnight oats
lunch spicy chicken sandwich and latte from a coffee shop as office day lunch
dinner chicken, peppers, peas, spinach and olive oil with butternut pasta
snacks dark chocolate and pecans

@Clearingaspace I like to exercise in the evenings, DH takes the little one for a walk. Right now he swims every morning so we just take turns. My only symptom of getting older so far (perimenopause maybe?) has been middle of the night insomnia, I used to wake up at 3 all ready for action 😅 . Evening exercise really made a difference for me, I sleep better and also now when the baby wakes me up several times at night I just fall back asleep like a log.

Yesterday:
Overnight oats

Salad from a pick and mix salad bar in the supermarket (DH got me some shrimps, kale, soybeans, tomatoes and cauliflower rice)

Homemade pizza with mozzarella, squash, onion, tomatoes, and homegrown oregano and basil. I am very proud of the basil, it is a supermarket bought single-use herb that I saved three years ago, it’s now a nice big potted plant.

Snacks: two coffees, milk matcha bubble tea (no sugar), nectarine, magnum, one slice of cheese

2203 kcal, 6 km walk, LM Grit - my first HIIT in 12 months, nearly killed me 😅

Yesterday:

Overnight oats
Salad from the supermarket salad buffet again
Salmon & veg fish soup with horseradish and thyme. This is again the recipe from Coop that DC love.

Snacks: two coffees with oat milk, Danish pastry (been naughty), Emil i Lönneberga ice cream cone. Unexpectedly good and quite small, I think I’ll switch to local produce from Magnum.

2105, 5 km walk, LM Stretch as active recovery.

Morning all, love the food pics @CortieTat, they always look so delicious. I’m not going brilliantly on the whole foods at the moment, I’m using quite a few recipe kits and sachets and things, more for inspiration and convenience I guess. I’ve been having protein shakes for breakfast, salad lunches (I guess they are pretty much UPF free) and then evening meals have been varied a bit using the sachets as we have just been so busy and …..(excuses)

However, I have been sticking very strictly to my calorie allowances and getting 30g fibre pretty much every day, and as a result I have seen a really decent weight loss this week, nearly 3.5lbs.! Which is a lot for me, has taken me down into the lower stone bracket and I’m pleased with that after having stagnated on the diet yo yo for such a long time.

my plan for the coming week is to continue what I’m doing as it seems to be working at the moment, add a few extra veggies, and add in some strength training. I’ve been walking and running but for some reason the motivation to lift dumbbells has left me.

Today: BF, one piece of low carb high protein bread with marmalade, lunch: surimi with strawberries, snack: babaganoush with whole crackers, dinner: veef fake meat chorizo with goats cheese, tomato and olive salad and balsamic dressing. 1 cup coffee protein shake.

Hi all, went a bit nuts with chocolate yesterday but back on it today, salads and dal and veg things planned.

Could do with a bit of advice re workouts - I am currently doing Joe Wicks 90 day plan but coming to the end and there's so much out there, I just wondered if you had any recommendations? I like JW for putting you through your paces with weights and cardio HIIT stuff but could do with a change. @CortieTat you seem to use several different workouts, are they free / paid for / worth it?

@thenewaveragebear1983 what dumbbell workouts do you recommend, when you're in the mood for one?

Well done on your weight loss! Mine has stagnated somewhat, I think due to the fact I've been trying to get fit. I don't know if I can give that up for weighing less at this point though, love being fit and strong(ish)