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.

@Authorperson I have Les Mills subscription (since the pandemic). Definitely worth it, I have used it for strength training, yoga, pilates, several types of dance workouts, meditation and diet advice (very good, focused on eating well not weight loss).

Apparently there’s a premium and basic version in the UK, we only have one option which seems to be the premium, I checked and last year I paid 107,54 euro a year. When I started I took the trial period, cancelled before the end and then waited them out - I got a very decent discount.

@Authorpersonif you want a guided workout I like Caroline Girvan on YouTube, just work your way through the 30 days. However, I tend to stick to basics, I set a hiit timer on my phone and will pick maybe 3 exercises, (so maybe squats with a dumbbell, RDL’s, sit ups with a dumbbell, glute bridges with dumbbell etc- really simple stuff) and just work through those on repeat til my time is done.

thanks @thenewaveragebear1983 and @CortieTat I will investigate! Have heard of Caroline Girvan but I know she's very technical and I only have one set of dumbbells, and none of the other gear. Would really like to be able to be fit without investing in more equipment to clutter up my house!

her iron series only uses dumbells (and she uses different weights but to be honest you could easily start with a simple set of 5kgs- she lifts crazy heavy ones. I have an adjustable set which is really useful, can add weights up to 20kg or 2x 10kg which is ample for what I need)

@Authorperson I did a workout from the Iron series (Caroline Girvan) yesterday and I didn’t like it, she doesn’t talk! I am used to talkative and motivational LM trainers, some are quite well known for waffling away through the whole workout.

LM has programmes you can sign up to in the app, and it’s possible to go for no-equipment options. But in the long run some equipment is necessary, I have a cheap no-name barbell and 6 different weights for it, a yoga mat, three sets of dumbbells, resistance bands, a foam roller and a massage ball.

The only things I invested in were:

• the yoga mat, mine is made of some sort of natural rubber and linen or hemp composite. The cheap ones smell like waste from oil processing plant.
• the foam roller and a massage ball. They are great even if you don’t exercise but have a desk job and tight shoulders.

@JG24 my apologies I missed your question about stuffed peppers. DH makes them and they are stuffed with minced beef and brown rice (raw and dry) and then left simmering in tomato sauce, MN algorithms decided to show your question now :-)

Friday:

Overnight oats
Salad from Max Hamburgare (Swedish fast food chain)
Small jacket potato with shrimps, vegetables and a bit of homemade guacamole (avocado needed rescuing)

Snacks: two coffees, 75 grams of winegums, 188 ml of red wine, homemade carrot cake with mascarpone (made by DC)

3102 kcal, definitely not in deficit due to over 800 kcal worth of carrot cake but DC both finished their summer swimming school and made fantastic progress so we celebrated. LM Shapes, 6 km walk.

Yesterday:

Unusual breakfast: homemade buns with leftover mascarpone, vegetables and soft-boiled egg
Sweet potato noodles with wakame seaweed, broad beans, cabbage and smoked tofu, soup based on green curry paste
Dinner with friends: salmon, risotto, baked vegetables

Snacks: a lot - cheese, olives and rhubarb cake our kids made, plus some non-alcoholic fizzy bitter lemon (I was the designated breastfeeding driver), 188 ml of red wine once back home, two coffees with oat milk.

Over 3000 kcal for sure. I tried a Caroline Girvan workout (Iron #1) - I have to say it’s a bit of a shock that she doesn’t say anything! The heaviest dumbbells I have are 5 kg each so it also wasn’t very challenging for lower body.

@CortieTat yes I found the format of CG a total shock as I am used to beachbody and les mills level encouragement 😂 however after one iron workout I signed up to the app and did absolute beginner which includes full instructions. The weird thing is I now find the time goes quicker with the Caroline Girvan workouts than talky ones - maybe because I am concentrating harder? I genuinely don’t know why and it makes no sense! I don’t think absolute beginner would be suitable for you as you seem to be pretty advanced in terms of fitness if my dire efforts at LM shapes are anything to go by! I can also see why 5kg would be too easy also as you go hiking carrying your baby. My knees however are really achy and crack and crunch like anything so I have to go light for lunges (heavier with squats). I feel like, touch wood, my lunges have improved a lot though and my knees crack less going up stairs - coincidence possibly but v happy to see some progress.

@thenewaveragebear1983 it sounds like what you are doing is working which is fantastic.

I have had a weekend away which was nice but am feeling the side effects of too much bread.

I suppose it’s different strokes for different folks re: workouts and chatty instructors, I hate hate hate people cheerleading me when I’m working out 🤣

@thenewaveragebear1983 @Clearingaspace it’s great that you are getting results!

Yesterday:

Overnight oats
Tofu, stir fried vegetables and ikea vegetable balls
Curry with halloumi, apple, spinach and sprout beans with jasmine rice

Snacks: two coffees, a handful of chocolate covered marshmallows (Polly), fizzy lemonade (with sweeteners)

2067 kcal, 4 km walk (quite slow, with the whole family). I tried another Caroline Girvan workout, one of the Callisthenics series on YT, a full body workout. It was great, challenging but still doable. My yoga block seems slightly higher than hers so the squats with lifted heels were really quite something

Last night I had new potatoes grown in my own garden, crushed with sour cream and salt 😋 with sardine fillets and cherry tomatoes. Delicious, except for the sardines were very bony. I don’t know why I didn’t expect this, I don’t eat tinned ones for this reason but for some reason I thought fresh ones would have been less so.

Today I’m at the office, starting my day with my standard breakfast at the moment, a protein shake with fibre and chia added, frozen fruit and milk. It’s UPF but it is very filling and I think it’s really helping with my overall calorie control, my stomach is less bloated and I feel like my blood sugar is better controlled so I’m just not craving sugar so much. Lunch is a focaccia bread roll with goats cheese and ham and salad, with a couple of fruit. Dinner, we have a recipe kit from simply cook so it will be beef stroganoff with lots of veg.

@thenewaveragebear1983 I love tinned sardines precisely because the bones are soft enough to eat! With fresh they are not so I avoid. Fresh mackerel though is my favourite

Yesterday

Overnight oats (I have leftover walnuts to use so the breakfast feels extra luxurious)
Egg, slice of bacon, quick millet, squash and cucumber salad with mint and parsley, pickled grilled pepper
Koshihikari rice with beef mince, cabbage, onions, chilli and parsley

Snacks: three coffees, slice of cheese, small doughnut and an apple

2182 kcal, LM Body Balance. It was raining all day so just quick walk to the village shop.

Yesterday

Overnight oats
Ikea veggie balls, leftover mince from yesterday, cabbage and brussel sprouts
Chili sin carne from Doctor’s Kitchen

Snacks: two coffees, magnum, half a small croissant, homemade cinnamon buns, 40g of winegums

2612, over 10 km hike with the little one (she’s a great sleeper)

Well done on 10k with baby @CortieTat

yesterday
bf coffees, eggs and cheese
lunch butternut squash pasta, chicken, roasted vegetables, peas and leaves.
dinner - salmon stirfried with v small amount rice noodles
snacks 2 lattes, seedy oat biscuits, peanut butter, 1 macadamia 😆 and pecans

cals approx 2000 slightly higher than planned but still a deficit
workout iron 8 - hamstrings (I think!)

Two days ago:

Overnight oats
Banana, walnuts, paleo granola and oat yogurt
Sushi (takeaway)

Snacks: protein bar, ice cream (two scoops), two coffees with oat milk and wild strawberries

2209 kcal, Caroline Girvan Calisthenics from YT (lower body workout), orienteering (7 km)

We had a bunch of children in our care (DC friends) so we took them all orienteering to reduce screen time; prevented excessive moaning with strategically offered ice cream. We only covered a small part of the whole area, found 5 points out of 25. I was obviously very slow, thumping through the woods like a determined elephant with the baby strapped in the carrier.
I’m going to try all CG Calisthenics workouts, there are 5 in total for free. Very good, a bit too much focus on hypertrophy for me but it’s nice to try something new.

Yesterday:

Overnight oats
Chips and burger (no bun) from the local gatukök - fast food galore
Homemade pancakes with banana, oat yogurt and nutella

Snacks: dates (two) two coffees with oat milk, homemade kombucha, granola (20g) with banana and oat yogurt

2302 kcal, two short walks with a pram, LM Body Balance

Yesterday

bf skyr 1 date chopped in and low sugar granola
Office day meal deal - 2 eggs, chicken wrap and latte
dinner stir fry vegetables, chicken and rice noodles

lowish calories for me - under 1500

Yesterday

I have a problem. The problem is called Norrlands Leväjn. I haven’t eaten gluten for a long time, although I would sometimes go astray with bits here and there. But this bread stole my heart. It’s amazing, the best Polarbröd ever.

Oat yogurt, banana, gf crisp bread, peanut butter
Sushi (we were out and about)
Norrlands leväjn (yeah 😅🎉🎉), homemade steak tartare, beetroot salad.

Snacks: two coffees, date bar (Raw Bite), walnuts, 188 ml of rose cava brut.

2407 kcal, short walk, Caroline Girvan Calisthenics upper body & core. I decided to do the whole series, this is the second workout. Not bad - really challenging because it’s only pushups, planks and dips, but it feels like a chore because she doesn’t talk.

Yesterday

Norrlands Leväjn (the whole family agree it’s addictive), egg whites (fried, leftovers from steak tartare), cabbage with ginger
Chili sin carne (leftovers from dinner)
Homemade lamb mince burger, salad 1 (napa cabbage, cucumber, red wood sorrel, salad 2 - tabbouleh with quinoa and lentils, homemade tzatziki made with oat yoghurt

Snacks: two coffees, winegums (70g), pancake with nutella, 1/4 bottle of retsina, daim ice cream, piece of leväjn bread, two dates, instant coffee with raw cocoa.

2770 kcal, orienteering (two hours and only 5 km but 4 hardest to find points located by my DC!), 30 minutes of Qigong (8 Brocade Pieces) to stretch

The little one is constantly nursing through the night for the last few days, she is probably going through a growth spurt because she wakes me up every hour. Then I’m hungry and snacking during the day.

very impressed that you are seeing CG calesthenics through even though not enjoying the lack of talking @CortieTat . I have just finished week 2 of iron and like it but I hate body weight only stuff and an hour would definitely be boring! I haven’t been doing that well with the low cals and had several glasses of wine on Friday. But I am at least maintaining. Definitely not eating exclusively whole foods though!

yesterday cals 1685
Overnight oats with yogurt, tiny bit of oats, chia, flax, too many frozen raspberries so added a date and fresh strawberries- kept me surprisingly full but caused me an issue when out for a walk and had to rush home!

lunch pressure cooked Turkey, parsnips, carrots, kale new, potatoes and leeks

dinner salmon, sweet potato, stir fry vegetables

snacks iced latte, nature valley protein bar, mars ice cream bar, and coffees

Two days ago:

Overnight oats
Buldak 🎉 with smoked tofu, cabbage, wakame and spring onion
Salsiccia (barbecue) with napa cabbage salad and leftover tabbouleh

Snacks: two coffees, 1/4 bottle of retsina, 1 yankie bar (Danish version of Mars bar, slightly smaller than Mars), peach

2589 kcal, 7.5 km walk (with pram, no hills this time), CG Calisthenics workout 3 (glutes & hamstrings). This one was the easiest so far, LM Shapes is paying off.

Yesterday

Overnight oats
Saag lamb with rice (Indian lunch while shopping)
This: https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/mushroom_chickpea_and_71193 with extra squash

Snacks: we went grocery shopping just before lunch (hungry) and we marched out of the shop with a huge birthday-style cake because it was on sale 😅. I managed to eat just one slice, DC finished it today for breakfast. Two coffees, homemade kombucha.

2309 kcal, short walk (rainy day), LM Body Balance

Yesterday

Overnight oats
Buldak with tofu, squash, cabbage, wakame and spring onion
Norrlands Leväjn used as pizza dough - mozzarella, homemade tomato sauce and vegetables on top

Snacks: homemade kombucha, two coffees, protein bar, two pieces of norrlands leväjn

2408 kcal, short walk (it’s raining all the time), CG Calisthenics full body workout - this one is imo the hardest, uneven pushups are so mean!

Morning all. I joined this thread at the beginning but I’ve ended up lurking more than posting in the last few weeks. I’m planning to start posting again more regularly.

Yesterday:
B - Spinach and scrambled egg
L - Chicken salad and satsumas
D - Prawn stir fry. Berries & Greek yogurt
S - Cottage cheese with celery & carrots

@CortieTat Your menus and photos are really inspiring. It’s so lovely to see the photos alongside the types of food. No worries if you’d rather not share this, but I wondered what your height and weight are?