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.

Had a difficult day yesterday, didn’t sleep much, couldn’t nap during the day with the baby in a wrap.

Breakfast: overnight chia pudding with kefir, oat milk, other seeds and half a banana

Buldak (I have another one left!) with savoy cabbage, shiitake, daikon, tofu and sprouted radish.

Oven baked salmon, homemade tabbouleh with quinoa and puy lentils instead of bulgur and stir fried cavolo nero.

Snacks: three coffees with oat milk, slice of cheese (20g), avocado-banana chocolate mousse.

2221 kcal, 5 km walk. I was too tired to exercise.

Hope you get a bit more sleep today @CortieTat . It looks like a lovely day’s food though. I had to Google Buldak, think I will get some for my almost 18 yo - she loves adding things to noodles and also loves Korean tv shows, so think she will like them!

bf - lentils eggs and some fresh parsley to make it seem like I had some green stuff.

lunch will be leftovers from yesterday evening and I will likely skip dinner.

hope to do a weights workout.

have a good day all!

@Clearingaspace Buldak is definitely full of some lovely UPF but I really like spicy food so it’s my guilty pleasure (have won two phall eating competitions at the age when it was fun to have phall eating competitions 😅). It’s quite popular over here, our local Asian food shop stocks 4 different kinds. I haven’t tried the red one, the black one gives a solid out of body experience 5 out of 5. The pink one (carbonara) is medium hot.

Another pretty poor day for me today. I’m just so so tired! I ended up having a cup of tea with milk (haven’t had either for over 2 weeks but I have had some very small amounts of cheese) then spent the afternoon with absolutely thundering palpitations which I have not had for 2 weeks. So I’m thinking clearly tea is the culprit? Another thing to strike off my list. I’m really hormonal and incredibly tired so I hope to get a bath and an early bed tonight.

I don’t know if I necessarily went over my calories but I ate non stop UPF (not very like me). I just fancied beige. Normally I eat quite a lot of veg but just didn’t fancy it at all. So much so I was tempted to take a pregnancy test lol

breakfast - Greggs vegan sausage roll with mustard
lunch - Sainsburys tuna sandwich with quavers
snack - apple. spicy pepperami
dinner - Charlie Bingham’s Tikka Masala with some leftover broccoli on the side - gave my rice to dh as I didn’t like it

I’m hoping I stop but I could very well order a Deliveroo. I’m in one of those moods

Today for breakfast I had 50g Fuel granola with 100g Kefir yoghurt, 75g raspberries, 5g golden flaxseed, 10g honey and a coffee with 10g sugar and roughly 60ml milk.

Banana for a snack

Dinner was one slice of white sourdough with 2 slices of prosciutto ham, 50g avacado, 25g(ish spinach, 2 poached eggs and 15g cheese.

150ml JD honey and about 40ml Captain Morgan Spiced with a dash of coke zero.

I'm not very well and when that happens I end up on the JD. I've done very well not to start with the chocolate seashells!

Not sure if I'm in a calorie deficit because my calories are based on my exercise which I haven't done since Monday because I'm just not feeling up to it. Really annoyed because I had a 15 mile run planned for today but instead I've sat around for the last 2 days hardly doing anything.

Yesterday:

crispbread with cheese, fermented cucumbers, egg, beetroot juice with ginger, radish sprouts

Ikea vegetable balls, tabbouleh from the other day, tofu, cucumbers again, leftover chickpeas and mushrooms, radish sprouts

Sushi (takeaway for 4 people)

Snacks: two coffees (oat milk), three slices of cheese, winegums (50g), protein bar.

2423 kcal. 5km brisk walk (was late for a meeting), LM Functional Strength #1

Sourdough toast with scrambled egg, rocket and seeds for breakfast.

Chickpea, feta, beetroot salad for lunch.

Yesterday had left over chicken with roasted veg and salad for lunch.

Yesterday
Greek yogurt,granola and dried cranberries
slice of sourdough toast with butter and bovril
tomato,avocado and feta salad
pork chop ,new potatoes and veggies

Not great today. I’m finding it really hard this week, not got my head in gear at all.
b- toasted sourdough and real butter
l- chicken in spicy mayo (homemade) with raisins, on a plate of salad leaves.
a delicious peanut butter brownie from my friends bakery cafe she opened this week
dinner- was supposed to be chicken traybake but the chicken was off so it’s got to be sausages tray bake instead, so that’s (more) UPF.

and I am very likely having a glass of wine or two tonight. It’s been a long week, I’m tired, my ribs hurt. I need to get my ass in gear for tomorrow onwards though, I go on holiday in two weeks!

@thenewaveragebear1983 I gave Caroline Girvan a try and did one weights workout yesterday and a stretch workout today. I found the stretch harder!

I had a pretty similar day, and it definitely shows how carbs lead to more carbs for me:

bf skyr and bio & me granola low sugar. 100% rye bread with avocado

lunch: chicken, roasted courgette and red peppers, peas, baby leaves and butternut squash pasta

dinner: red wine, chipolatas (was supposed to have prawns and veg) , tomato, avocado, rye bread
desert: low/ non upf vanilla ice cream, microwaved apple, cinnamon and a smidge of granola

steak and black bean fajitas with whole meal tortillas onions and red peppers. Avocado and tomato salsa, salad leaves and raw red cabbage.

Yesterday:

Overnight oats, same as usual

The last Buldak with daikon, savoy cabbage, tofu egg and radish sprouts. I’m taking a longer break from this UPF bomb for now.

Chickpeas, mushrooms and spinach curry (Thrifty Cooking recipe). Took a photo while cooking this time.

Snacks: 4 coffees (400 ml of oat milk in total), no sugar winegums (Diablo), slice of cheese, 160 ml of sake.

2225 kcal, short walk (around 3 km), LM Body Balance

breakfast: cheese omelette with avocado

lunch: smoked tofu with stir fried vegetables (7 types), quinoa, lemon and coriander.

dinner: weird concoction and not the most delicious- broccoli and cauliflower rice, garlic and parsley prawns (realised these are probably upf and hardly any dressing so kicking myself), pak choy, asparagus, artichokes, extra parsley and lime. oh and a tiny glass of red wine.

snacks: protein bar, iced latte and a free Waitrose latte

I have an app for counting plants so was aiming for 30 plants in a week and have done this in 2 days! Some of it is a stretch, for example I got 3 for quinoa as it had black white and red varieties. The Sainsburys frozen stir fry veg has no added ingredients and 7 types of veg. Supposedly it’s 6 portions, but dh and I share the whole packet (my kids don’t generally want stir fry). So lunch was 13 plant types including the tofu, but only 3-4 actual portions of veg.

no exercise yet but 2 walks/ over 12,000 steps.

Yesterday:

Overnight oats

Chickpeas and mushrooms curry leftovers

Seafood paella (pic - in the making)

Snacks: two coffees, winegums, avocado chocolate mousse, slice of cheese, cava brut (188 ml)

2262 kcal, 6 km walk with baby in a carrier, LM Barre.

Your paella looks delicious @CortieTat

Bf eggs cheese and avocado

late lunch Roast chicken and veg

Snack: protein shake and protein bar - having both was a mistake and seemed to cause me digestive issues!

posting on here is making me realise I need to add some variety to my meals, we have roast chicken at least once a week.

Can I join in? I'm doing Zoe, so aiming to flatten glucose spikes, eat less than 15% UPF a week, reduce lower quality fat, eat 30+ different plants a week, 75+ g protein a day, 30+ g fibre a day and have a less than 12 hour eating window.

Today I have eaten

Cup of tea, wholemeal seeded toast with almond butter, a small banana

25g mixed nuts, cup of tea

Hummus, Kallo rosemary and sea salt thins, cucumber

An orange

Baked spiced chicken drumsticks, Jersey Royals baked with tomatoes, onions, feta and basil, salad leaves, extra virgin olive oil

Half a bottle of red wine spread over the evening.

Woke up late, which is why I didn't have proper lunch and snacked instead.

I’m struggling with the UPF and have not had a great weekend. Nevertheless I am always ready to try again and do better, so back in the game today.

my meals will be:
lunch- something with eggs (have loads to use up)
dinner- spicy chicken thighs and salad
I need to prep a few bits for the week and make mayo.

Every time I see a deleted post I wonder what was there to break the guidelines 😝

@Clearingaspace this thread is really inspiring, I am curious to see what others eat and try something new! I like cooking but I hate the planning aspect and we often end up eating the same meals every week.

Yesterday I had:

Overnight oats (testing a new fermented milk, Verum Filmjölk from Norrmejerier) Part of me believes that if I keep buying their products they will start selling långfil in the South!

Paella (from yesterday)

Vegetarian pizza (takeaway), half

Snacks: two coffees (again), three slices of cheese, homemade gluten free apple crumble (date syrup instead of sugar) with yogurt, 1/2 small bottle (165 ml) of 3 Fonteinen Oude Kriek Lambiek (counts as fermented food, right?)

2920 kcal, short (4 km) hike in the woods with family, LM Shapes.

edit: grammar

Scrambled eggs with mushrooms sourdough toast. Left over bean salad. Salmon stir fry with wholegrain rice.

I'm making a conscious effort, it's delicious, and I feel better.

@CortieTatan advert for an AI powered nutrition coach 😜

I had a better day yesterday. Greek yogurt and berries for breakfast, then I had leftover new potatoes and brocolli and tomatoes from a traybake, I chopped that all up and made a sort of ‘hash’ by frying it off in some olive oil, and a couple of eggs with it. It was surprisingly nice. Dinner was salmon, with salad and brocolli. I did use some jarred pesto on the salmon. Served with new potatoes that I tossed in butter and salt 😋

Today I’ll have the same breakfast. I’m at the office today so lunch is salad, new pots, tuna, cheese and mayo. Several pieces of fruit to snack on.

This evening I’m not sure, my shopping came yesterday but I need to go through it all and see what we actually have, I like to strip all the meat off the chicken thighs and freeze it so I need to do that-if I’m organised I can season it all and freeze it ready to cook and it just makes a super easy dinner in the week.

@thenewaveragebear1983 I’m drooling over your new potatoes, the season hasn’t started yet in Sweden, hopefully any day! Neighbours grow potatoes (and sell them every two weeks at the local farmers’ market)

Yesterday I had a good day but developed mastitis and went to bed with fever. I started feeling strange, sore joints and feeling 90+ years old while doing a long stretching session which I normally like. I’ve had mastitis a couple of weeks back and also didn’t realise I had fever, it came so fast.

Overnight oats
The other half of vegetarian pizza from the day before
Salade niçoise (my favourite food)

Snacks: tofu fried in ginger sauce, two coffees with oat milk, 24g haribo, mini doughnut, my beloved energy drink: instant coffee, raw cocoa, turmeric powder and oat milk (it’s golden brown and nice)

2525 kcal, 6 km walk, LM Stretch

I’m posting today’s food before the day’s end mainly for accountability - the eldest made Dubai chocolate yesterday and we have now over half a kilo of homemade Dubai chocolate sitting in the fridge waiting for everyone to come home. It’s going to be gluten x gluttony 💀, so I accounted for D chocolate in advance.

Overnight oats: kefir, banana, rolled oats, chia, hemp, sunflower and flax seeds.

Lunch is two gluten free crisp bread slices (grovknäcke), three slices of 24% fat gouda, smoked tofu, radishes (first time this year 🌱), radish sprouts, brussel sprouts, sour (fermented) cucumber.

Chilli sin carne, this recipe: https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/chipotle_pinto_bean_stew_94139 (I usually add some more veg, whatever fits the taste) + a bit of yogurt and some corn nachos.

Snacks: two coffees with oat milk, haribo bears (34g), Dubai chocolate homemade, I expect to eat 100g.

2214 kcal, two short walks, LM Strength Development.

My radish sprouts were on their last legs today, time to wash the sprouting jar and set up something new 🌱