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.

kaj were fun, they were one of our favourites!

I’ve really struggled this week and both my UPF and my overall calories consumption have been waaaaaaay over what is good for me. I dont feel good for it either. This week I am determined to have a better week, I feel very unhealthy. I do need to take my supplements I have realised (these are UPF probably? ) but I definitely notice when I don’t take them. I’m doing a food shop today and will batch cook/ prep some things for the week ahead. I need some food inspiration and to be honest I just need to stop making excuses and get on with it 🤣

@thenewaveragebear1983 good luck this week - I hope you find some food inspiration. I am taking supplements for that reason too - when I remember. it’s impossible to be perfect cos then it’s like oh can I use toothpaste, drink tap water, eat non organic etc, - some of the books I read take it all to extremes. But even just avoiding upf food is hard, especially when the supermarkets and cafes are filled with delicious looking food, interesting new Kit Kat flavours and the food is easy and quick. While I am definitely still having upfs I am trying to eat fewer and eat more veg etc and avoid things that make me overeat - although I did just reheat a slice of leftover dc’s pizza with my breakfast and then had the ‘what shall I eat next’ thought pestering me! But this thread is definitely helping me to eat better and has got me exercising, and I am happy how quickly workouts are getting more doable- so thank you for setting this up!

I am annoyed with my weight bobbling around by a lb or so so might concentrate on calories a bit more this week.

@thenewaveragebear1983 don’t beat yourself up, it’s very normal to have worse and better days.
I believe it’s fine and achievable to eat really really well 80% of the time, perfection is difficult to achieve and sets us up for failure because it comes with so many restrictions.

I have definitely not been on plan today!

bf pizza, eggs mushrooms
lunch salmon, quinoa stir fry veg
dinner beans on toast (was supposed to be a roast!) as I was tired
snacks, ds made chocolate chip cookies and I had rye bread with avocado a latte and a protein shake

@CortieTat

Would you be able to share the cabbage salad recipe? Looks like a slaw but without the mayo? I love cabbage but hardly buy it as I don't know what to do with it. I'm slowly working my way through my jar of homemade sauerkraut but love a crunchy cabbage

Yes of course, I think it’s similar. It’s basically 2/3 shredded cabbage to 1/3 carrot and then a small onion. I sometimes add seeds (sunflower or pumpkin seeds go really well with this) and spring onion.

I always make vinaigrette dressing the same way - one tbsp lemon juice to one tbsp olive oil plus salt and herbs. This much dressing is enough for the whole bowl of salad if make in advance and the cabbage can let its own juices running a bit.

I love cabbage, so versatile, and always in season, we try to eat seasonal or frozen vegetables (and often fail). You can stir fry it, I usually have leftover sauce from Indian takeaway so I use it for stir fry and soups. My favourite cabbage dish is okonomiyaki, we are going to do it this week so I will post a photo. It does require some extra ingredients (katsuobushi - tuna flakes) and okonomiyaki sauce but it’s delicious and looks great.

Yesterday I had:

Overnight oats

Lunch at Ikea: salmon, potatoes with skin, mixed beans on side (sprout beans, soybeans and black beans) unfortunately they were swimming in oil. Extra bowl of mixed leaves.

Pork tenderloin in orange sauce, brown rice, cavolo nero stir fried in leftover takeaway sauce (must have been tikka masala because that’s what DC take), radishes.

Snacks: Dubai chocolate (this time I made it), 1/4 bottle of red wine, three coffees with oat milk.

2636 kcal (that’s the Dubai chocolate), LM Body Balance.

Bf: cheese omelette and avocado
L prawn salad
d: roast chicken, cauliflower and potatoes with carrots, broccoli and peas

s: pear, lentil cake with peanut butter, latte and a protein shake

Yesterday:

Overnight oats

Soup made with leftovers from various meals: brown rice, pork tenderloin, chicken breast (kids Indian takeaway from a few days back), napa cabbage (leftovers from making kimchi), spring onion, soybeans, chilli pepper, leftover vindaloo and tikka masala sauces to flavour the soup

This salad: https://www.bbcgoodfoodme.com/recipes/ribboned-courgette-salad/ and barbecue sausage. The salad looks nice but the taste is quite bland.

Snacks: leftover Dubai chocolate, three coffees with oat milk, paleo granola (20g) with kefir and banana.

2446 kcal, short walk (ca. 2km), LM Shapes.

struggling a bit today as having major carb cravings

bf kefir yogurt with a pear chopped in and lidl low sugar granola. I need to gather together ingredients and make my own I think. I used to make it quite a lot.

lunch - mackerel with bean salad (was partly inspired by your ikea trip @CortieTat!)

dinner - risotto with chicken stock/broth - we used up all the chicken meat yesterday so it must have been a small one and had to cook fresh chicken to put in. Also mushrooms, peas and asparagus.

snacks -cocoa rich tea biscuits- several - such a mistake! Iced protein shake with coffee added, rye bread toasted with butter, this is 100 per cent rye from the bakery but bizarrely delicious- there must be something else in it 🤔 I am suspicious.

Omelette with rye toast and half an avocado....

Yesterday

Overnight oats

Steamed leftover frozen vegetables, smoked tofu, beetroot sprouts (ran out of radish seeds), two slices of glutenfree crisp bread, liver pate, smoked salmon, fermented cucumber, Ikea vegetable balls.

Halloumi and homemade tabbouleh (millet and brown lentils instead of couscous). I really like to use sumac instead of lemon juice with some salads.

Snacks: one slice of cheese, two coffees with oat milk, winegums and 100 ml of Proviva (bought it for DC and couldn’t resist)

2313 kcal. 7.5km walk (5 of which carrying my 9 week old), Qigong from YouTube.

Today:

Overnight oats (rolled oats, chia, hemp, flax, sunflower seeds, banana with filmjölk)

Lunch: tabbouleh from yesterday, two slices of gluten free crisp bread, fermented cucumber, liver pate, smoked salmon, beetroot sprouts, smoked tofu, and radishes

Okonomiyaki (cabbage, spring onion, kombu seaweed, bacon, katsuobushi, okonomiyaki sauce and kewpie mayo) I made my own dashi instead of using dashi powder and used casava flour instead of okonomiyaki batter mix.

Snacks: two coffees with oat milk, dates (two), protein bar, slice of cheese, beetroot juice with ginger.

1982 kcal, short walk only (it’s raining), LM Body Balance.

My resolution is to wean myself off winegums, but I have to find a reasonable replacement, under 2000 kcal is not enough for me while breastfeeding, I’ve lost weight on this much without the baby.

@CortieTat there are some red and black wine gums that score quite well with on the yuka app in marks and Spencer - don’t know if you have one near you? Medjool Dates might be a good swap? You have reminded me I have halloumi that’s been lurking at the back of my fridge for ages.

hope the rest of your day went well @BigDahliaFan

today
bf: fried eggs on seedy sourdough with fried avocado (wasn’t ripe enough to eat on toast as planned)

lunch - in office and had a meal deal wrap and a latte so not great, but I managed to sneak away from the cupcakes being handed out in the office.

dinner: green beans, lentils, sweet potato mashed with chili flakes, and cod followed by a protein shake with coffee and ice.

workout CG absolute beginner

Morning, I’ve not been doing too well really. I seem to have lost my mojo a little and ended up eating a fair amount of processed junk which does me no good whatsoever! I break up tomorrow for a week’s leave which I really need, I am incredibly tired and just feel like we’re all limping to the end of work.

yesterday I had a chia/yoghurt/kefir pot with fruit. Lunch was a frozen portion of lamb tagine, it probably had some sort of stock/seasoning in it that was UPF, but otherwise it was home cooked. For dinner I just made a big salad. I really needed some veg! I had ham and a few different tapas type things on it-artichokes and olives etc. they were from Lidl so probably contained preservatives etc

I’m struggling to keep to any kind of deficit to lose weight, @CortieTati am very jealous of your 2k calories! I seem to lose nothing unless I strip down to around 1200 a day and it’s just not sustainable for me so I end up burning out and eating too much. I did run yesterday, 5 miles, but I do try not to eat the calories back as it’s so easy to overeat.

we are at a party on Saturday (which will be buffet food and wine) and we are going away to Snowdonia on Wednesday for 3/4 days. When I get back though I need a really strong focussed few weeks, I have 10 weeks til we go on holiday abroad for the first time in years! I’d like to be feeling fitter, more energised and a bit slimmer.

@thenewaveragebear1983 you do not need to eat at the party buffet ! Be strong and resist. Buffet food is usually all beige food .. and think how many people have breathed over it all and fingered it as they picked up their sandwhich etc. No thanks ! Plus who has touched it all when putting it out

@bignosebigfeetbigbumonly on mumsnet would someone suggest you’d go to a lovely 40th birthday in a posh venue and not eat the food because someone had breathed on it. 🤣

@Clearingaspace we don’t have brick and mortar M&S stores, I ordered clothes online several times but I don’t think they have food online.

@thenewaveragebear1983 I really have to eat quite a lot and I’m only 5’3 (I think, I normally don’t count in feet and inches). I have been training regularly for a few years so maybe that is the reason? I also move a lot without thinking about it, at any meeting I am that person who constantly fidgets and has worms. I am also always slightly overestimating in my calorie count, e.g. always rounding up weights.

Yesterday we were traveling, I ate really random stuff.

Overnight oats
Half of a vegetarian pizza on gluten free dough
Meatballs, lingonberry sauce and potatoes

Snacks: three coffees with regular milk, danish pastry, two dates.

2302 kcal, sat in the car for at least half a day, LM Shapes (I was tired and distracted so didn’t put much effort into it)

@thenewaveragebear1983 when did you mention in your OP that it was a posh venue ?! For all I knew it was a finger(ed) buffet at the local spit n sawdust pub lool. That was my last experience of a finger(ed) buffet. I touched none of it as I watched the locals devour it.

Enjoy your party and time away

Urgh I feel absolutely dreadful today, I have either poisoned myself or contracted the dreaded norovirus but yesterday I was absolutely sick as a dog and today I feel like I’ve been in the boxing ring. And existed on dry white toast and flat full sugar coke (I have not drunk full sugar anything for at least 10 years I reckon) - so a lot of UPF and feeling very sorry for myself. I break up today for a week and dh is out tonight so I am just going to order the kids something revoltingly unhealthy and sleep it off

@thenewaveragebear1983 take good care of yourself and enjoy your break!

I have a blocked duct/mastitis again. Had a nap with the little one and couldn’t sleep because I felt so cold, in my clothes, under the duvet, 20 degrees in the bedroom. I checked my temperature and it’s fever again, I feel like I’ve been squeezed through a linen press. I’m going to be as good as new tomorrow but now I’m trying to convince the baby to wake up and eat.

Had a really good lunch (noodles with veg, egg and tofu, soup made at home from leftover sauce. But dinner will be a takeaway, DH is managing the kids and I am sitting here and feeling cold and sore.

Sorry you are rough @thenewaveragebear1983 and @CortieTat !!! Am camping this weekend so hard to avoid the upf but I'm giving it a go, tinned fish and boiled eggs agogo

Thank you for the inspiration! I got up as good as new and had sardines for breakfast 🐟

I feel a lot better today, the whole body aching has now stopped but I still feel quite delicate and all I can really stomach is bread/toast and ice cold water. Grim. Not very ‘whole food’ friendly! Hope you’re feeling better @CortieTat, mastitis is horrible.