Can I lose weight eating like this and should I change anything?

[ForNavyPoet]

I am just starting out. 5ft tall, woman, mainly sedentary, 35 min exercise. I had 3 bananas, some melon, a nectarine, a greek yogurt, then a steak with tomato and lettuce, cottage cheese, and two crispbreads, and for dinner I had a baked potato, most of a jar of jalfrezi sauce, half a bag of salad, cucumber, humous.
Can I lose weight eating like this, would you add or change anything

Well... A steak can be 100g or 700g....

How many calories did you consume?

I'm not a nutritionalist or expert by any means, but found for me that intermittent fasting/not eating in the evenings really helped boost my metabolism. Also portion control and watching carbs (3 bananas seems like a lot?). Wouldn't like comment on the items on your list, esp without weights/quantities etc, but based on my experience these factors might affect results.

Id weigh everything and work out the calories consumed.

Work out your TDEE/BMR and use that as guideline for calories you need to stick to/under

It sounds like quite a lot OP but whether it is or not depends on your weight. Put your stats into a TDEE calculator and it will give you a number of kcal you can eat per day to lose weight. I’d recommend not eating back any calories you burn through exercise.

chaptgpt estimated the kcal from your day as 1,760 to 2,380 kcal - I would imagine you need to cut back if you want to lose weight. I’d also recommend making one change at a time so it becomes embedded and not overwhelming. I’ve lost a lot of weight and did it this way, one thing at a time. Eg yoghurt and fruit for breakfast instead of toast. Thinking and planning about my lunches eg salad with tuna instead of a sandwich and crisps. Thinking about my evening meals - egg fried rice with a shit ton of veg,+ barely any oil. And increased my exercise bit by bit too. But if I’d overhauled it all in one go I would have given up super quick. I think it worked because I could see that it was possible, that the changes weren’t making me miserable.

I'd say your fruit intake is high. May want to reduce to 2/day. Bananas are high in sugars so beware of size of fruit. You may want to weigh your food to see if your portions are reasonable, and note protien, carbs, etc. Someone with more knowledge will probably be able to add particulars on serving size, etc.

I’m really intrigued by the three bananas, what was the reason behind that? Diet or not I can’t imagine eating three in one sitting.

I just craved it. I've had 4 now.

Just bad ball park figures and guessing how much you ate

3 bananas: 300
some melon, 30
a nectarine 60
a greek yogurt : 100?
A steak; 600?
tomato and lettuce; 50
Cottage cheese: 90
,two crispbreads: 60
a baked potato, 160
most of a jar of jalfrezi sauce, 250
half a bag of salad, cucumber, 100
humous.: 150

So you could be easily eating 1700-2000 calories. Maybe more. Maybe less.

All depends on size of banana, size of steak, how much yoghurt, how big the potato is, how much hummus etc

Don't you drink anything during the day?

There’s no point asking for feedback really unless you can give actual portion sizes, weights, etc. there’s too much variation in what people might estimate the calories to be.

You just need to track what you’re eating and know what your TDEE is. Then you’ll know if you’re in a calorie deficit or not. The types of food you are eating sound ok, but the portion size seems like it could be too large. And eating 4 bananas in a day is probably 2 or 3 bananas too many.

Definitely don’t eat that many bananas. Hyperkalemia causes heart arrhythmia.

Even assuming smallish portion sizes this seems a lot for someone aiming to lose weight.

Have a look at Dr Michael Moseley’s The Fast 800 for menu suggestions. Even if you don’t do the two 800 calorie days you should get a fair idea of what you can eat. And how much - portion control is key.

Having said that, if you cannot resist the urge to eat a 4th banana, having already consumed 3, I fear you’re likely to struggle with any weight reduction diet.

You will only lose weight if the calories in are less than the calories out. You need to work out how many you need and start weighing your food

Work out how many calories you need to maintain your current weight, take off a couple of hundred, add in an extra 1000 steps and some resistance exercise and go from there. Add in some more exercise and weights routines and keep in a calorie deficit and you’ll be fine. Prioritise protein and fibre and whole foods and it should be fairly straightforward. Four bananas feels like a lot of bananas, probably better than crisps but still it’s not a free for all just because it’s fruit.

I’ve heard you shouldn’t eat fruit like bananas if you’re trying to lose weight, just stick to berries and the odd apple, one portion of fruit a day max.

Why would bananas stop you losing weight?

@tnorfotkcab they are high in sugar. Great if you're running and need an energy boost. Maybe not so great to eat 4 in a day if you are trying to lose weight..

You will always get responses that you need to count every calorie. That does work. I don't.

I focus on macronutrients, so increasing fibre and protein and reducing or virtually eliminating refined carbs (including sugar, no not all carbs but certainly refined carbs.) I also fast for one 24 hour period a week (i.e. dinner to dinner) and by doing that and not counting calories but eating when I'm hungry and stopping when I'm full, I'm losing about 1-1.5lbs per week.

First thing I'd do is change this "I am just starting out. 5ft tall, woman, mainly sedentary". Get some exercise in and a decent amount. Get more "incidental" exercise as well as specific work outs. Aim for 5 days of workouts a week and increasing your steps by 10% from whatever your baseline is. It won't shift loads of calories but as you lose weight it will reduce the risk of your calorie needs falling.

Personally I'd cut back on some of the carbs and increase the protein. I'm not anti banana, I just don't like them but 3 in a day is a lot and if you mix that up with other fruit that would be better for you (variety is key on F&V). I love the greek yogurt but look for genuinely greek (high protein) and 0% or skyr. Lots of "greek style" is high fat and not as high protein.

Up to you but I'd cut the crispbreads and potato and replace with vegetables for the potato (e.g. green beans) and introduce, say a chicken breast instead. More likely to make you feel fuller for longer. Also rather than using a jar of sauce, maybe make your own from paste. It's less likely to contain added sugar. I don't understand how hummus works with that meal if I'm honest but with a curry I often have kachumber which is a type of salad just dressed in lemon juice. I also have yogurt. If you want some carbs you could go for a small portion of wholemeal rice. If you cook some peas in with that, you then reduce the carb quantity per portion and introduce another vegetable.

I'm 5ft 3 sedentary and my maintenance ranged from 1800 to 1500 before and after a 4 stone weight loss so you really need to go on www.tdeecalculator.net and work out your maintenance and deficit calories. Reduce your carbs, fruit is also carbs and increase your protein, that will keep you fuller for longer. Use myfitnesspal app to track your food so you can see it. Eating carbs spikes your blood sugars and makes you crave more carbs and sugar, which is why you keep eating bananas. Greek yoghurt is a good option or try cottage cheese. If you eat less carbs your body switches to fat burning quicker and earlier.