anyone who knows about healthy eating - come and criticise my diet

[TheArmadillo]

am trying to lose weight and have been changing my diet - I have lost about a stone so far but want constructive criticism. I have general idea but end up getting confused in specifics.

So average weekday

Breakfast:
4 oatcakes
2 tsps of peanut butter
banana
glass apple juice

Lunch:
tomato and basil soup
breadroll (wholemeal seeded thing)
and then either some smoked salmon or a hard boiled egg.
If really hungry then banana and soya yoghurt after.

Tea:
Either meat and veg or fish/rice with tomato based sauce/salad.

I can't have dairy (so tend to rely alot on meat/fish for protein), have to feed dp what I eat for dinner (he's fussy) plus I am really stressed at mo and have bad food issues that get worse when I am stressed (can't cope with certain textures - pulses are the worst, unless hidden in something and pureed).

Also am on low budget as dp just lost job.

I tend to cook from scratch and can cook well.

Any comments?

I don't tend to have any pudding in evening but if I do is just fruit.

Weekends are a worse mix, but sat = whatever is lefover. Sun = roast dinner, snack for tea (sandwich or soup) but I do tend to skip breakfast on weekend.

sounds positively saintly to me. are you looking for finetuning nutritional advice e.g. vitamins, minerals etc or advice on how you can reduce your calories further?

if the latter i'd skip the juice and possibly one of the bananas and go for a piece of lower cal fruit, unless you really need it to fill you up. but i'm assuming you eat a greater variety of fruit, and this is just a snapshot?

the main thing is portion control how much rice/pasta/potatoes/meat you have in your main meal, and fats you use in cooking, that's where you can shave off a hundred cals here or there that makes all the difference with weight loss.

do you get hungry? brown rice/pasta really makes a difference in how soon i feel hungry afterwards i find. you seem to be eating plenty of protein, which is my other standby for keeping me feeling full. if a 3 meal a day pattern isn't suiting you could you break it down into several smaller snacks?

thanks
I am lookign to make sure I have enough nutrients/vitamins really as the weight is falling off at mo so think calorie wise is ok.

I'm definately full on it - am actually eating quantity wise much more but rather than a packet of crisps for breakfast (if anything) and then crap for lunch and tea hopfully this is healthier. Is all wholemeal so that seems to help.

I tend to only eat apples/bananas fruit wise with the occasional kiwi fruit, but eat wider variety of veg/salad.

Have cut down on meat portions - i.e. 1 sausage instead of 2 and trying to make sure not more that size of playing cards but that can be struggle at weekend with roast!

Have scaled up on veg portions adn for carbs will either skip them in evening or have have e.g. baked sweet potato - think that is another prob.

Have cut down on cooking with fats - bit of light olive oil, but not cooking everything in butter. And not roasted everything - boiling it at mo. Steaming prob better but haven't got round to that.

I dont put salt in cooking (but still put it on my food) but use lots of black pepper - not sure if that is as bad. also have fresh herbs (dp grows them for me) or dried spices.

Have to work on what I'm drinking yet, but doing this first. Have cut down on the amount of coke I drink though.

I have 5 pieces fruit/veg a day.

I do Slimming World and have gone down from 12st 4lbs to 9st 13lbs since october last year and am 5ft 6ins so am pretty slim now. Fantasticly easy, never feel hungry, deprived or on a diet, nothing is banned, got tonnes of energy and you can eat unlmited amounts of pasta, potatoes, fruit, veg and meat.

My MIL lost a lot with slimming world, but I don't think it's for me cos firstly the cost, and secondly going to a group and talking to people really terrifies me and puts me off. It's also the telling people I am on a diet - I have this mindset that if I don't tell anyone then no one judges me on it.

I really have issues, I realise that, but I can't bring myself to go to a group.

sounds to me like you're doing really well. the recommendation i've heard is to eat a rainbow of foods every day - is the apples/bananas thing down to budget or taste? working seasonally is the best way to keep the cost down - rhubarb's just starting and there seem to be a lot of pears around (where from i don't know, surely they're an autumn thing?)

and 5 f/v is really a minimum, anything you could add to that would be good.

then there's good fats - low fat is easiest for losing weight (because they're so calorie dense), but not so good in the long term i think. maybe some nuts or seeds for snacking, or as part or breakfast/lunch, avocados, a variety of oily fish etc.

do you drink any much/alcohol? caffeine? gradually replacing these with water/fruit tea has been the hardest for me, but i'm working on it...

tbh i don't think i know much more about it than you do - i reckon you should maybe stick your head into the fruit & veg threads, i bet they'd be full of suggestions (and they're very friendly )

Thanks - I don't drink coffee/tea cos I don't like them without milk, soya milk just isn't the same.

I tend to drink squash (only ribena - the other ones give me a migraine) or fruit juice (though now having it watered down) or coke - that's my bigest downfall. I can't stand the diet stuff. I am going to cut it out but at the moment I have cut it down.

I was having museli for a while for breakfast but only like the sugared stuff and after a couple of weeks I can't face any more.

I also don't snack - eating 3 times a day has been a struggle but I think I will try to get more nuts/seeds into main meals. Oily fish wise I have 1 portion during evening meals a week, then have started having smoked salmon at lunch as it is v cheap for the offcuts (and who cares if it's pretty)

The fruit thing is partly cost and partly that if I do buy anything more exciting it tends to be for ds (who is a fruit fiend).

We've started going to a (very cheap) farm shop which only tends to stock seasonal stuff so will check more what they have.

Looks pretty good on the whole.

I would avoid bananas for breakfast, lunch and snacks and just have one a day. Try adding in more lean protein and eat as much veg as possible. Fruit is great but the sugars can push up the calories. Luckily the salad days are coming which you can fill your boots with!

And don't forget to increase activity levels

Thanks I do worry about how much sugar I'm having.

I have increased my exercise a lot - getting rid of the car helped

I always struggle with how much protein to have. I always wonder how mcuh is too mcuh.

If you are healthy and don't have dodgy kidneys then don't worry too much about protein. Small amounts of lean protein can reduce hunger pangs.

I would think about having less carbs and starchy foods for breakfast and lunch - oatcakes and then bread at lunchtime, especially if you are having rice or pasta with dinner can make your day a bit carb/starch heavy. I certainly don't advocate cutting out carbs but some people seem more sensitive to carbs and starches in terms of weight and insulin resistance and so benefit from less.

Maybe try scrambled egg with salmon for breakfast, and salads with hummus, avocado or cheese for lunch?

thanks I think I'll try cutting down on the carbs and see if that helps

Re the post on slimming world - it isn't expensive as it uses everyday foods of your choice. You can buy the magazine to get a good idea of how the diet works, without going to group. There is a SW thread on MN.

if you can afford basmati rice it is a lower gi so will keep you full longer than other rice. I'd drop the juice and swap it for lactose free milk if you can have that or fresh fruit.

Can you eat sardines? You're low on calcium so some broccoli to replace salad at dinner might be useful. How about kidney beans? Cauliflower is good as a potato substitute.

For the roast dinner sweet potato or new potato have better gi values than roast or baked potato.

ta for these - I do like sardines at they are cheap.