Do you think my diet would work?

OfficialMissMelody

Hello,
I have decided to make this lifestyle change. Right now. Today. My sisters have already done this so I figured why not?
I have been thinking about what my diet will be, so this is a rough copy :

Breaky : 1 slice of wholewheat toast + 1 scrambled egg.

Snack : 1 apple.

Lunch : Chicken + lettuce sandwich with some mayonnaise.

Snack : 1 bag of Kool Pac Popcorn

Dinner : Something from Lean cuisine or Weight Watchers as such.

I would appreciate any comments that you can give, also if you could tell me how many calories this would roughly be? I will edit this post later as I am in a bit of a rush, though, the diet will stay the same. Thanks!

TavistockToad

Sounds like it's too few calories, plus you will get bored of eating the same things after a week!

Use MFP, set it to lose 1lb per week and find some regular exercise you enjoy. Get food scales and weigh everything - you can eat what you like, but just do it in moderation.

paperpudding

Sounds more or less reasonable to me. Maybe not enough in total, I'm not sure.

although you will have people telling you ready made meals are crap - but I think they are ok sometimes.

Not sure how many calories it would be - but that's the whole point of logging, so you can see this.

The other point is that surely you are not going to eat exactly the same thing every day - logging is great for that, you can have variety and still track how many calories it is and therefore keep within your allowance.

Of course you have to do the initial calcuations to find out what your allowance is.

coolblondenerd

Sounds like it's too few calories, plus you will get bored of eating the same things after a week!

Use MFP, set it to lose 1lb per week and find some regular exercise you enjoy. Get food scales and weigh everything - you can eat what you like, but just do it in moderation.

^^ This! As someone who once tried to so the super low calorie food thing before, it doesn't work long term!

motivatedmartha

Best advice is to find people on here who have:

i) successfully lost

ii) ideally have maintained

and see how they did it. Mostly it seems to be through eating a varied diet which allows them to eat at a reasonable deficit and taking more exercise, doesn't have to be extreme, just moving more.

The diet you propose may be low calorie - may even be reasonable well balanced, haven't checked - but does not seem to smack of long term sustainability or healthy weight loss to lead to a fitter leaner life! I find any prepackaged meals tend to be higher sodium than I'm happy with but - that's my opinion.

Good luck, whatever you choose

ToxicOnes

This doesn't sound like enough calories. Find out your TDEE number on an external site to see how much you would need to eat to maintain. Simply take 15-20% off to see how much you would need for weight loss.

Remember, calories = energy. People often hear the word "calories" and freak out. More important than how many you consume is where you get them from. Still, how much you consume matters. Eat more fruits and veggies. Get about .8 grams of protein for every pound you weigh, as well. Protein is critical for both weight loss and muscle gaining.

This diet will be too low in a lot of nutrients and things you need to function and lose fat/gain muscle properly and healthily.

While ready made meals are okay in very low moderation, they often have a lot of chemical preservatives and lack in quality nutrients and such. So, try to avoid eating these too much. Just because something says "heart healthy" or has a name which implies healthy, does NOT mean it is healthy. A lot of things like this at the store are, in actuality, pretty awful and only worth empty calories.

The only other thing I will say is add variety. Variety is your best friend if you want any results to stick with you for life. A lack of variety usually leads to yoyo dieting, and you gaining it all back. You get so tired of not eating other things, that you go crazy, and fall off the wagon to eat more and more of it.

JesterMFP

I don't think it sounds like a kind of lifestyle I would (or could) adopt long-term. I mean no offense but it sounds incredibly boring to me. Each to their own, and some people prefer plain food, and eating the same thing every day, but is that really the way you want to eat for the rest of your life?

Nutritionally speaking, I plugged those foods into my diary for a day and came up with around 1000 calories, allowing for a bit of butter, mayo and an average lean cuisine. You haven't stated your stats, but you almost certainly would need more food than that. Also, depending on how exactly you made your chicken sandwich, which lean cuisines you chose etc, you'd likely need more protein, fat and fibre too.

In short, it's the kind of menu that screams "I'm on a diet". Can you honestly see yourself eating this way in a year or five years? If it's truly a lifestyle change, it needs to be something you can see yourself continuing with indefinitely.

Iron_Feline

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1175494-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

Read this

paperpudding

This doesn't sound like enough calories. Find out your TDEE number on an external site to see how much you would need to eat to maintain. Simply take 15-20% off to see how much you would need for weight loss.

or plug your height/weight etc into MFP and work it out from that - much easier and available right there in the program.

Shropshire1959

<<Something from Lean cuisine or Weight Watchers as such. >>

I wouldn't waste my money... AT the end of the days, it's still 'processed food' ... Why not make the same recipes your self from FRESH ingredients?

OfficialMissMelody

Thank you everyone for your advice, I guess when I look at it I would not want my family to only eat that..... This is my updated version :


Breakfast : 2 pieces of wholemeal toast + 2 egg whites + 1 egg yolk.
Snack : Yogurt + a serving of fruit
Lunch : A sandwich + a small salad.
Dinner : Either Lean Cuisine or a homemade meal (Pasta, curries etc)



My basic stats are :

Height : 173cm tall (5'8)
Weight : 89kg (190lbs)


Do you think that this is better?
Of course it will change day to day but it's just a sample menu.

Iron_Feline

please please read this thread

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1175494-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

3dogsrunning

Thank you everyone for your advice, I guess when I look at it I would not want my family to only eat that..... This is my updated version :


Breakfast : 2 pieces of wholemeal toast + 2 egg whites + 1 egg yolk.
Snack : Yogurt + a serving of fruit
Lunch : A sandwich + a small salad.
Dinner : Either Lean Cuisine or a homemade meal (Pasta, curries etc)



My basic stats are :

Height : 173cm tall (5'8)
Weight : 89kg (190lbs)


Do you think that this is better?
Of course it will change day to day but it's just a sample menu.

No. I don't think that's better.
Define "work". I mean you will likey lose weight if you follow that plan - assuming you can actually stick with it and not end up binging on all the other foods you are restricting. But what happens when you have lost the weight? What do you eat? All you've done is teach yourself to eat a select certain foods only.
What happens on holidays? Family gatherings? Birthdays? Date night out to dinner?

Losing weight is one thing. Sustaining it is the challenge. Learning to eat portions, making better food choices and moderation goes a long way in sustaining weight loss.

please please read this thread

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1175494-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

Also suggest this.

ToxicOnes

No. I don't think that's better.
Define "work". I mean you will likey lose weight if you follow that plan - assuming you can actually stick with it and not end up binging on all the other foods you are restricting. But what happens when you have lost the weight? What do you eat? All you've done is teach yourself to eat a select certain foods only.
What happens on holidays? Family gatherings? Birthdays? Date night out to dinner?

Losing weight is one thing. Sustaining it is the challenge. Learning to eat portions and moderation goes a long way in sustaining weight loss.

please please read this thread

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1175494-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

Also suggest this.

I agree with this... You still need more variety if you expect this to be a permanent lifestyle change. I plugged your numbers into http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/ and your BMR (Basal Metablolic Rate - how much energy/calories your body needs to function properly.) is 1677.

I believe the most helpful number for me when I lost weight was my TDEE number. What does this mean?

"TDEE is the amount calories your body burns in a 24 hour period, sleeping, working, exercising, playing and even digesting food."

Your number is 2013 with 0 days of exercise a week (2306 with 3 days of exercise, like 2000 a day to not lose muscle). So, you should be looking at about 1700-1800 calories a day so you don't lose muscle in an effort to just lose fat.

Things you can eat are beans, make some homemade tomato soup (about half a cup is a serving) with no cream or sugar (still tastes good, too), Make some veggie wraps with something like a light layer of guacamole for something healthier than mayonnaise.

Other things to consider... How are you preparing chicken? Smothering it in bbq sauce is not good to do for a standard meal. Are you getting enough sodium? How about carbs? Fats? Protein? These things you are likely to be vilifying based off your diet are essential to good health. They aren't bad for you, per se. They are only bad if you get too much of the wrong kind/wrong source or just too much in general. Also, cut back on the added sugar and make sure the sugar you get is as natural and fruit originated as possible.

Francl27

I'd be totally starving, personally. Too much bread (nothing against bread, it just doesn't fill up much for the calories), not enough veggies, not enough protein, not enough everything really except sodium from your dinner, which will be totally unsatisfying because the potions are so small for the calories.

You don't have to starve yourself to lose weight.

Miamiuu

Looks a little low on calories and protein. Protein makes a person fuller longer. You can improve it by having a large salad with cheese. 4 tablespoons of ceasar salad dressing is 300 calories.

tiggerhammon

You are going to get so sick of eating the same thing day after day. Sounds like you are setting yourself up for failure.

almc170

please please read this thread

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1175494-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

This.

3dogsrunning

Looks a little low on calories and protein. Protein makes a person fuller longer. You can improve it by having a large salad with cheese. 4 tablespoons of ceasar salad dressing is 300 calories.

:huh:

Iron_Feline

Looks a little low on calories and protein. Protein makes a person fuller longer. You can improve it by having a large salad with cheese. 4 tablespoons of ceasar salad dressing is 300 calories.

There are much better ways to get protein and much better ways to use 300 cals than on 4 tablespoons salad dressing :noway:

How about a large salad with roast chicken and a lemon and olive oil dressing. You only need a little oil.

Or have some ice cream for 300 cals. Much tastier.


Anywho.

Read the link op - set your cals and macros up and eat what you want as long as you hit your calories / protein and fat. No need to have the same basic menu everyday - you want something that teaches you good habits for life.