Pretty good diet - but not losing!

jennramone

Hi everyone, I'm just starting out and still trying to figure out what would work for me. My diet is fairly good but I'm not losing any weight (and have actually gained a few kgs in the 2 months since I've been trying this)! According to my food log, I sometimes go over in calories but not often, and my carb/fat/protein ratio is decent, so I guess my question is, if I'm eating the right things, is it really all about portion control? I know weight loss is mostly diet, but I feel like I'm eating only enough to satisfy my hunger. Or do I need to incorporate exercise (very minimal at this point)?

Here's what I eat on a typical day:

Breakfast - muesli with low fat greek yogurt, enormous amount of fruit (raisins, a banana, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, a peach, a nectarine, two apricots)
Lunch - 2 scrambled eggs in olive oil or a small can of tuna, with cottage cheese, and a massive salad (lettuce, tomato, cucumber, carrot, onion - dressing is olive oil and vinegar)
Dinner - baked salmon filet or soy burger with brown rice or whole wheat pasta and a vegetable (usually broccoli or spinach)
Snack - very rarely need a snack, but I like celery with hummus
Drink - only water, sometimes herbal tea in the evening but never juice/coffee/soda/alcohol

I know that my diet isn't perfect and I would probably lose a lot if I only had quinoa and protein shakes but... it's just depressing when I see people with poor diets who suddenly lose loads of weight just by cutting out soda or fast food. I don't have any of that to begin with!

Ok I'm going to stop rambling - am I just eating TOO MUCH of good things, or should I take up exercise? Diet critiques welcome too!

Thanks.

Barneystinson

We'd need to see your caloric intake in regards to weight loss or determining if you're eating too much / too little. Other than that you're eating healthy food choices.

iluminadaonix

Definitely increase exercise and read very carefully labels and measure food you eat. I didn't lose weight in two weeks in a row. Increase exercise from 20mins to about an 1hr. Also noticed that I was overestimating my portion and after getting messuring cups, now I lost 2 lbs in my last weight in. I also increased the amount of water I drink to get rid of toxin in my body. Good luck and keep up the good work.

slimmedawn

maybe your eating too many carbs ? i just realised this is what im doing so im trying out a low carb diet . Or maybe its too much salt ? salt causes water retention ??

jenjenlv

It all depends on your level of activity during the day. If you're sedentary, maybe your diet will be good for just maintaining, but not losing. Definitely exercise, at least long walks, or light cardio. Drink tons of water! and check the sodium content in food, you might also be retaining water

Kristhin

Breakfast--cut out the yogurt and don't eat a huge amount of fruit just regular.
Lunch--Tuna is ok but dont have any eggs, they're too fattening. And don't have a huge salad just medium.
Dinner--Sounds good but since you have fish for lunch I wouldn't ever have fish for dinner, too. That could be too much mercury.
Stick with the soy burger or try making a tofu wrap.

Just minor changes I know, but see if they make any difference! Your diet's looking pretty healthy to me.

Barneystinson

Breakfast--cut out the yogurt and don't eat a huge amount of fruit just regular.
Lunch--Tuna is ok but dont have any eggs, they're too fattening. And don't have a huge salad just medium.
Dinner--Sounds good but since you have fish for lunch I wouldn't ever have fish for dinner, too. That could be too much mercury.
Stick with the soy burger or try making a tofu wrap.

Just minor changes I know, but see if they make any difference! Your diet's looking pretty healthy to me.

Alright please justify why someone should cut most all of their dietary fat out?

We don't even know her caloric requirements in the first place as I stated in the above post, and are all making assumptions at this point.

Until you determine activity and caloric needs, fill it in with healthful foods. The foods she listed are healthful assuming they are consumed in correct portions to meet caloric needs.

TourThePast

From your post it looks as if you're eating a healthy diet overall; if you're not losing weight then yes you're right, it's about the portions.

If you start weighing your foods, you might be rather surprised about how many calories you're consuming.

Obviously exercise will help too, but it takes a lot of exercise to burn the calories from something you can eat in about thirty seconds flat!

daisymae9801

Breakfast--cut out the yogurt and don't eat a huge amount of fruit just regular.
Lunch--Tuna is ok but dont have any eggs, they're too fattening. And don't have a huge salad just medium.
Dinner--Sounds good but since you have fish for lunch I wouldn't ever have fish for dinner, too. That could be too much mercury.
Stick with the soy burger or try making a tofu wrap.

Just minor changes I know, but see if they make any difference! Your diet's looking pretty healthy to me.

Alright please justify why someone should cut most all of their dietary fat out?

We don't even know her caloric requirements in the first place as I stated in the above post, and are all making assumptions at this point.

Until you determine activity and caloric needs, fill it in with healthful foods. The foods she listed are healthful assuming they are consumed in correct portions to meet caloric needs.

Agreed. What's wrong with yogurt and eggs?

Jolenebib

Add some exercise and weight training - adding more muscle will help burn more calories/fat. But, even a 15-20 minute brisk walk after lunch will help to burn some extra calories and boost your metabolism. It could be that the assumption of the calories you burn per day is a little too high? These are just thoughts not knowing your complete lifestyle, etc. Also, olive oil is good for you, but really watch the portions, 1 TBSP is 100+ calories and can add up quickly if you don't measure. As others have suggested, make sure you weigh/measure your food.

ccbloom1

Breakfast--cut out the yogurt and don't eat a huge amount of fruit just regular.
Lunch--Tuna is ok but dont have any eggs, they're too fattening. And don't have a huge salad just medium.
Dinner--Sounds good but since you have fish for lunch I wouldn't ever have fish for dinner, too. That could be too much mercury.
Stick with the soy burger or try making a tofu wrap.

Just minor changes I know, but see if they make any difference! Your diet's looking pretty healthy to me.

Alright please justify why someone should cut most all of their dietary fat out?

We don't even know her caloric requirements in the first place as I stated in the above post, and are all making assumptions at this point.

Until you determine activity and caloric needs, fill it in with healthful foods. The foods she listed are healthful assuming they are consumed in correct portions to meet caloric needs.

Agreed. What's wrong with yogurt and eggs?

I would definitely think twice about this advice.

Muesli is like raw granola, correct? How big of a serving of this are you having and what exactly is in it?

jennramone

>I would definitely think twice about this advice.

>Muesli is like raw granola, correct? How big of a serving of this are you having and what exactly is in it?

Muesli is basically rolled oats and nuts. Some have sugar/honey as well but I'm sure mine doesn't. I have about half a cup stirred into 100g of the greek yogurt. I don't like starches so much so I tend to have just a little cereal/pasta/rice and get the majority of my diet from salads and fruit and dairy. I think yogurt/eggs/tuna are good sources of protein so I'm not sure I should cut those out.

TourThePast

I think yogurt/eggs/tuna are good sources of protein so I'm not sure I should cut those out.

No need to cut them out, in fact there's no need to cut any of it out, just check how much you're eating.

If you want to lose weight, you'll have to cut back on the quantities, or do a LOT of exercise, or better still do a combination of both.

jennramone

Which parts of my diet are particularly high in salt? Just if you know by chance so I don't go checking sodium labels :P

jennramone

Cheers - that's pretty much exactly what I was looking for

DavidH85

While diet can help a lot of people, it does nothing for some. For those that diet does contribute to, yes, portian control is part of the whole diet, not eating "the things that are bad for you" is merely lowering the portian sizes of those by a drastic amount. The major part of actually losing weight in reality, is exercise. Not all forms if exercise will work for everyone, so you should probably try a variety until you find what works best for you.

TourThePast

The major part of actually losing weight in reality, is exercise.

While exercise is important in terms of health, and while it can contribute a little to weight loss, most authorities would strongly disagree with your claim that the major part of losing weight is exercise.

jenjenlv

Which parts of my diet are particularly high in salt? Just if you know by chance so I don't go checking sodium labels :P

under Settings, here on MFP, you can add that column for sodium to your daily logs

ccbloom1

>I would definitely think twice about this advice.

>Muesli is like raw granola, correct? How big of a serving of this are you having and what exactly is in it?

Muesli is basically rolled oats and nuts. Some have sugar/honey as well but I'm sure mine doesn't. I have about half a cup stirred into 100g of the greek yogurt. I don't like starches so much so I tend to have just a little cereal/pasta/rice and get the majority of my diet from salads and fruit and dairy. I think yogurt/eggs/tuna are good sources of protein so I'm not sure I should cut those out.

I think you're diet looks really good. I would probably just double-check the portions and your calories for the day. Check what your net calories once you've included your workout, too.

jennramone

So to sum up the feedback I've gotten --

- cut out the yogurt and eggs
- don't cut out the yogurt and eggs
- it's all about exercise
- it's not all about exercise
- too much sodium
- too many carbs

hmm....

holmes124

Do you know how many calories you were eating before trying to lose weight? If your exercise level remained the same and you ate 250 calories less per day, you could lose a 1/2 pound each week. Walking at a pace of 5 miles per hour burns about 270 calories in a half hour. Combining these two could result in a one pound loss each week, and I think the general recommendation is to lose between half a pound and two pounds per week. Before I started writing down what and how much I eat, I'm not sure how many calories I was consuming daily, but I'm sure it was over 2500. Now I eat between 1600 and 2000 calories per day. Your diet sounds really healthy. As others have said, I would probably just measure portions to make sure that your calories are exactly what you think they are.

Strengthening our muscles through exercise is a great thing because pound for pound muscle burns more calories than fat, so when we gain muscle our bodies burn more calories even when we're not working out. I started doing a Tae Bo tape at home in March and I definitely have more stamina now and I feel a lot stronger. I had been pretty sedentary for that past two years after having my gallbladder removed, and I know I had lost a lot of muscle mass by not moving enough. I still have about 55 pounds to lose, but I already feel a lot better. I like to do at least 25 minutes of exercise per day, but I can't always do it all at once. I've had to train myself to be fine with doing just 5 or 10 minutes at a time if that's how my day goes.

Good Luck!

Chelsea