Basic Day of Food.

soundasleepx

Hi all, I was just thinking about food. Is it okay for me to have a basic diet that consists of things like,
Breakfast: A bowl of All Bran with a teaspoon of sugar and semi skimmed milk,
Lunch: Small tuna/cheese/ham sandwich,
Dinner: Rice and chicken with salad cream, for example.
That's basically what I eat (apart from lately because its been my birthday and I've gone off the wagon a little bit). I've never really got on with fresh vegetables, but we have the frozen kind (birds eye), so I'd be have those too on occasion. I also like the occasional Scrambled egg. For sweets, I eat things like Petit Filous Yoghurts, small kids ice lollies, tinned mangoes, and Alpen bars. I know a lot of you will tell me to update my food diary on here, but I've been reluctant to because I thought you all would pounce on me for eating the wrong stuff, that's why I've written this post. And please, nobody be horrible! I've been stuck between 139 and 143 for about 3 months and it's starting to really irritate me, so I must be going wrong somewhere. Also, could somebody help me work out how many calories I should be eating please? I hear too many different suggestions and never know how many I should have. I currently try to eat about 1250, but I think that may be too little. I'm female, 5'4, 23 years old, and 141.6lbs as of this morning. I can provide measurements if anybody needs them to help work out stuff.
Oh, I also eat a lot of soup, too.

JesterMFP

-I agree that 1250 sounds too little. I'm shorter, lighter and older than you and lose on 1500 (plus exercise calories) a day. There are different online calculators you can use, but I'd try about 1400-1500 plus exercise calories. Whatever you try, do it for a few weeks and see how you get on before adjusting. You could also try posting a thread here: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/show/10067-eat-train-progress- for more intelligent advice
-If it feels like you're on a wagon, then you're not doing it right
-frozen vegetables are fine, and I'd encourage you to try to get them a bit more often than occasionally.

I don't blame you for keeping your diary private as some people can be silly about it, but you may get more helpful responses if you open it up at least for a little while. Mostly, it would help to know how many calories you're actually eating each day (not just how much you try to eat), how many you're burning, and how much protein you're eating.

soundasleepx

Thank you for your response! Truthfully I don't burn that many because other than doing housework (which is quite vigorous because I'm a bit of a clean freak but that's only once every couple of days.) I don't really get out very much. I can't seem to make myself exercise because it feels so much like a chore when I try to do it on my own, and I can't even bring myself to go out for a walk or anything. It's really stupid I know, but I really have fallen out with exercise. Other than that, I think I will make my diary public and start to fill it in. I've been using loseit.com to fill in my diary because it's more private, but I suppose it will help to make it visible. I also haven't a clue how to calculate how much protein or sodium or anything I'm eating other than calories because it completely confuses me! Especially when using fresh chicken and such because if it's not on the packet then I truly don't know how to work it out.

hoofBOY

For me, the basic food is bread, fruits, and juice every morning will do.

JesterMFP

Thank you for your response! Truthfully I don't burn that many because other than doing housework (which is quite vigorous because I'm a bit of a clean freak but that's only once every couple of days.) I don't really get out very much. I can't seem to make myself exercise because it feels so much like a chore when I try to do it on my own, and I can't even bring myself to go out for a walk or anything. It's really stupid I know, but I really have fallen out with exercise. Other than that, I think I will make my diary public and start to fill it in. I've been using loseit.com to fill in my diary because it's more private, but I suppose it will help to make it visible. I also haven't a clue how to calculate how much protein or sodium or anything I'm eating other than calories because it completely confuses me! Especially when using fresh chicken and such because if it's not on the packet then I truly don't know how to work it out.

Oh, I didn't realise you meant you weren't filling in your diary here. Oh well. You don't have to make it public, it's up to you. Some people like to, to get advice or for others to hold them accountable. Other people (including me!) prefer it to be private. I'm not familiar with loseit.com, but if you use the diary here, there's a pretty big database of foods, so you just add the food and quantity, and it will fill in protein and sodium etc for you. Of course, not every entry is accurate (user added) but you can add your own using the packet info too. There are also entries for (for example) "chicken, cooked", where you can just add the amount and it will fill in all the details. It doesn't have to just be branded stuff. Give it a go!

As for exercise - truth is, you can lose weight without it. Personally, I can't recommend it enough for overall health and well-being, maintaining muscle mass as you lose weight, and getting to eat more! However, you can do it just with your diet, so that's up to you. Maybe try to find something that you really enjoy, so it doesn't feel so much of a chore.

soundasleepx

That's really good to know. I expected you to jump at me for not exercising then! I used to go to the gym, but after going for months and not seeing any change in my overall levels of fitness it made me discouraged so I stopped going. I love swimming, but I don't want to go alone and I don't have anybody to go with. Maybe if I tried going once a week by myself it wouldn't be so bad? Definitely going to give this database a go. Loseit is pretty much the same, but I don't have anybody on my friends list on there, whereas on here, I do. Thanks for your help!
Oh, could you possibly help me work out how many calories I should be eating at all please?
There's a barely touched birthday cake downstairs and it's tremendously tempting.

yaseyuku

Sounds like you're eating too little. Have you tried upping the calories for a few days?

jadeyq1

Hiya

I used this website:

http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/bmr/

to calculate your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) based on the info you gave above. Your BMR is the amount of calories your body would burn if you were in a coma ie. literally doing nothing so this is the minimum amount of calories you need to be eating daily. Your BMR is 1465 or there abouts.

Next, the same website calculates your TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) which is the amount of calories you burn on a daily basis just by doing everyday things ie. getting dressed, taking a shower etc. Your TDEE is 1758 based on your activity level being sedentary ie. no exercise.

If you ate at your TDEE, so 1758 calories a day, you would maintain your current weight. To lose weight you need to be burning more calories than you eat. Most people go with your TDEE-20% but it depends how much you have to lose. If you don't have much to lose to reach your goal weight you could drop that to TDEE-10 or 15%.

SO!

TDEE-20% = 1406 (This is below your BMR so wouldn't recommend eating this low.)
TDEE-15% = 1494
TDEE-10% = 1582

If it was me, I would choose to eat at the -15% based on your current weight as you can't be too far from goal? And it means that you're still eating above your BMR

Hope that helps and isn't too confusing!

P.S If you do do any exercise you can also eat those earned calories back as your TDEE was calculated with the notion that you are doing no exercise. If you want to recalculate your TDEE with exercise in mind, remember not to eat back any exercise calories you log as these will already have been taken into account with your new TDEE calculation

P.P.S Your basic day of food sounds absolutely fine to me. Sounds like the kind of food I eat Feel free to check out my diary if you want some ideas or anything.

TavistockToad

you need fruit and veg more than just 'on occasion'

soundasleepx

Thank you Jaydey that was so much help! I'll change my caloric intake to higher, then. I'm also going to buy some brown rice and pasta, and try to eat more fruit and veggies. Fingers crossed I start losing again!

amy1612

For me, the basic food is bread, fruits, and juice every morning will do.

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