my regime - please advise!

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I have a stone to loose and a lot of confidence to gain.. this is an example of my healthy eating plan...
Breakfast - oatso simple porridge, skimmed milk with no toppings.
Snack - fresh fruit (today was 2 small satsumas)
Lunch - boiled egg, cucumber, tomato, red pepper, 2 slices granary bread and tinned mandarins in juice
Snack - banana
Dinner - quorn sausages, butter beans, vegetable stock and brocoli.

Lots of water through the day and one coffee with skimmed milk, 2 cups of green tea.

I run 3 times a week.. building up slowly, 60 secs run 90 sec walking times 8 for this week and then increased as weeks go on, I do 60 mins of zumba 3 times a week.

Advice and tips please!!

Replies

  • Frankii_x
    Frankii_x Posts: 238
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    Hi! Looks like you're doing pretty well :) Oatsosimple can have a lot of sugar in so might be worth at looking around for different brands but it's nothing huge! (I eat coco pops for breakfast some days so who am I to be critical on that?)

    Snack is fab :)

    Lunch sounds yummy - maybe try fresh fruit rather than tinned?

    Snack - again very healthy good choice :)

    Dinner - Seems again very healthy to me!

    Trust your gut instincts you seem to be doing very well to me!!!

    xxx
  • kirstyfairhead
    kirstyfairhead Posts: 220 Member
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    On the outside, this looks good but, without programming all of the food in myself, it would be your total calories and your macro's that were relevant rather than a general idea of the type of food that seems 'healthy'.

    I don't know if you are vegetarian (Quorn Sausage) but I would say this diet looks pretty low in protein and probably comparatively high in carbs due to the fruit content. Also are you eating the right amount of calories to hit your goals.

    It is easy to think that fruit, salad, vegetables and low fat are all good things (and they are) but good fats and proteins are needed too in order to be a balanced and healthy diet.

    I would recommend you just log all of your food accurately and keep an eye on your macros but all your non-processed foods are a good start!
  • littlelady8974
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    Yeah I am vegetarian and find protein a tricky thing to have lots of! I do eat fish however and have salmon around 2 times a week..! tuna also at least once a week whether it be for lunch or dinner.

    I am hitting my 1200 calorie goals with some to spare..!

    I agree with the fruit tho but I guess I find snacks hard as I dont want to have huge calorific ones, Maybe I should have some veg sticks and dip? or oat crackers? What would be good? My sugar is quite high due to the amount of fruit haha

    Porridge is the only thing that fills me up. And I know I cant overeat on it, I measure most portions, rice, pasta, veg etc and with porridge its very specific to measurments which I like! :)

    Thankis guys!
  • jakkisr
    jakkisr Posts: 175 Member
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    here's a couple of extras you might like to top up your day :)

    cottage cheese
    eggs (fresh, if you eat them)
    chick peas (and other beans and lentils too, I use tinned in water with no added salt - easier than soaking overnight)
    veg sticks
    avocado
    nuts (all kinds - my personal favourite is brazil nuts)
    peanut butter
    ryvita pumpkin seed wheat crackers
  • littlelady8974
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    Those snacks sound great thanks.

    Just re read all of this and I dont understand what is meant by macros? seen it in a few other posts/threads too..
  • jakkisr
    jakkisr Posts: 175 Member
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    macros are the 'finer detail' of your food. Protein, carbohydrates, fat are the three main macros that MFP defaults to.

    You can customise your settings in MFP to measure whatever you want eg protein, calcium, iron, sodium, fibre and so on. There are lots of threads in the forums and of course on google - you might want to do a little reading up on it to help you get started on here :)

    (I see that you are new, so a word of advice - be aware that there are thousands and thousands of people on MFP and they all have their own opinions - some people are nice and helpful, some can be quite abrupt and even downright rude. And some know nothing at all about topics they reply to! Try to get quality advice outside of MFP so you have your own opinions and can tailor your weight loss plan to suit you.) Good luck :flowerforyou:
  • kirstyfairhead
    kirstyfairhead Posts: 220 Member
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    Regarding the fruits and sugar thing, I just want to clarify that unless you have a health issue (diabetes etc) it's not so much that eating too much fruit is bad, just that you should make sure you leave yourself enough calories to have the good fats, seeds, nuts etc and try to be balanced.

    If you use the standard MFP macro's and eat even a reasonable amount of fruit you are almost guaranteed to go over their level. In my opinion the level is too low and I think it is likely this is because MFP is thinking refined sugars rather than natural sugars.

    So, don't panic when it goes red, as long as most of your sugars are coming from natural (fruit, dairy etc) sources, you are getting some good fats and proteins as well and your sugars aren't super high you should be fine.

    jakkisr's suggestions all look good to me!!