Do you think my diet would work?

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.

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

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.

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.

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please please read this thread

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

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.

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.

please please read this thread

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

This.

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.

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.

MFP doesn't take into account your BMR. It often gives a number that is much lower then a person actually needs in order to lose weight. MFP wanted me at under 1400 calories to lose. I did the TDEE - 20% method (and never under my BMR) which gives me 1700ish. I am losing weight better and I feel better with the higher calorie amount.

MFP also expects you to log any additional exercise and eat those calories back. That in itself usually is enough to cover the difference between your goal and BMR.
Your 1400 would have been higher on days your exercised (which I assume you do with your TDEE).
What weight loss per week goal did you choose with MFP?
It expects you will choose an appropriate weight loss per week goal. If you choose one that is too high your calorie goal will be too low.
I've come out with basically the same numbers using TDEE and MFP (averaged over a week since with TDEE you eat the same everyday, MFP plus exercise you don't).
Also TDEE - 20% if you are sedentary will put you under BMR. Sedentary TDEE is only BMR x 1.2.

I am always for eating more and still losing. Both methods can have you doing that.

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.

YES I think this is better. Especially since this is a sample menu and will vary from day to day. Do you like to cook a lot of your own foods already? You can have a lot of fun learning and/or tweaking more recipes to meet your goals. Do you have a food scale to measure your food? For the sole goal of weight loss you simply need to consume less calories than you burn. It doesn't have to be some tiny number. For instance, if to MAINTAIN your current weight you are eating 2500 calories per day, to lose you could still eat 2000 and lose about a pound a week. A diet with too few calories is likely to not be sustainable over the long term.

Definitely give the links posted up thread a read. It's a very helpful post (though you may have to google some acronyms you may never have seen before)

Pre-packaged meals tend to be very high in things like salt and sugar, among other things. Also, you're not learning to cook sensible meals by throwing something in the microwave. I think you'll feel better physically, and be more satisfied if you cook real food.