Quick Diet Question

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xTEHANx
xTEHANx Posts: 4 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm 21, about 5'9, and just dropped to 252. I've started my own type of diet, but I'm far from being a pro with nutrition. I do 12mins of apartment friendly HIIT every other day. My diet consist of..

Breakfast - Smoothie (1 banana, 2 TBLS frozen blueberries, 2 straw berries, some water, and some ice)

Lunch - Salad (ice berg prepackaged lettuce, with lite zesty Italian sauce) or fried egg sandwich (vegetable oil, egg, wheat bread)

Dinner - Salad (ice berg prepackaged lettuce, tuna, 2 TBLS of lite ranch)

I just want to know if that is a healthy enough diet, or if I'm doing this way wrong.

Replies

  • phrunch
    phrunch Posts: 115 Member
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    Hi tehan! Have you logged that? It seems like the calories and protien on that nigh be a little low (which will make it had to maintain long term and start to cause nutritional deficiencies.)
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
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    Off the top of my head, I'd say that looks like a diet low in fat, protein, fiber, and overall calories. If that's truly what you're eating each day, I am not a fan.
  • ptipton520
    ptipton520 Posts: 83 Member
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    When you filled out your profile (with your height and starting weight), MFP would have asked you how much you want to lose a week. Based on your answer, it would have suggested how many calories you should consume. Then as you record your food intake in the diary, MFP would have calculated how many calories you had consumed and how many were left. I suggest you go back and take a look at that and then record what you are actually eating. I think you will find that you are seriously shorting yourself. I count calories. That is my diet and if you browse through the discussion groups, you will find a lot of people have been successful just counting calories. Good luck!

    ps - @phrunch is right - you are seriously short on protein.
  • Philtex
    Philtex Posts: 947 Member
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    A smoothie plus two salads? Are you planning to eat that way for the rest of your life or, once you lose a few pounds, will you go back to eating the way you did before? You might find it more sustainable over the long run to eat "normal" meals, just control the portion sizes.
  • Gena575
    Gena575 Posts: 224 Member
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    I started at a similar weight. You aren't eating enough imo. My quick math puts your food at around 7-800 calories a day. I'm currently eating 1700-1800/day (goal is 1900 but I'm pretty active with my job). I'm losing 1.5-2lbs/week.

    You are realllllly lacking in protein and fat. Have the salad and the sandwich at lunch. Or chop a couple boiled eggs and some avocado or cheese into the salad. For supper add in some sautéed veggies, a variety of meats and even some starches. You may feel fine right now, but you're going to end up HANGRY and drive through McDonald's for a super sized double quarter pounder meal.
  • Bxqtie116
    Bxqtie116 Posts: 552 Member
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    You should definitely incorporate more food items to your menu. If you eat the same thing everyday, after a few weeks, it'll get boring and you'll convert back to your old ways. Try adding foods like:
    Boiled eggs
    Avocados
    Leafy greens (spinach, kale etc)
    Yogurt
    Fish (tuna, salmon etc)
    Chicken (try boneless skinless chicken breast)
    Turkey burgers
    Fresh fruit
    Beans
    You get the idea. You can have a wholesome meal for about 300-400 calories.
  • CorneliusPhoton
    CorneliusPhoton Posts: 965 Member
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    You can't live on lettuce. You need much more protein, fat, and fiber. Track them and eat at a minimum what MFP sets as your goal. The only thing you really need to stay under is calories.
  • ptipton520
    ptipton520 Posts: 83 Member
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    I sorry but your diet really, really scares me as it sounds like you plan to use it for some time. Check this link out. It is a 1200 calorie diet designed to lose weight. It has a daily menu plan for 7 days. Take a look and see what you think. It will at least give you an idea of what you should be eating.

    http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/health/diet-nutrition/advice/a20559/lose-weight-meals-oct04/
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    If you picked Lightly Active in your MFP profile (very few are truly sedentary with less than 4000 steps daily), and you picked 2 lb weekly weight loss for right now, which is 1000 daily calorie deficit...

    And you are logging your food by weight and meeting your daily recommended eating goal and macro suggestions - then you are doing it right enough for right now.

    That's not enough exercise to worry about adding for now - will later when you can do more.

    But I am doubting greatly you did the above - therefore you are not doing it right.

    You didn't gain the weight fast - don't attempt to lose it fast - or you'll be very disappointed what the weight is - you'll appreciate that lost muscle mass later trying to reach goal weight and maintain there.

    I'd suggest your route right now will lead to not getting to goal weight, and if you do you'll fail in maintenance and gain the weight or more back.
    Just a sad reality for the majority that attempt extreme diets - and eating less than 50% of what your body burns daily is extreme.

    Google Biggest Loser study results to see what I mean - you are attempting the same level of extreme diet not by burning more as they do, but by eating so very little.
  • hansklamp2112
    hansklamp2112 Posts: 20 Member
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    Yeah if you aren't eating anything else in there I would add some food. Your deficit is way too much and although right now you might not notice, it's going to to definitely slow your mental and physical self eventually as you increase your training.

    If you're liking what you eat and want it keep it simple I would suggest throwing some nuts in there of any kind. They are high in calories and essential fats and require no prep which seems to be your theme here. I myself enjoy simple and effective diet plans that don't force me to cook a lot.

    As you start to get more advanced, you're going to learn that you won't have to limit yourself to picking the same 3 meals a day. It can be exhausting and unsatisfying after a while. Take some time to learn about calories and macros. Learn the AMOUNT of food you need each day and which composition of protein, carbohydrates, and fats are good for you and then run with it.

    You'll see that you can mix up your meals, eat different things, and even have some of that "bad food" as long as it fits your daily intake/macros. It's a bit more fun this way... especially if you can't plan your every single meal every day and need to get food while on the move.

  • nowine4me
    nowine4me Posts: 3,985 Member
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    If it's about time and/or cooking skills, I'd at least add more fruit and a variety of vegetables plus protein powder in your smoothie. Even having a Lean Cuisine with your lunch salad would add some variety. Pre-packaged hard boiled eggs, single-serve peanut butter, guacamole, hummus, black beans, babybel or string cheese are all easy options. If you do cook, grill chicken, salmon, pork tenderloin, flank steak for supper with your salad and bring the rest for lunch the next day. Toss in chopped strawberries, nuts, feta for a more nutritious meal. Might also want to try some more lettuce varieties (all come packaged) like arugula, spring mix, spinach, etc. Iceberg has little nutritional value.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    jemhh wrote: »
    Off the top of my head, I'd say that looks like a diet low in fat, protein, fiber, and overall calories. If that's truly what you're eating each day, I am not a fan.

    This.

    Pick a calorie goal. You should at least come close to this.

    Figure out the protein goal. USDA is something like 1 g/kg, but if you want to maintain muscle in a deficit .8 g/lb of goal weight is better. You can also use the MFP default when you start, although it's typically low when calories are low.

    Figure out your fat goal. The MFP default is fine.

    For nutrition, eat in a way that hits the protein and fat goals (or comes close), the calorie goal (or comes close) and try to include a variety of foods with fiber, a variety of vegetables, and some healthy sources of fat, like nuts or olive oil or avocado.

    I love salads in the summer, but you need to add some protein if you aren't otherwise eating it at that meal, and iceberg lettuce isn't all that. I'd add protein and a bunch of other vegetables and food items (olives, nuts or seeds, cheese) to my salad to make it more filling and more nutritious.

    The smoothie is fine if it works for you, but it would leave me hungry -- I like to eat my breakfast, but I get the merits of a smoothie if you need to be fast. I'd add some greens (spinach or kale taste good in them) and some protein, unless I had some protein on the side (greek yogurt is a good source of protein for a smoothie, and of course so is protein powder).

    Really, though, these are just my thoughts based on my preferences -- the important thing is to use your own preferences but eat in a way that hits calorie, protein, and healthy fat goals and incorporates (ideally) a variety of vegetables.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
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    xTEHANx wrote: »
    I'm 21, about 5'9, and just dropped to 252. I've started my own type of diet, but I'm far from being a pro with nutrition. I do 12mins of apartment friendly HIIT every other day. My diet consist of..

    Breakfast - Smoothie (1 banana, 2 TBLS frozen blueberries, 2 straw berries, some water, and some ice)......improve the nutrition with protein powder, nut butter, and spinach.

    Lunch - Salad (ice berg prepackaged lettuce, with lite zesty Italian sauce) .........improve the nutrition with grilled chicken strips, cheese (seed or nuts). I make a "taco" seasoned salad with a few tortilla chips. Or a Caesar salad with a few croutons. Today's lunch is a berry salad with chicken, pecans and balsamic vinaigrette.

    or fried egg sandwich (vegetable oil, egg, wheat bread)......improve the nutrition by adding more calories. A cup of soup is nice with a sandwich.

    Dinner - Salad (ice berg prepackaged lettuce, tuna, 2 TBLS of lite ranch).........again too little fat

    I just want to know if that is a healthy enough diet, or if I'm doing this way wrong.

    Keep in mind that losing weight is just the first step. The second step is keeping the weight off. My diet is much more varied. I am learning portion control for ALL foods, not just a small sub-set.

  • xTEHANx
    xTEHANx Posts: 4 Member
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    I thank everyone for your answers! I'm sorry, I did miss some stuff. I do add proteins to my final salad of the night. Mainly grilled chicken, or tuna. For lunch I swap between either a plain salad, or two egg sandwiches with light cheese. I add different types of veggies (spinach, bell peppers, banana peppers, ect) to my salads as well. I do show I'm way under my calories, but it still seems I've hit a stall week. Main reason I keep it so basic is because I honestly can't cook, and like I said I know nothing about nutrition! I will continue to read up on stuff though. I thank you all very much!
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    You can eat a ton of calories - overeat and gain fat - and not get proper nutrition, aka vitamins and minerals and fiber, ect. Think fast food eating all the time.

    You can eat very little calories - undereat and lose fat and muscle - and get very proper nutrition.

    What's missing from the discussion - energy - calories.
    The building blocks your body needs too - carbs, protein, fat.

    If you don't provide the calories and macros - you can have all the nutrition your body might need if eating normally - and still cause it problems from eating too little.

    Now - maybe you are using the term nutrition to include calories, but your words seem to focus on nutrition only, except for brief comment of being under on calories.

    And you stress out your body by undereating too much - you will cause cortisol levels to rise - that retains water weight, usually around belly area.
    You can gain upwards of 20 lbs that way.

    How many weeks of no weight change do you think that could cause - at least 10 if you really could lose 2 lbs of fat only weekly.
    Think 2.5 months of no weight change would stress you out more?
    Likely.
  • xTEHANx
    xTEHANx Posts: 4 Member
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    Here's a update on what I've changed. I've kept the same smoothie recipe, just added a little more fruit and have included a special K granola bar (peanut butter one) for lunch I've added a extra egg sandwich. With some cheese and a little hot sauce, and for dinner. I'm basically eating what I would like that fits and isn't going to far. Like spaghetti with wheat noodles, or chicken tacos with corn tortillas. I'm hitting about 1500 calories a day compared to my previous 800-900!
  • cerise_noir
    cerise_noir Posts: 5,468 Member
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    You do have to count the actual calories of every single food you eat instead of just eating certain foods. "Hitting about 1500" is still guessing. If you don't have a food scale, they can be purchased for relatively cheap. They are very valuable tools for weight loss, gain or maintaining. You still need to eat more protein and fat though, but your diet has definitely improved since the first post! You're doing great! Keep it up! :)

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