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milesy1971
milesy1971 Posts: 30 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
HI All

i feel a bit silly writing this but im a bit lost and need some direction

Background - i went on a real health kick and couple of years back - lost around 25kg felt great - working out heaps running and generally felt and looked good.

Not sure what happened but fell off the wagon and have put most of it back on and feel like crap.

Its winter - its cold im not motivated but i think maybe the mistake i made was focusing on excercise rather than diet and so when the excercise momentum stopped i started putting weight back on.

As with most things these days - its information overload and most of it contradictory so i feel lost and not sure how to get back on track.

I dont want to go way out with diet as there are the rest of the family to feed as well - other than avoiding things like chocolate etc - what is a 'normal' but lower calorie breakfast / lunch and dinner ideas

:-)
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Replies

  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
    edited June 2017
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    What do you normally eat right now? Take those foods and alter them slightly. For example, I like eggs in the morning. While cutting calories I may eat 2 eggs instead of 3 or I may eat poached or boiled eggs instead of scrambled or over medium since I then need not oil the pan. I also switch over to a lower fat milk while cutting calories. I pretty much look for ways to save 25-100 calories here and there throughout the day.
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,013 Member
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    You'll get lots of different answers on what you should and shouldn't eat. I think the best thing to do is to take one week to just log what you would usually eat. See how far over you are. Check your macros - are you always way under or over on one of your macros? Are there obvious places where you are wasting a lot of calories? This will help guide you to good places to tweak.

    In general, try to limit drinking calories. Be mindful of cooking oil & butter, high calorie snacks, boredom/stress eating. I found that my diet was generally low in protein & fiber, and when I made an effort to fix that it really helped my satiety. I also switched from regular soda to diet, and was more mindful of alcohol calories.

    There really are no universally "bad" foods if you don't have a medical condition. I can eat a couple of slices of pizza with a beer on Fridays, I can have a weighed portion of ice cream 2 or 3 nights a week, I eat chocolate every day. I just can't have all of it, all the time, in uncontrolled amounts :).

    Take the time to figure out the right way of eating for you so that you feel full and enjoy your food at the right amount of calories - once you've got that, you'll be all set, but it can take some time. Good luck :drinker:
  • Poisonedpawn78
    Poisonedpawn78 Posts: 1,145 Member
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    milesy1971 wrote: »
    Its winter - its cold im not motivated but i think maybe the mistake i made was focusing on excercise rather than diet and so when the excercise momentum stopped i started putting weight back on.

    This is 100% what happened. You are eating more than your TDEE now that you have reduced your exercise. You need to log your food accurately and find out how much and where you are going over and reduce it down calorie wise.

    Keep in mind its a calories game, you can eat what you want, just in proper proportion. The food you are eating is not the issue, but how much of it. You can try other peoples food ideas but all this will do is shift around your macros and give you options which create more calorie space depending on how aggressive you want to be with weight loss.
  • Muana1005
    Muana1005 Posts: 172 Member
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    For me bulking out my meals with raw salads helped, as it kept me fuller for longer. I still ate butter, oil, cheese, meat etc, but with the salads it really helped me to control myself.

    I think you should monitor your intake 'as is' for a few weeks, understand your current eating pattern, and then try to make adjustments you can keep to long term. Is there a coke/redbull can in there that can be substituted by coffee? Can you substitute your lattes with milky americanos? How often do you eat out for lunch/dinner - can you home-cook some of them?

    You mentioned it's winter where you are now, are you in Australia? If so you have the weather (even now) to get moving more. I'm not talking about running, but just going for a brisk walk etc. I manage 10k steps per day even in our rainy English summer lol

  • milesy1971
    milesy1971 Posts: 30 Member
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    yes in australia.......whenever i have tried monitoring foods - i find looking them up and logging them quite frustrating as finding exactly what you are having is not always listed
  • edlanglais5
    edlanglais5 Posts: 172 Member
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    I can't tell you what will work for you but can tell you what has been working for me.

    I drink only water with the exception of one glass of juice. I try not to drink my calories. That way, it helps me satisfy my hunger and still maintain a deficit.

    I do my best to eat foods that are low in calorie but rich in protein, fiber, etc. I eat many snacks comprised of light protein bars, apples, bananas, the occasional almond snickers. My healthy meals are usually egg mcmuffins, toasted pb&j on whole wheat, turkey sandwich, etc. I snack A LOT. If I feel empty, I grab something like the above.

    I also try to do a healthy mixture of cardio and weights each morning. I've found that this give me more "room" in my calories.

    Feel free to look at my diary. I am no expert but have found that what I've been doing works, at least for me.
  • L1zardQueen
    L1zardQueen Posts: 8,754 Member
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    Which foods, ethnic food?
  • Poisonedpawn78
    Poisonedpawn78 Posts: 1,145 Member
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    milesy1971 wrote: »
    yes in australia.......whenever i have tried monitoring foods - i find looking them up and logging them quite frustrating as finding exactly what you are having is not always listed

    Essentially the same thing was happening to me. I was getting frustrated with the bad entries and trying to find the good one. So i just started creating my own foods/meals/Recipes in that tab. Used google to get the proper numbers along with straight from the packaging. Sucks the first time, but once you get it all in there, typically you will eat the same foods so its not so bad after a while.
  • Muana1005
    Muana1005 Posts: 172 Member
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    milesy1971 wrote: »
    yes in australia.......whenever i have tried monitoring foods - i find looking them up and logging them quite frustrating as finding exactly what you are having is not always listed

    Try being an Ango-Indian (via East Africa) lol. None of the food I eat is listed or if it is, it's for the Indian versions which often use more sugar and oil. Just create your own meals. It's a pain in the *kitten*, yes, but you'll eventually have a handy list of references for future use.

    Also, making educated guesses is okay. When I eat out with friends or my husband I usually assume the whole meal is approx 1k calories with drinks being extra. That doesn't mean I starve for the rest of the day, but I do ensure I eat more salad over the next few days. This balance has been key really to helping me keep my weight off so long.

  • Muana1005
    Muana1005 Posts: 172 Member
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    Oh and get a scale to weigh your food. Nothing too complex. But it'll help with accuracy.
  • edena001
    edena001 Posts: 137 Member
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    Food ideas, I usually stick with chicken and seafood, I tend to stay away from other meats, I find it keeps me a bit more on track, not sure why.

    This is my favourite at the moment!

    rice noodles(100-150g), 1egg, 3oz chicken and 100mushroom (adjust for people) then either soy sauce or curry powder and soy sauce (and fish sauce if you want) or plain but I find this my favourite meal. I sometimes add in shredded carrots and onions (but as I usually freeze this they don't freeze well). It's really quick and I find it filling.

    I find generally swapping out pasta for other stuff was good!
  • milesy1971
    milesy1971 Posts: 30 Member
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    do you guys have anythoughts on fitness bands as well............i got one and was all ready to use it tracking calories etc (i mean daily calorie usage calculated with hr) then the trainer at the gym put me off as he suggested that the caluclated amounts were well above what you would actually use since then i have not been convinced about using it
  • edlanglais5
    edlanglais5 Posts: 172 Member
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    milesy1971 wrote: »
    do you guys have anythoughts on fitness bands as well............i got one and was all ready to use it tracking calories etc (i mean daily calorie usage calculated with hr) then the trainer at the gym put me off as he suggested that the caluclated amounts were well above what you would actually use since then i have not been convinced about using it

    I've been considering one myself. I have an iPhone so Apple Watch would make sense. If and when I get one, I would make edits and adjustments as he data syncs, as I've heard similar issues with just about any of them. You paid for it so no sense in not using it. I would see if there is a way to edit data after syncing. If so, I would discount burnt calories by 20-25%.
  • milesy1971
    milesy1971 Posts: 30 Member
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    so i guess that would make sense - if you adjusted the calories burnt by say 25% across the board then aimed to reach the higher amount (did anyone understand that)
  • milesy1971
    milesy1971 Posts: 30 Member
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    ok checked and i can definatley adjust the activitiy calories but not the non actiivity calories
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
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    milesy1971 wrote: »
    yes in australia.......whenever i have tried monitoring foods - i find looking them up and logging them quite frustrating as finding exactly what you are having is not always listed

    I'm in Australia. What foods are you having trouble with?
  • nowine4me
    nowine4me Posts: 3,985 Member
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    I would suggest setting MFP to lose 1# per week and sedentary, then follow it accordingly. Log everything and eat back exercise calories. It's not easy, but it's simple.
  • brznhabits
    brznhabits Posts: 126 Member
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    I highly recommend just logging without any adjustment for two weeks. That will give you a baseline of what and how much you eat now that is causing you to gain.

    Then you can adjust, as suggested above, you can switch out things, eat smaller portions, etc.
  • edlanglais5
    edlanglais5 Posts: 172 Member
    edited June 2017
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    milesy1971 wrote: »
    ok checked and i can definatley adjust the activitiy calories but not the non actiivity calories

    Non activity calories are pretty accurate, I've read. So you should be in luck.

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