please help! Is this a healthy or unhealthy diet?

seething101
seething101 Posts: 10 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
For Breakfast I usually have a banana and 2 pieces of toast. For lunch I have I have juice and more toast, or usually I have apples with cheddar cheese. For dinner I usually have some veggies or rice, white chicken or salmon. Is this a balanced diet? Im trying to maintain my weight, and wondered if this type of diet would promote weight gain. I am usually lightly active each day except for weekends.

Replies

  • mph323
    mph323 Posts: 3,565 Member
    You lose weight by consuming fewer calories than you burn. Put your stats into the MFP calculator and look at the number of calories it gives you as a target. Eat a variety nutrient-dense food that you like (the foods you listed are a good example) while hitting your macro and micro nutrient goals (those goals are calculated for you when you set up your profile). Read the sticky threads at the top of the forum to learn how to use MFP. Good luck! :)
  • pogiguy05
    pogiguy05 Posts: 1,583 Member
    I completely agree with everyone to use MFP and put in your stats and see what it says you daily calorie goal should be, then stay in that window.

    Be honest just like today I went over, but it is only one day. Food scale and weigh and log everything.

    Also logging will show you your other intakes like sodium. Cheese has a surprisingly good amount. However not knowing portion sizes makes tell you anything impossible.
  • RuNaRoUnDaFiEld
    RuNaRoUnDaFiEld Posts: 5,864 Member
    That sounds low in protein and vegetables to me but without weights etc can't say for sure.
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    It sounds very boring and not very nutritious. Whether you'll gain on it depends on how many calories it is, and whether you'll be able to stick to it. I silently wonder why you would ask randoms if your diet is healthy, without providing any stats nor quantites, but I guess you really don't know what a healthy diet is. It's a bit sad, but it's really simple:

    A healthy diet provides you with enough of all the nutrition you need every day and not too much of anything (including total calories) over time. The calorie and macro targets MFP gives you when you tell it that maintenance is your goal, and enter your stats, is a good starting point. A healthy diet can be composed in a number of ways and should be easy to stick to.
  • tinkerbellang83
    tinkerbellang83 Posts: 9,129 Member
    The only thing that will promote weight gain is eating more than you burn over time.

    Agree with above, no way of knowing if this is the case with the info given, it does sound very boring/bland and not very varied, is this what you intend to eat for the rest of your life? If not then no it won't help you maintain your weight.

    You can eat anything to maintain your weight as long as your calories out balance with your calories in. For nutrition you should make sure you are getting at the very least your minimum recommended amounts of protein and fats.
  • H_Ock12
    H_Ock12 Posts: 1,152 Member
    Unless you're having a large amount of chicken or salmon with dinner, your diet seems very low in protein and fat, very high in carbohydrates. Not really "Balanced". Try a breakfast sandwich with eggs and meat. Maybe a sandwich/salad/frozen entree for lunch. Your dinner sounds like your most balanced meal of the day.
  • mitch16
    mitch16 Posts: 2,113 Member
    Weigh it, log it--what does it look like with respect to calories, macronutrients, micronutrients? There is another webpage out there (I forget the name) that you can use to track specific vitamins/minerals...

    If the total calories consumed are less than your total daily expenditure, you will lose weight; more will cause you to gain weight. You'll maintain if they are approximately equal.
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,423 Member
    Log it and see if it meets your goals.
    It looks low on protein and not enough food for someone who is lightly active to maintain on.
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  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    Nony_Mouse wrote: »
    Why not enter this info into your MFP diary and see what it says? It's really hard to say without knowing amounts, and also what your calorie requirements are and if you are meeting them. I'd say you're possibly short on protein, and haven't heard any mention of fats (eg, do you butter your toast? Use oils for cooking and salads?).

    For weight loss/maintenance/gain, it's not what you eat, it's how many calories. The choices of foods goes towards nutrition.

    This.

    I'd also say that without knowing more it seems like you are short on protein and vegetables (maybe calories, maybe fiber, maybe healthy fats too), but logging would provide more information.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
    seething101 wrote: »
    For Breakfast I usually have a banana and 2 pieces of toast. For lunch I have I have juice and more toast, or usually I have apples with cheddar cheese. For dinner I usually have some veggies or rice, white chicken or salmon. Is this a balanced diet? Im trying to maintain my weight, and wondered if this type of diet would promote weight gain. I am usually lightly active each day except for weekends.

    A healthy diet is simply eating foods that will provide adequate nutrition without overeating to the point that you become overweight. Variety is useful as it makes getting all your vitamins and minerals easier.

    Calories will determine if you gain weight or not. Diet content will determine if you get adequate nutrients or not.
  • Sunna_W
    Sunna_W Posts: 744 Member
    Check out the USDA Food Nutrition Service (FNS) for ideas:
    https://fns-prod.azureedge.net/sites/default/files/cacfp/CACFP_adultmealpattern.pdf
  • thegeans
    thegeans Posts: 42 Member
    You're already here. Use the tools.
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,626 Member
    thats sad and depressing and boring.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    seething101 wrote: »
    For Breakfast I usually have a banana and 2 pieces of toast. For lunch I have I have juice and more toast, or usually I have apples with cheddar cheese. For dinner I usually have some veggies or rice, white chicken or salmon. Is this a balanced diet? Im trying to maintain my weight, and wondered if this type of diet would promote weight gain. I am usually lightly active each day except for weekends.

    Not really...seem very low in protein as well as very low in fat and very low calorie. If weight maintenance is your goal and you're lightly active then this is likely far too few calories.

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