Weight loss burn out

Don't make the process so hard and so unrelentingly unpleasant that you give up.
Take a pause, maintain for a while. Consolidate that two months of progress and don't risk it by trying to white knuckle your way through.

Maintaining now is valuable practice for your future, it's a positive thing and not a sign of failure. Think of it like a project if you will. You plan, you commit but you also review progress along the way to learn lessons that might mean the plan should be tweaked and improved.

I failed to lose weight for 20 years because I thought dieting had to be constant restriction and steady progress to be successful.

I also agree with others, I'd take a break.
In fact I just spent the past 3 months maintaining because I was also feeling kinda tired (I'm technically normal weight but about 10lbs away from goal). I've been increasing my activity level and enjoying the bigger calorie allowance, and I'm now trying to slowly dip back into a deficit.

I've never been on a serious long term restrictive diet apart from spending a few months following a diet for stomach ulcers - and that was miserable enough (no fresh bread, fruit, or veggies was brutal), I can definitely sympathize

Can your dr. refer you to a nutritionist, maybe find some new recipes? Maybe if you shared the foods you can eat here, some of these wonderful resourceful people may be able to help you find new recipes?

To answer your original question - if it's nice, I go for a walk and look at other people's gardens or do some gardening of my own. If it's not nice, I try to tackle a job on my To-Do list so that I get a sense of achievement. These also distract me from why I'm feeling low. And I make sure I've eaten enough and drunk enough water.

I agree that a maintenance break for a couple of weeks is a good idea whilst you get to grips with your new restrictions but, as SaraKim says, if you let us know what you can't eat / what your diagnosis is, then people may be able to offer alternative suggestions. Also, are these permanent changes to your way of eating or are they temporary to correct a health issue / try to eliminate an intolerance?

Your Diary is public so I've had a look and see a number of ready made meals. As you normally enjoy cooking, could you challenge yourself to recreate some of those and perhaps add a twist to include something different that you like or to add more veg or protein etc?
Could you bake your own bread?
Could you have a full cooked breakfast on an irregular basis to break up the mornings? Perhaps at weekends or on days you're not at work if you work at weekends.
Why not make your own vegetable or lentil soup? A big pot would do for a few days.
Vary your salad ingredients and perhaps add things you may not have otherwise considered like artichoke hearts or roasted peppers (you can get them in jars in Tesco & Sainsburys in the antipasti section).
Are you able to eat other fish such as mackerel and sardines? They'd be a change for your lunchtime salads.
Could you make something like a vegetarian tagine to go on couscous? Vegetable cheesey-pasta bakes? Different types of curries?

More importantly, what exercise are you doing?  And how are you calculating the calories burned?  Your diary shows that you're seemingly burning 900 - 1300 calories a day which seems an awful lot. But you're also regularly ending your day with 500-1000 left to eat which, if accurate, is really not good and may well be contributing to why you're feeling low. Some of your entries are for 0.5 pack or 1 piece or 3 medium strawberries etc, rather than by weight, but that's not going to make up for under-eating several hundred calories a day.

Can you experiment with herbs and spices to add additional flavour to your food to make it more enjoyable? It might also bring a bit more passion to you with cooking.

JK1542020 wrote: »

SaraKim17 wrote: »

ReenieHJ wrote: »

Can your dr. refer you to a nutritionist, maybe find some new recipes? Maybe if you shared the foods you can eat here, some of these wonderful resourceful people may be able to help you find new recipes?

🔝 This. If you share your condition or what you can/can't eat, people will probably be able to help. (I definitely believe that food should be enjoyed.) 💕

Thank you.

Things I CAN'T eat: pasta, bread (even gluten free), couscous, gluten, white processed carbs, potatoes, sugar, fruit other than occasional berries, meat, dairy especially milk or low fat dairy, processed soya. I do however still eat dairy cheese and greek yogurt because I find it very hard to quit on top of everything else but I shouldn't really.

Things I can eat: Fish, eggs, coconut milk, plant milks, veggies, berries in small portions, oats, sweet potatoes, black or wild rice, quinoa, beans, legumes, lentils, nuts, avocado, seeds. That's really it 😬 I am cheating by having cheese as well but I shouldnt be really. I can have organic non GMO tofu or tempeh.

Any ideas most welcome! Generally I am living on oats or eggs for breakfast, lunch salad of some sort, dinner...disaster. some combination of the above I dont enjoy.

assuming you're ok with cheese i have a nice salmon casserole recipe. And assuming tomatoes are OK? I'm not sure if they fall under fruit or veg.

1 cup cooked quinoa
1-2 cups salmon, chopped in chunks
1-2 cups frozen green beans, peas or corn (really any veg)
1 onion chopped (however much you like)
1 large (19 oz) can of stewed tomatoes
1-2 tbsp oil
Salt ans pepper to taste
And cheese if you want, just mix a little in at the end perhaps?

Cook the quinoa. Then add oil to the hot pan. Add salmon and onion and some salt and pepper. Before salmon is cooked through, add the rest of the ingredients except the cheese. Mix and simmer for a little bit. Then add cheese if you want it. Its pretty simple... but possibly an option? Maybe just something different than usual?

OP: ALL YOU NEED TO DO TO LOSE WEIGHT: is eat at a caloric deficit.

Nothing more. Nothing less.

The TYPE of food you eat may affect your satiety to some (or even a substantial) degree but it does NOT determine your loss or gain of weight.

You will store or lose fat based on your caloric surplus or deficit.

While I would not advocate that you only eat fatty steaks and chocolate bars for food, absent moral objections to the non vegan aspect, you will not DAMAGE your health by OCCASIONALLY eating a fatty steak or some chocolate. OK: absent specific moral *or health issues* that precludes eating them--occasionally and in an appropriate quantity.

From a weight loss perspective, if you're losing at the rate you selected and it's not too rapid, then you're clearly eating at the right level, despite your diary showing lots of exercise calories and therefore lots of uneaten cals each day.

Similar to @PAV8888, I'm also intrigued by the list of foods though. I've seen plenty of medical professionals about food intolerances over the years and I'm interested in why some foods have been banned whilst others have not. It seems odd that you've been told not to eat any meat and that you can't have brown rice. Is there a common factor that isn't glaringly obvious?

Who gave you the list of allowed / not allowed foods? Was it someone you were referred to by your GP or was it someone you sought out yourself? Did you get further information to go away and research a more extensive list of foods that are OK? If not, could you do that? There are so many different foods out there that aren't mentioned on either list.

It may be worth contacting your GP and asking if you can have a chat. If you were referred by your GP, talk about how restrictive the diet is and the impact it's having on you mentally re preparing meals. Ask whether there's more you could be eating to widen the menu choices. Also, find out whether it's a short term thing to try to reset something in your body as that may make life more bearable. My last intolerance test (10 years ago) meant laying off a long list of foods and drinks for three months. It was awful (yeast is in a lot of stuff), but at least I knew I could slowly reintroduce things after that time.

If you were not referred by your GP, it would still be worth talking to him or her to ask if you can be referred to a Registered Dietician for a second opinion. Have your list of foods to hand but be aware that your GP probably doesn't have dietician training so may not be able to give advice.

In the meantime, see if you can find any almond flour (try Holland & Barrett) or buy a big bag of ground almonds as you can bake using that. Or make your own oat flour using your porridge oats and have a go at making pasta. That would open up more options. You could also make your own flatbread using oat flour, which would give you wraps for lunch or a pizza base or something to scoop up curries with. Alternatively, get some gram flour (made from chickpeas) and make your own vegetable pakoras or chapattis, or even try using it as a substitute for regular flour in absolutely anything.

Oatcakes with your salad or topped with a spread and some salmon and cucumber might be a welcome addition to your lunch choices. I prefer Tesco's own brand to Nairns but that's personal choice. You can also make your own houmous (or just buy it) as chickpeas must fall under legumes. I'd definitely look at other tinned fish to widen your repertoire. Beyond that, look at making vegetable or seafood curries and stirfries. You can have curries on the black rice. You don't need to have rice or noodles with the stirfries - I prefer to just have a big pile of veggies with protein mixed through it or a salmon fillet on top. Definitely look at adding more herbs and spices to your cupboard (or using what you have) as that will break the monotony. I find a salmon fillet, baked on a layer of sliced lemons and a sprinkling of dill, very tasty.