Hi everyone, this is my first post.
I wanted some thoughts and ideas from you all about my diet and exercise plan. I started it on May the 12th and my starting weight was 202lbs, current weight 188lbs and goal weight 126lbs. I go to the gym four times a week and do at least 45 min cardio and a mixture of weights for arms and strength training for my legs, stomach and bum. I cannot stand going to bed hungry and do find the evenings difficult. I have an anixety disorder as well which if im hungry and cant get to sleep as a tendancy to flare up. I work as a cleaner in the morning and start at 5.30am. I hope you can give me all some advice.
5.00am 1 slice of wholemeal toast with thinly spread wholenut peanut butter
6.45am banana
8.30am low cal cereal with wither blueberries or strawberries
12.30pm tuna or quorn salad with two desertspoons of low cal/ low fat salad dressing. 2 ryveta with thinly spead low fat olive spread.
3.00pm - low cal snack under 90cal and options hot choc under 40 cals.
6.00pm dinner under 520 cal (varies what I cook but its always healthy)
8.00pm pudding under 90 cal
9.30pm 1 slice of wholemeal toast thinly spread with low fat olive spread and reduced sugar jam.
During the day I drink green tea and low cal no added sugar squash.
I have a treat meal once a week where I eat whatever I want, which is normally a fatty greasy takeaway
Hi everyone, this is my first post.
I wanted some thoughts and ideas from you all about my diet and exercise plan. I started it on May the 12th and my starting weight was 202lbs, current weight 188lbs and goal weight 126lbs. I go to the gym four times a week and do at least 45 min cardio and a mixture of weights for arms and strength training for my legs, stomach and bum. I cannot stand going to bed hungry and do find the evenings difficult. I have an anixety disorder as well which if im hungry and cant get to sleep as a tendancy to flare up. I work as a cleaner in the morning and start at 5.30am. I hope you can give me all some advice.
5.00am 1 slice of wholemeal toast with thinly spread wholenut peanut butter
6.45am banana
8.30am low cal cereal with wither blueberries or strawberries
12.30pm tuna or quorn salad with two desertspoons of low cal/ low fat salad dressing. 2 ryveta with thinly spead low fat olive spread.
3.00pm - low cal snack under 90cal and options hot choc under 40 cals.
6.00pm dinner under 520 cal (varies what I cook but its always healthy)
8.00pm pudding under 90 cal
9.30pm 1 slice of wholemeal toast thinly spread with low fat olive spread and reduced sugar jam.
During the day I drink green tea and low cal no added sugar squash.
I have a treat meal once a week where I eat whatever I want, which is normally a fatty greasy takeaway
Hi, there!
Well, first of all, congratulations on your weight loss and developing a plan. Your plan looks great to me. The two components I see are exercise and calorie restriction. If you do those two things, you WILL lose weight!
Now, I do have some suggestions, but they are merely based on my own personal experiences. Take it with a grain of salt.
First off, I don't see a lot of protein in your diet. When I am calorie restricted, lean protein helps me stay full. For instance, adding an egg to your breakfast, beef jerkey to your snacks, and be sure that your lunch and dinner include a good portion of chicken, lean beef, or as you listed, tuna. I would aim for 50 to 100 grams of protein a day.
Also, you mentioned that you do not like to go to bed hungry. You may be interested in intermittent fasting. I currently fast for 16 hours a day. I do not eat from 9 pm to 1pm the next day. Therefore, I eat from 1pm to 9pm, and I can eat larger meals and eat right up to bedtime without exceeding my calorie budget. I have had great success with this combined with calorie counting. If you are interested, their are some threads on this website. Again it is called intermittent fasting.
Thanks for your reply. Yes I was wondering about the protein thing because I thought the same thing. I think I might go and get some eggs and try and incorporate them more in my diet. Intermittent fasting does appeal to me, defiently but I'am slightly concerned how I would manage it in terms of work etc. I probably could do it with some careful planning, it does seem ideal for someone like me who is prone to hunger pains before bed. Thanks, I will read up on it.
How are you feeling on this plan? What strikes me about it is that you are eating a TON of sugar/carbs (toast, fruit, pudding, etc) and very little protein. If I were on that diet, I would be starving all the time. What kind of stuff are you eating for your 'healthy' dinners?
If it is working for you, that's great, but otherwise I would increase your protein and your fats and lose some of the sugars. Eggs are great, so is Greek yogurt.
You might want to try logging your food at a site like myfitnesspal and see where your calories and macros (balance of fat/protein/carbs) wind up: then you can start to tinker to find the best eating plan for you.
A question - are you eating all the time because you read it was important to eat every 2-3 hours to keep your metabolism running or are you just a natural grazer?
If you like to eat all the time than by all means continue but there is no metabolic advantage to eating 5-6 times vs 2-3 times. Personally I prefer eating less often and eating larger meals.
I'am a natural grazer and eating every few hours suits me. I do have a sweet tooth and love carbs but I have swapped the white carbs for brown. I would love to be able to maybe cut out a bit of the sweet stuff but ultimatly I want to do a change for life and if I cut everything out I know I wont stick to it. I always thought fruit was okey??? I only have two portions of fruit a day. I do feel fine and feel like it is working for me but will defiently include more protein.
Fruit is generally fine; I lost most of my weight happily eating up to 5 pieces of fruit a day. lately, though, as I have gotten very close to a healthy weight, I have been working on swapping some of these fruit portions for protein. I bring Greek yogurt and chicken legs to work as snacks instead of
I think your plan looks okay, provided there is a lot of protein in that dinner. I personally would not choose pudding and toast for those evening snacks - there is an opportunity to get more nutrients there; I tend to eat greek yogurt and fruit as my after-dinner sweets. You might feel now that not having pudding every day is too restrictive and unsustainable, but I suggest you challenge yourself on that. Maybe cut it back to 2-3 times a week first and reach for a less empty item for those snacks on the other days.
The main thing is that the only way to know if your plan works for you is to try it out for a while - a couple of weeks to a month - and see how you feel, how easy it is to stick to. You can make tweaks as you go - you don't have to get it all right on day 1.
My own experience: I found as I went along that I could easily pass up a grain with dinner in exchange for a larger serving of protein and a huge amount of vegetables. I occasionally eat brown rice or bulgur or a whole-wheat chapatti with dinner on days when I have the calorie room but for the most part, I don't need it and I don't miss it. I'd rather spend the calories on other stuff. I think if you challenge yourself you will find that some of your toast and things like that can morph into more nutritious options over time.
Thanks carter that is really helpful. Yes last night I cut out the carbs for dinner and instead opted for more protein which I enjoyed. Although I was still hungry later on in the evening. I think I will aim to do this a few times a week. Maybe one day have extra protein and the other day have carbs with my dinner. In terms of pudding, I always make sure its under 90 cal. I'm not a big fan of greek yogurt so any other suggestions? Is toast bad? Even wholemeal kind?
I don't think there is anything wrong with the pudding or the toast inherently; what I am trying to say is that if you are finding yourself hungry, you might consider spending those calories on something that has more of the fat/protein/fiber combination that is what helps most people feel full. I think eating carbs with dinner some days and not other days is a GREAT approach - as I said it is what I do so of course I am partial to it.
Speaking just for myself, I have found that a heap of vegetables sauteed in garlic and a little bit of olive oil is a whole lot more satisfying to eat than a piece of toast for the same calories. I like volume in my meals so I eat a LOT of vegetables.
(Since you ask, in my opinion "whole grain" bread is not nutritionally all that different from any other bread. Take a look at the nutritional information on different packages of bread sometime. Whole grain bread has marginally more protein and fiber than white bread - really, really marginally. It's still bread - it's still mostly complex carbohydrates without a whole lot else going on, nutritionally. Don't get me wrong, I eat a turkey sandwich on whole grain bread almost every day - I don't think it's evil - I just don't think one should overstate its food value.)
Similarly Greek yogurt is not a magical elixir; it's just a good choice for a snack that packs a lot of protein punch for the number of calories in it. It doesn't have to be Greek yogurt - if there is some other kind of yogurt you like it's most likely still more nutritionally dense for the ~90 calories than that pudding is. Low-fat ricotta is another option.
I want to emphasize again that I don't really think there are "bad" foods and "good" foods, and I don't really think there is anything inherently wrong with your meal plan. What I am trying to say is just this: it looks like you are aiming for a fairly low calorie target, and if you want to feel satisfied and comfortable for those low calories, you might have to think about how to pack more protein/fat/fiber in to those calories. And that is going to mean reducing relatively empty carbohydrate items like toast and pudding, swapping them for combinations like egg/veggie, dairy/fruit, or nuts.
That is just based upon my experiences, and everyone is different. Keep experimenting, be patient, and you will keep discovering what works best for you!
Hi there, thanks for replying. I went and bought some eggs today so im going to try and incorporate them more in my diet. I also had a slice of ham mid afternoon instead of a snack bar. I might have a look at the ricotta when I go shopping as well. It's interesting what you said about white bread and brown bread being only marginally different. I do like seeded bread also and even though it has more calories it does make me feel more fuller. Thanks for your help and you have defiently given me some ideas to try out. x
my weight loss plan thoughts please
