23 overweight and struggling a bit!

LE3

I have found that just tracking what I eat in a tool like MyFitnessPal has made a huge difference. I am now aware of calories & can 100% see where my problems lie - for me it's that I am a complete carb addict - I could live on bread (& cheese, life without cheese is a life not worth living!)
I am still not eating great, but at least I have found my weakness & can now start to work on that!

Small changes can make a huge difference!

LE3

Wow FireFox, I have just read your post & I'm overwhelmed by what you say we SHOULD be eating - I can't even imagine how to fit that into an ordinary day! I cannot see how I could get NINE portions of fruit & veg in, seriously! I'm a bit awkward to feed anyway due to some allergies/intolerances but any chance you could suggest a couple of days worth of menu you would recommend to get that sort of nutrition in - if you can't have breakfast cereals what would you recommend for breakfast for instance that's practical when dashing off to work? or for a packed lunch ..?

rdchick

wowserino!

They are some serious tips!

Yes I need to go to the GP for a whole list of things... and my eating is one of them!

I struggle with 3 portions of fruit and veg a day and sometimes even 1 :eek:

By bloating I mean my tummy feels like it's been blown up with a pump! I don't really suffer with constipation etc.

The salads I have been having and not had anything fizzy all day... but I guess you could be right with the acid thing - other things that give me acid are pineapple and orange juice... infact most citrusy fruits

I wish you could just press the 'reset' button xxx

bookgirl_2

LE3 wrote: »

I have found that just tracking what I eat in a tool like MyFitnessPal has made a huge difference. I am now aware of calories & can 100% see where my problems lie - for me it's that I am a complete carb addict - I could live on bread (& cheese, life without cheese is a life not worth living!)
I am still not eating great, but at least I have found my weakness & can now start to work on that!

Small changes can make a huge difference!

I agree - I've started using myfitnesspal this week and it makes you competitive about calories. Logging everything is quick and you soon start to spot where the unnecessary calories are coming from!

Fire_Fox

LE3 wrote: »

Wow FireFox, I have just read your post & I'm overwhelmed by what you say we SHOULD be eating - I can't even imagine how to fit that into an ordinary day! I cannot see how I could get NINE portions of fruit & veg in, seriously! I'm a bit awkward to feed anyway due to some allergies/intolerances but any chance you could suggest a couple of days worth of menu you would recommend to get that sort of nutrition in - if you can't have breakfast cereals what would you recommend for breakfast for instance that's practical when dashing off to work? or for a packed lunch ..?

Allergies are a challenge but *some* intolerance are down to an imbalance in the gut flora. IBS can really be helped with a course of friendly bacteria (acidophilus) plus a high dose fish body oil supplement (anti-inflammatory). Also many people don't chew their food nearly enough, then wonder why they get indigestion or trapped wind. Some eat too large a portion of wheat, processed/ refined wheat or wheat too often then think they are intolerant when they get negative effects.

I've done the nine a day - I loathed veggies and fish made me gag when I started! - and all it takes is organisation and cunning. You absolutely have to begin with two at breakfast. Bear in mind beans/ lentils/ fruit juice count once per day each, things like tomato paste, creamed coconut, dried fruit are easy adds and there are loads of delicious ones available now. Frozen or canned veggies are fine. Sweet potato is a vegetable, white potato is not.

Breakfast
Limiting processed breakfast cereals is not no breakfast cereal - muesli (jumbo oats, barley flakes), with loads of nuts, seeds and interesting dried fruit for texture and sweetness. Soak in plenty of plain yoghurt plus one to two portions of fresh fruit mixed in - frozen mixed berries for speed and flavour. Other breakfasts include large homemade smoothie (banana, frozen berries or canned fruit drained of juice, whey protein powder, fresh milk or milk powder). Omega-enriched eggs and baked beans with an extra squirt of tomato paste. Porridge: jumbo oats with a portion of fresh fruit and a portion of dried fruit - soak the oats in the milk overnight and microwave for speed. Protein bar or high quality nut/ seed/ oat bar (eg. Jordans) or protein bar (eg. Promax Diet) with a banana and an apple. Massive fruit salads with canned evaporated milk or low fat soft cheese is lush and filling - think four to five portions in a soup plate. Can sprinkle with Grape Nuts cereal, chopped nuts or wheatgerm for texture. Breakfast scrambled eggs (mushrooms, tomatoes, onion, frozen spinach). Souffle omelette with sweetener, canned peaches and berries. Small glass of pink grapefruit juice, tomato juice or apple/ cranberry juice with any of the above.

Lunches
Massive homemade salads - canned beans OR lentils OR brown basmati rice OR cooked pearl barley, two little portions of protein for interest (hardboiled egg plus fatless bacon, sliced almonds plus chicken, half fat grated cheese plus turkey sausage), at least three other veggies - one green, one red, one yellow for colour. By all means have leaves but don't make that the main body of the salad because 80g is massive yet not really that filling. Don't be frightened of adding fresh or dried fruit to salads for flavour and variety.

Canned oily fish pate (pilchards in tomato sauce or pink salmon with all the bones mashed together with low fat soft cheese) and Ryvita or oatcakes and vegetable sticks. Houmous and salsa or guacamole with vegetable sticks and toasted brown pitta. If you have a microwave you can have baked beans or jacket sweet potato or leftovers from evening meals. Easy homemade vegetable soups - frozen broccoli and stilton, minestrone with cheese using canned beans and jar pasta sauce, lentil and coconut, Moroccan mixed bean, cream of frozen cauliflower with low fat soft cheese, chicken onion and sweetcorn, frozen carrot and leek, petit pois and ham etc. Use a leakproof container or take a portion out of the freezer just as you leave for work. If you have sandwiches use pitta bread, granary bread or stoneground wholemeal bread and have open sandwiches so the ratio changes - practically this means make the filling and carry the bread separately to work.

Dinners
This is where you can get the rest of your nine a day. Massive stir fries (can be steamed in the microwave) with Chinese or Thai sauce, chicken and/ or frozen prawns, vegetable and bean curries (little meat or creamed coconut), chilli con carne with extra grated carrot sweetcorn and red lentils, roasted whole vegetables (peppers, field mushrooms, aubergine, beefsteak tomatoes, sweet potato) stuffed with bolognese sauce, cauliflower cheese with brocolli and red onion, roasted whole trout or fresh sardines with roasted Mediterranean vegetables olives and feta, vegetable frittata, stew or casserole with loads of root veggies and beans or lentils.

Personally I can't eat a plate of meat and veg all separate on the plate too often because it is boring, I need sauces and mixed meals. Remember your portion size for meat is ~100g, hard cheese is 30g, also weigh out your carbs if you have grains like pasta or rice <50g. Cook extra of any evening meal than will reheat for lunch or later in the week, also do salads two days at a time. Consider a slow cooker and hand stick blender for smoothies and soups - both are very cheap. If you don't eat a wide variety of foods challenge yourself to eat one new variety of fruit, vegetable, bean or lentil every time you go to the supermarket.

rdchick

tonight I will be having stir fry with chicken and chinese sauce When I make a meal I generally make a healthy one... but my problem is I don't make enough meals! Firefox your suggestions are awesome though, thank you xxx

Fire_Fox

rdchick wrote: »

wowserino!

They are some serious tips!

Yes I need to go to the GP for a whole list of things... and my eating is one of them!

I struggle with 3 portions of fruit and veg a day and sometimes even 1 :eek:

By bloating I mean my tummy feels like it's been blown up with a pump! I don't really suffer with constipation etc.

The salads I have been having and not had anything fizzy all day... but I guess you could be right with the acid thing - other things that give me acid are pineapple and orange juice... infact most citrusy fruits

I wish you could just press the 'reset' button xxx

What is in your salads - veggies are not much more than water, vitamins, minerals and a little fibre? No protein, fat or carbs to sop up acid. You also might find there is an element of withdrawal from the caffeine in the cola which can upset the stomach and of course the absence of the laxative effect.

IMO get some freeze-dried acidophilus capsules and triple strength fish oil capsules (3g DHA and EPA a day). Work up to the nine a day, aim for five at first. I never liked healthy foods, so I had to make myself eat better to begin with - I started with canned fruit salad, tuna sarnie with sweetcorn and tomato, baked beans, canned veg soup. Then I added fresh healthy foods one by one: I quickly learned to enjoy veggies in things like stir fries and coconut curries so I ate those constantly. Since then I have had clients do likewise, work out what veggies and fruit they can tolerate in what format and what they will always loathe. I still refuse to eat a single sprout or roasted carrot at Christmas!

maman

I'm older than you but much the same height and I was the same weight and dress size. Being tall (I'm 5ft 9), I didn't look particularly overweight but I knew I was and I hated it!

I joined SW both for the plan and the support. it's not a diet but a healthy eating plan that you can continue with even after you've acheived your target weight. I took 10 months to lose the 3.5 stone that I wanted and I'm now a small size 12 and have been for over a year. Nothing is banned and there's almost no measuring/weighing. It's just common sense really. Eat as much healthy food as you like (fruit/veg/lean meat) but keep 'treats' like cakes, biscuits, sweets, fatty foods and alcohol to a minimum. If you exercise as well, you'll lose the weight faster. When you get to the weight you'd like to be you just add in a few more things like a bit more bread or cheese or have a day/meal off now and again for a special occasion but otherwise just keep going with your Healthy Eating plan.

As you probably realise I'm a convert to SW but some of my friends have had success with myfitnesspal which is calorie counting. The basic message is that you need a plan and the motivation to stick with it. Going to a SW group really helped me (although I still loathe the 'happyclappy' part) and there's a great thread on here for mutual support and advice. Good Luck.

angelil

runninglea wrote: »

I have found that by having the breakfast i'm not snacking during the day.

You must be superhuman then! I have a proper breakfast every morning (cereal, toast, juice, coffee, and sometimes fruit), but quite early (7.00), often don't get lunch until 1pm, and then we usually don't have dinner until 8.00 or 9.00 at night (husband works late and it's no fun eating a meal on your own lol). To manage those massive gaps with no snacks...well, you just tell me how

A lot of the advice being dispensed here is good but some of it is just unrealistic. Diet drinks (for me) were a good way of managing cravings for food and I often found that if I had some diet soda I was less inclined to snack (note - as per the above - snack cravings do not go away completely unfortunately!). Equally, I don't think it's advisable for anyone trying to diet to go completely cold turkey on junk food. When I do that it just leads to a binge where I eat horrific amounts of the stuff.

Equally, to dismiss "diet bars" as having no value whatsoever to anyone (I still use them, and no longer diet) is erroneous. Some of them are rubbish, I agree - so full of sugar that you might as well eat the chocolate bar you wanted in the first place But many of them are made of pure fruit and nuts, and cold pressed rather than baked, and can make up one of your five a day as well...just in a far more convenient, less messy format than, say, fresh fruit. Ready meals - I do agree there. Most of them are unethical anyway, containing poorly-treated animals, as well as being very expensive.

If it were that easy to do all of these things, too, plenty more people would do them sooner and achieve their goals. I personally don't mind going for a run in the morning and am also a good swimmer. But given that I a) have to leave the house at 7.20 each morning, b) have a 2.5-hour round trip commute each day, c) give private tuition three evenings a week, d) have driving lessons twice a week, e) have to prepare dinner when I do get in so that it's ready for when my husband gets back [late, as mentioned above] and f) am totally wiped out when it comes to the weekend thanks to ABCD combined...just tell me when I'm supposed to find the time to go for a run or a swim?!

And for all that, I'm 5'6" and a size 10, and have been that now for more than a year...so in spite of it all and not following the advice some of you suggest it seems I'm doing OK

(Perhaps that's because I eat a mostly vegetarian diet! If you do it properly - to those who were asking - you should easily be able to get 5-9 portions of fruit and veg in per day FireFox's plan is excellent )

PollyOnAMission

I must say that Fire Fox has given some great advice! I've just completed a six week NHS healthy eating/nutrition course and that's exactly what we were taught. I started sticking to the recommended proportions and portion sizes of the "Eat Well Plate" (http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/Goodfood/Pages/eatwell-plate.aspx) and can honestly say that I stopped craving rubbish and sweet things almost immediately. I found I was easily getting up to twelve portions of fruit and veg a day, for example:

Breakfast - including one glass of fruit juice and some sultanas with cereal
Lunch - cous cous including peppers, radishes, dried apricots with side salad of mixed leaves and cherry tomatoes
Snacks - Fruit salad with three types of fruit, celery sticks, cucumber sticks, carrot sticks
Dinner - tomato sauce based homecooked meal including veg e.g. courgettes, mushrooms

The meals have more than that in (carbs, protein etc) but I've only listed the fruit and veg bits. I found that I just added extra veg to everything I could (and fruit too to a certain degree) and it just mounted up.

I also think it's very important to a steady intake of good carbs; I certainly don't buy into these low carb/high fat/high protein diets, especially not as a long term solution. It's just not healthy and think what all the fat will be doing to your arteries. I'd much rather lose weight more slowly and be healthy than lose it rapidly and ruin my health.