Is my diet why i feel tired most days? What am i missing?

fairy_lights

Lidl do cheaper nuts than Tesco.

DSmiffy

Hi, just putting my tuppence in here......
I was the same as you OP, always tired and falling asleep mid afternoon, no energy whatsoever.
Went to the Docs and he tested me for Coeliac Disease, turns out I'm gluten intolerant.
I was having a sandwich every lunch time and falling asleep by 2pm.

Changed my diet completely and now I am wide awake all day, big difference.

Looks like you don't have much bread in your diet but gluten is also found in many other things, maybe try a week excluding it from your diet and see if it makes a difference.
Just a thought.

dixon-bainbridge

WannaBLoaded wrote: »

Just googled it, seems like an app so i will see if i can get it on my phone. - Yes, any android or apple gizmo will run it. There is also a website.

Maybe i need to log my food intake for a few days and calorie count to see where i am going wrong. - I would recommend this very highly! I would log for at least a month.

Are you into exercise and healthy food then? Like a fitness freak sort of thing?

WannaBLoaded wrote: »

I agree, i'm a mess. Got this week off though and have been sorting my life out a bit, just got a smartphone for the first time in years (a moto g) and put some fitness apps on it like zombie run as someone here suggested. - Good choice zombie run is awesome. Fitocracy is also good with helpful people.

My mars and crisps in the day is very much because i don't put the effort into prepare the night before, i don't want to eat it, it makes me feel like i am being unhealthy. - You are, a very poor lunch choice but you know that.

Ideally i would like some help planning a diet that will give me energy. - I've already given you a big list of foods, but here goes again - red meat, poultry, vegetables, fruit, nuts, seeds, fish, rice, wholemeal bread, milk, greek yogurt.

In the morning i can;t eat too much but can manage to eat something like maybe a zero fat yogurt which i sometimes do, maybe i could stomach a bit of brown bread? But then i will be eating bread again at lunch. - stop eating anything labelled 'low-fat'. THEY ARE NOT HEALTHIER. The fat which is removed is replaced with sugar or sweetners which are worse then the fat. If this is all you eat for breakfast no wonder you are tired.

For lunch i think i can manage a brown pita or something with some meat and salad and fruit and nuts. Hopefully that makes me more energetic. - Yes, good choice for lunch.

For dinner i can't see me wanting to make anything other than chicken salads or steak and maybe some veg like broccoli. - Every night? You will get bored of it and go back to take aways. Mix it up!

Just need to work out if that is enough energy for me. - I doubt it. Like I said you need to calculate the caloires you need (via myfitnesspal) and look to see if you are eating that amont (I'm gonna to guess you are not but I do not know your weight or height)

I am partial to a grenade protein bar, they seem relatively healthy? Shop brought protein bars are usually loaded with sugar and other preservatives. You can get the same effect from eating a banana and some nuts.

I am trying to keep a low body fat but add a bit of muscle. Building muscle is not an easy thing to do, you need to eat the right foods and workout hard. Until you are a bit more knowledgable about a good diet I would just stick to losing fat for now.

I just want to hammer home a few points:
Anything that had a face, grows or is a single ingredient is usually a natural healthy food - eat it!
Don't avoid fat - it is healthy and good for you!
Track what you eat - it will identify if you are eating enough or not enough and also see what macronutrients you are lacking.
Stop trying to be perfect - it is fine to have a mars bar as a treat. If you have a bad day don't worry about it and focus on being good the next day.

You said you were struggling with meals so here are some ideas:

Breakfast:
Scrambled egg on toast, poached egg on toast (add spinach if you want), avacado on toast, omeltte, porridge oats with nuts, seeds, fruit, kippers, greek yogurt with fruit, nuts etc. Fruit smoothie. You don't even need to have traditional breakfast foods - eat chicken if you want.

Lunch:
Salad + protein: chicken, turkey, fish, beans, cheese. Make salalds a bit more interesting by adding some nuts, seeds, avacado, fruit (pomegranet seeds are awesome). Dress with some lemon, olive oil and balsamic vineger if you like.
Coronation chicken, cold rice, tinned fish (tuna, mackeral etc), cous cous, quinoa, left over roasted vegetables are very nice cold for lunch, cold pasta salad.

Dinner:
Steak with sweet potato fries and veg (replace steak with chicken or what ever else you like).
Pesto chicken with veg and boild potatoes
Salmon in soy sauce with roasted veg.
Stuffed roasted butternut squash

The list is endless...

WannaBLoaded

Thanks for the further detail Dixon. I think i have a better understanding of what i need to do to get the energy i need now. I will try to eat more over the coming days and report back with my energy levels.

dixon-bainbridge

Great, good luck with it!

katsu

I personally love the carbs and cals app but I don't think it matters much what app you use.

Carbs and cals sets daily targets for carbs, cals,protein and fat based on your weight/bmi and if you want to maintain, gain or lose weight. I assume any app can help you with that.

Using the app showed me where I was against targets, how I need to up my veg eating as it tracks 5 a day too, and how exercise gives me back calories.

I find it a useful exercise to use the app so agree with the recommendation that you try one so you can see how you feel on different meals etc.

LondonGirl252

Heya OP


Just to add... the "Health Eating" recipe book by Sainsburys is really good... gives great balanced recipe ideas with the traffic lights at the bottom and they're really quick and simple... I have been using this book to pick some recipes for the week ahead and order an online shop to arrive the Sunday evening.


I often take leftovers for lunch or save for another dinner.
Good luck!
Also the forums on My Fitness Pal are just as helpful as this one... if you log your food on there for a while you can then open up your diary and request some critique and feedback on what you ate!

ricardinho88

katsu wrote: »

I personally love the carbs and cals app but I don't think it matters much what app you use.

Carbs and cals sets daily targets for carbs, cals,protein and fat based on your weight/bmi and if you want to maintain, gain or lose weight. I assume any app can help you with that.

Using the app showed me where I was against targets, how I need to up my veg eating as it tracks 5 a day too, and how exercise gives me back calories.

I find it a useful exercise to use the app so agree with the recommendation that you try one so you can see how you feel on different meals etc.

The only app I can find under that name is £3.99. Is that the one? I've read the reviews for it and it doesn't sound great for the money.

katsu

ricardinho88 wrote: »

The only app I can find under that name is £3.99. Is that the one? I've read the reviews for it and it doesn't sound great for the money.

That sounds like the right price. I like the photos of foods on plates with cutlery to help you with portion size when eating out. I've never tried my fitness pal so can't compare them.

AliceBanned

You are cutting corners too much - time some time to prepare some fresh natural food and get plenty of variety. Pumpkin seeds are high in magnesium which is important for the muscles. Sunflower seeds are great too. They both have good fats and add some protein. Both of these can be toasted for 3 or 4 mins in a dry pan and added to dishes - also have porridge made in the microwave with oats and water, and add some flaked almonds to give it texture and a bit of honey or maple syrup to flavour it - only a tiny bit of this to sweeten it is needed.




Sounds like you are craving the wrong foods at lunchtime because your body needs slow release carbs, as one of the others said. Your diet sounds unenjoyable and not very nourishing - you need to still enjoy food (apart from sugar, which you can wean yourself off and replace with slow-release carbs to prevent cravings). I got the Hairy Dieters' cookbook recently and find it pretty good - they enjoy food but lost weight! I am trying to lose weight around the middle but am changing my diet quite a lot and my lifestyle as I know it is tough to shift it. Unfortunately when it comes to sugar it is 'no pain, no gain' and you have to stop those blood sugar levels spiking and dropping if you want to to trim the waistline. If you read up on nutrition you might find it inspires you to introduce new foods into your diet. It's worth the extra effort and you might find you enjoy spending a bit of time learning more about food. I heard recently that 80% of weight loss is down to diet - only 20% to exercise. Also it's the type of calories that matter, not the amount of calories - mars bars instead of lunch over time will mess with your metabolism, and the spike and drop in blood sugar will certainly make you more tired. If you crave certain foods it's good to try alternatives. eg I crave crisps when I get home and am hungry after work, so I now have rice cakes with hummus or sugar-free peanut butter, or a few olives and hummus. It's all about enjoying new flavours and textures but not sticking to old habits and cravings.