Good food / Bad food help

Hi all,

wonder if any of you could help me.

Am currently 8Kg and am about 5ft9/10, I run 3 times a week - average of about 6 miles. I also go to a circuit (very intense) class on a wednesday. And most weeks play football one day a week. I therefore consider myself quite health, also this weight has not changed for the last few years.

However, whenever I do some sort of BIO index am overweight, I also have a bit of a belly on me. So... I've been trying to diet a little bit by following this kind of diet:

Mondays - Friday

Breakfast: 

  • 2 Coffees (in the morning)
  • 1 Banana
  • 1 Pear
  • 1 Yoghurt (I mix the type of yoghurt up a bit, so to not get bored)

Lunch:

  • Cereal / Muesli with Milk
  • 1 cup of tea.

Snack:

  • Bag of crisps (about 120calories)

Dinner:

  • Quite a healthy meal with a mix of veg (always have veg)
  • usualy some sort of meat.

I reckon for dinner we have about 600-700 calories.

Usualy this is followed by another cup of tea and maybe a couple of biscuits.

I try and drink 5-6 glasses of water (usualy mixed with squash) a day.

At weekends:

Breakfast:

  • Some Toast with Butter and Jam

or

  • Boiled Eggs with toast.

Lunch:

  • Sandwich

Dinner

  • similar meal to in the week.

Some weekends also a few drinks only on a saturday though.

 

Now am not sure where am going wrong, I know it sounds like am just another typical guy who is making it up as am going along. But this is honestly how my week looks and I could really do with some help.

Thanks all for taking your time to look at this and for all respones.

Regards,

crazy

 

Comments

  • Also-ranAlso-ran ✭✭✭

    Some comments / questions from me:

    - so you are a non drinker. Thats good - lots of hidden calories there

    - other than the biscuits you don't have a sweet tooth. No desserts, sweets, chocolate. Thats good - I admire yourdetermination

    - you are not using sports drinks inappropriately during exercise. You know what is in the various 'recovery' foods / drinks

    - you have your portion sizes well under control? You know for example what a single portion of rice or pasta looks like

    - you're going for heathy options e.g. skimmed milk, low fat spreads etc?

    - you're not eating highly processed foods, and foods labelled low fat that are full of sugar

    - you have a good grasp on your typical calorie intake e.g. using something like myfitnesspal on a sample of days

    It seems given the above that this is a mysteryimage

  • Well.. so you've caught me out there.

    • am not a none drinker - but I dont drink a lot - only saturdays as I mentioned - but never an awful lot.
    • Desserts - only occasionaly maybe one or two every other week. No chocolate though.
    • Sports drinks - never. Only Water when I exercise or indeed squash ( or cordial) maybe too much of that?
    • portion size - could be something to work on but usualyI cook for me other haf and me.. and its one cup of rice for two. One piece of chicken if we make say a curry. One piece of fish. Veg am geneours with.
    • generaly have no butter on sandiwches although am VERY partial to cheese. (snack on this sometimes - rarely) there is occasions where am so hungry when i get in i will eat a slice of bread with cheese. BUt I usualy run on those days.
    • Processed food - not that much.
    • Calorie intake - yes i even have sample data where ive used it for a couple of weeks.

    It is indeed a mystery - my thoughts were maybe to have a slightly dfferent diet written out? am really not sure what could be causing it? too much sugar in all meals?

    Thanks, for your response btw.. very much appreciated.

    Any ideas?

    Thanks image

  • CindersCinders ✭✭✭

    Have you tried writing down what you eat?  How much is "some toast" and "boiled egg" etc?  Maybe your portion sizes are bigger than you think?

  • hi Crazy, your just 8kg?

    Running can help any weight loss but shouldn't be the reason for running imho. 1 hour of running for me is around 500 calories (a slim guy) so to lose 1lb of weight from just running I'd need to run for 7 hours!

    Also Ran mentioned myfitnesspal.com, I've logged in there for 165 days now and since losing 17lbs fat and gaining 5lbs of LBM in February my weight has basically stayed the same. Providing calories out is greater than calories in you'll lose weight. 

    I've been weighing my food for so long I can now grab 25g of Almonds without needing the scalesimage

  • ha ha wow!

    Cinders - Yes i use myfitnesspal.. I think your both right... I think I need to start doing that for a few months!

    The trouble is that its hard work to remember everything throughout the day and then log it. Also I run about 3 hours a week so shold be losing 1/2 a pound - but i guess that doesnt just happen.

    I think I would quite like a diet plan of someone if anyone has one?

    Cheers for your responses guys.

    crazy

  • Also-ranAlso-ran ✭✭✭

    I just try to stick with the basics of portion size, non processed food etc rather than something too prescriptive.

    Where I tend to go wrong, its usually down to portions creeping up, or a bit of boredom eating, or the 'halo' effect of having been for a long run. When things start to creep up, getting back into myfitnesspal for a week or two usually sorts me out.

    Andi - I'm impressed you have a streak of 165 days - thats real determinationimage

     

  • yeah the halo is dangerous... its easy to think... ah ive been for a run that justfiys it!...

    Yeah Also- I think I will get back on that.

    Although please someone .. diet plan? lol

     

  • Txs Also ran, am lucky enough to work from home so log as I eat and the best bit is running calories burnt = Beer tokensimage 

    Crazy, I never really had a 'diet' plan,  was just logging what I ate and oft struggled to eat all the calories I needed though managed the off 3500-4000 cal day. Most of my food is cooked from fresh and use my slow cooker a lot so created a recipe over at MFP and was freezing 8-10 portions on each cook.

  • ha ha - am not massive on beer. but food tokens are equaly as good lol

     

    thats a brilliant idea.. freezing portions.. generaly what sort of food?

  • I have a few Bolognese recipes, a cool Chicken Leek and Mustard one (low fat version using Fillets as well) and stews etc, a bit of a boring cook. I'm also a big Smoothie drinker, normally for breakfast and they often top 1,000 calories for a 2 pint Shake, sets me up for the day image

  • Hi,

    You should perhaps try upping your mileage if your doing three six mile runs do two shorter ones (six miles ) and do one longer one say half marathon+ at a slower pace for purely weight loss. Then slowly increase the mileage every week. Go off road , run up and down hills run in fields on tracks on trails. Increase your miles , start throwing some interval training in. Eat wholemeal food, Pasta , rice , bread. Increase your protein intake. Chicken , eggs , fish , nuts. plenty off fruit . If you do this your weight will slowly come off I guarantee you. Oh and the days you are not running try and get down the gym, cross train , swim , core work , skipping all this will help. Don't go mad on energy gels and things just a few on longer runs ( I personally don't use them ) If you follow this and are dedicated you will not even have to worry about what you eat. Don't calorie count and stay off the scales just do a little more and you will get their.

  • Also-ranAlso-ran ✭✭✭

    I'm really not a fan of exercise / running more as the reason for running or as the primary method for losing weight. In peak mararathon training weeks when I was doing 70-80 miles pw, plus weights, and rowing. I was likely to put weight on. I'm very much in the camp that says you need an honest appraisal of what you eat.

    About 3 years ago I was going nowhere and had put on several stone over the years. I took a fairly big step for me, and went on the Harcombe Diet (Stop Counting Calories Start losing weight). I lost about  3 1/2 stone on that and plateued. The only exercise associated with this was walking. I still follow that diet in principle, but more importantly it gave a better insight into the fattening hormone insuline, and how to keep in control

  • Sounds to me like you need to do a proper calorie counting diary for a few days with *everything* recorded and the exact amounts (even resort to weighing if you don't know) and protein/carb/fat %s.  Based on what you said you should be running at a deficit even without the running!  I went through something similar a couple of years ago - swore blind I was on about 1900-2000 calories (BMR of 2400ish) so I should have been losing weight... I used Livestrong's Myplate for a week and lo and behold I was actually having about 2600 a day.. marginal gains as the GB cycling team like to say - it's often the "little" things like portion size of "healthy" stuff.  Once I knew, it was easy to sort out - and for me it was portion size - I'm still amazed at how little 1 normal portion actually is!  I also realised that calorie burn from exercise is usually less than you imagine.

    Ultimately it is all physics - if energy in less than energy out you *must* lose weight.

  • You perhaps need a bit more variety in your meals and to know about portion size, then weigh and measure stuff like cereal, milk, bread, potatoes, pasta etc.  

    Also, there will be hidden sugars and stuff in the cereal and muesli, you could try making your own granola, mix up the fruits and nuts to your own liking, cut down the sugar.  If you find a recipe that includes syrup get some Agave syrup, it's low GI and very nice (made by Groovy Foods, available in the supermarket, it'll be with the sugar substitutes or the gluten free stuff).

    I'd really recommend getting My Fitness Pal or Livestrong, you can also get either as an app if you've got a smart phone, which helps with logging during the day.

    Get a refillable oil-spray for using olive oil for cooking.  Or else measure it by the tablespoon.

    But first of all understand what you actually eat in calories and then you can start to work out what your biggest calorie spend is and how to make any necessary changes.

  • I'd also really recommend a book called Appetite for Destruction by Isa Chandra Moskowitz - it's vegan and low-fat which sounds like hell with all the fun removed!  But actually it's mostly really delicious and calorie-counted and healthy and full of vegetables, grains and pulses.  Her chilli recipes are out of this world.

    Another thing to find out is what fills you best.  I LOVE carbs with a passion, but I have found that protein actually fills me up better and for longer.  If I have an egg for breakfast I'm good for hours, if I have porridge I'm hungry within 2 hours.

    Your breakfast is around 300-320 calories, assuming the yogurt is a Muller Light.  You could have an egg or some bacon and a slice of wholemeal toast for the same, add a tomato for one of your 5-a-day.  But the protein might work better for you.

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