Rate my Diet

Noddy33

Just looking for feedback on my diet which wud be something similar each day as below.i currently weigh around 15st 4lbs and would like to lose around 8lbs.

Breakfast-
3 boiled eggs
2 slices of wholemeal brown bread with butter
Bowl of Rice Krispies with milk

Lunch-
Bowl of soup
Chicken wrap with coleslaw and onion
Yoghurt

Dinner:
Two chicken fillets with some pasta and tomato sauce

MFP shows calorie count around 2,400-2,500 but any suggestions to how I could get this to nearer the 2,000 mark ?

Keane2baMused

For a start I would cut out one of the eggs and one of the slices of bread at breakfast.

At lunch swap out the coleslaw for fresh salad and a small amount of relish if you need a sauce. Add more veg in at dinner and reduce down the amount of pasta.

You don't say what exercise you do (if any) but increasing it would help also.

Alf Veedersane

Eat less.

That's a lot of breakfast for a start and you could trim the lunch.

Veg with the chicken fillet for dinner.

Noddy33

Keane2baMused wrote: »

For a start I would cut out one of the eggs and one of the slices of bread at breakfast.

At lunch swap out the coleslaw for fresh salad and a small amount of relish if you need a sauce. Add more veg in at dinner and reduce down the amount of pasta.
Would a brown bread sandwich with
You don't say what exercise you do (if any) but increasing it would help also.

I should add I'm 6'3 and big build so it's not that I short with s big gut.i wud just like to lose half a stone to be more lean.i play 7aside soccer twice a week and do one circuits class in gym.

Would a brown bread sandwich with chicken,tomatoes and salad be healthier than the wrap with chicken tikka,coleslaw and onion??For dinner what is a correct size portion of pasta?1 cup full?would some fried onions and peppers do for some added veg?

Noddy33

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

A kitchen scales would be useful to gauge choices on MFP. It might be worth main your now lunches so you know what's going into it.

If you're guessing you're at nothing.

I eat breakfast and lunch in work canteen but cook dinner at home so that's why I was querying the suitable alternative lunch options

Alf Veedersane

Noddy33 wrote: »

I eat breakfast and lunch in work canteen but cook dinner at home so that's why I was querying the suitable alternative lunch options

What are the options available at breakfast and lunch?

Even if your choices are limited, even cutting out the cereal at breakfast would be a start. 3 boiled eggs and 2 bread should be in or around 400-450 kcals.

Glen_Quagmire

Use skimmed milk with your cereal. Swap the rice krispies for porridge / wheatabix / oatabix / shredded wheat.

Leave out the coleslaw on the sandwich or wrap. Have Brown wraps not white. Rule of thumb is reduce eating white foods in general, ie white bread, rice, pasta. Only have natural yogurts, all others are riddled with sugar or fat. The zero percent fat yogurts are misleading.

Replace the pasta at dinner with brown pasta, brown rice or more veg. Eat lean cut meats and fish.

Snack on fruit and vegetables

Noddy33

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

Noddy33 wrote: »

I eat breakfast and lunch in work canteen but cook dinner at home so that's why I was querying the suitable alternative lunch options

What are the options available at breakfast and lunch?

Even if your choices are limited, even cutting out the cereal at breakfast would be a start. 3 boiled eggs and 2 bread should be in or around 400-450 kcals.

The options are good in fairness.fir breakfast there the full frys etc of which I avoid 95% percent of the time!they have mixed fruit pots,breads,cereals,granola etc.

Lunch options include full hot dinner options,wok noodle stir fry counter,sandwich deli bar and a cold meats section.I use to eat a full hot dinner which would normally be the roast meat,spud and veg and then cook again that night but I have stopped eating the hot dinner in work now cos know it simply too much food if cooking again that might!

Noddy33

Glen_Quagmire wrote: »

Use skimmed milk with your cereal. Swap the rice krispies for porridge / wheatabix / oatabix / shredded wheat.

Leave out the coleslaw on the sandwich or wrap. Have Brown wraps not white. Rule of thumb is reduce eating white foods in general, ie white bread, rice, pasta. Only have natural yogurts, all others are riddled with sugar or fat. The zero percent fat yogurts are misleading.


Replace the pasta at dinner with brown pasta, brown rice or more veg. Eat lean cut meats and fish.

Snack on fruit and vegetables

I know porridge is more healthy but I really can't stomach it as it tastes rotten!would corn flakes be a bette option over Rice Krispies?

Could a brown bread sandwich with say chicken,tomatoes and salad be good?also are some fried onions and peppers with Brian rice and chicken fillets good additional foods to eat with dinner?

Stheno

Noddy33 wrote: »

I know porridge is more healthy but I really can't stomach it as it tastes rotten!would corn flakes be a bette option over Rice Krispies?

Could a brown bread sandwich with say chicken,tomatoes and salad be good?also are some fried onions and peppers with Brian rice and chicken fillets good additional foods to eat with dinner?

COrn flakes are as bad as rice krispies, could you not just have the eggs and bread?

The sandwich suggestion is probably better than what you currently have.

Are you adding the onions peppers rice and chicken to your current dinner or substituting what you have now? A portion of pasta should be about a quarter of your plate

Noddy33

Stheno wrote: »

Noddy33 wrote: »

I know porridge is more healthy but I really can't stomach it as it tastes rotten!would corn flakes be a bette option over Rice Krispies?

Could a brown bread sandwich with say chicken,tomatoes and salad be good?also are some fried onions and peppers with Brian rice and chicken fillets good additional foods to eat with dinner?

COrn flakes are as bad as rice krispies, could you not just have the eggs and bread?

The sandwich suggestion is probably better than what you currently have.

Are you adding the onions peppers rice and chicken to your current dinner or substituting what you have now? A portion of pasta should be about a quarter of your plate

I would still be hungry if I didn't have the cereal.i was thinking of adding the fried onion and peppers while reducing the portion of pasta

Alf Veedersane

Noddy33 wrote: »

I would still be hungry if I didn't have the cereal.i was thinking of adding the fried onion and peppers while reducing the portion of pasta

You could get a boatload of veg in for the pasta with a fraction of the calories.

You also probably need to come to terms with occasionally feeling hungry if you want to lose weight. It may only be temporary in any case.

Mellor

Noddy33 wrote: »

Just looking for feedback on my diet which wud be something similar each day as below.i currently weigh around 15st 4lbs and would like to lose around 8lbs.

Breakfast-
3 boiled eggs 200 cals
2 slices of wholemeal brown bread with butter 300 cals
Bowl of Rice Krispies with milk 300 cals

Lunch-
Bowl of soup 200
Chicken wrap with coleslaw and onion 600
Yoghurt 200

Dinner:
Two chicken fillets with some pasta and tomato sauce 800

My rough guess at the numbers, 2600 total. As you can see your breakfast and lunch are quite large. I'd consider that to be two breakfasts.
You could probably keep the same meal structure with small reductions and get down to the 2000 cal ball park.

Bf: Cut out 1 egg and either half the rice krispies or half the toast (alternate days)
L: Improve the filling. No tikka, no coleslaw. Chicken, salad and 1 sauce or dressing, but not something creamy or mayonnaise based. If go for coleslaw/tikka some days, then cut out the yogurt that day and/or the soup.
D:Cut back to 1 and 1/2 chicken breast, replace half the pasta with veg. Sauted/stirfried peppers and onions are fine.

You can eat all the stuff you currently, just not all at the same time.

Noddy33 wrote: »

I should add I'm 6'3 and big build so it's not that I short with s big gut.

For the most part, height doesn't come into it. To gain or lose weight you need to eat more or less the same as anyone else who is 15st. Longer, broader frame/bones doesn't need extra energy.
The good news is you'll need to lose less to reach a goal weight.

Glen_Quagmire wrote: »

Rule of thumb is reduce eating white foods in general, ie white bread, rice, pasta.

It's a common mantra you hear trotted out. But it will make no difference to calories and/or weight loss.

Glen_Quagmire

Mellor wrote:

It's a common mantra you hear trotted out. But it will make no difference to calories and/or weight loss.

Of course it will. A serving of white pasta, rice, bread contains more calories than the brown equivalent.

Alf Veedersane

Glen_Quagmire wrote: »

Of course it will. A serving of white pasta, rice, bread contains more calories than the brown equivalent.

Not necessarily true. Old Mr Brennan says there's 87kcal in a slice of his white bread and 90kcal in a 40g slice of his wholemeal bread.

A 62.5g portion of Uncle Ben's long grain white rice has 216kcal. Same portion of his wholegrain rice is 218kcal.

Blacktie.

Glen_Quagmire wrote: »

Of course it will. A serving of white pasta, rice, bread contains more calories than the brown equivalent.

Yeah I dono where this myth came from. It is slightly healthier in that it will have more fibre but calorie wise it's basically the same.

Noddy33

I decided to just have the two boiled eggs this morning along with only one slice of wholemeal soda bread. Still had the bowl of rice krispies but I was suprised to feel my stomach was completely satisfied despite not eating a normal load to what body is use to. Still another few hours till lunch time but would be surprised if any major hunger sets in!

Alf Veedersane

Noddy33 wrote: »

I decided to just have the two boiled eggs this morning along with only one slice of wholemeal soda bread. Still had the bowl of rice krispies but I was suprised to feel my stomach was completely satisfied despite not eating a normal load to what body is use to. Still another few hours till lunch time but would be surprised if any major hunger sets in!

Make sure you have a nice bit of water between now and lunch. A lot of people take thirst for hunger.

Mellor

Glen_Quagmire wrote: »

Of course it will. A serving of white pasta, rice, bread contains more calories than the brown equivalent.

No it doesn't.

The difference is insignificant, but it's brown that is usually higher (not always).

Mellor

Noddy33 wrote: »

I decided to just have the two boiled eggs this morning along with only one slice of wholemeal soda bread. Still had the bowl of rice krispies but I was suprised to feel my stomach was completely satisfied despite not eating a normal load to what body is use to. Still another few hours till lunch time but would be surprised if any major hunger sets in!

Little changes like that will add up in the long run. Being forced to work off a work menu isn't ideal. But if you can make a similar reduction to you should lose weight at a steady pace. About 4-5 lbs a month

Crochet

As an aside.... you eat an awful lot of eggs each week... this is not good for cholesterol. Eating oats reduces cholesterol. Wht not try a homemade granola such as the one on the BBC good food website. Plenty of nuts, seeds etc and low GI to keep you full till lunch. Skimmed milk would reduce the calories but also reduce the pleasure.

Blacktie.

Crochet wrote: »

As an aside.... you eat an awful lot of eggs each week... this is not good for cholesterol. Eating oats reduces cholesterol. Wht not try a homemade granola such as the one on the BBC good food website. Plenty of nuts, seeds etc and low GI to keep you full till lunch. Skimmed milk would reduce the calories but also reduce the pleasure.

Low GI is mostly a myth when not taken in the conditions the foods GI was taken. Also dietary cholesterol has very little influence on overall cholesterol levels.

Crochet

The jury may be out on cholesterol from food influencing overall cholesterol but I believe in common sense. Eggs have a seriously high cholesterol level and as such , until we fully understand causes of cholesterol they should be eaten in moderation - 20 eggs a week is not moderation.

Noddy33

excuse my ignorance but what does GI stand for?

Alf Veedersane

Crochet wrote: »

The jury may be out on cholesterol from food influencing overall cholesterol but I believe in common sense. Eggs have a seriously high cholesterol level and as such , until we fully understand causes of cholesterol they should be eaten in moderation - 20 eggs a week is not moderation.

My cholesterol (total and LDL) has gone down (total: from 5.1 to 3.8) in the last 2 years during which time I have routinely eaten 20 eggs a week.

I'd be more inclined to limit the sources of saturated and trans fats in my diet before limiting eggs if I needed to reduce my cholesterol.

Blacktie.

Noddy33 wrote: »

excuse my ignorance but what does GI stand for?

Glycemic index.

Glycemic load is a little better but still a flawed concept considering food is not eaten in isolation or after a 24 hour fast. Generally speaking.

Zillah

Blacktie. wrote: »

Glycemic index.

Glycemic load is a little better but still a flawed concept considering food is not eaten in isolation or after a 24 hour fast. Generally speaking.

But surely lab-derived GI still serves as a useful baseline? Even if the circumstances in which I eat a meal shove it up the GI by twenty points - isn't it still a good idea to start as low as I can?

Blacktie.

Zillah wrote: »

But surely lab-derived GI still serves as a useful baseline? Even if the circumstances in which I eat a meal shove it up the GI by twenty points - isn't it still a good idea to start as low as I can?

I think it has some merit at breakfast and possibly snacks but for meals where you're eating a variety of food choices I think it's basically useless.

It's the glycemic response after a 24 hour fast with 100g of that one food. Pretty bizarre circumstances for most peoples meals barring POSSIBLY breakfast where your body will be in a somewhat fasted state.

At least with glycemic load it takes into account portion sizes but even that has the same flaws I mentioned.

Alf Veedersane

Zillah wrote: »

But surely lab-derived GI still serves as a useful baseline? Even if the circumstances in which I eat a meal shove it up the GI by twenty points - isn't it still a good idea to start as low as I can?

Zillah

Blacktie. wrote: »

It's the glycemic response after a 24 hour fast with 100g of that one food. Pretty bizarre circumstances for most peoples meals barring POSSIBLY breakfast where your body will be in a somewhat fasted state.

I don't see why that is a bad way to establish the baseline. By measuring the response under controlled and identical conditions it allows us to compare different foods. The test will show us, for example, that sucrose is quite high and oats are much lower. Regardless of the circumstances in which I eat them, I know that oats are a better choice for stable blood sugar when comparing those two foods, no? Like, maybe I'm eating a ton of celery with them, in which case they both will probably provoke a much lower glycemic response due to all of the fibre slowing absorption, but their relative position on the index remains roughly the same, no?

Mellor

Crochet wrote: »

The jury may be out on cholesterol from food influencing overall cholesterol but I believe in common sense. Eggs have a seriously high cholesterol level and as such , until we fully understand causes of cholesterol they should be eaten in moderation - 20 eggs a week is not moderation.

It's a logical assumption, but in this case "Common sense" in this case is scaremongering.

The cholesterol that lines arteries comes from your liver, not your stomach.

ford2600

Zillah wrote: »

I don't see why that is a bad way to establish the baseline. By measuring the response under controlled and identical conditions it allows us to compare different foods. The test will show us, for example, that sucrose is quite high and oats are much lower. Regardless of the circumstances in which I eat them, I know that oats are a better choice for stable blood sugar when comparing those two foods, no? Like, maybe I'm eating a ton of celery with them, in which case they both will probably provoke a much lower glycemic response due to all of the fibre slowing absorption, but their relative position on the index remains roughly the same, no?

Trust Israel to throw a spanner in the works

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/11/151119133230.htm

Blacktie.

Zillah wrote: »

I don't see why that is a bad way to establish the baseline. By measuring the response under controlled and identical conditions it allows us to compare different foods. The test will show us, for example, that sucrose is quite high and oats are much lower. Regardless of the circumstances in which I eat them, I know that oats are a better choice for stable blood sugar when comparing those two foods, no? Like, maybe I'm eating a ton of celery with them, in which case they both will probably provoke a much lower glycemic response due to all of the fibre slowing absorption, but their relative position on the index remains roughly the same, no?

Sure with a knowledge of how GI testing was administered it can be used to some degree I guess but most people will just assume all high GI food=bad and all low GI food=good. And that's where portion size becomes very relevant.

Also it doesn't take into account that individual responses can vary quite a lot to certain food. I can't dig up the study right now but there was a pretty large long term study done on Muslims during Ramadan that showed insulin response can vary wildly from person to person and very often not in a predictable fashion of things like cookie v banana insulin response.

Study mentioned above!

ford2600

Blacktie. wrote: »

Sure with a knowledge of how GI testing was administered it can be used to some degree I guess but most people will just assume all high GI food=bad and all low GI food=good. And that's where portion size becomes very relevant.

Also it doesn't take into account that individual responses can vary quite a lot to certain food. I can't dig up the study right now but there was a pretty large long term study done on Muslims during Ramadan that showed insulin response can vary wildly from person to person and very often not in a predictable fashion of things like cookie v banana insulin response.

At least the Jews and Muslims agree on something other than pigs are filthy and the moon is a sound basis for a calendar

Mellor

Zillah wrote: »

But surely lab-derived GI still serves as a useful baseline? Even if the circumstances in which I eat a meal shove it up the GI by twenty points - isn't it still a good idea to start as low as I can?

The issue with it that I have is that various foods have GI's from 0-100, but the various meals that I make with those ingredients are likely to have loads of 40-60 (relatively speaking) do the impact in reality is much less than the GI suggests

Zillah

Mellor wrote: »

The issue with it that I have is that various foods have GI's from 0-100, but the various meals that I make with those ingredients are likely to have loads of 40-60 (relatively speaking) do the impact in reality is much less than the GI suggests

The GI is surely, roughly, an average of the ingredients with relative volumes taken into account. In which case, knowing the baseline is still helpful. A meal might consist of white pasta, potatoes and a bottle of coke. The average GI isn't going to be 40-60 because each of the ingredients are quite high. If you want a lower average GI for the meal then you add more ingredients that are lower on the scale - in which case you still need to know all the baselines.

Blacktie's comments regarding Ramadan and the cookie vs banana variability is interesting though. I'd be curious to see what the level of divergence is.

Mellor

Zillah wrote: »

The GI is surely, roughly, an average of the ingredients with relative volumes taken into account. In which case, knowing the baseline is still helpful. A meal might consist of white pasta, potatoes and a bottle of coke. The average GI isn't going to be 40-60 because each of the ingredients are quite high. If you want a lower average GI for the meal then you add more ingredients that are lower on the scale - in which case you still need to know all the baselines.

Blacktie's comments regarding Ramadan and the cookie vs banana variability is interesting though. I'd be curious to see what the level of divergence is.

Pasta, potatoes and a bottle of coke isn't a real meal though. It probably of exists in GI conversation.

If you took actual recipes, GI becomes much less relevant. And one study I read showed that the actual GI response was 25% less that the calculated expectation

Alf Veedersane

OP, what was your lunch like? Any less than normal?

Also, what does a weekend's food look like? Whatever about the weekdays and what improvements can be made there, the problems tend to be bigger at the weekend.

Noddy33

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

OP, what was your lunch like? Any less than normal?

Also, what does a weekend's food look like? Whatever about the weekdays and what improvements can be made there, the problems tend to be bigger at the weekend.

Lunch was Bowl of leek and Potatoe soup and a brown bread sandwich consisting of small bit of butter Ham,sun dried tomatoes and onion. I left the youghurt out and dont feel hungry or peckish at all.

Dinner tonight will more than likely be some chicken fillets,fried onions and peppers and a vastly reduced portion of pasta. I would normally cook a fairly nice portion of pasta for my evening meal. il eat this before playin some 7 aside soccer so my worry is that I might get hungry after soccer and need some more food and will end up making a good sandwich or something else high in calories.Any good potential snack foods to eat after some exercise?Also is large volumes of milk a bad idea?Im not really a tea drinker and prefer a cold drink with my food and love milk I so could often have a pint of milk for breakfast,lunch and dinner which is near to a litre and half a day.

Understand what you mean about losing the run on myself at weekends. Im generally good on a saturday and stay similar to usual week day food but sunday is where I could potentially ruin any good work. Im 30 years so do still enjoy going out for a few pints on a saturday night so sunday is quite finished off with a Chicken Fillet burger and chips from the chipper as im just never in the mood to cook on sundays. Breakfast is often skipped on sundays due to lie in and often i might pop home to parents house for the mother sunday roast

Zillah

Mellor wrote: »

Pasta, potatoes and a bottle of coke isn't a real meal though. It probably of exists in GI conversation.

If you took actual recipes, GI becomes much less relevant. And one study I read showed that the actual GI response was 25% less that the calculated expectation

Eating balanced meals is a good thing. Balanced meals have relatively low GI. We know that. Unhealthy people don't. One of my friends will eat a giant bowl of noodles and call it a dinner. GI is one way to assess the healthiness of a meal.

If you're talking about small GI tweaks between otherwise similar recipes then sure, that's pretty pointless. But I think you've internalised your grasp of GI and healthy eating to the point that you forget that other people don't understand this stuff. Bag of chips and a can of coke. White rice with a pile of sugary sauce.

Alf Veedersane

Noddy33 wrote: »

Lunch was Bowl of leek and Potatoe soup and a brown bread sandwich consisting of small bit of butter Ham,sun dried tomatoes and onion. I left the youghurt out and dont feel hungry or peckish at all.

Dinner tonight will more than likely be some chicken fillets,fried onions and peppers and a vastly reduced portion of pasta. I would normally cook a fairly nice portion of pasta for my evening meal. il eat this before playin some 7 aside soccer so my worry is that I might get hungry after soccer and need some more food and will end up making a good sandwich or something else high in calories.Any good potential snack foods to eat after some exercise?Also is large volumes of milk a bad idea?Im not really a tea drinker and prefer a cold drink with my food and love milk I so could often have a pint of milk for breakfast,lunch and dinner which is near to a litre and half a day.

Understand what you mean about losing the run on myself at weekends. Im generally good on a saturday and stay similar to usual week day food but sunday is where I could potentially ruin any good work. Im 30 years so do still enjoy going out for a few pints on a saturday night so sunday is quite finished off with a Chicken Fillet burger and chips from the chipper as im just never in the mood to cook on sundays. Breakfast is often skipped on sundays due to lie in and often i might pop home to parents house for the mother sunday roast

Maybe some fibrous veg (bags of frozen veg are really good to have at hand) would help with satisfying your hunger. If you feel hungry after football, drink water. The problem is dehydration, not hunger.

In terms of milk, a litre and a half is quite a bit when you're cutting calories. You're looking at 960 kcals if it's whole milk or 675 if it's low fat so it's a chunk of your intake.

Maybe try doubling up on the Saturday cooking so you have something there for Sunday rather than venturing out to the chippers.

Mellor

Zillah wrote: »

Eating balanced meals is a good thing. Balanced meals have relatively low GI. We know that. Unhealthy people don't. One of my friends will eat a giant bowl of noodles and call it a dinner. GI is one way to assess the healthiness of a meal.

If you're talking about small GI tweaks between otherwise similar recipes then sure, that's pretty pointless. But I think you've internalised your grasp of GI and healthy eating to the point that you forget that other people don't understand this stuff. Bag of chips and a can of coke. White rice with a pile of sugary sauce.

The people who eat balanced meals, don't benefit from it.
The ones who would benefit (your mate noodles) aren't remotely aware of it.
That's essentially my point. Not that it's useless. Just that the anyone who'd bother with it doesn't need to.