Hey holidaylover,
Just saw your reply and question.......do you think it's the "I can't have..." thing that is part of the problem? because I'm sure it is with me -I just don't like being told what to do.....!
On my normal days I'm eating from a wide range of foods I would normally eat so fish - canned tuna, salmon portions either grilled or oven baked or almost dry fried on griddle pan (bit of 1 cal oil spray), same with chicken, a bit of red meat now and again , lots of veggies inc butternut squash , sprouts, sweet potatoes, cauli, broccoli, onions, celery, peppers etc, fruit inc berries, apples and bananas, oats, bread now and again (I don't eat much bread these days unless it's our homemade bread!) pasta, potatoes (made syn free chips the other night - ask your daughter as she does Slimming World doesn't she?) pulses like red kidney beans, butter beans, chick peas, rice, BUT I'm calorie counting for the first time in my life!
So am aware that I can't eat masses of anything as it racks up the calories even if it's slices of innocent looking Galia melon....
I like cooking and love new recipe trials - so curries, casseroles, soups - making all sorts really. Keep looking for new low fat recipes online and wading through my heaps of cookery books.
My male friend (who has done 5:2 for years) now eats whatever he wants (but he lost the weight he wanted to way back and so does his 2 days a week strict to allow him to eat whatever he wants on the other days...but he says he has curbed from eating a full pack of Jaffa cakes on normal days "because I can" to realising he doesn't want to....)
I've put the NHS Weight Loss Plan app on my phone and once you get a few faves stored in there it's quick to put your meals in. It has a search facility so you can find the calorific value of foods and you can look at the packets of products too obviously plus use Google. it keeps me on track. I set myself 1600 cal a day for normal days but I may go lower now. Although I've had a v sedentary 2 weeks so I think that is part of the prob. Not giving up yet!
eg breakfast I might have porridge with blueberries on top
Search oats and 50g is ample.....as that's 192 cals
Blueberries I weigh out 55g - 26 cals (might not put them all on my brekkie but they sit waiting for me to finish them off in a pot in the fridge
Skimmed milk quarter pint - 47 cals and a bit of water so brekkie is 265 cals
(or make up with 40g oats and just water if on a 5:2 day 500 cal day - have 30g blueberries on and that's 175 total - I add cinnamon or bit of sweetener)
Yesterday I fancied cornflakes...had a banana mid morn, had 2 slices smoked bacon for lunch with a poached egg and half a large can of baked beans. Dinner was homemade Pide (Turkish pizza) which was a real treat - made it with mushrooms on, cherry tomatoes, tuna and some feta cheese cubed - a smear of reduced fat pesto on the base)!! with loads of fresh salad with peppers, spinach, rocket, spring onion, baby tomatoes, celery, red cabbage sliced up and v low cal dressing but I calorie counted it and my whole day came in at 1,588. Not bad. I did my gym session and although I took it v steady I can tell I moved in ways that are at present alien to me!!! But this morning I've lost a pound - moral of the story Get my ar$e to the gym or get a long walk in every day or else.
It's making me much more aware of what I eat.
I'm eating more veg. Possibly less fruit? I'm drinking more water - less tea and coffee (although I only drink decaff of both and the odd fruity tea) but the splashes of milk in reg tea and coffee don't half add up when you are honest about what you are having. I've mostly quit cake, biscuits, chocolate over the last few years anyway whilst struggling with weight gain BUT if I wanted some I will count it and have it - so that hot cross bun was 152 cals and the butter on it was 92 cals. I refuse to let it rule me but I can see the maths and it's curbing my trips to the kettle for a cuppa and making me think about what I was doing - like shaking out a large portion of muesli that had loads of dried fruit and nuts in but still feeling I was eating well....hhhmmmm I was eating well compared to a breakfast cereal made up of chocolate crunchies (!) but I was packing the cals down without thinking about it.
It's early days for me really and I have been literally stuck in working on accounts for nigh on 2 weeks (didn't get above 3,000 steps most days - groan) so my weight didn't shift on the scales...let's see what happens now I can do some walking and gardening and get to the gym.
Have a lovely carb free Easter and hang the shorts on the front of the wardrobe for inspiration..... It's keeping me focused! as is humming the first bars of Whispering Grass...........
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Topic: Diet Tips for Post Menopausal Weight Gain (Read 8726 times)