My Diet... Any Suggestions?

[gia]

Well... here it is.. i kinda have two different meal plans, one for days i'm workin, and one for days off, so i'll post both...

WORK DAYS (5 days a week)

Breakfast:
Bran flakes: 45g

Morning snack:
Apple

Lunch:
Tuna sandwich on wholemeal bread
low fat yoghurt

Snack:
banana

Evenin Meal:
Apple + yogurt

i usually finish the day off wit a bacardi and diet coke... works very stressful sometimes! lol (yes i am the kinda person that eats a pizza and has a diet coke to be 'healthy' lol)

i do work with food tho, and wot with this not really bein much food^ i snack quite a bit!!... (my non-scheduled snacks are always unhealthy ones too!)

DAYS OFF

Breakfast:
bran flakes: 45g

snack:apple

Lunch:
Either...
35g wholewheat pasta w/ one chicken breast w/sauce
or
salmon fillet w/ brown rice

i usually have some kinda desert too since my rents always have ice cream/cakes/chocolates etc in the house!

evenin meal:
tune sarney on wholemeal bread w/yoghurt

snack:
banana or apple or yoghurt, and maybe a barcadi (i am a student...... !)

Fitness
i try to work out as much as possible, most days i'll at least do some kind of exercise before breakfast, ranging from a 30-45 minute walk (that's usually on work days) to a 45 min cardio sesh at the gym. i do try to get to the gym about 4 times a week, tho i would prefer to go 5, it's hard with work sometimes tho (i'm on my feet all day and am sometimes jus too tired!) i do lots of weights at the gym so i'm quite toned.

my main goal is to basically shed about 7 pounds (then take it from there as to whether i shud drop more or jus maintain) i'm 9stone 7 and 5ft 7.

i think the main thing that lets me down is my snacking, im terrible. but i'm jus never full no matter how much i eat really. i'm very much my dads daughter, i'l cram food in til it hurts, undo the top trouser button, then carry on haha.

so... any modifications/suggestions are very much welcome... especially on some foods that are filling? something to curb my snacking? somethin to really shed the pounds fitness wise?

Cheers

Gia

[NU_nutrition_TS]

No wonder you are always snacking! That is definitely a carb-junkie diet!

Breakfast should include some protein sources to aid satiety and prevent snacking. Meals and snacks which are mainly made up of carbohydrates just keep the blood sugar roller-coaster chugging along all day with the constant energy slumps and cravings for junky snacks. With all that carb-snacking you are going to be producing loads of insulin spikes which will keep your body piling on the fat...and with what appears to be insufficient calories your body will be holding on to every ounce of fat it can no matter how much exercise you are doing.

Bigger breakfasts/more protein at breakfast, cut back the carbs increase the fats.

Snack on a handful of nuts...not peanuts/cashews! Or a little cheese [with some celery sticks or other salad items if you prefer/must!] even a small serving of mixed berries with a dollop of cream would be better than a low fat high carb snack!

Exercise-wise...you could be overtraining with all that cardio. You will be making lots of cortisol which will also up your blood sugar/insulin. Ditch everything bar the weight training and the walking for a while and see what happens. Make your weight sessions short and intense. Increase your calories...a little anyway...and cut out some of those carbs and up protein and fat!

Salmon is good...you will need more omega-3 fats. No eggs? Eggs are a wonder-food...whole eggs, cooked whichever way you prefer.

[Ripped Barbarian]

Hi, sorry if it seems like i'm taking your diet to pieces but i think i need to put some important input, first thing that struck me, you are not eating enough to lose weight!
That might sound odd but if you eat too little your bodies metabolism slows down to crawl (a natural survival mechanism) which makes weight loss much harder.

I estimate that your work day diet is less than 1000calories, which is seriously low, slightly concerning actually.
It is a common mistake, many people drop calories this low and will not be successful with weightloss and put it all back on when they start eating more as their metabolism is still very slow.

The most effective way to lose weight is to make sure your metabolism is high and calories are just slightly lower than what you are burning.

I can suggest increasing food intake gradually, in the short term you may put on a slight amount of fat but once your metabolism has returned to normal levels you can then work at losing weight effectively and permanently.
It's a bit of a 'leap of faith' to get out of such a rut but it is something i have done before and is really the only effective way foward for your goals.

[gia]

thanx for the reply... you can rip it to pieces as much as you like... i welcome any constructive criticism, what kind of protein brekkie/snacks wud you suggest?.. shame cuz i love my bran flakes lol

thing is i do realise i dont eat enough... but it's a case of not really knowing wot to eat to produce the best results?... i think you're right bout the over doin the cardio slightly.. i waddled all day at work today cuz my legs are jus achin like crazy!

and i do LOVE eggs, sometimes i have scrambled egg with my salmon instead of rice. good stuff.

[NU_nutrition_TS]

Quote

and i do LOVE eggs, sometimes i have scrambled egg with my salmon instead of rice. good stuff.

Excellent combination! How about something like this for brekkie? At least consider going to work on an egg [or two] instead of bran flakes [at one time bran was just a waste product of the flour milling process!].

[gia]

:-0 haha.. dam, well it's the best waste product i've ever tasted! :-S

[allthegoodnamesaregone]

dropping the carbs before bedtime and including a small amount of quality protein with each meal would be a good start.

[gia]

well... i tried to take some advice and switched my diet up a little today... wasn't what i would have ideally gone with i dont think but til i go shoppin 2moro it's wot i had to make do with... plus i was at work 12-9 today and this shift always messes me :-S

Breakfast: 8.00am
2 eggs scrambled on 1 slice wholemeal bread

snack: 11.30
whey protein shake

lunch: 2.00
1 boiled egg, one chicken breast w/lettuce, red onion, red pepper, and jus coupla spoonfulls pasta.

Afternoon Break: 5.00pm
apple and weight watchers yogurt


that's it BUT... i did snack (as usual wen im at work) on some blackcurrant pie!... and im currently drinkin a bacardi and coke

still not eating enough really, but... am i at least kinda steppin in the right direction?

[Ripped Barbarian]

Quote

well... i tried to take some advice and switched my diet up a little today... wasn't what i would have ideally gone with i dont think but til i go shoppin 2moro it's wot i had to make do with... plus i was at work 12-9 today and this shift always messes me :-S

Breakfast: 8.00am
2 eggs scrambled on 1 slice wholemeal bread

snack: 11.30
whey protein shake

lunch: 2.00
1 boiled egg, one chicken breast w/lettuce, red onion, red pepper, and jus coupla spoonfulls pasta.

Afternoon Break: 5.00pm
apple and weight watchers yogurt


that's it BUT... i did snack (as usual wen im at work) on some blackcurrant pie!... and im currently drinkin a bacardi and coke

still not eating enough really, but... am i at least kinda steppin in the right direction?

A step in the right direction indeed good to see more protein and fats in there.
As you say, still not eating enough but it is important to do this gradually otherwise you will put on fat.

Don't bother with weight watchers yoghurt in my opinion, it's just an expensive way of buying yoghurt that there really isn't anything special about, a nice thing to try is some bio yoghurt with fruit in it, i get greek yoghurt and put a massive load of blueberries in it and it's gorgeous tastes fairly sweet and fruity without the sugar that most (even 'healthy') yoghurts seem to be loaded with.

And the blackcurrant pie, well blackcurrants are very high in antioxidants so don't worry too much, haha!

[gia]

haha.. that's like the diet coke pizza thing...

that fruit yogurt thing sounds good, low fat yogurts always seem to be rammed wit loads of sugar, im guessin to take the minging taste away slightly... i'll wack that on my shoppin list for 2moro then.. the nat yog and fruit, not the weight/w crap obviously