Critique My Diet? Trying To Lose Weight.

[jyl]

Anyone want to critique my diet, please?

I'm on a weight loss effort. I'm trying to lose about 30 pounds. I'm 5' 11" and ostensibly need 2,500 calories/day per some online calculators I've checked. I'm currently targeting 1,000-1,500 calories a day and think I have been averaging 1,100/day, which I have been - of course - obsessively recording in a notebook.

Here's my food log for the last few days, since I came off the "Lemonade Diet" that I posted about earlier. I'm basically eating my usual diet, but about 1/3 the previous quantities and cutting out most of the bread, pasta, and booze.

Saturday 4/9
- Breakfast was 1/4 omelette, 1/3 sausage link, 1/2 slice bread w/ 1 pat butter, 1/2 cucumber
- Snack was 15 snap pea crisps, 4 oz ice cream
- Lunch was 4 oz chicken, 4 oz rice
- Dinner was 3 chicken wings, 1/4 a roasted potato, 5 small meatballs, 4 oz broiled pork ribs with hoisin and soy sauce, 6 oz (1 fillet) tilapia with spicy sauce, 4 oz rice, 6 oz wine. Weekend at a beach house, cooking for a bunch of friends, is proving tough on my diet.


Friday 4/8
- Breakfast was 2 cups chicken noodle soup, 20 oz coffee
- Lunch was 1 cup edamame in pods, 4 oz cod (about 1/2 a filet), 4 oz rice.
- Snack was 10 almonds, 1 string cheese, 7 snap pea crisps, 1/2 apple
- Dinner was 4 oz garlic chicken stirfry, 3 oz tilapia stirfried in scallion oil, 4 oz broiled pork ribs w/ a sort of Korean BBQ marinade, 4 oz rice, 8 oz wine. Blew my calorie range today.

Thursday 4/8 1218 cal
- Breakfast was 2 cups chicken/veg stew, 1/2 cup 2% milk, 20 oz coffee
- Lunch was 4 oz spaghetti and 4 oz meatballs, 1 cup chicken noodle soup.
- Snack was a wild and craaaazy binge on 16 oz of pico de gallo (tomatoes, mostly). Well, at least it wasn't Pringles.
- Dinner was 1/2 cup edamame, 3 oz cod filet with cream-butter-white wine sauce, 2 pork potstickers, 1/2 of a fried vegetable spring roll, 4 oz rice flavored w/ rice vinegar, sugar and salt (sushi rice).

Wednsday 4/7 1470 cal
- Breakfast was 8 oz broccoli, 3 oz spinach, 1 tbsp ranch dressing, 6 oz oranges, 20 oz coffee.
- Lunch was 4 oz potatoes, 3 oz beef, 5 oz salmon (leftovers).
- Dinner was 1 small slice thin-crust homemade pesto pizza, 4 oz roasted brussels sprouts, 1/2 tomato with very tasty "champagne sea salt", 2 oz camembert cheese, 1 oz Parmesan cheese, 4 spears roasted asparagus, 6 oz champagne, 4 oz wine, 1/4 of a brownie (1 bite).

Tuesday 4/6 1255 cal
- Breakfast was 4 oz of sashimi (halibut) and 20 oz of coffee. I start work at 5:30AM so I do need my coffee.
- Lunch was 3 oz of pasta with 4 oz bolognaise sauce, and 4 oz of broccoli.
- Dinner was 4 oz of rare beef (a bavette, salted, buttered and seared, then briefly roasted) with a garlic-wasabi aioli, 4 oz of salmon with a glaze of reduced teriyaki sauce, some broiled asparagus spears, and 3 oz of roasted mushrooms and potato cubes simmered in ham stock.

Monday 4/5 1085 cal
- Breakfast was a bagel with cream cheese, and 20 oz coffee.
- Lunch was 3 oz roasted halibut and 3 oz lox topped with onions, capers, lots of pepper.
- Dinner was 4 oz of this weird rice pasta that my wife wanted to try, 5 oz of bolognaise sauce, 3 oz broccoli, and 3 oz caesar salad.

Sunday 4/4 1315 cal
- Breakfast was 1 cup chicken noodle soup
- Lunch was an extended nibble on the Easter Sunday buffet. 2 oz ham, 1 oz quiche (1 bite, I didn't like it), 4 oz lox, 1 strip bacon, 6 cherry tomatoes, 1 strawberry, 10 blueberries, 1 orange slice, 2 oz ham, 3 oz mimosa (OJ and champagne), 3 oz wine, 1/3 slice of cake, 3 chestnuts.
- Dinner was 4 oz rice, 1 oz ham, 1 oz fish.

Saturday 4/3 920 cal
- Breakfast was 2 oz rice, 1/2 cup miso soup, 1 oz D'Affinois cheese, 2 oz blueberries.
- Lunch was 5 oz roast chicken, 1 cup homemade chicken noodle soup with store-bought tortellinis
- Dinner was 2 cups of the same chicken noodle soup, 3 oz green salad, 1 oz dessert wine (I didn't like it), and 3 oz pasta with a white wine-cream sauce.

Friday 4/2 1455 cal
- Breakfast was 3 oz chicken breast, 2 mandarin oranges, 1 banana, 3 oz blueberries.
- Lunch was 4 oz pan-fried chicken thigh
- Dinner was 6 oz of raw fish, 4 oz of raw beef (that's not a diet thing, I just love sashimi and raw meat), 1/2 cup homemade miso soup (dashi, red miso, tofu), 4 oz teriyaki chicken w/ homemade teriyaki sauce, and - oops - 20 oz of merlot and barbera. Well, a good friend was visiting after all.

What do you nutrition-savvy folks think?

[Steve Viegas]

Please tell me there is more liquid in your diet than just 20 oz of coffee regularly and an occasionaly glass of wine.

Limiting yourself to 1100 calories a day is going to make it difficult to get the nutrition that you need on an on going basis. Take a multivitamin.

Eat your dinner early. Calorie load your breakfast as opposed to you dinner if you have a choice.

[kach22i]

It's expensive to eat food which is good for you.

Try walking for an hour a day, and never stuff yourself, no booze either.

Check all labels for high fructose corn syrup.
Futurity.org – High-fructose corn syrup’s big fat secret

EDIT: drink lots of water and cut back on that coffee.

[Scott R]

Your diets not bad, but what are you doing for exercise? I can give you my typical days meals designed by me and my trainer, but it's to fit a decent lifting and cardio routine as well.

[TechnoViking]

I'm no expert, but here's my .02:

Can you maintain forever the practice of eating broccoli and sashimi for breakfast? I couldn't.

I don't see many drinks listed. I knew a personal trainer once who had a client who couldn't seem to lose weight. She told him everything she ate, but left out about 800 calories/day of juice she was drinking.

Do you get hungry between meals? You could trow an apple or orange in there as a snack.

Good luck.

[M.D. Holloway]

Looks good - only one comment to add, cut all those portions in half and drink an extra glass of water with each meal.

[jyl]

Forgot to list the liquids. Sorry. I drink water or green tea all day. I've just cut out the big gulp-sized glasses of OJ and milk. Also no sodas, but I never drank much anyway so that's no loss.

Exercise - uh, that's, uh, next. The exercise that I like is riding my bicycle, but I'm a fair weather cyclist and the weather ain't fair here - yet. I will start some mild lifting, though, because I can do that indoors.

Scott, if you did want to post a typical day's meals, that would be very appreciated. I can adjust the quantities to fit my (lower) energy consumption.

kach, the cool thing is that, because I'm eating small quantities, I don't care (within reason) how much it costs per pound. I'm buying ultra-fresh fish and gorgeous beef without batting an eye - because I'm only eating a few ounces a day, and I want to really enjoy what I'm eating. Oh, I'm eating everything with chopsticks now, just to make it harder to shovel. I have a bad habit of shoveling my meals.

Martin, I'm not hungry between meals at all. I think (hope) that I've managed to "reset" my appetite. Fish for breakfast? Sure - I like it better than the usual breakfast cereal etc.

[vash]

exercise and burn more calories than you intake. if you want to move less, eat less.

[BRPORSCHE]

Originally Posted by jyl

Oh, I'm eating everything with chopsticks now, just to make it harder to shovel. I have a bad habit of shoveling my meals.

Hmmm this is an interesting idea. I am a shoveler also. I eat an enormous amount of food, not because I am hungry, but I am bored.

Thanks for the tip!

[Gogar]

Try to keep the high-carb stuff earlier in the day, to give yourself a better chance at using all of it up.

Make sure dinner time is at 6pm, not 8 or 9pm.

[jyl]

Originally Posted by BRPORSCHE

I eat an enormous amount of food, not because I am hungry, but I am bored.

That is exactly me! I realized that I eat (ate) mostly out of boredom or habit.

I also learned that I basically want to spend time with food, but whether that time is spent cooking, or eating, is pretty much the same for me. If I prep and saute and stir for two hours, I feel satiated and am happy to eat literally just a bite of each dish. But if I just heat up leftovers, I want to eat a lot more.

My personal psychology of food has turned out to be kind of bizarre. Sort of alarming.

[gr8fl4porsche]

I am getting ready for bikini season as well.

I am counting calories using an iPhone app called Lose-it.

Trying to stay in the 1000 per day range for a while to get a jump on the weight loss and hitting the gym 3 days a week with walking, biking, yard work, etc. the other days.

I think a big key to eating less is eating food that kindof sucks and that you really don't like all that much. I can eat 3000 calories of pizza no problem, but struggle choking down 300 calories of steamed broccoli. Eventually you find yourself eating for energy or when you are actually hungry. The goal is to change the way you view food in your life. Eating due to boredom is a good example of the behavioral modifications that need to be altered.

Once you lose enough that your clothes fit better and you need to buy new smaller clothes, it gets much easier to stay motivated.

[Buckterrier]

Your diet is fair. You need the 3 macro nutrients, at proportions, with each meal.
32 grams of carbohydrates
24 grams of protein
8 gram of fat
That is for the 3 main meals. For two sacks, in between lunch and dinner & between dinner & nighty-nite 8, 6, & 2 grams each.
Do you see a pattern? It's all about balance. The fat you eat, don't count the fat from the other nutrients, @ fat in chicken/fish/beef, etc. Eat good fat... Almonds, olives, etc.
You're doing fairly well with the carbs. If you can make it all fruits & veggies that's the best.
No grain is worth a rat's ass. Barley & oatmeal aren't bad but still not as good as F&V.
And as been mentioned exercise, even if it's a brisk 30 minute walk.
Good luck

[Tobra]

Originally Posted by vash

exercise and burn more calories than you intake. if you want to move less, eat less.

This, lifting weights and cardio, exercise early in the day, will rev your metabolism up some, faster idle, so to speak. Push ups and sit ups in the AM is a good one. Don't eat after 1800.

Oh, the multivitamin is a good idea, you probably should be taking in more protein too. I still will fast every week or two, nothing but fluids, juice, water tea for the day.

If you are going from sedentary to active, you need to work on your flexibility or you are going to injure yourself.

When I was commuting by bicycle, I would consume many thousands of calories every day and had trouble keeping weight on, you can eat less or exercise more and lose weight.

As someone said above, balance

[porsche4life]

You're a fata$$!


There did that help?

[Tobra]

lose 30 pounds, so what is starting weight?

[Erakad]

My 2 cents also: Check the PPOT Weight Loss Challenge...someone is doing something right. Next...slow is good, I lose weight consistently at 2100 cal/day, rice...very high in carbs, last drink large quantities of water.

[jyl]

Originally Posted by Tobra

lose 30 pounds, so what is starting weight?

Starting weight was 211 lb. Now 202 lb. Goal 170 lb. Lightest I've been as an adult was 162 lb, but that was 30 (edit: 20, can't do math this morning) years ago w/ somewhat more muscle.

[javadog]

Some suggestions...

Eliminate the alcohol, pasta and other starches, fatty meats and cheeses, things with sugar in them and any processed foods. Cut down on your meat intake. Eat lots more fresh vegetables, beans, whole grains and fresh fruits.

Good luck,
JR

[The Gaijin]

I have posted this in other links - but have gone "paleo" for just over three months and it is working great. I have been working out and getting fit - but could not lose the gut, now fitting into jeans from 20 years ago..

Some other suggestions..

Eliminate the pasta, rice and other starches. Restrict milk and cheese. Use grass fed butter and olive oil. No more HFCS, and cut real sugar 95%. No more soy or canola oil based dressings. Beans and grains are counted with starch above, I have not been eating them and barely miss them.

Eat plenty of fresh veggies, but not too much fruit (remember that sugar - it is hiding out there..) The up-side? Meat and more meat. Not processed, but the real thing. Eggs too. I love fish and eat sardines all the time..

If you like a drink - no more than one or two..

For snacks? Nuts! But don't eat the ones out of a jar; buy a nut-cracker - then you wont eat too many! All the best.