Is this a decent diet?

[kingflab]

Hello chaps and chapettes!

I was just wondering if anybody can give me some advice on the following diet. I'm age 20, I weigh 210lbs, and I'm 6:1".

After eating only one large meal a day for about 7 weeks now, and after having lost a stone, I'm starting to wonder if my matobolism has been put into a bad cycle. For this reason, I want to begin to change my diet.

Heres what I've decided...

Breakfast - 2 slices of toasted brown bread

Lunch - tuna sandwiches (3 slices of brown bread, half a can of tuna)

Dinner - 100g Spaghetti, 60g of sweetcorn, and half a can of tuna.

Supper - Two pieces of fruit.

I'm also hoping to begin a 3 day a week dumbbell workout to tone up and increase my metabolism, though I'm still looking into that (such as what weight dumbbells I'd need to buy)

I realise its not a calorie intense diet, but I do almost entirely avoid sweets and sugary foods - except wine.


Does that seem like a suitable diet? I should note that, being a student, I have an absolutely miniscule budget for food, about £15-20 maximum, so I can't afford to go on a 5 meal a day healthfood spree.

I realise I'm not eating enough, however baring in mind this will include about a bottle of wine or two a week, I suppose I could try to add some form of yogart into it!

The problem I have is that due to the fact I may have lowered my metabolism, increasing my calorie count further may make me start to gain weight (baring in mind I was on about 500 calories with the one meal a day diet!)

(I copied and pasted this from the other folder)

 

[totty]

its not alot, but seems an ok mix of carbs, protien, not alot of essential fats though, (apart from a little in the tuna)...could you possibly add some mixed nuts in there?

and swap your standard spagetti for wholegrain and you will be sorted

 

[Melanie]

I'd say lacking in calcium (milk, yogs, cheese?) and could do with a bit more fruit and veg thrown in - what about some salad on the sarnie?

 

[totty]

what about cereal instead of toast??

 

[kingflab]

Never been a fan of cereal!

As for the calcium, hmm... throw in a medium sized carton of milk each week maybe?

I've decided to vary the meals a bit, swap tuna for sliced meat occasionally, perhaps try using some low-fat oven chips for two or three days a week, but keep the calories low and the food healthy!

I've also decided to buy some eggs too, so I can have toast and boiled eggs for lunch instead of tuna/meat sandwiches everyday.

-edit- And I'll start buying wholegrain Pasta too!

 

[Taz]

5 slices of bread per day is a lot and you definately need more calcium than a carton of milk per week! Why not try replacing the morning toast with porridge? That's very cheap, easy to make and great on a winter morning

 

[bluet]

Maybe you can add some variety, instead of just having a tuna. Try tofu, oatmeal, and rice cakes. For snacks, you can have a low-fat snack bar.

 

[Taz]

I agree about the variety. If you get bored you are more likely to break it

 

[Silence]

As a recent graduate I completely sympathise with the problem of budget restrictions whilst trying to diet.
Looking at your meal plans I'd suggest a little more variation, less bread, more LF dairy products and more fruit.
One of my favourite diet meals at uni was stew - you can pick up some carrots, turnip, potatoes, onion, leek from the supermarket for a reasonable price (Tesco used to do a bag containing carrots, onions, leek and turnip for something like £1.50). I used to cook mine with corned beef and gravy,obviously. The entire thing would cost me something like £2.50 and would feed me for 3-4 meals. I used to freeze it in tupperware and just heat it up on a night when I got in from uni. Whilst I'm not suggesting you eat it every night, it is a fairly healthy and cheap meal to make. A slightly more expensive improvement is to use LF mince instead of corned beef.

Good luck!!!

~Silence~

 

[pete10141748]

I thought 3 things when I read your diet plan:

1) as Taz said, 5 slices of bread (even brown) is a lot, especially with having pasta every day as well

2) more fruits and veg needed in there (fruit for breakfast and as a snack makes it easier to hit the 5-a-day they say you should get)

3) get more variety. I love tuna as much as anyone, but having it for 2 out of 3 meals a day every day would get repetative, and as was said, you're more likely to break it if you get bored


Dont worry too much about your matabolism, even if you did manage to slow it down, it sould change again eventually when you go back to eating a healthy 3 meals a day.

 

[kingflab]

Thanks for the advice everyone.

I'm not much of a breakfast person, in fact I've usually avoided it in the past - which is why in that regard I'll stick to toast simply because its fast.

For lunch, I'm going to vary between sliced meats, tuna, and boiled eggs. I'm a bit of a fussy eater, so I'm struggling to find a suitable replacement for the excess bread (I might reduce it to four slices a day, and find another way to replace that extra 100calories)

I'm going to start using brown rise, wholegrain speghetti, low-fat oven chips, canned potato's, as well as a mix between tuna, peas, sweetcorn, mixed veg, breaded fish, occasional red meats, and tuna.

I'll also start to drink more milk to increase calcium, and I'll try and buy some vitamins.

In reality budget is the only problem I have, so I'll just have to see what I can afford to purchase on a weekly shop. I'll start to slowly increase the calories when I begin working out (I've purchased some dumbbells for that purpose).

All in all, I've spent two months starving myself more or less, and I've only decided to stop simply because of metabolism concerns, hopefully if I can keep up the momentum (I.e as long as i continue to lose weight) I should be okay!

 

[Taz]

If you don't usually have breakfast why not have a mullerlight or equivalent for breakfast instead of toast? It would be quicker and get some calcium in

 

[kingflab]

Thats a damn good idea. If they're cheap, I will! *adds Mullerlight to shopping list*

 

[Taz]

Mullers aren't particularly cheap but the Weight Watchers ones are reasonable price as are the Actimel fat free

 

[kingflab]

Would it not work out to cheaper to buy three pro-biotic yogurt tubs a week (those large thingies) and just consume about a 1/3 od one of those for breakfast?

 

[Taz]

yeah you can do that. Yuo could also get the large tubs of plain bio yougurt and add mashed or sliced bananas

 

[IrishMum]

All in all, I've spent two months starving myself more or less, and I've only decided to stop simply because of metabolism concerns, hopefully if I can keep up the momentum (I.e as long as i continue to lose weight) I should be okay!

I'm concerned- so as long as you're losing weight you think you'll be okay? So your body is slowly disintegrating, and your organs are being deprived of nutrients- but its okay because the scales are showing a lower number?! You're a student, so I'm assuming a bit of intelligence is there- do a bit of research, work out how much your body NEEDS each day, then worry about the food sources.
I agree with everyone else about variety, if you don't vary your foods a bit you'll soon get bored. The stew was a great idea, as is huge pots of Veg soup (v. cheap & easy to make). Add some rice or pasta to 'bulk' it out if you like.

 

[bluet]

The best thing about yoghurt is that its non-fat, its fresh, so you can have it after a long working day, and it contains calcium and vitamins and many other nutritions

 

[Patchninja]

Why not make a huge saucepan of veggie soup that costs very little and is very filling and would give you a good dose of veg that your diet is REALLY lacking.
Finely slice a leek, finely chop a couple of carrots, a stick of celery and a courgette, put in a pan with a litre of water and 2 chicken stock cubes. Cook for 20 mins. That will give you 4 BIG bowls of goodness.

 

[Isis]

How's it going KF?


Lacey..xx