Monday 21st May:

oats, yogurt, sultanas, pumpkin seeds
2 toast with rice risotto
feijoa
banana
1 toast with rice risotto
1 toast with jam
sandwich with rice risotto and 4 salt and vinegar chips on it
pumpkin, rice, butter chicken, brocolli

Kept away from lollies and chocolate today! Wooo Hooo

Tuesday 22nd:

oats, yougurt, sultanas, pumpkin seeds
sandwich with salt and vinegar chips
sandwich with baked beans and salt and vinegar chips
feijoa
banana
few pieces chocolate
couple of liquorice allsorts
salad with lettuce, sprinkle of cheese, tomato, yellow capsicum, grapes, cucumber
homemade pizza and chips (way to much!) piles of cheese on the pizza! :wacko:

Need to do better tomorrow!

i am curious, what is feijoa? :)

Hey Shy,

Here is a link to feijoas

on fitday its says approx 25 cals for 1 fruit...sometimes I eat the skin and all but most people just eat the fruit inside

wow, i have definately never seen this fruit in real life! :o

it looks like a big fat cucumber to me!

but i read that it tastes sweet , i would be intrigued to try it!

They are yummy Shy, but not as big as you think they are :unsure:

Wednesday 23rd:

oats, yougurt, sultanas, sunflower seeds
banana, 20 almonds, 10 grapes
feijoa, 2 slices multigrain bread, pumpkin soup
1 roses chocolate
corned beef, potatoes, carrots, cabbage, peas, corn, cheese sauce
4 squares chocolate, milo drink
feijoa

I need to re-evaluate my eating and start breaking it down again into small meals with counting the calories again. What I'm doing now isn't working. So I will start tomorrow morning and count calories and try and break it down to 5-6 meals a day.
I know I'm a sucker for chocolate and liquorice allsorts at the moment and I know that eating them will not bring my fat% down, but just for now I need to incorporate them into my calories :rolleyes:
I don't know how many calories I will need to maintain but I need to get rid of a couple of lbs first, I don't like them being there, so I'm gonna kick them off! :P

Thursday 24th:

30g oats 114
100g yogurt 50
5g pumpkin seeds 27
10g sultanas 32

feijoa 25
2 slices multigrain bread 129
30g edam cheese 105
78g tuna fish 90

1/2 tomato 6
50g cucumber 6
2 slices multigrain bread 129
1 boiled egg 68

beef goulash approx. 250
carrots 14
peas and corn 40
cabbage 35

total 1120 hmm that's low but I'm not really hungry, surprisingly! I have been drinking alot of water though :wacko:

It's 8pm and I don't really like eating too late but I think I'll have a snack of:
banana 70
yogurt 50
almonds 11g 65
which would bring my cals to total 1305 sounds a bit better! ;)

I was naughty last night and didn't have the extra calories which left me only have 1120! yes I know it was low...I went and watched tv in bed instead posted some more on the forums.

Well I'm sure I'll make up fo it today and eat more!

It certainly helped bring my weight down overnight though! :P but I know that's not a good thing..nevermind, it's not like I'm doing it for a week! hehe I'd starve and I like my food too much! Today's cals will probably be alot higher from the food that I'm planning on having for dinner!

Friday 25th:

30g oats 114
100g yogurt 50
5g pumpkin seeds 27
10g sultanas 32

banana 70
almonds 11g 65

1 liquorice allsort
1 roses chocolate

1/2 tomato 6
50g cucumber 6
2 slices multigrain bread 129
1 boiled egg 68

homemade hot chips
lasagna topper
spaghetti with bit of cheese mixed in

apple and rhubarb crumble
cream
ice cream

Wow you really like oatmeal!!! I do to.
What are sultanas?

Do you like pumpkin cake? I have a really great recipe for pumpkin muffins super healthy!

Hey Jenny, yep I definately love oats, I just have the rolled oats.

A sultana is a bit like a raisin, here's a link to Sultanas

I love pumpkin anything ;) I'd love the recipe..you should post it in the Healthy Recipe Cafe on this forum so that we can all share it! That would be great, thank you! :D

Thanks for the link. I posted the recipe in the treats section!

Saturday 26th:

30g oats 114
100g yogurt 50
5g pumpkin seeds 27
10g sultanas 32

small piece louise slice
few nuts
few grapes

1/2 tomato 6
2 slices multigrain bread 129
1 boiled egg 68

chicken, gravy, brocolli, potatoes, pumpkin, carrots, peas and corn

triple chocolate fudge brownie, 2 1/2 slices

liquorice allsorts
potato chips
chocolate

Way too many cals!


Sunday 27th:

30g oats 114
100g yogurt 50
5g pumpkin seeds 27
10g sultanas 32

1/2 tomato 6
2 slices multigrain bread 129
chicken, stuffing

triple chocolate fudge brownie, 1/2 slice
liquorice allsorts
chocolate

mince and nachos with cheese and sour cream

chocolate cake, cream, ice cream

Way too many cals again!

I am wondering a few things :)


1. What is louise slice? Loaf cake?

2. When y ou say mince, you don't mean mince meat do you? Because i can't imagine eating that with nachos...


I used to eat liquorice allsorts, but i didn't like the licorice..i liked the ones that were little sandwiches, with like pink and white/orange and white/brown and white icing and liquorice inside (if you know what i mean).

Hey Shy,

Louise Slice is a coconut/egg white topped biscuit/slice Louise Slice It's very yummy!

and yes the liquorice allsorts sound the same as the ones you mentioned, like little sandwiches ;)

Mince and Nachos, here's a couple of sites for the recipe Shy! Mince and Nachos
Nachos

Monday 28th:

2 weetbix with yogurt

egg and tomato sandwich
feijoa
few pieces chocolate
liquorice allsort

banana and peanut butter on toast
tomato on toast

piece toast, vegemite
piece toast with peanut butter

few peanuts
more liquorice allsorts

Devilled sausages, mashed potatoes, peas and corn


EDITED to add: container of peanuts!

ohhh

its just nachos with beef!! well that is delicious any day of the week.

certainly not what came to mind when you said mince! :lol:

LOL Shy, over here we call minced up beef, mince.

Here are a couple of recipes like what I'm talking about....

Beef and Beans you can have this same recipe on top of nachos with cheese sprinkled over the mince, heat it up to melt the cheese and put sour cream over top
hmm very fattening though when adding cheese! well especially when I do it :rolleyes:

Easy mince Tacos
So basically when you go into the shop here, you either look for mince or ask for mince and everyone knows what you're talking about ;)

Tuesday 29th:

weetbix with yogurt

4 pieces toast with leftover mince
banana

2 pies
Chips
feijoa

that's a disgusting menu! I'm disgusted with how I've been eating and how I've been cooking for my family and it's got to stop. My honey has even noticed that I'm slipping back to my OLD ways.

Lets get some veges and lean meat back into the menu purrrple!

Have fun looking up and cooking up some tasty healthy dinners girl!! :D

1st June:

oats, yogurt, sultanas, pumpkin seeds

sandwich with ff luncheon, tomato, cucumber, egg

banana, milo drink, sunflower seeds, grapes

10 rice crackers

3 toasted sandwiches with cheese and ham

6 pieces chocolate, 2 liquorice allsorts

Total 1908 calories

hehe I am thinking of starting a food diary but just wanted to have a quick look at what everyone else is doing.

IM RAVENOUS lol

thanks for all the links to wacky fruit and new recipes, I live and learn - never seen that fruit b4.

The Feijoa, Righ?

I have a Feijoa tree in my backyard, I think they have almost run out now though :(

Yes Purrrple

What a nice thing to have in your back garden :)

I'm very lucky, I have a feijoa tree, apple trees, grapefruit (although I can't eat grapefruit) lemon tree, lime tree, mandarins (which are about ready to eat, my daughter had one today) walnut tree, plum trees, passionfruit vine (not sure if I killed it when I was weeding under it, doesn't look too healthy!) peach trees, nectarine tree, pear tree...

Wowie! I didn't realise we had so many fruit trees til I just wrote them down!

Saturday 2nd June:

rolled oats, sultanas, yogurt, pumpkin seeds

2 sandwiches with tuna, lettuce and mayo
grapes

cottage pie, carrots, corn, brocolli

banana, almonds, 6 pieces chocolate, 2 liquorice allsorts

Total cals today 1517

Wow Purrple you sound as if you live in an Enchanted Grove lol

you jammy, jammy sod :)

are you serious????

can i come live with ya??????

seriously, i love fruit, an di have never seen those kind of trees...
except apple and pear which i have..

i have to agree with righ, you sound like you live in an enchanted forest! :lol:

You're welcome to come and move to New Zealand Shy!

I have a five bedroom house and only 3 are been used as full time bedrooms so plenty of room ;)

I just wish that they all gave fruit all year round! That would be lovely!

Oh and I really wish I had a banana tree! :lol: :lol: :lol:

Sunday 3rd June:

Didn't really enjoy breakfast..I'd rather have my porridge and yogurt!
2 pieces toast
1 egg
1 piece bacon
lettuce

2 farmbake cookies
cup of tea

apple

pork roast
pumpkin
peas
kumera
potatoes
carrots
gravy

Not sure of the calories...going to have a wee bit more to eat tonight but will definately not go over 2000cals which is one of my goals!

EDITED TO ADD: I also had 50g Soho's (crackers)

Estimated total for the day to have been around 1500-1600cals

Monday 4th June:

oats, yogurt, sultanas, pumpkin seeds

2 sandwiches with tomato and cheese

milo drink, 2 farmbake cookies

1 sausage, 2 fried eggs, fries, 1 slice bread, fried onions


Total 1408 calories

Purrple, okay, so I thought about what you were saying in the other thread, and I totally understand being at what most people would consider being at "normal" weight/size but still having the inner drive to make improvements.

One of the major contributors to the "slightly mucly" (I love that phrase) look you want is a lower percent of body fat - which has nothing to do with how much we weight on the scale, it's strictly a bodyfat to lean muscle ratio. You have to keep in mind that fat is not just layered on top of the muscle...but is present throughout the muscle tissue as well. Only when the fat deposits inside, as well as on top, of the muscle is reduced do you start getting a "toned", or visibly defined look.

You are already at a petty lean overall body weight. The number one thing that means right now in terms of your bodyfat is YOU CANNOT YO-YO DIET. Everytime you do it's going to take you further from your goal (plus slow down your metabolism). Here's why.....

Let's say I start out at 130 pounds. If I consistently eat a surplus without doing heavy weight resistance exercise my body will store all of the excess calories as fat. So if I gain five pounds before saying "whoops....enough already" - it's going to be five pounds of fat.

If I then reduce my calories to a deficit without doing heavy weight resistance exercise my body will lose both fat and lean muscle tissue...how much of each depends mostly on genetics..but if I have a weight problem to begin with it's probably safe to assume that my genetics favor greater fat preservation over muscle preservation. But, either way, of the newly lost five pounds, some of it will be from the recently acquired fat, and some of it will be already existing lean muscle.

The end result is, my body fat/lean muscle ratio has now shifted in the wrong direction...technically although I weigh 130 pounds again, I actually am "fatter" than I was the last time at this weight.

So, that's what you can't do and get what you want. With this in mind, I can only tell you what I would do if I were you and had the same body shaping goals. It's a three pronged, long term approach.

First, I wouldn't even think about reducing calories to a deficit right now. I'd spend the next 6-8 weeks eating slightly above, (no more than 300 cals a week) maintenance, getting in a minimum of 100g of protein a day, a crapload of complex carbs and doing heavy, full body, compound movement weights every other day with minimal (30 mins, low intensity) cardio 2 days. I'm talking low rep squats, deads, lunges, presses and lifts. Followed by a good dynamic stretch routine. The focus not being on losing weight, but on adding lean muscle mass and starting to strengthen and shape those muscles.

Second at the end of this period I would lower cals to maint level, increase protein to 120g, continue heavy/compound weights and increase the intensity and duration of the cardio so that one day is HIIT and the other day 60 mins SS. Even though you are eating at maint. now, you are actually starting to create a small deficit from exercise alone. The small loss during this period will be primarily fat because you are eating and exercising in a way designed to preserve the lean muscle tissue. And, any small amount of muscle lost has already been "prepared for" during the first six weeks.

At the end of the entire period (you have to take a week's break in between one and two, you will probably be no more than a pound or two -in either direction-from when you started - but the change in appearance can be significant because we're talking having less body fat and more muscle.

Third, yes there is a third step...but this has already turned from a post into a book of epic proportions....and I won't even go into it unless you think you can/want to follow the first two stages.

This is sorta why I said earlier that going from an already lean point to an even leaner point (assuming you just don't want to get "skinny fat") is hard. And it's even harder because it's pretty much a vanity issue not a health issue so the long term motivation might be lacking...you gotta want it bad enough that you don't have any real room for slip-ups and can't decide in the middle of the process "oh the heck with this"....because then it backfires and you can end up screwed in many ways.

Thanks for this reply Choo! I've read through it and need to re-read it again when I have alot more time on my computer! I have been keeping my food clean the last couple of days....no chocolate, no lollies, no puddings! Trying to get in more protein..

Is Surimi any good for protein? cos I love it!

I definately want to know the third step!

I'm going to work on one and two...do you have a recommended weight routine Choo? how many reps and how heavy?

Thanks for your help!

Hey Purp! I wrote you another booK! Can you tell this is my dead favorite aspect of fitness!?! If you decide to do this keep in mind that nutrition is key. You are fueling your metabolism and feeding your muscles for growth. Muscles like protein: lean meat/lowfat dairy/beans. Muscles like complex carbs: think green. Muscles like healthy fats: olive oil/nuts/fish. When you are significantly overweight and out of shape (fitness wise) you can eat at a deficit and your body can build muscle and shed fat at the same time. That doesn't apply to you because you are already lean and not deconditioned. At this point your body is only going to gain muscle when at a caloric surplus. The slight amount of fat you already have, and the slight amount that you will gain by eating at a slight surplus will quickly go bye-bye once you ease back down into a deficit.

If you have the mindset where you can measure progress solely by how you look in the mirror and seeing inches reduce on the tape measure this will work. If you freak-out because you see the scale number inching up, this will not work because you will be in steady freak-out mode...and for the sake of sanity it's just not worth it. If you are prepared to take it slow and steady and trust in the process, this is actually kind of fun. If you get easily discouraged because it's not the linear process we all get used to "eat less/lose scale weight"...you will hate this.

Second red flag warning. If you have been eating fairly consistently at a great big deficit, you cannot jump right into eating at a slight surplus. If that's the case you have to first slowly work your way back up to maintenance calories and find the amount where you neither gain nor lose weight and sit there for a minute. If you've been eating at a deficit for a long time this is a good idea anyway because it's going to help you with some hormonal and metabolism stabilization. If you go straight from a big deficit to a surplus you'll most likely just start getting fat...and that's not the point.

Okay, so assuming you know your maint. caloric range, have been there for a couple of weeks and are all mentally prepared to kick some butt and build some muscle. You're adding a small surplus (in the form of lean protein, complex carbs and healthy fat) onto your maint. calories. This is the accompanying basic full body routine. Along with the nutrition you're getting plenty of sleep (also key) and allowing sufficient rest/recovery time between work-outs (more is not better here).

If you decide to do it, be aware that the first two weeks will leave you sore as heck..but it will pass. You can greatly minimize that by stirring a tablespoon of honey into a glass of skim milk and drinking it within the first hour after your work-out. You can flip around the days anyway you like---but notice that the movements themselves in each day go from upper body to lower body and back again so you want to keep that pattern if you decide to change around the exercises themselves. The rest times between sets may have to be adjusted depending on your individual recovery rate...your muscles should be a little tired but not exhausted before beginning each new set. The key is to use slow controlled movements, hold for a second at the peak of the movement, and not rely on momentum.


Day One
Standing Military Press
Full Squats
Flat Bench Press
Deadlifts
Pull Ups or Lat Pulldowns
all: 5 reps/5 sets 120s rest between sets

Day Two
Standing Tricep Extensions
8 reps/3 sets, 60-90s rest between sets
Lunges
15 reps/2 sets 60s rest between sets
Flat Dumbbell Press
Seated Cable Rows
both: 8 reps/3 sets, 60-90s rest between sets
Hammer Curls
5 reps/5 sets 60-90s rest between sets

Day Three
Standing Dumbbell Press
Dumbbell Split
Squats
Lat Pulldowns
all: 5 reps/5 sets 60-90s rest between sets
Reverse Lunges reps
15 reps/2 sets 60s rest between sets
Incline Dumbbell Press
5 reps/5 sets 60-90s rest between sets

You eat the most interesting foods Purp!

Which foods do you find interesting Jenny? It's funny how different countries have different foods or maybe different names for them.


Choochoo, I am playing around a bit with food, trying to work out my maintenance cals.

do you have some good food combinations for meals and snacks?

some of the weights you mentioned in the routine I'm not sure about so trying to improvise.

how much would be a good weight to try and lift? how much do you lift?

Wednesday 25th July:

Breakfast:

oats
sultanas
pumpkin seeds
yogurt

Snack:

moccachino (sp?)with 2 marshmallows (that wasn't planned and I don't usually drink coffee or go out to coffee shops but a friend called and we met for a chat)

Lunch:

oats
sultanas
pumpkin seeds
yogurt

LOL I don't usually have breakfast for lunch but it's the only thing I felt like having!

Snack:

apple
10 almonds

Dinner:

1 sausage
microwaved potatoes with splash of butter :blush:
peas
roast carrots
roast pumpkin

I don't know how many calories but not too bad.

Thursday 26th July:

Breakfast:

oats
sultanas
pumpkin seeds
yogurt

Snack:

no morning snack as I had to take my sis to a hospital app.

Lunch:

oats
sultanas
pumpkin seeds
yogurt

LOL breakfast for lunch again, but I love oatmeal

Snack:

apple
2 dates
homemade neenish tart

Dinner:

2 slices bread
2 saveloys
grated cheese
neenish tart

5th September:

oats
sultanas
yogurt
pumpkin seeds

4 slices toast
margarine on two slices
honey
tuna fish
salad dressing

apple
popcorn

boiled potatoes
crumbed fish
carrots
cauliflower and broccoli in cheese sauce