[Supernova2012]

Alacritous Andy- we are clearly both very very smart!

[sophiasmum]

Not much more to add, agree with suggestion of using Calorie King or similar to count your calories. Also you have to walk for a really long time - 1.5 hrs+ to see any weight lost benefit. I would be running or jogging or shuffling (whatever you can manage) instead, you need to get that heart rate up for weight loss.

[Divine33]

I would definitely be counting calories through myfitnesspal or similar.

I would for now, cut out the walking/yoga etc...

[*Greenbag*]

Swap the muesli in the morning for one or two boiled eggs, with no bread. The protein-only start will keep you full for longer (so maybe you can skip the morning tea) and cut out any hidden carbs in the muesli. There's often a lot of sugar in the dried fruit of muesli.

The other thing is to do more weights-based training to build lean muscle. THe more lean muscle you build, the more efficient your body is at burning up calories. Maybe up the weights training to three times a week instead of (or in addition to) the walking.

[lamarque]

I would take out the muesli each day and perhaps limit it to once per week. I thought it was high in calories...(for a breakfast food anyway).

Also cut the second serve of nuts in the afternoon. Just one handful a day.

Otherwise looks pretty good to me.

Can we swap the walking every day to jogging??

[Penguin78]

It might be time to shake up your exercise regime. While yoga/pilates etc are great for core strength, i think you need to build up your cardio and weights.

Try to do some interval training (what they do in Boot camp etc) and some more hard core cardio. Cycling would be an excellent for that.

You do a lot of exercise, but it might not be the right type for weight loss.

I do think walking can help with weight loss, but I think it needs to be part of a wider exercise regime.

[BlueUnicorn]

I find I need 4-6 weeks of really good excersise ( a vigorous hour session 5x a week, for me this is bike or power walking, extra- taking stairs/ parking further from shop/ beach strolls etc) plus a good diet to see the effects of weightloss.

I generally loose cm off my waist etc straight away but scales don't start dropping until the 4-6 weeks.

In your situation I would cut out foods with added sugar as most of your eating plan looks awesome. As pp suggested, natvia is a good sub in tea/ coffee. Can you switch to the Greek ( I think that's no added sugar one) yoghurt with a few spoons of berries/ fruit for sweetness? I stay away from low fat foods too because it gerally has more sugar in it.

Eta agree with pp about cutting down on the muesli

This post has been edited by BlueUnicorn: 05/06/2012, 02:03 PM

[aphraell]

Hi All

Thanks so much for the ideas and feedback!

To answer a couple of questions first…

I’m 34 so not a spring chicken but was still hoping I had a few more years before my metabolism was totally shot ☹ Not that I’ve ever had a great metabolism really…

I don’t drink juice or soft drink but I do have a cider maybe once a week (oops, forgot that one!). Also found a few other things I had forgotten (sometimes have a protein ball rather than the nuts and there was some greek yoghurt in the bircher for example).

As for my current weight, not sure of the exact number (haven’t weighed myself for awhile as have a previous history of eating disorders so trying not to obsess about the numbers) but I am a size 12/14 now where as before baby I was a 10/12. So would like to drop a dress size, which is probably about 5-7kg for me. This is where I previously felt good (both self esteem wise and energy wise etc.) and that I could maintain without obsessing about food every second of the day. At the moment I feel very flat, low energy and my self esteem is through the floor. Have felt a little better since getting back to the gym the last few weeks but would like to see some difference in the way clothes fit!!’

I took the advice re CalorieKing (never used it before) and I think everyone is right – the muesli has to go and probably the 2nd coffee ☹

Calorie wise (excluding exercise) I was having about 1450 per day where CK was suggesting I should have 1330 for weight loss. But I think the main issue was I was having about 30% extra grams of fat and not enough protein so going to swap things around a bit.

On the exercise front, I have worked out I can do an extra pump class on Tuesdays (did it today – pump followed by core, am exhausted but feel good!) by taking a long lunch and making up the work after DD goes to bed. Will also definitely do the cycle on Wednesday.

The yoga/pilates on Thursday is my “me” time for the week to just chill out so am going to try and keep that. The walking is our “family” time where DH and I take DD for walk after work (usually in the pram but I might swap her to the Ergo for a better work out) and the same on the weekends, so not really something I can replace with running etc. We are looking for a bike trailer for DD as she should be almost old enough to sit in one safely, and then we can get back to bike riding instead of the walking so hopefully that will up the cardio a bit more.

[aphraell]

Agree the muesli has to go. Unfortunately I'm not a big fan of eggs, but will try that one or two days a week.

Anyone have any other suggestions for high protein/low card (preferably low fat) breakfast ? When I was GF (while pregnant) I had quinoa porridge so might look into that...any other suggestions are much appreciated!

[Supernova2012]

Banana smoothie, with some oats, LSA and low fat milk?