Please Comment On This Diet

[ruthandsam]

Hiya, seems a it of a boring question for a Sunday, however, please would you have a look at this diet that the Nurse at our surgery has given me. It is the British Heart Foundation diet.

I have been eating what it says for the last 5 weeks but to no avail. I've lost 2 pounds only. I can't understand what is going wrong as she wanted me to lose 5 pounds, anyway, here goes:

Per day:
Fruit and veg - 7 portions
Bread, rice, etc - 7 portions
Milk and dairy - 2 portions
Meat, fish, etc - 2 portions
Spreading fat, oils, etc - 3 portions
High fat, alcohol and sugar, etc -

[Fatlegs]

But what size is a "portion"? If a portion is a whole plates worth then obviously it will be hard to lose weight.
Why does she have you on bread and rice? When i lost weight i cut out rice and bread from my diet and instead used pulses and wholewheat pasta, cut out sugar, used olive oil in cooking and limited the fruit due to high fructose/sugar content and obviously cut out alcohol to once a week along with jogging, skipping and lost 15lbs in the month before my holiday so it is possible.
Good luck!

[ruthandsam]

Thanks fl.0

1 portion is:

Veg, fruit - 1 fresh fruit, desert boil of salad
Bread, rice - 1 med sliced b bread, 2 sml potatoes
Milk, diary - 1/3 pint sk milk,
Meat, fish - 90 grams
Oils - 1 teaspoon
High fat - up to 100 kcal

thanks

Meat, fish - 2 eggs, smll chicken breast

[woofgang]

according to the BHF, there is no such thing as the BHF diet so I am not sure what she is talking about.

here's what the BHF say about diet
http://www.bhf.org.uk/plugins/PublicationsSearchResults/DownloadFile.aspx?docid=fd082fb9-142d-455e-8827-6a94e6153615&version=-1&title=Eating+well++&resource=G186

5lbs is not a lot for an adult to lose anyway...not sure why she is agonising about such a small amount of weight as the health benefit for an adult would be minimal.

I suspect she might be talking out of her.....hat, yes, lets say "hat"
Why did she want you to lose weight?

[TopKat]

The diet you have been given is totally wrong - both for heart health and weight loss. You will not loose weight eating such a high amount of carbohydrates (in the bread, rice etc and fruit portions of the diet). Your blood measures (triglyceride levesl, LDL to HDL cholesterol etc) will be worse not better. It is very worrying to see such bad advice being given by medical personnel when the research now clearly shows that such diets make people more unwell and lead to weight gain. You will loose weight and be healthier all round if you reduce you intake of carbohydrates - bread, rice etc and cut refined sugar out of your diet completely. It is not necessary or even helpful to reduce fat either - particularly "good" fats like olive oil. Alcohol is okay in moderation, but not high carb forms like beer - the odd glass of dry white wine or spirits each week will be okay. Since it doesn't sound as if you have a lot of weight to lose, this regimen should be effective very quickly. For more detail on the science, you could have a look at http://www.dietdoctor.com/lchf Good luck with you attempt to get healthier!

[ruthandsam]

I tell you what Woofgang the info from the link that you sent has information which is a whole lot easier to understand. Thank you very much!

Freaking put on over a stone in weight in a short amount of time. Was warned by the Pharmacist that this would happen because of Quetiapine and Sertraline. Nearly everyone says that it is because it increases your appetite. Some say it is because you are more relaxed so don't exercise as much.

I would just like to know how/why Q and S 'make' you put on weight and how the h to get rid of it!!

[ruthandsam]

Sorry for the confusion. Dietician wanted me to lose 5 pounds in 5 weeks. Aiming to lose 1 1/2 stones in total.

[sandyRoe]

Is a gradual weight loss, 2lbs in 5 weeks, not the best way? Faddy diets might give quick results but the weight might come back when you've stopped the diet.

[Fatlegs]

Ruthandsam what does a typical days diet look like for you?

At the moment my diet's something like this

7am Oats with dried fruit and skimmed milk
9am Low fat yogurt and a banana or two slices of wholemeal toast and low fat cheese spread
12pm Portion of white fish or chicken and 100gs pf wholewheat pasta
4pm Small portion of cashew nuts
8pm-Portion of White fish/chicken and salad (No or low carbs at this time of night)

I also drink a lot of water and have green tea or cooled down ice green tea with most of my meals before 8pm and i'am 5'8 and a size 14 at about 185 lbs

[ruthandsam]

Thank you very much TopKat. Extremely interesting and helpful comments. I did wonder about the amount of carbs that I was advised to eat. Will swap the quantities about and let you know how I go on.

xx

[ruthandsam]

Ok - a typical days food intake whilst working is as follows:

8am - 6 tablespoons of shreddies or shredded wheat.skimmed milk, tsp sugar, 1 banana, sometimes b toast, lf marg, marmite

11am - 2 fresh fruits, eg: apples, nectarines

12.30 pm - Tuna, lf mayo, 6 Rivita, l bowl of salad, 2 portions of summer fruits, 4 tbls of lf yoghurt

4pm - prunes

7.30pm - chicken salad, potatoes, bread and lf marg

[boxtops]

what diet sheet did she give you ruth, does it actually say BHF on it, or did she type it up for you?

[Fatlegs]

I don't get it ruthandsam that looks like a great diet! What exercises do you do and for what duration? Also is your job physically demanding or are you sat down all day?

[ruthandsam]

I know - the diet sheet was a version of the link that Woofgang gave. Just a booklet with general information on.

3 days a week I'm sat on my a@se in an office
Every week I do:
Monday, 4 hours gardening (work)
Friday, boot camp exercise
Sunday, 2 miles brisk walk

That's why I'm a little disheartened......Many thanks for putting up with my whining!

[boxtops]

I'd certainly cut out the bread and potatoes altogether if all you have to lose is a pound a week.

You don't say what you're drinking - that can have an effect of weight loss, depending on the types of fluids you're taking in.

[Old_Geezer]

Not analysing it in detail but it looks a large intake to me.

Try working out how many calories that is and then look up the requirement on the Net for your gender/weight/height/etc.

[Fatlegs]

Ruthandsam that doesn't look like a lot of exercise to be honest. Is jogging or skipping out of the question or even joining a gym and using the stair machine or rowing machines to really up your cardio? If you could along with your diet you'd be fitting into a nice 2 piece bikini by next summer!

[ruthandsam]

Ooops, per day:

3/4 pint skimmed milk
cups of tea with skimmed milk x 8
nettle and mint tea x 2
about 1.5 pints of water

My father is convinced that it is water retention or that I'm pregnant! Charming - and no I'm not!

[Old_Geezer]

Exercise helps but you have to do a lot of exercise to 'burn off' a relatively small amount of stored energy. Don't rely on it for weight loss, loos upon it as an additional healthy benefit.

Despite what others have said I recommend not cutting out any food type. Cut down on those that have greatest calorie content, but get a good balance of all. Moderation is key.

[ruthandsam]

Oh ok. Looks like I should up my exercise then?

[ruthandsam]

Thank you so much everyone - my motivation is back up again now because of all your comments......x