Dietician update

[Lucyr]

I’m not sure if I’ve written about my appointments with the dietician, and seen a few people asking about seeing one, so thought I’d do a write up.

I’ve had two appointments now, about 6 weeks apart. My next one will be in 2 months. The main reason of seeing her (virtual appointments) is for weight loss help. I’ve struggled with that for a long time, with the limitations of stomach/autism/other issues making it more challenging.

In the first appointment we talked through what I ate and made a plan for diet changes. It could be simply summarised as same foods but less and with added salad/veg, though was more detailed than that.

I did make a good start for a few weeks but then illness took over and I went back towards old ways, no one fancies chopping a load of salad when they’re ill. So I was a bit nervous about my second appointment, I’d lost 5 pounds initially, regained a couple and so down 3 pounds in total.

 

[Lucyr]

At my second appointment I was honest about how things had gone. She reassured me that it’s normal to have initial enthusiasm and good results then to be thrown off by difficulties and not to worry about it, that we would make a new plan.

We talked through what I’m eating now, and where the main issues had been. A lot of this was around fluctuating energy/illness levels, and finding it difficult to shop when I don’t know how much I’ll be able to cook.

Also i had found it easier to stick to the diet when I was working in the office and making my packed lunch the night before. Working at home / being off sick meant I was just wandering into the kitchen when hungry and deciding what to eat when hungry and tired (terrible plan by the way!).

(Will post part 3, the new plan, seperately as my phone sometimes loses long posts and I always find it easier to read things broken up)

 

[Lucyr]

So here’s the new plan. We agreed three main priorities

1. Get organised, prepare meals in advance

2. Find easy options and keep them in

3. Get some form of exercise every day, even if it’s just a 5 minute stroll.

We kept the same principles as before too, such as make half the meal at lunch and dinner be salad or veg, whenever having bread stick to one slice, for other carbs try and choose Wholemeal versions and have half the reccomended portion sizes. Have lean proteins at every meal.

For point 1, I make better choices if I make them when I’m not starving. So wandering into the kitchen when I’m hungry to think of lunch is not working. Making a packed lunch in advance was working well, so agreed I’ll try making my lunch the night before regardless of whether I’m working at home or in the office.

For point 2, being tired is the worst thing for me and means i make rubbish choices. So I need to find some meals that are easy to prepare eg can just be microwaved or plated up or similar. Will make up my own bags of veg to steam in the microwave, for lean proteins so far I’ve only thought of veggie sausages which I can air fry with no effort. Batch cooking will give me some frozen microwave meals, and when I know a day will be tiring I can defrost one in advance. I need to work on discovering more options in this category.

For point 3, I want to get back to swimming but think that’s a bit out of reach at the moment. Starting with walks for now.

 

[42istheanswer]

Lentils and beans are lean protein - some carbs obviously but not too many. Soups and stews with them can be batch cooked to have some in the freezer, otherwise red lentils only take around 20 minutes to cook (saucepan with water) and flavour can be altered with herbs or spices

 

[Lucyr]

Lentils and beans are lean protein - some carbs obviously but not too many. Soups and stews with them can be batch cooked to have some in the freezer, otherwise red lentils only take around 20 minutes to cook (saucepan with water) and flavour can be altered with herbs or spices

Soup is a good idea thanks, especially now it’s getting towards autumn. I’ll look at finding some premade ones that have decent ingredients in, or making some. Lentils I’ll look at adding into the next time I make Bolognese sauce.

 

[Felinia]

I make a cheats soup. 1 chopped onion, packet diced carrot and swede, packet of squash and sweet potato, packet of shredded cabbage and leek, tin of tomatoes, water with veggie stock cubes, Italian seasoning, chopped green beans, left overs ie chicken, mushrooms, celery, any other veggies. Everything except the cabbage/leek goes in a big pot and simmers for about 25 minutes, then the cabbage/leek gets added for the last 10 minutes. It makes a good 8 portions or more, and I batch freeze it.