Personally I don’t have any processed grain based foods. So the lasagne would have been a killer. The difference between sugar and processed grains is absolutely minimal. Did the casserole have potatoes in it? Same thing as the processed grains. Also what people consider a normal portion is WAY more than they need. Cup your two hands together. Does the portion fit inside your two hands? 2000 calories is a ridiculously small amount of food. Our sense of portion has been lost. Have the scrambled eggs without the toast. The carbs in the toast (in any processed grain product really) causes your insulin levels to spike. This makes you go into fat storing mode. When you add protein together with the carbs the insulin spike is even higher than it would have been with the toast by itself. Have the eggs without the toast.

Good luck with it.

@fasting me. I think I may have worded it poorly. I was trying to say that our concept of portion size has been skewed. What we think we eat and what we actually eat are really at odds. If we laid out 2000 calories in front of us that we would be surprised at how little food (visually) it takes to add up to 2000 calories. I picked the number 2000 its a nice round number and because that’s about the average calorie value for a male. Four chocolate donuts gets you pretty close to 2000.

@fasting me. Bingo. Yes it can look like a lot or it can look like very little. Real whole foods with a lot of fibre can look like a lot but actually be very little calories wise and vice versa. Carbs as long as they are locked in with fibre are not a problem (in my opinion). As soon as you talk processed foods that concept disappears. Even when they advertise it as containing lots of fibre its not the same. The fibre needs to lock the carbs up, not simply be added in afterwards so as to meet some dietary minimum standard. Food companies are good at that trick.

Regards red beans or any beans, I eat them all the time. My staple is legume/bean + veg based curries and stews. Im not a vego but I don’t eat a lot of meat. I try and incorporate a lot of leafy greens in bean type curries/stews as it helps with gas. Leafy greens contain amylase (your body also produces it but some people don’t produce enough) which is needed for the breakdown of fibre in your small intestines. Otherwise your large intestine bacteria have to do all the hard work and the by product is gas. With regards to rice (especially white rice) I personally don’t have it. Fibre content is about 1g per 100g. Its too low. So the carb hit is way too big. I place it in the same category as bread, not as healthy as its been made out to be. Red beans, fibre content is 25g per 100g.