Some advice on my diet please

[Callisto]

Hi I am very new to this and just wanted to know if I am going okay with my eating plan and where I could be tweaking it. I am eating and exercising for health and strength mainly. I still have a couple of kilos that I would like to lose too and increase my muscle and strength I should mention that I am Vegetarian and I do change my eating a bit day to day but basically it's something like:

Breakfast
1/2 Cup Oats
1 C of Skim Milk
Handful of mixed berries
Handful of Spinach
1TBSP of LSA
(I also add protein powder on the weekend when I can exercise before breakfast)

Snack
Cup of Minestrone Soup
Piece of Fruit

Lunch
x2 Egg whites scrambled with Skim Milk on a piece of Whole Grain Toast

Snack
Carrot Sticks with Hommus

Tea
Sushi with Tofu and/or egg, avocado and grated carrot
or
Peanut Stir Fry Tofu and Veg with 1C of Brown Rice
or
Vege Burger in Wholemeal Bun with Lettuce, Egg and Cheese
(you get the picture)

Snack
100grams Yoghurt
2 pieces of Dark Chocolate (will not give these up as they stop me consuming a block of chocolate a day. Chocolate is my only weakness )


All up I am consuming around 7,000-8,000 kjs a day and only drink water and one-two Whey Isolate protein shakes a day post workout.

For exercise I do cardio for an hour or two every day (dance based) and weights for 20 minutes 4 days a week.
I also do quite a bit of incidental exercise in the form of walking and bike riding as I have 3 children, housework and I don't drive

ETA: I am 27, female, 165cm and 55kg

Any advice is welcome but please be kind, I am a noob !

[Boss Man]

Breakfast
1/2 Cup Oats
1 C of Skim Milk
Handful of mixed berries
Handful of Spinach
1TBSP of LSA
(I also add protein powder on the weekend when I can exercise before breakfast)

(keep the Fruit seperate, so eat it around 10-15 minutes before the rest of the food to improve digestion, but otherwise that looks fine)

Snack
Cup of Minestrone Soup
Piece of Fruit

(Same thing here with the fruit)


Lunch
x2 Egg whites scrambled with Skim Milk on a piece of Whole Grain Toast

(Have two slices of Toast, the calories are a bit low)

Snack
Carrot Sticks with Hommus

(Fine)

Tea
Sushi with Tofu and/or egg, avocado and grated carrot
or
Peanut Stir Fry Tofu and Veg with 1C of Brown Rice
or
Vege Burger in Wholemeal Bun with Lettuce, Egg and Cheese
(you get the picture)

(Fine)

Snack
100grams Yoghurt
2 pieces of Dark Chocolate (will not give these up as they stop me consuming a block of chocolate a day. Chocolate is my only weakness )

(Fine)


For exercise I do cardio for an hour or two every day (dance based) and weights for 20 minutes 4 days a week.

(You're overdoing it on the Cardio. I'd limit to around 40 minutes 4x a week after the weights, so you've got some time off to recover and maybe one more session on its own.

So something like this.

Day 1. Weights and Cardio

Day 2. Weights and Cardio

Day 3. Cardio

Day 4. Day off

Day 5. Weights and Cardio

Day 6. Weights and Cardio

Day 7. Day off)

[Callisto]

Thank you so much for your advice. I will definitely make sure I have the fruit a little before the rest of my meal and have 2 slices of toast instead of one with my egg whites

Unfortunately I cannot cut down the cardio too much as I am a Zumba Instructor and also rehearsing for a Pole Dancing Show Case in October. I will however make sure I have a rest day every Friday from now on and try to cut back my rehearsal sessions a little!

Thanks again