What do normal sized people eat?

For me age is making a big difference now. I'm 41 and noticed I can't eat anywhere near the same amount as I could only a few years ago. I don't calorie count but I don't eat breakfast and have a small lunch and a dinner (not big), if I add any snacks, treats I gain weight. I'm not massively active though but do walk often.

I think start buy massively reducing portion sizes and try fasting. I need a big calorie deficit to actually lose weight.

Until I hit 40 I ate fairly sensibly, was certainly never hungry, and if I did put on a few pounds, I could easily lose them by just cutting out my standard half a packet of biscuits a day. So I always assumed that people who "couldn't" lose weight must be eating way more than they were admitting to themselves. I definitely would have lost weight from eating what you describe.

But since I've turned 40, I've been piling on the pounds eating exactly as I did for the past 20 years, and I can't get any of it off! So now, the only way I can slow down my weight gain is small breakfast, small lunch (soup + bread roll or similar) and a small, boring healthy dinner - no biscuits at all. Sigh. And I'm still putting on weight 😫

I’m slim (BMI under 20) and very active. Typical weekday food is a black coffee first thing, then a mid-morning meal of a (big!) sandwich, 4 eggs scrambled on toast or similar, plus a protein bar. I don’t eat again until dinner which will be lots of protein, lots of veg and some carbs, eg a chicken breast, roast cauliflower and chickpeas and a salad. I drink loads of water throughout the day.

What are you classing as normal sized?

@S0livagant that all sounds lovely.

I've never dieted or weighed myself ( apart from the last few years 2 x yearly for HRT at the doctor). I'm around 5 ft 7" and last weighed I think 68 kg. I'm a 10-12. I'm definitely bigger than I used to be but always been fairly slim.

Average day in the working week:

Yogurt and low sugar 'Eat Natural' granola with pomegranate seeds or raspberries.

Some sort of crackers, oat cakes with cheese and nuts / crisps / grapes

Snacks : banana or apple or crisps

Evening: spag bol or salmon and jacket potato/rice/pasta. Maybe soup.

Always chocolate after tea.

Lots of water throughout the day.

Normal sized people eat too much.

Normal people are overweight.

I don’t eat breakfast. Just have a couple of coffees.

Lunch is a sandwich… tuna sweetcorn, cheese salad, plain ham, or avocado, tomato and pumpkin seed on toast with olive oil if I can be arsed

Dinner… takeaway at least once a week. Otherwise something pasta. Or fish, potatoes and veg, pizza and salad, home made burgers, some sort of meat based thing with rice and veg. Whatever is quick!

I don’t really snack either.

My diet probably isn’t the best but it’s what I honestly eat! I start work around 7am so I’m too tired to be bothered with complex meals…

I hate actually eating fruit and vegetables/anything healthy seeming so I drink 3 cups of smoothie every day with 3 handfuls of spinach, half a cup of berries, almonds chia and 250ml of kefir for nutrition and the berries mask it so well that I don't feel like I'm eating healthy. Then usually scrambled eggs and toast and a couple of spoons of almond butter and a protein bar. Sometimes I have one of these if I remember to make them, I put extra honey and chocolate chips in though. - https://www.theconsciousplantkitchen.com/almond-butter-energy-balls/

Myprotein does some really good protein snacks if you struggle with craving treats especially their hazelnut spread, they're very filling too.

Salad with protein. It fills me up a lot. Then I have a takeaway curry or something with rice and it's a treat, a genuine treat. Too many people eat "trears" too often. Packet of crisps used to be a once or twice a week thing when I was small.

Also relevant is how active they are .

Yes and generally people don't need as many calories as they probably think. Especially if you're not very active.

Today:
Black coffee
Two fried eggs on rye sourdough with half an avocado, a tomato, quarter punnet mushrooms, and a 20cm pan full of sprouting kale from my garden
Black coffee
25g bar 85% cocoa chocolate
Half a small punnet of strawberries
Dinner is rogan josh with brown rice
Likely to have rye sourdough toast for supper with hawberry jam or peanut butter

If you google TDEE calculator you can input your height, weight and activity levels. It will then calculate various calories for you to either stay the same weight or to lose weight etc.

I'm probably a very average weight. BMI of around 21.

I eat porridge 40grams with semi skimmed milk topped with berries. The plain porridge oats not the syrup sachets.

Lunch - a bread roll with chicken/salmon/cheese/egg and salad and a yoghurt

Dinner - something like chicken breast with rice and veg, a baked potato with cheese and beans, a homemade curry, a roast dinner. I don't have big portions.

Greek yoghurt with berries and nuts for dessert

Don't really snack but if I do it's a handful of nuts, a slice of toast, some fruit and Greek yoghurt.

Following as I have always seemed to eat double everyone else's portion size. I would be starving on what is currently described in the what fo you thread! I am average sized (higher end of "normal" bmi)