Is this too much to eat in a day?

No you're not eating too much by a long stretch, likely your GI issues are making you feel a bit ick

Ignore the holier than thou organic/upf free sock and sandal wearing lot, not helpful. Im sure you already know the difference between good and not so good foods

id say you need to eat more, certainly up the fruit and veg. Try eat little and often whole foods, eggs, cheese, nuts, fresh soups,

Look at the fodmap chart maybe, see if you can work out what's causing you to feel grim

House. The kitkat in the car wasn't in the house

I think you would benefit from some hot food in the evening. Even a bowl is soup

You're allowed a cupcake!
Well done, and don't forget to have dinner 😋

@SENSummer Emotionally better is a good win, perhaps? I hope the sick feeling subsides soon, that really sounds no fun.

Do you feel any better on today's food choices, OP?

You could do with 4 portions of green veg and salad in there. Quite high on the sugary snax. I would limit to 1 normal size bar chocolate or 1 other sweet thing either a biscuit or a small cupcake

This is the Facebooker who is a healthy snacker by the way. Tons of ideas: https://www.facebook.com/HungryHealthyHappy

That’s much better OP - are you planning on having another meal later though? That’s not enough food for a whole day yet!

Well done, @SENSummer, that's brilliant. But you still need some dinner!

Brilliant, OP. Big improvement. I'm all over blueberries at the moment too 👏

I'm going to say it again OP because you might have missed it, possible coeliac disease. Speak to your doc and get a blood test for it.

Jesus, you must be starving! I say this as someone on the lower end of what’s considered a healthy BMI!!

Have you had a blood test? Anaemia and/or other deficiencies can cause nausea

Surely you know that’s not very much to eat in a day?

I'd use a whole bag of haribo if it meant that he can use the loo, and I wouldn't feel a moment's guilt.

When DD1 (with SN) had an eating disorder, I did everything I could to make her gain weight. Chocolate croissants, pancakes loaded with double cream, butter, Nutella... Anything that would get her to gain weight.

You can't always follow the rules with these kids.

It’s all carbs aka sugar, except for the peas (assuming the salmon cakes have a coating and potato).

It’s not too much food it’s just a day of eating sugar. You might feel better if you ditch the sugar and seed oil (oat milk) and add more protein and fibre.

Said completely without judgement as my diet has been awful of late.

Food should be a pleasure, a joy. It sounds like you're craving high sugar foods to dampen down stress and possibly for energy due to stress and tiredness. That's a normal biological response to stress and low energy, so don't beat yourself up about it.

Yes, you'd probably feel better if you ate 'better' -- more protein, fibre and generally nutrient rich foods, but the feeling better takes time, so maybe start small and build up the range of foods you're eating. It doesn't need to be 3 meals and 2 snacks it could be 6-8 snacks, or 4 meals, or nibbling throughout the day. It doesn't really matter as long as the overall quantity and quality of what you eat is good. I'd say that the last thing you need now is more pressure to do something (eating) in a fixed, prescriptive way. A PP suggestion above to 'add' rather than remove foods is really good advice.

Maybe start by thinking about foods you enjoy, or have enjoyed in the past and add bits of those in to your daily diet, then expand from there to improve the nutritional quality of your food. Berries and nuts are great snacks if you like them and are easy to carry around with you in a small lunch box. Generally though, protein can be fish, meat, nuts, seeds, pulses, quinoa, dairy products, sourdough bread. Fibre is brown/wholemeal grains, pulses, nuts, fruit and veg. Fruit and veg are also great for adding vitamins.

Good luck, I'm sure your son is wonderful in many ways, but also very, very hard work and emotionally exhausting. As well as the food, try to make sure you get enough rest and some breaks if at all possible.

You’re not discusting. My diet is similar some days, I also have an autistic teen that I care for, some days I’m exhausted and I crave carbs and sugar, sometimes it makes me feel awful. I don’t see the issue with fish cakes or home made cake.during March/April I think I consumed many bags of mini eggs secretly in my car 😬

Don’t be hard on yourself but do try and add more fruit and veg into your diet and maybe treat yourself each week to some chocolate when you’re doing a food shop.

Just to add, OP, there's a good Facebook contributor, I think it's called 100 Days of Picky Plates, and it's essentially daily healthy snacking plates she puts together.

It’s absolutely outstanding how you know more about what will help THIS child who you have never met and know nothing about rather than the specialists who may have cared for them for years. Absolutely bore off.

I’m a midwife and part of the judgement, nuance and intelligence required for our roles is the ability to see when ‘the guidelines’ (which are a safety net and a springboard not carved in stone) aren’t right for the individual in front of you. It’s rare but tragic to see a HCP who can’t do this