I need some help with eating, please!

[MawkishTwaddle]

Which is pathetic, as I'm 44.

However...I've been steadily gaining weight throughout my forties, and I think it's a case of all my chickens coming home to roost. They appear to be roosting on my hips and belly, too, the bastards.

I could blame my antidepressant, but I'd be lying. The fact is, I'm a right greedy sod. I eat for reasons other than hunger, and I have a raging sweet tooth. And a carb face.

I know I need to eat like a normal person - I'm not interested in faddy diets, or cutting out food groups or anything like that. I've downloaded MFP to get me kickstarted, but I know I won't use it forever.

My question is, what is a normal portion for a slim person who doesn't diet?

If you were eating a lunch of, say, oatcakes and hummus, how many oatcakes would you eat?

How many roast potatoes and Yorkshire puds in a sitting?

How many new potatoes? How much pasta?

Sorry it's long. TIA.

Hi,

Have you ever tried mindful eating? When I struggled with my intake I looked up the thoughts behind it and found it really helpful . There’s no cutting out of anything, just a mindful approach to food that really does change your view.

I love it as I can still enjoy crisps and chocolate! But now I know when I’ve had enough

I need to follow this too. After years of fad diets, I have no idea what a normal person eats anymore!

The trouble is one person could eat 8 roast potatoes, 4 yorkshire puddings and a huge pudding and not put on an ounce and another person (me) only has to sniff at food and put on 4 stone! I halfed my portions and went from there really. Before I would have eaten a packet of oat cakes, 6 in a pack I think, now I would eat 2/3.

100% look into mindful eating as a previous poster said.

Have you looked at Slimming world? It isn’t such a fad diet. The basic principle is fill up on fruit and veg and lean protein, limit carbs but don’t exclude, limit fats but don’t exclude.

I've tried mindful eating. All my mind thinks is 'Cor I'm really enjoying this trough of crisps.'

I've also tried intuitive eating, with similar results. My intuition tells me to be a greedy cow, sadly.

I just need to go back to the beginning and relearn what's a reasonable amount of food. Until then, I plan to fake it until I make it.

See, oatcakes are a perfect example of my problem. I buy them because they're healthy. I take one of the little sealed packs of six to work with me for lunch. But because six oatcakes are packaged up individually, in my head that's a portion, along with half a tub of hummus. So all of a sudden my healthy lunch has been about 900 calories and I might as well have had a kebab.

I am 51 & get a lot of exercise:

oatcakes and hummus, how many oatcakes would you eat?

If this is my entire meal, 1/3 of my daily calories (or more), probably 200g of humous & 5-7 oatcakes.

How many roast potatoes and Yorkshire puds in a sitting?

My evening meal is often steamed veg, a small meat thing (say one decent size ssg) & 2-4 roasties which is basically one medium potato cut into parts. Can't comment on the pud don't like them, maximum 1 surely?

How many new potatoes? How much pasta?

200g? Equal or more volume should be vegetables.

I'd have to eat (would only be hungry enough to eat) half those amounts if I didn't get a lot of exercise.

Thanks lijjk, that's helpful. I plan to up my exercise too.

I've done Slimming World before, but I find it plays up to my tendency to overeat, then once I come off it I pile the weight back on because in my head it's still ok to eat a baby bath full of pasta.

I just want a lifelong change.

I eat pretty much child sized portions. 1-2 roasties 1 Yorkshire 2 slices meat etc.

2 oatcakes with a scrape of Pb not hummus yuk.

A tablespoon of Greek yog full fat 2 Brazil’s 2 halves walnut teeny bit of honey

2 dessert spoons bolognaise sauce about 70g pasta

Yes it was hard at first but I never feel deprived AFTER - it was always before looking at such paltry portions.

But I do drink a bottle of wine a week

Spin 3 times a week average 450 calories a pop

Everything full fat

I’m 46 53.5 and just under 10 stone. Was 11 8 months ago.

What I’m trying to say is everyone eats too much, looking even at restaurant portions. It’s not difficult to see why there’s loads of overweight people around. I was one

Dear mawkish, you are me a year ago. I was 15 stone 4, obese and no clue about portions. MFP helps and I bought a small flat food scale from Tesco and left it in my drawer at work and another for home. That is how I've got a grip on portion sizes. Weighing everything and logging everything. Knowing how much milk is in my coffee mug. Never buying large bags of stuff as though they are cheaper they get you to eat more. Or buying big and immediately portioning up. Get little food boxes. All help.
Am replying from gym. That helps too. If you are doing something else you aren't sitting eating.
I am now 10st 2. You can do it. Happy to give moral support

3 roasties and 1 Yorkshire. Probably 1 slice of meant.

We had poached egg on toast for tea last night. Usually have two slices of (white) toast and two eggs, but did 3 toast/3eggs and it too much.

Can you buy a smaller plate?

I have lost 2 stone in the last few months by eating far fewer sweet things, fewer but still some starchy carbs and plenty of fruit and veg. In your oatcakes example I would have 2 or 3 oatcakes, a big spoonful of hummus then lots of salad. I follow the guideline of at least half of the plate being fruit or veg. So for instance where previously I'd have had a plate of pasta, now I have half a plate of pasta with plenty of veg in the sauce and have e.g. broccoli and green beans too.

Another thing I do is to make up a small bowl of snacks for the evening so I am consciously deciding how much to take rather than mindlessly sticking my hand in a packet every few minutes. I tend to have a couple of squares of 80% dark chocolate broken up smaller so they last longer, a few nuts and some grapes/raspberries/blueberries.

These are all very encouraging replies, thank you so much!

Oh, the dreaded two squares of good quality dark chocolate is a route I can no longer take. If there's chocolate of any form or quality in the house I'm like a caged animal until it's gone. See also 'six almonds'. I can't have snack foods of any description in the house. That much I do know.

I tend to have a couple of squares of 80% dark chocolate broken up smaller so they last longer

Oh, the dreaded two squares of good quality dark chocolate is a route I can no longer take.

Yeah, I call bullshit on this one too. Rich, good quality chocolate only tastes that way the first time. Once I'm used to the taste, I'll eat the whole thing anyway. I really don't buy the whole "eat better quality food and you'll naturally eat less of it" thing.

I agree with your comment about the almonds, too. Really, who only eats six almonds? It's just not how real life works.

It would help to know how tall you are too...I’m 5’10” so would eat more than people above but am well within my healthy weight limit.

For roast dinner (main meal) I would have the equivalent of a medium potato (three or four roasties) and a Yorkshire, two of three slices of beef and two portions of veg.

Lunch is a prepacked sandwich (but not the extra size packs) and a pack of crisps or a chocolate bar. Not healthy but I will snack on fruit all day (I sympathise with the ‘if it’s there I’ll eat it problem so I try to buy fruit for work!).

Better quality food means I'll eat even more of it, to be honest.

I just got back from a week of gastronomic porn in France and it's a wonder I didn't have to be winched off the island.

I'm 5 ft 7.

I daren't get on the scales as I only got back from holiday yesterday, but I'm guessing I'm about 13 stone

I do weigh heavy - I look very slim at 11st 5 - but this has gone beyond a joke now.

Portion-wise you can get plates designed to show you amounts of each item. They sound awful and you can't use them when fancy guests come to supper, but they've helped me learn what a 'good' sized portion is rather than a 'fuckit' sized portion.

Also, drink 4 litres of water a day. It sounds a lot but it becomes habitual once you've done it for a week or two. you'll eventually stop peeing every three minutes and you'll also notice a drop in your ability to cram so much in; I genuinely just can't eat so much because there's not so much room in my olympic swimming pool of a girth.

And exercise. At least 4 times a week, and yoga doesn't count towards it for me because a) it's not hard work and b) I don't feel desperately hungry afterwards the way I do after aquafit or spinning.

Yeah exactly. If I find myself eating crap food, I'm more likely to say sod this, I can't be bothered to eat it any more.

I do have those portion plates, yes. Maybe I need to use them. Good idea.

Mawkish.

I'm the same and I've had enough.

I've got no off switch. For the last 7/8 years I've been gaining and loosing the same stone over and over again.

Truth is I need to get rid of that stone and another 1/2 stone for good.

I'm following this post and am going to be seriously sorting myself out from today.

GoodMorningSunshine well, hop aboard and we'll do it together!

I'm eating a late breakfast of porridge made with half semi-skimmed and half water.

And thanks to this thread I've had a couple of glasses of water as well as coffee.

So it's working!

@MawkishTwaddle I'm a little taller than you (5'10) and weigh in at 10 stone give or take a few pounds.

I just wanted to mention the importance of snacks (hear me out). I know I'll serve myself a huge portion if I'm starving. Which I end up eating and then feeling sick. But if I'm a 'normal hungry' I'm a lot more sensible. Snacks in the life of dotty are things like nuts/seeds, fruit (fresh and dried) and veg and yoghurt. Nothing eaten in the hour or so before dinner but otherwise free to have things as I want. I try and portion out nuts and dried fruit in pots (think homemade graze pots) so I just have a pot and stop. The sharing bag concept is fatal for me! It relies on me making the effort to prep things but I find it is relatively quick to do and I thank myself later.

If I had a roast dinner I would have the equivalent of 1/2 a chicken breast, a large ish potato cut up and 1-2 Yorkshire puddings (home made though so they're not big). Would have a couple of little stuffing balls (ping pong ball sized) and then 2 kinds of veg. Veg is 1/3 of my plate, roughly. Oh and gravy too!

1 serving of pasta is 75g when dried so that's a good indicator. If we have pasta for lunch it's 60g as I'm useless in the afternoon otherwise!