Am I eating too much food?

[BunnyTails]

Hi all,

I feel very podgy for my petite little frame (currently 9 stone 13) and I need your opinions on whether I’m eating too much. Here’s my average daily intake:

Cereal such as all bran or shredded wheat, half a bowl with drizzled honey and almond milk
A chocolate bar (I know I know)
A salad- lots of leaves, half a can of tuna, half a can of sweetcorn and some honey and mustard dressing
Salmon and vegetable stir fry with 2/3 a pouch of rice
A naked bar or a v small bowl of cereal in the evening

Please be gentle in your replies, I’ve been through hell with body dysmorphia in the last few years.

Your lunch salad needs cheese, lentils, quinoa - something to fill you up! Granted I am taller & heavier than you but I would be starving on this intake. Ditch the cereal and have something with more protein for breakfast.

It’s not much food actually. I don’t get how you can be a large size 12 on that amount.
Are you sure you aren’t eating more?
There was a prog on tv way back called secret eaters. People sword blind they only ate such an such bug if turned out they were actually sneaking much more in and they didn’t notice.
Ditch the cereal and shit bars. Up the protein and fats. Bd really honest about everything you are eating and drinking.

I belong to weightwatchers, and that doesn't sound remotely enough!

I also agree that you would be better off talking to a professional about your food and body concerns.
If you really are only eating that amount then your size doesn’t make sense.

No no this is definitely all of my food intake. I try to drink around 2 litres of water a day. And you’d be right to say it’s the food diary of someone who is trying to eat as little as possible. I know I eat too much sugar but I have an insatiable sweet tooth.

I’m amazed at people saying there’s a lot of stodge, and that it’s not healthy! There isn’t a lot of stodge at all and it’s v healthy in my view apart from the chocolate bar!

Maybe my medicines have made me gain weight then. I’m on them for fibromyalgia and anxiety- escitalopram, pregabalin and propranolol.

Oh behave.Thats hardly anything and you know it.

I’m now a size 10 after being a 16 and it’s hard when your short I’m only 5” I weigh about 8 stone something I eat about the same amount but a I walk a lot more. Honestly best way to lose weight and keep it off is to exercise more. Walk rather than take the bus etc. once you do that you will probably need more food.

depending on your serving amount the cereal could be anything from 200-600 calories so you would need to weigh it.
drizzled honey and milk could vary hugely too.
honey and mustard dressing, again could be anything from 100-500 extra cals

You really should go to your Dr if they are any good . Something is not adding up and you can explain this to them.

I have an insatiable sweet tooth.

Sugar makes you crave sugar. You can go cold turkey and end up not craving it. However, you need more good food and less empty carbs. And professional help with this.

Also turn your mirrors around, stop weighing yourself and check again in 6 months. The weight just flew off me but not really until I started walking more.

More protein and less sugar!

Without knowing the size of the bowls of cereal, chocolate bar or salmon portion, it's impossible to say how much food it is.

The best thing to do OP is to try to eat as well as possible while making sure you're in a calorie deficit.

Work out your TDEE and subtract 500 calories from this. This is your daily allowance. Track what you eat using something like My Fitness Pal, making sure you log everything you eat and drink. Try to move more to up your calories burnt. Maybe try a fitbit or other tracker to count your steps. Give it a few weeks as weight loss is often non linear.

Good luck.

I'm 5'3" and currently trying to lose around a stone, and I'm eating more than that! I aim to eat around 1200 calories a day, it is surprising how much you can eat for that.

I have anexiety so don’t go to groups but found just making my life a bit harder helped by not doing big shops so I have to walk there every two days and having a active toddler really helped lol

Also, are you sure you are a large size 12? At the same height, when I was 10 stone, I was a slim size 10. I'm 11 stone now and a large 12.

That's a very normal and good diet I think.... do you sit at a desk all day? I too am 9.13 and not loving it at the moment. I'm trying to eat fewer carbs (which is hard because I'm vegan)

It depends on your TDEE (total daily energy expenditure), as someone upthread has said. If you only burn 1400 calories a day and are eating 1600, you will put on weight. If you burn 2200 calories a day and eat 1800, you will lose weight. The '2000 for women, 2500 for men' thing is an extremely broad estimate. If I ate 2000 calories a day, I would gradually put on weight because my 'maintenance' amount of calories is 1700.

That's why these food threads are largely pointless as what's too much for one person won't be too much for another.

tdeecalculator.net/

Although we weigh the same, I'm 1 inch taller than you but I'm a size 8... so firstly I doubt you're a 'large 12'

Well, I’m 3 inches taller, weigh less and am a size 10. It all depends where you shop / what you wear / how tight you like your clothes etc.

I'm about the same height and weight and a) that's my weight loss food intake more or less, and I do lose weight on that albeit slowly and b) I'm a 8-10 depending on shop and definitely not a "large 12".