What do you eat for breakfast and lunch if you at a healthy weight?

[rosesbloom]

If you are a healthy weight, what kind of things do you eat for breakfast and lunch (and snacks if you have any) and what kind of portion size?

Why I'm asking if you're curious but feel free to ignore:

I need to lose weight as I have gone from a size 10/12 to size 16/18 in the last few years and I realised I have no idea what a "normal" breakfast and lunch looks like. I realised that the reason my weight has gone up is because in the evenings I am so hungry that it is like I need another meal and I end up going for junk food like crisps and chocolate because I am tired and hungry.

I usually eat:

• Breakfast: nothing, if I force myself to have breakfast I will have one weetabix
• Lunch: a sandwich, maybe an apple too
• Dinner: something reasonably healthy
• Evenings: around 500 (or more) calories of junk food

I am not a parent but I looked after my 3 year old niece the other day she had so much for breakfast and lunch and managed to eat it all and I realised my perceptions of breakfast and lunch are warped. I think I begin each day "on a diet" (aka subconsciously restricting my food) and by evenings I am so hungry it all goes out the window.

I always try and have fruit or a vegetable with whatever I have for breakfast.

Usually it is Weetabix and banana, porridge and berries, pancakes at the weekend, scrambled eggs and toast with mushrooms that kind of thing.

My go to breakfast is home made granola, yoghurt and fruit. I prefer pears and berries. I’m really cold weather I opt for porridge and frozen berries.

Lunch, salad/omelette/leftovers.

I'm sorry but you're obviously eating more than than what you've listed here if you put on enough weight to go up 3/4 dress sizes. Even with 500 cals of junk a night the rest of your day would mean you're still only eating around 1500 calorie or so a day. You need to properly weigh and track what you're eating and then eat in a caloric deficit to lose weight

For breakfast I usually have- high fibre bran cereal, semi skimmed milk, a banana, coffee
Lunch- a filled wholemeal wrap, maybe a fruit salad, some low calorie crisps. Soup with some crackers or sometimes left over from the night before e.g. chilli

Weekdays, something like scrambled or boiled egg/ beans on toast.
The portion is small, so one tin between me and two DCs, one round of toast each.

I avoid cereal as it makes me hungry mid-morning.

I tend to eat around 8pm and I'm OK for the evening then.

I exercise regularly to boost my metabolism.

no breakfast.
in fact I don't have any calories, only black coffee, until lunch time.
lunch is usually one slice of bread with cheese and egg and an apple or other fruit/veg.

I am the top end of normal BMI.

A typical menu would be:

Breakfast:
1 whole meal toast with 2-3 bacon medallions and tomatoes

Or around 3 tablespoons of granola and 3 tablespoons of low fat Greek yoghurt.

Lunch:
Large salad with either a bit of cheese or chicken. Occasionally something like beans on toast.

Dinner:
Meat with lots of vegetables in some form.

I usually have an omelette for breakfast, with beans if I'm particularly hungry - until recently I was breastfeeding throughout the night so woke up ravenous. Occasionally avocado and chilli flakes on toast instead. Lunch maybe noodles with veg and tofu, or a sandwich/wrap with cheese, quorn, salad, maybe a jacket potato. If I've had a big breakfast and haven't been as active as usual I might just have cheese and olives, or a smoothie and some nuts. Snack wise I usually have fruit, occasionally nuts or dried fruit or a cereal bar. When DH is away we only have healthy food in the house so that helps a lot.

I don’t always eat breakfast but when I do it’s often 2 slices of toast or 2 crumpets. Sometimes I have a cereal bar or a breakfast biscuit instead.

Lunch will be something like a bowl of pasta salad, a jacket potato with cheese and coleslaw, a sandwich or wrap with a bag of crisps, maybe a bowl of soup and a roll.

I don’t usually snack much but maybe a few biscuits with a cup of tea in the afternoon or I might pick at some fruit while making dinner for DS.

Mainly porridge for breakfast with fruit and nuts only thing that fills me up

Lunch crackers and homous ... salad cereal maybe a sandwich but try and avoid bread

I don't always have breakfast - it's a bit of a myth that it's the most important meal of the day so I'd say if you don't fancy it then don't force yourself.

If I do, I'll have porridge made with 45g oats and almond milk, with half a scoop of protein powder mixed in.

Today's lunch is homemade lentil and veg soup with meatballs.

Maybe have a look at a calorie calculator like this one www.lifespanfitness.com/fitness/resources/calories-calculator to work out
how many you need a day and divide it between your meals and snacks? I find this handy when working out portion sizes.

I usually have a bowl of porridge made with half a cup of oats and half semi-skimmed milk, half water, with some sort of fruit on. Occasionally weetabix, but even with 3 and a banana I'm hungry by 11 so try to avoid that. Overnight oats sometimes in the summer.
Lunch might be sandwiches (4 slices of wholemeal bread) with cheese, lentil paté, peanut butter and salad or hummus and salad being my usual fillings. Or vegetable soup, usually thickened with lentils or beans and eaten with one or two slices of unbuttered bread. I might have a piece of fruit or some carrot sticks with it. I'll have an afternoon snack of a piece of flapjack, a couple of biscuits, cheese and crackers or something similar maybe 4 days out of 7 - if my clothes are getting tight I'm stricter about asking myself if I'm actually hungry for it.

Breakfast- 2 Shredded wheat or weetabix and some fruit. Bran flakes or shreddies sometimes. Eggs/beans on toast at weekends.
Lunch- yesterday was hummus and roast veg in a pitta, today is omelette and salad. I often have sandwiches or left overs too. I usually have a pretty big portion of lunch.
I don't tend to snack that much but if I do it's fruit. I'm not fussed about chocolate and cake but can demolish biscuits, ice cream and crisps so I only rarely have them.
Are you at home for lunch?

For breakfast I have two hard boiled eggs and two chicken sausages. I batch cook these for the week on Sundays.
Lunch is a salad with cheese, usually two Babybels, or maybe tuna or prawns.
This is only during lockdown and WFH but I have found it very convenient as it means there's minimal preparation and thought during the week, and I don't snack.

I don’t have time for breakfast on weekdays so have some belvita biscuits at work with water or a coffee, when I’m at home I have Greek yoghurt, tinned peaches honey and granola, or poached eggs on brown bread toast.

What do you do in the evenings? I lost 3.5 stones a few years ago and found that having a hobby in the evenings (sewing in my case)helped.

Forgot to add lunch, on weekdays I batch cook so this week I have a Vietnamese tofu and noodle salad I made on Sunday (a Jamie Oliver recipe) with a yoghurt, apple and some crisps, other weeks I might have a sandwich (usually cheese and meat on seeded bread as I make them all on Sunday and salad goes soggy) with yoghurt, fruit and crisps or some home made soup and bread/chilli con carne and brown rice.

My BMI is 19 and I eat low carb which usually means the following is what I eat:

• No breakfast. Never hungry and I like to fast.
• Lunch (2pm ish if I actually have it, depends on my day and hunger levels) is either cheesy scrambled eggs (up to 5 eggs) ( no toast) or salad - tuna, cheese, meat
• Afternoon snacks is usually cheese or nuts
• Dinner is the big meal. I have a variety of things and it is always a BIG portion. Chilli con carne (no rice) with a big pile of cheese, steak and creamy sauce with veg, chicken thighs with sauce and veg, lamb chops, pork chops, pork belly, loaded cauliflower cheese (with chorizo, chilli and tonnes of cheese and cream). Basically I have a big portion of protein, loads of veg and always with some form of cheesy creamy sauce!
• No snacks after dinner but often have a glass of wine

On an average day I have 2 slices toast for breakfast and coffee, sandwich and banana for lunch and usually something like spaghetti and meatballs, fish and chips, curry, burger and salad etc for dinner. I drink plenty of water throughout the day, no fizzy drinks or alcohol and no snacking.

Maybe the problem you have is portion size and then you may be snacking more than you realise calorie wise in the evening.

Breakfast: If I have an easy day or are working from home, breakfast is usually some kind of high protein/low sugar cereal or home made muesli with blueberries, seeds and oat milk, plus lemon green tea.

If I have a busier day or am hungrier my go-to breakfast is avocado toast, served with mushrooms and tomatoes dry fried (coat frying pan with oil spritzer), topped with dry fried halloumi and sweet chilli sauce.

If I’m very busy toast and marmite. Maybe one day a week I’ll have a pastry and coffee for breakfast.

Lunch might be a big salad, a bagel filled with cheese and veggies, soup and bread, pasta, a falafel wrap, leftovers (like stew, tagine or curry), maybe pitta with hummus and olives. Plus fruit juice and lots of water.

I’m a size 6 or 8 but I doubt it’s much to do with my diet which is average/poor.

For breakfast today I had a bagel with loads of butter and peanut butter. Black coffee (no sugar).

Already had lunch because I was being a stroppy bitch. Sourdough and German sausage thing, leaves, a tomato. With mayo and cream cheese. More black coffee and two biscoff or whatever they’re called.

Still a bit hungry so probably have some dates and cashews.

I’m roasting a chicken for dinner tonight with carrots, peas, stuffing (homemade) roasties and gravy (homemade). Will be served with mac n cheese because my ds is a fussy eater and I want him to have something on the table he’ll enjoy.

In theory I should be prepping an apple crumble for pudding right now. I notice however that I am back in bed.

Oh and tonight I’ll have at least two squares of dark chocolate while I watch a film with the bf.

I’m not super skinny, I’ve always been a comfortable size 10-12.

Breakfast: “healthy” cereal e.g. shreddies
Morning snack: fruit
Lunch: always includes carbs - e.g a sandwich. Or potato salad, ham, salad leaves.
Afternoon snack: packet of crisps or a couple of crackers
Dinner: healthy-ish risotto, or grilled chicken, wedges, peas.
Sometimes dessert.

I make exactly the amount of food that DH and I should eat for dinner so there are no second helpings - e.g I weigh out the pasta or rice.

It might help you to eat more “proper food” at mealtimes so you’re not hungry and desperate for snacks at night.

My BMI is 19.1.

I intermittent fast so I only eat between 12pm and 6pm each day.

Lunch is usually a salad or a smoothie. I often add beans to salad for protein.

Dinner is usually 50% vegetables, 30% carbs and 20% lean vegan protein. So vegan chicken with couscous or potatoes and veggies. I also have things like spaghetti bolognese with lentils instead of mince, pizza, Thai green curry, risotto etc.

Snacks are normally fruit or vegetables and hummus.

I only drink water. No caffeine and no alcohol. No animal products.

Breakfast: coffee
Mid morning: banana or apple
Lunch: small bowl of pasta or sandwich circa 300 calories
Dinner: something around 500 calories which involves protein and veg
After dinner: 300 calories worth of crisps and ice cream

That's about 1300 calories but anymore and I will put on as I am short.

My BMI is 20.

Staying this weight is a conscious effort everyday, but my day usually consists of:

Breakfast - Two slices of wholemeal toast or granola with yogurt.
Lunch - Two vegetarian bao buns with one rice cake, or a ham salad sandwich with one rice cake.
Dinner - I'll make something below 400 calories and won't eat anything else for the rest of the night, minus a few grapes or blueberries.

I weigh my food religiously, so I know exactly how many calories I'm eating. It's very easy to go over without realising otherwise.

In terms of drinks, I stick to water, black coffee, or sugar free juice.

Obviously if it's a special occasion, I'll usually just not eat anything/very little on the day minus the occasion meal. Works for me, and feels like a good balance as I still get to eat lots of 'treats'.

Weekday mornings I'll have cereal like shreddies or weetabix. Weekend mornings I'll have poached or scrambled eggs with cheese and toast and sometimes bacon or tomatoes.
I have a mid-morning snack of crisps like squares or lentil curls or skips.
For lunch on weekdays I have salad or soup with an apple and a slice or two of rye bread.
Dinner- last night I made chicken breast in nandos sauce in a bun with salad, sweet potato fries and coleslaw. The night before I had beef chilli with roast potatoes (would usually have it with rice though), the night before was prawn linguine.
After dinner I'll always have a couple of squares of dark chocolate.

I used to struggle with my weight and yoyoed for years. Now I don't use food to lose weight but focus on exercising loads and just eating healthy food without focusing on the calories. This has worked really well for me and I have lost weight and kept it off for over a year for the first time in my life. It has really helped me to change my mindset about food.