Are people really eating this little?

[ABugWife]

Thread after thread after thread I see on here of people posting tiny amounts of food that they eat, or fasting most of the day. 1200 calories, 800 calories, bananas are bad for you, don't eat any carbs, no sugar ever, it goes on and on.

I am short 5'2 and fairly light at the top end of 8 stone so by these threads I should be eating barley anything but I eat every two hours pretty much, I snack all the time, I eat cheese and crisps and sweeties and cakes, sometimes I gain weight, sometimes I lose weight but it's quite steady between 8st 10 and 8st 13

I really find it hard to believe that people are eating such tiny amounts of food and not losing weight.

Does everyone here have a massive drink problem they don't include in their calories or are people lying perfectly still in bed all day long.

Where are the people that eat a normal, mostly healthy but sometimes shit diet.

How old are you, OP? I used to eat a lot more, but these days I would pile on weight very quickly if I are exactly what I fancied all the time. I can cut right down and still not lose any weight; it’s a hormone/menopause thing.

I’m trying to stick to 1500 calories and it’s so bloody hard I’m hungry!

I'm 37. I can't eat exactly what I want, I would like to live on lasagna and cheesecake but I don't know anyone in real life that eats the amounts promoted on Mumsnet.

If I eat more than 1200 calories I don’t lose weight. I also have to add in cardio. Currently my iron is low and my weight ballooning.

I think I saw one of the threads you are referring to, OP, and I thought exactly the same as you.

The OP says she had a banana and someone replied that she might as well just have a Mars bar 🙄

I am about 1 to 2 stone overweight and hoping to shift it. I obviously overeat and am going to cut right back. But it was very disheartening to read post after post bashing someone for having a bit of bread (whole meal) in the same day as a potato 🙄

I am dieting myself at the moment and eating 1600 calories. I would faint if I ate a handful of nuts and a main meal for the whole day.

You are lucky then aren't you. I am also 5ft 2 and ten stone overweight and I don't eat huge portions. the only way I am succeeding in losing weight is by eating smaller portions, cutting carbs down to next to nothing and nothing sugary. Everyone's metabolism and predisposition to putting on weight is different.

I'm 5ft3 work out 5 days a week- cardio and weights.
If I eat 1800 mon- Fri then I maintain my weight. I want to lose weight.
It's calories in vs calories out. There is no more science to it. Obvs protein fresh fruit and veg will keep you fuller for longer but it's still cals in Vs out.

If you are eating what you want and maintaining, then your calories are clearly in the maintaining weight.

It's like another planet isn't it. How anyone can compare Mars bars and bananas is bonkers.

There are always strange suggestions on weight lost threads and I wonder if it's me that has it skewed because it comes up so often.

If you're maintaining that weight OP then I would guess you don't eat as much as you think you do. Have you ever tracked your calories?

Having followed 1200 calories on and off for years, it's really not that restrictive. Small breakfast, small lunch, normal dinner and calories left over for a treat or 2.

A lot of people think they’re on very limited calories but if they worked out their averages for a week it would be a lot higher as it’s generally not sustainable. Which is why they say they’re on 1200 calories but can’t lose weight. They just have no idea what they’re actually eating.
I eat pretty high calories, I weight train and my maintenance is about 2400, I’m currently bulking so I’m on more like 2600-2800. I love food, I didn’t use to, I thought 1200 cals a day and a thigh gap would make me happy. It just made me a bit ill.

Just be grateful for your good metabolism and healthy weight OP. Don’t take it for granted. At 37 I was the same as you. Now at nearly 50 I do really really need to watch what I eat.

In controlled feeding studies, a petite inactive woman needs 1,700 cals to maintain weight.
There are a lot of people with eating disorders on MN

I can maintain relatively easily, same as you.

however I can’t lose without a serious calorie deficit.

You miss the fact that there are two types of people.

Naturally lean (can eat anything) and those who fatten easily.

People who fatten easily are likely carb intolerant. To lose weight and stay healthy they must eat low carb (I’m in this category and need to eat almost carnivore to keep the 8 stone I lost off)

Were not all the same so cannot eat the same. It’s not that hard to understand.

It changes as you get older.
Also we don’t really know much about what you eat from that because we don’t know what your portion sizes are.

There are various health regimes touted, including by the NHS, that involve 800 calories and no carbs. I don't believe it either.

For me, I know refined sugar is evil and I should avoid that at all costs - it ruins my skin and my mood. However, very low carb diets leave me exhausted and unable to do anything physical. I'm also hungry when carbs are reduced too much, but I know others will say you get used to it.

For me the low fat, healthy (ie not refined) carb model is the quickest and most manageable way to drop a few pounds, although I realise it seems to have been discredited now.

Because anyone with insulin resistance will in general be affected the same if they eat a mars bar or a banana, their blood sugar spikes, insulin gets released, they can not burn stored fat.
It's not as simple as calorie deficit, there is more to losing fat and what you eat affecting hormones involved with weight gain and loss.

I track my food and I am dieting on 1600 cals, only just started so who knows, I may need to cut more out. (Wedding dress is a size smaller than I am).

I just don't know anyone in real life who eats the way it's recommended here. I don't think it's a healthy thing to advise people, no fruit it's just sugar

Well I’ve had two potato waffles with cheese, a bowl of vegetables and half a bowl of yogurt today. I’m going to try not to eat anything else. I am losing weight but very slowly.

I guess weight loss threads attract more extreme advice, I just seem to spend more and more time thinking how can people get by on so little.

At 37 I was 8at 2lb and could pretty much eat anything I liked! At 51 and peri menopausal I am 2 st heavier having done nothing different other than get old and fatter. Now I fast most days 20/4 have one main meal no sweet treats and no alcohol and I'm lucky to lose a 1lb a week. Your body just changes.. plain and simple

I think this is the point. These low daily calorie amounts and mega strict carb restrictions are for people aiming to lose several stone in a matter of months. That’s not you OP - be thankful.

Losing significant amounts of weight will obviously require a lower calorie intake than maintaining or losing a few pounds.

Fruit is a form of sugar, sugar causes inflammation which can lead to heart diseases, stroke, diabetes, cancer.

Sugar kills people slowly and it doesn't matter to your body what type it is, fruit, corn syrup, cane sugar, doesn't matter.

I can eat a handful of blueberries or blackberries with full fat Greek yogurt and chia seeds mixed in every day and it won't spike my BG but if I ate a banana and orange everyday I would need to up my units of insulin, which is not what you want to do.

Baby weight and prediabetes for me, only in my mid 30’s and never been drastically overweight or obese outside of pregnancy. Eating what I want is simply not an option anymore and never will be, it’s not really a choice though, as the alternative is type 2 diabetes and all the fun things that go with it.