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.

Well aren't you lucky

Try to be a little understanding of people who struggle to lose weight

This obsession with weight is so utterly depressing. Life is for living, so chuck out the scales. Stop counting calories and free your mind - read a book, look at some paintings, listen to music. Just live, people, and be grateful that you live in a country where the population isn't forced into starvation by war or famine.

What about when you get older and extra weight leads to health issues so it's important to try to lose some or life won't be for living

I NEVER DIET. There, I've said it.

In my twenties, I cured my severe anorexia by stopping all types of diet control - and exercising, apart from walking. My settled weight turned out to be exactly the same as before I went bonkers at 17. Bang in the middle of the BMI normal range for my height. Later on, I started exercising more (had to be careful, as I kept tipping over to 'obsessive') and carried on eating what I wanted, which was more. My weight only deviated by about 2kg either side, despite some twat of a GP lecturing me on obesity 😠

Now I'm old, practically immobile and on antidepressants, I'm 4kg overweight. I'd like to get back into normal range but I ain't going to kill myself over it - or diet! This has been my settled weight for about 8 years now. If I consult the inner calorie counter bequeathed to me by anorexia, I'd guess I average about 1,800 a day.

Our bodies do know what to eat. Dieting fucks you up! Just stop it, completely (but lay off the sugary drinks, brains don't seem to compute those very well).

If I was only 4kg overweight I wouldn't diet either

Our bodies do know what to eat. Dieting fucks you up! Just stop it, completely (but lay off the sugary drinks, brains don't seem to compute those very well)

I do agree with this. I do sympathise though because I do think when you get really overweight your likely borderline pre diabetic. So if your body is functioning normally you would have hunger warnings many times BEFORE blood sugar crash. Whereas pre diabetic probably have no idea what hunger feels like anymore because they can’t get there because they have blood sugar crash before hunger.

In short - You can only really ‘know what to eat’ if you can accurately compute hunger and full feelings.

I am like the OP. Short and pretty slim, and I eat what I want, even though I am 50 and peri menopausal. BUT I don’t really eat much ultra processed food (never have) and other junk, and my weight has always been the same - I think that’s the secret.

there is increasing evidence that what people eat (not just how many calories) can really change the way your body responds to food.

pre diabetic probably have no idea what hunger feels like anymore because they can’t get there because they have blood sugar crash before hunger.

I didn't know that, @RugbyMom123, thanks for explaining.

Would that mean it would be better to snack on some carbs + protein, then?

I eat every two hours pretty much, I snack all the time, I eat cheese and crisps and sweeties and cakes

@ABugWife and why is that a good thing? Your teeth and gums must be in a state, assaulted with all that processed crap, and every 2 hours?!

Peri menopause had a massive effect for me. Prior to 40 my diet was very similar to yours with lots of upf and I didn't gain weight whatever I ate.

After 40 when I started getting peri symptoms I went on hrt but my weight still increased around the middle and I started to get joint pain. I tested with a cgm and was getting spikes to 11 from my morning toast despite having a a1c in the normal range. I overhauled my diet at the beginning of this year and the weight has fallen off even the tummy fat, I have loads of energy and feel better than in my 30s.

I don't see this as a diet, it is a lifestyle change I will stay with. There is no calorie counting but I cut out pretty much all upf and bread and limit sugar and stachy carbs such as potatoes, pasta and rice. Other than that I eat everything I fancy. I have loads of healthy fats, cheese, olive oil, oily fish etc. It is not a deprivation as I no longer even crave cakes, biscuits or crisps. For me I think sugar and upf was an addiction and I am so happy to be out the other side feeling healthier than I have ever done.

The hardest thing now is dealing with others reactions, friends saying I should eat x as a 'treat' when honestly it does not feel like a treat anymore as I have completely lost the taste for it. Whole foods now taste amazing as I have lost the taste for junk.

https://www.genesisperformancechiro.com/blog/2020/10/19/effects-of-menopause-on-blood-sugar

I was about to say the same. Up until the age of 50 I could eat what I wanted and not gain at all . Then menopause hit, and despite eating less and yes as little as other threads mentioned, I piled on the weight.
Come back in about 10 years OP and let us know how you're doing!

I would have thought 5k runs were a good thing on the whole? I don't think a couple of three mile runs a week is over-exercising.

I agree with you about the extreme restrictions on calories and taking laxatives.

A lot of people underestimate the calories they're eating - they don't count a chip pinched here or a few bites there. Or their portion sizes are off, or they forget to add in condiments, milk or other drinks. Or they have a cheat day/meal and eat everything they've lost back plus more.

The vast majority of humans would lose weight on 1200 kcal per day. There are a few who wouldn't, usually very inactive shorter people, but they're few and far between.

I don't just eat those things sorry if that's how it came across, I meant they are included in my diet. I have perfect teeth and never had so much as a filling.

You think someone only eating 600 calories day and then running 5k is a good thing?

It’s very much a question of what you eat rather than having to eat toddler portions. Low carb, low sugar and no constant snacking really is the way to keep your weight in check. It doesn’t have to be no (simple) carbs, no sugar at all but they are the things that will cause weight gain and best to keep in check. I don’t have toddler portions (on keto). For dinner I have something like pork chop with a poached or fried egg, avocado and a big salad, dessert is Greek yoghurt (I like Fage 5% fat) with raspberries, blueberries and strawberries. I’m stuffed and don’t get hungry again the rest of the evening. I’ll introduce good carbs such as sweet potato once I’ve reached my goal weight. If I desperately need some chocolate I’ll have some high cocoa content chocolate (85% or more). I was a big snacker before which was my downfall.

There are lots of reasons OP, you must realise that.

Kids and menopause for me and also, my thyroid is a bit fucked along with graves disease and pernicious anaemia. Its not as simple as you make out in your OP.

What works for me, and this is just me is cutting carbs. Low fat, weight watchers or slimming world type plans just did not work for me. Low carb does and i have to think about food and what i am eating most days to keep it maintained.

As others have said, you are young. Come back in 10/15 years time and see where you are.

I doubt it. Im 5"4 and underweight due to ARFID. I have to calorie count because I have no reliable hunger signals so I know that my maintenance is as one would expect, 2000 to 2200 cal. I do workout but not excessively: 180min cardio and 3 weight sessions spread over a week. I don't believe I'm as much of an oddity as this site would have me believe. When I look around adults I actually know, they aren't living on 1200 calories.

Try to be a little understanding of people who struggle to lose weight

A pp has talked about eating less than 1000 calories a day and fasting a couple of days a week to maintain a bmi of 19. To me that sounds like an eating disorder rather than someone struggling to lose weight.

Ok I need to defend myself a little here because I seem to have upset a lot of people in the night.

At no point have I flagged off people dieting, at no point have I said I don't understand that some people need to diet.

I expressed shock at the tiny amount and I am talking one meal a day, 800 - 1000 calories that seems to alway pop up on every thread. The vilification of all fruits, the absolutely avoidance of carbs.

It seems very extreme to me but having recently started to browse this section for my wedding dress diet, I was shocked.

Hence the title - do people really eat THIS little.

I get that weight is an emotional issue that promotes strong responses but people should really read the actual post. I am concerned that this is an actual common thing that people are barley eating anything.

Even if people are underestimating their calorie intake, what this does show is that it is very easy to become overweight. There is a myth that anyone overweight is hugely gluttonous and always stuffing their face. I have been fat and thin. At my largest a size 18. Yes I ate too much but it really wasn't huge amounts and constant. I never had takeaways or fast food. No alcohol, no fizzy drinks. It crept on by things like a bigger bowl of pasta for dinner and extra bread or a biscuit with my coffee.

I remember a friend who got down to a size 8. She told me she ate a single packet of crisps a day.

I used to eat anything. Paid no attention at all and was 5 foot 7 and nine stone. Then hit menopause and piled the weight on.

but thinking about it I never really used to snack, in a busy job and didn’t have time, I walked everywhere and had active hobbies.

im now more of a couch potato and have a sedentary job…..and 3 stoneoverweight.

but the competition on under eating on here is mad.

But what is your version of “barely anything”?

I eat about 1100-1200 calories a day and an example of one of my days is:

I have cereal (with oat milk) for breakfast.
Yogurt and strawberries for a mid-morning snacks.
2x boiled eggs with two slices of buttered bread for lunch.
A small salad for mid-afternoon snack.
Vegetable soup with 2 slices of toast for tea.
Some nuts for a pre-bedtime snack.

That’s just an example of one day and it keeps me feeling satisfied all day.

To make up for the sacrifices I have two nights a week where my evening meal can be whatever I like without even looking at
the calorie content and one of those nights is usually a take-out.

I do acknowledge that with reduced calorie content there is a likelihood of a reduced intake of various nutrients and I imagine most people take multi-vitamins to try and counteract that.

Don't worry OP you have raised an important issue that mumsnet really should be looking into.
The posters promoting eating 1200 calories or less and taking laxatives have serious issues. All the weighing and not eating more than 60g of chicken, saying bananas are the devil it's deeply disturbing.

What is most apparent are the spiteful posters on here telling you to come back at 50 when you are old and fat. They are full of self hatred. Please please continue to eat a nutritious diet and Do Not buy food scales. Exercise daily, strength train BUT most inportantly do not turn into a hateful 1200 calorie obsessed fuckwit.

That study used male volunteers, who generally need a lot more calories than women.