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.

For a split second, I read that as ... 'I'm 53 stone!' 😱

If you're eating "a lot of vegtables" that are not counted within those 800 calories, then you're eating more than 800 calories. What is calorie counting supposed to mean when you only count SOME of the calories you eat?

@CerberusWoof I found that a bit confusing too at first, but then I think it is fairly safe to say that nobody got fat eating too much broccoli or spinach ? I know I didn't ! You are supposed to have a least half a plate full with each meal and there are a lot to choose from so you don't get bored with the same old stuff, I usually drizzle a little bit of extra virgin olive oil and a pinch of salt on mine and it really makes a huge difference to the taste, I do count the oil calories.

@Delatron a lot of the science that Mosely uses comes from research by Professor Roy Taylor from Newcastle University, I don't know what the numbers were like in his research with regards men and women though.

@Dymaxion Of course nobody got fat from eating too much broccoli (although the statement didn't distinguish between green leafy or starchy vegetables), but people get fat from eating more calories than they burn, and lose weight by burning more calories than they eat. If someone's eating a total of 1200 calories a day (say) and that's equal to their maintenance level, they won't lose weight. It doesn't matter that 400 of those calories are from vegetables or whatever other "good" food they can eat while feeling saintly. They're all calories. Why not just be honest and straightforward about and measure the TOTAL calories you eat, so you can compare it with what you burn? That's what actually counts.

It just seems a bizarre, and ultimately useless, way of doing things. "I eat 800 calories a day, except for all the other calories I don't count in that". 😀

I’m not saying his research is wrong but I prefer other doctors who really focus on the differences between men and women. There’s not a lot of research in this area so it’s hard to find (hence me recommending Dr Stacy Sims)

I don’t feel like the work Michael Mosley does applies to me as an active perimenopausal woman. If I was a middle aged pre diabetic sedentary man I’d be all over it probably. We really need an individual approach.

Haven't read all the replies so not sure if it's been suggested but my friend swears by slimming world. I am also 1 to 2 stone over weight and after my blow out this weekend I am signing up (or there are facebook pages that share recipes etc but I feel like if I don't go to the meetings I'll cheat!)

So far she has lost 3 stone and is never hungry because a lot of foods are 'free' and you syn treats. I've actually not heard of anyone saying it doesn't work!

Same, but then I think my diet is a bit squiffy due to dairy and soy allergies.

It does matter though whether you are an active post menopausal woman or an overweight, sedentary pre-diabetic woman. Also pregnant, breastfeeding, just sleep deprived from young DC...
Dr Sarah Berry was saying that most studies use men because they are so much simpler. To study women you need four times the cohort.

Dr Sarah Berry was saying that most studies use men because they are so much simpler.

I am also a recovered anorexic. You cannot survive on c.180 kcal per day longer than a couple of months.

You know that anorexics have 'ideal goal' days interspersed with days where they eat more (still very little, just more than the 'ideal').

Most of us get down to life-threatening weights over a period of many months, not a few weeks.

@Iamridiculous if slimming clubs worked they wouldn’t still be in business! SW in particular has some very skewed views of healthy eating with their unlimited portions of certain things and “syns” on other things. It only works for weight loss if you have an
”off switch” are able to regulate how much “free” food you eat. It’s just a warped way of calorie counting without teaching you anything about calorie or nutritional content of food.

I'm 50 plus I've been post menopausal since I was 42 (surgical). Things are veeeeerrrryyyy different for me now than they were when I was 37. Very different. I very much watch what I consume because the reason for my surgical menopause means that gaining weight could have significant health repercussions for me. But honestly, at 50 I don't feel like eating anywhere near as much as I did when I was 37. I'm still active, I go to the gym, I walk, I work...I'm just not as hungry as I used to be. That's a slowing metabolism for you.

most studies done on intermittent fasting were done on middle aged sedentary men.

Untrue claim about sex.
This syst-review finds 27 trials. Nearly all are about only obese people
6/27 studies are women only participants

I lack patience to check all the studies, but of the 3 biggest that don't say "women" as participants ...

Carter 2019, 137 particpants, 56% female, age 18-55
Headland 2019, 146 participants finished the study, of which 124 were female (age 18-72)
Schubel 2018, 150 participants, 50% women, age 35-65

I can accept that that research probably doesn't apply to active people & generally middle aged may be true.

I didn't take it as a stealth boast. The OP is a good stone heavier than I am, so I was thinking she was probably a bit tubby given that we are the same height.

It's really rare to meet a woman who doesn't have a disordered approach to food and eating.

There is a lot of competitive undereating.

There's a lot of emotional management with food.

It's hard but I try to separate subjective judgement about a persons character from weight or food intake. It is a very common prejudice.

there is guy on youtube, that have diebieties, and he have glucose monitor attached to his arm 24/7, and he is testing how foods are affecting his glucose levels etc.
he tested bananas, blueberries pizza and plenty more.

The results are very interesting.
and fun fact, blueberries can actually lower your blood sugr

Genuine question: this is your second post on this thread where you have felt the need to tell OP they are a good stone heavier than you and therefore might look like a barrel or tubby. Why do you do this? The OP is a healthy weight for her height.

@WAPP I lift weights several times a week so I probably have more muscle than you, I certainly don't look remotely barrel shaped. But thanks for the concern. I don't feel particularly tubby but I am dieting so clearly agree with you that o can stand to lose a pound or two

Ah ok. Just not heard anyone not losing weight from doing it and hadn't considered the fact it's not actually teaching you anything so may be a case of lose it then put it back on once you stop following the programme.

Food isn't a 'treat'. It's just food.

I lost 8 stone on SW - and put it all back on, and more. While you regard foods as sins, or treats, or naughty, or as rewards, or saintly, or anything other than food, you're never going to have a healthy relationship with food. My own lifelong disordered eating is rooted in seeing food that way.

Jesus OP families, single parents are struggling all over. Many eating nothing so they can feed their kids. It’s not about the quality they’re eating but what they’re eating to feel ‘full’

’ I really find it hard to believe that people are eating such tiny amounts of food and not losing weight.’ …………… maybe because they can’t afford nutrition?! Wake up!!!!!!!!

meow

@WAPP · Today 21:10

I didn't take it as a stealth boast. The OP is a good stone heavier than I am, so I was thinking she was probably a bit tubby given that we are the same height.

W.U.P. 😆

@WAPP or you look like a scrawny old bone bag. They do say face or figure too….

Lucky you for having that metabolism, OP!

Life is pretty miserable for those of us who don't and, yes, many women have to live on salads and not snack to maintain anything like thinness!!

I’m same height as you and when I’ve been top end of 8 stone I feel too heavy for my frame.
I can sit quite easily at 8 and a half stone not watching my diet.
im happier when I weight around 8st, to lose weight though I defo need to max out at 1200 calories.

I agree with you, OP. Obviously most people are either consciously lying or very forgetful. I eat 2000 calories a day easily, and drink a certain amount of wine too, and I don't in my real life encounter people who eat a lot less than I do on a regular basis. If we go on holiday with a large group I'm always surprised by how much some people put away.

The reason that so many people in this country are overweight is because most people consume far more than 2000 calories a day. I have never met anyone who needs to eat starvation rations just to maintain a normal weight. I have known people who eat very little but they've all been anorexic, drug addicts, or, at least, very fucking thin. If I ate 1500 calories a day I would be underweight in a couple of weeks.