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.

@DecayedStrumpet - yes this is the kind of thing I mean, I have seen so far on this thread several posters that do a low calorie diet, ex pet they don't because they have a takeaway at the weekend or X amount of cheat meals. People doing 800 cal diets but that's just the food they count, other calories aren't counted. People who eat very little but actually they have had bariatric surgery, people who exercise A LOT, people who have illnesses and conditions.

So to sum up, actually most people barring illness are not eating as little as it's made out and a lot of the advice on these threads should be taken with a pinch of salt.

(That's not a dig at anyone, it's actually a massive relief to know that people are eating a decent amount of food, I was seriously concerned)

I also have been called tubby by more than one poster despite having a perfectly healthy bmi right in the middle of the healthy range for my height and a nice amount of muscle mass.

Countless posters that have seen my weight as a personal attack on them, or a dig to make them feel bad or a boast of some kind.

Pretty much proves Mumsnet is absolutely toxic when it comes to weight, food and healthy diets.

I haven't seen the thread that you are referring to but in a strange way, it does make sense to be able to eat a Mars bar freely and still lose weight, but only if the rest of the day you make sure your calorie intake is low.

This usually means drinking mostly water and making sure you eat your five a day (at the very least) and a bit of lean protein. It's really quite filling to eat your five a day and very low calorific intake.

So you could easily eat:
Egg on muffin with mushroom and tomatoes for breakfast
Tuna salad and Mars bar for lunch
Chicken stir fry and a banana for dinner

This comes to just over 800 calories (830 to be exact). And that leaves you with a lot of room for milk with tea or coffee, and a few snacks. However the problem is that you can soon top it up with empty calories and then go over. Just one packet of crisps, an ice cream and glass of wine doesn't seem much but could put you over the limit!

Lentils are a good source of protein. When I can't be bothered to do cooking from scratch, a salad or stir fry with a packet of pre-prepared lentils is very nutritious, filling and balances your blood sugars. It also works with brown rice, mushrooms and onion. Like a pp I've got into kimchi as well. For breakfast I either have yogurt and nuts or cheese, kimchi and maybe a cracker with butter and marmite or hummous. It's not massively filling but after a while when your blood sugar balances out, you stop craving food as much, particularly carbs. I haven't had any breakfast yet this morning and I used to wake up ravenous (and I'm genuinely not starving myself.

Have you ever taken a pre-biotic and/or probiotic? All these things put together, I really think have helped with my general energy levels and brain fog.

Also if you can face it seated exercises might help to raise your metabolism a bit. You're doing brilliantly to have lost 5kg already!

Some people have very low metabolisms.

Mine has been recorded at 1320 and 1385.

To lose weight, I have to go below 1000 calories a day. Im in my 50s now but Ive always been this way despite being sporty.

Its shit.

I have never really understood why having a slower metabolism than average is shit. Surely your appetite matches your metabolism so if you're only using 1300 a day then your body would feel sated on 1300 calories. Why is that shit?

You would if you had one. It’s utter shit being the person who’d be the last one standing in a famine.

Thank you for responding to me with encouragement!

I actually do take pre and probiotics. I didn’t list everything… as I have brain fog and just listed the ones I thought of. Have been taking lactospore plus for ages, which is a cheaper than Optibac, have just re bought Bimuno as I got on well with that before. Raw sauerkraut is coming in the delivery today. Am also reintroducing soil based pre / probiotic - I bought Shiljat ages ago and couldn’t stomach it. But am in a different physical condition now and reintroducing slowly, failing that will get fulvic acid caps. Obviously some of the foods I am eating are naturally prebiotic. I am hoping over time for the brain fog to lift.

As for exercise, I am able to be more active in the summer time and hibernate in the winter. I am going for short walks atm. The dog had major abdominal surgery and 2 hernia repairs. Yup we are twins… except I didn’t eat a sock so mattresses and sofas were out of bounds. Our sofa until last weekend has been an old single mattress for about 3 months and I’ve kept that down as it’s great for rest and has worked wonders to start reactivating my abs. I can now do a little ab work if I have the energy and if it doesn’t make my incision cramp internally. It’s starting to cramp less so this process is helping it heal.

With regard to non animal proteins, I am unable to digest these unfortunately. I went from almost veggie (I was veggie for a while) but decided to eat some fish to eating animal products more than once daily because they made a massive difference to my energy.

I am just keeping on right now. I want to have more energy and part of this is losing the weight, well it’s a very positive side effect.

…where are your vegetables??

@TooComplex I kind of eat like that but add in more Tuna as that's half a can I think (a full one is 240 cal on average) plus 1 cappuccino and no Mars bar and possibly a small bowl of Greek yoghurt and a few blueberries post dinner. Around 1200 calories I think in total - I eat like that 7 days a week but add in 2 glasses of wine Friday and Saturday nights. I have lost weight at around a pound a week but don't really feel I'm dieting. I can see with slim people that's about what they eat- realise I am overweight due to big portions and far too many carbs in the past. Too many sandwiches, cake, toasties etc - it's not that I was pigging chocolate and crisps every day- I rarely eat either

That's a fair one - I picked it in haste to show my demo here and didn't notice it was half a can.

It's about portion control too I guess. Doesn't the stomach shrink when it isn't consistently overstretched, which helps?

I think it's okay to eat Mars bars if you realise that you probably need to think about eating your 5 a day as well to offset it

What you need to do is increase your NEAT (Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis). There is a lot of research now linking how much people fidget to their weight and it accounts for a huge proportion of your daily calories burned.
https://formnutrition.com/inform/what-is-neat-and-how-does-it-work/

Sorry above was meant to be a reply to @TheOrigRights

I'm not sure you meant to reply to me?
I was asking why having a low metabolism is shit, not wondering how to increase mine (I am a fidget!).

Different metabolisms. it really is a thing. My husband eats at least 5,000 calories a day i swear, i make him pasta in a SALAD BOWL. He doesn’t exercise really. He’s in his 40s and really slim.

i have 2 kids one takes after his dad, one me. One is bone thin and eats more than his brother. Other is healthy weight but certainly over holidays if he gets a lot of treats gains a few pounds.

I definitely eat less than 1500 calories a day (usually just have one meal) and am a normal weight, not very thin, AND i work out a lot.

@Bubbles254 i heard about the NEAT thing though doesn’t seem to fit experience of those i know. I’m definitely more restless and fidgity than my husband who is the one who never gains weight.

Errr because there’s so much delicious food in the world and it’s crap to be able to eat less of it than other people without putting on weight?

Sure, it’s brilliant in a famine but that’s not the situation for most of us, thankfully.

I still don't understand though.
You don't get enjoyment from the AMOUNT of food you eat, it's the taste, smell and texture etc.
Surely if there's a plate of delicious food, or a buffet of delicious foods then everyone can eat and enjoy it. Someone with a lower metabolism would feel satisfied with a smaller amount.

Women are generally smaller than men. A woman with a healthy weight eats less than a man with a healthy weight, but the woman shouldn't be feeling crap about it because she should be feeling satisfied.

Maybe I am missing the point.

You don't get enjoyment from the AMOUNT of food you eat, it's the taste, smell and texture etc.

So you’re saying if there is a really delicious cheese, or cake, for example, one bite of it is just as good as 10 bites? No no no. If I eat something delicious I want more of it. And so do most people I’d say.

You can feel satisfied in the sense of no longer hungry, but still want more of the delicious taste.

I'm currently trying to lose weight so I often feel hungry

My metabolism is destroyed by years of dieting.

When I was slim, and I'm still talking top end of a healthy BMI, I basically didn't eat all day and then had a tiny dinner. I didn't lose weight doing this but I stayed at a healthy weight. I was hungry all the time. I really don't believe that you won't be hungry if what you're eating is the correct amount for your BMR.

Probably in the homemade sauces and soups

According to a quick google, chronic inflammatory diseases account for half of all deaths worldwide. We are what we eat and certain foods feed inflammation in the body, certain foods calm the body. I imagine this is where the terminology originates.

As for how I can benchmark. With how I feel. I have fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue and chronic pain. The chronic fatigue is much better when eating more nutritious foods but there is a tipping point, when this becomes unsustainable for me unfortunately as I have to balance immediate need with long term.

Additionally, I have been having regular body work from 3 practitioners - physio, Bowen therapy and the toxicologist, who is also a chiropractor. They have all commented on being able to “get in” there more, that the tissues are less compacted and freer. I have been having work for years and can 100% say it is a result of the diet as it has happened before.

@Bubbles254 it's interesting that- I know a few very nervy fidgety people of all ages -who eat huge amounts, don't excercise much and are thin as Reed's

Not my point. My point is that it’s likely not realistic for the vast majority of people posting on MUMSnet (i.e. parents)…

NEAT isn’t fidgeting.

it’s non exercise activity.

so stuff like walking to the shop, cleaning, getting up and down to switch the telly on.

back pre computers even though I had a desk job I rarely sat for long. I’d get up to speak to a colleague across the hall, pop
down to the cafeteria for food, down to the library for a reference, to admin for a photocopy, into the basement to ask IT something, into the meeting room for a conference.

same job, but now I don’t need to leave my seat on a 10 hour shift. Cafeteria has been closed so I eat at my desk, meetings and speaking to colleagues all done over teams, research and references delivered straight by email.

even home life I don’t need to go grocery or clothes shopping. I used to be able to spend the best part of a day walking round a city shopping, but if lunch, trying on clothes etc.

dc do over 10k steps walking to school and between classes. I do 2-3k unless I make an effort to get out for a walk.

it’s not really a surprise now my calorie needs have decreased markedly as everything comes to me rather than me making the effort to get it

Pure nonsense.