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.

Are you 1.5m tall and weigh 50kg?

No, 10 years time.

I am 38, 5'3 and used to be just over 8 stone, now more towards 9.
Today I have had
2 lotus biscuits
2 small tiger rolls with cheese
A big handful of Maltesers and chunk of dairy milk
A peach
Chicken, vegetable rice, sweetcorn and garlic bread.
An apple.
Bag of crisps
Some marmite cashews.
Drinks were all tea and water.

More than most mumsnetters eat in a week I am sure!

People are different shapes. My waist measurement is the same as yours and I’m 5”2 and weigh just under 8.5 stone.

Well this is so depressing. Why does menopause have such an effect, I know it's Hormones but not sure I understand the role they play?

I tried a glucose monitor last week because I love a band wagon. My blood sugars didn't raise above 6 really apart from after I ate a packet of sweets. I had a few 3.7s during the nights. I didn't do it via Zoe though so literally had no idea what the significance was other than confirming I'm not diabetic which I already knew.

I obviously know metabolisms are different but not to the extent of one poster advising a small handful of nuts and a chicken salad for dinner being all she eats

A handful of nuts could be anywhere between about 150 and 500 calories

A chicken salad could easily be 500+

So volume small, but her actual intake is quite possibly within typical, and depending on what's actually in the salad her nutrition could be good.

There's no good evidence (back to ZOE again) that any particular pattern of number of meals/grazing has any advantage over another. So if someone is happy on 1 meal and healthy snack/s (depending on how often she eats the nuts), there's no reason to damn her.

And I think quite a lot of people skip breakfast, so are essentially eating only twice a day. But that seems to be heresy, so people don't really post about it or recommend it.

I'm less than 5ft and bmi 21 so not overweight.
I used to be anorexic but I don't count calories anymore. I thought my diet was OK (ish) until I joined MN! I don't read "what I eat in a day" because I know I'd feel shit about myself

I eat chocolate most days. And my life wouldn't be worth living without carbs (as in bread rather than carby vegetables)

The imbalance of hormones makes us less able to control insulin levels. All to do with oestrogen dropping.

Though eating less isn’t the answer. It’s lifting heavy weights and some cardio. Upping protein and little tweaks with the way you eat (such as veggies first).

If we can increase muscle mass this helps us burn fat. Eating less just slows down your metabolism.

I can only lose weight if I eat 600-700cals a day, plus exercise. I literally have the slowest metabolism in the world, I am like a sloth.

No one believes me until they witness what I eat in a day. I could be chained to a radiator for a fucking year and would only lose 2kg 😅 It pisses me off how people believe a fast metabolism but not a slow one - I have a skinny friend who eats and eats but can't put weight on. He's been to the doctor and begged for help, had all the blood tests and came back normal. He's just a skinny runt lol.

I lost a stone recently (it took 8 weeks) and I didnt change my diet at all, I ate the same amount of calories as I always have but I added snacks onto meals so I actually felt hungry before breakfast lunch and dinner, I added probiotics and I started taking a laxative daily as I’d been suffering chronic constipation for years . The weight has just dropped off

That is an excellent point you have just made and the penny has dropped a little for me.

When I read a hand full of nuts I think of what I would class as a handful of nuts. 15-20g so approx 100 calories and then chicken salad being a breast and some leaves.

But as you said I am reading her words and translating it to my own experience and it could be wildly different.

That is a very good point!

Not extra snacks I may add but whereas before I’d have breakfast then mid morn a cookie then lunch then mid aft a banana and dinner then chocolate in the evening I just ate those snacks with my breakfast lunch and dinner as a dessert really

This thread! Poster after poster coming on to say how they can only eat 600 calories and they are still struggling to lose weight. We are not meant to survive on 600 calories a day! Your bodies are in starvation mode.

It’s no coincidence that the posters who eat a healthy amount of calories are the slimmest.

I obviously do eat enough if I’m maintaining my weight?!

🤨 So close. I am 1.55m tall and 58kg.
Im not dieting or trying to lose weight though.
Im just being mindful as I know my BMI is a high normal and I want to be as healthy as I can despite being too disabled to do high intensity exercise.

They definitely don’t eat lots.

As pps have mentioned, everyone is different. I have eaten too much - especially sweet stuff - all my life, and my weight remains much the same, although I have lost some in the last five years. If I want to lose weight I simply eat a bit less, and off it comes. I'm 64 in a couple of weeks time. I eat what I want when I want. I have worked with people who can't eat this, can't eat that, turn down a small treat for morning tea - it's tiresome. I realise everyone's metabolism is different, but people who think one cake will make them put on weight are ridiculous.

@Delatron that's a relief, I will have a head start as I already lift weights a few times a week and eat lots of protein.

I will make a note to focus on increasing the weight of the weights to keep menopause under control as much as possible.

At your age I weighed 9 stone and gleefully thought anyone overweight was obviously a gluttonous pig.

Fast forward 15 years and I'm nearer 13 stone and only have to sniff food to put on 2 lbs. I've done nothing different at all.

I suggest you don't be so smug. As I swear God has punished me!

It's sugar free museli Delatron. Yes museli and fruit. If I want to push the boat out then oatcakes and hummus. I also have hypothyroidism and medicated but I am still at least 2 stone over weight. Its very disheartening 😔

I'm 48, 5ft 5, size 12 and currently weigh 10st 9. I'm dieting and eating 900-1000 calories which means 1.5-2lb a week weight loss. I can still lose on 1200 but it will be no more than 1lb a week. To maintain I eat 1500. Any more than that and I gain weight.

When I was younger I was size 8 and could eat so much my parents nicknamed me hollow legs.

I dunno OP, it's almost like different people at different times in their lives have different metabolisms or something 🙄

YABVU

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

It's not that bonkers. A standard Mars Bar is 228 calories, a multipack one 177 calories, a snack-size one 90 calories.

A largish banana is about 140 calories. OK not as much, but not that far off. Bananas are much higher in calories than most other fruit.

Of course there are multiple health reasons why it's better to eat a banana than a Mars bar - fibre content, refined sugar, artificial additives etc. But on the specific question of weight gain, there's not that much in it.

Not smug, more terrified that this is reality and what I have to look forward to. I wanted to believe that it's not really true and people were just saying these things because Mumsnet can be weird or that eating so little is the extreme few.

It's scary to see poster after poster saying that menopause means they can only eat toddler portions. I am dreading it and I am sure it's only round the corner!

A lot of posts about diet on MN are essentially pro-ana, MN doesn’t care that pro-ana views are being shared as any traffic seems to be good traffic.

1200 should be net calorie intake - ie factoring in exercise and activity that amounts to at least 500 cals expended per day. Hardly anyone understands MFP to do it properly. Unless you’re in a coma you shouldn’t just be eating 1200 calories