Why are what I eats in a day so few calories, is everyone eating like that?

[oldiching]

I was watching some what I eat in a day videos just to see what people eat. It is difficult as people who post these are usually very slim or trying to lose weight or focused on muscle gains.

It looks like a ton of what people eat in these videos is lots of protein shakes, protein bars, chicken, rice, eggs, broccoli or spinach. Nothing wrong with any of that but the calories seem low to me and

I feel like I eat a huge amount in comparison to these videos so breakfast is things like porridge and banana, fruit and yogurt, fruit smoothie, eggs, toast with avocado or humous or tomato or banana.

Lunch is leftovers from dinner, soup and bread with butter, pitta with humous, salad, avocado and falafel, Cheese salad sandwich, baked potato (white or sweet) with homemade slaw and salad, or home made chilli or beans.

Dinner is stuff like: Veggie Risottos, Pasta dishes with a bit of garlic bread, Curries, Noodles, Bean stews, Veggie Chickpea Shawarmas, quiche with potatoes and vegetables, salads with feta or halloumi, all of it home made, well I don't make the cheese!

Snacks are thinks like oatcakes and cheese, olives, nuts, fruit, malt loaf, apple and almond butter, a bit of chocolate or some homemade cakes or a shop bought biccy. I don't eat all of this everyday but I will have a few snacks each day for sure.

I drink tons of tea herbal but also tea with milk and 1 sugar and I drink at least 2 litres of water a day.

Extra at the weekend I'll have a scoop of ice cream with fruit and I'll have some crisps or salted pistachios and a San Pellegrino drink (full sugar) while I relax, I don't drink alcohol and I don't eat meat.

I am 40 and eat on average 1800 - 2000 calories a day sometimes more but rarely less. I walk about 8000 steps a day and I do exercise cardio, yoga and some strength training.

I include the detail on my food to give you an idea of the kind of volume and things I eat i.e. plenty of carbs and no meat.

Is this pretty normal outside of social media land or am I eating loads compared to other people?

Why do you ask? Roughly 1800 - 2000kcal per day is the recommended amount, so if that's what you're eating, what's social media got to do with it?

I am just curious, I thought there would be more food but everyone seemed to eat very little i.e. very few calories. I was looking for inspiration but I wouldn't want to eat like that myself, there just isn't enough food.

I wanted to see what I eats that make my think yum, I do think that with online recipes but many of them aren't healthy like loads of Jamie oliver recipes are really high in fat and salt.

You are eating plenty of low calorie food - salads fruit and veg

Protein bars are usually a lot of calories for a small volume

And people on videos lie

umm because it's social media and fake???

Because people who eat cheerios, cheese on toast and a large domino's for their meals aren't posting.

These are for people to get smug satisfaction at the world thinking "wow, look how healthy and disciplined that person is with their food. What an enigma of a human being"

I guess unless you are underweight or overweight it doesn’t matter ? Just carry on what you’re doing if your a healthy weight and don’t worry what others do

You are eating a lot of carb. I am veggie as well but have reduced my carbs post 50. Only way I can maintain or lose weight.

Meat cooked in animal fats, eggs, things like that will be nutrient dense so people don't need to eat the same volume as with vegetables. They also may feel less hungry with a well nourished body.

these videos are normally posted by fitness influencers and are most likely jus designed for social media. The ones that are genuine and gym based will naturally be higher in protein and lower in carbs. Your meals sound healthy but heavier on the carbs. It sounds like you have a good balance provided your portion sizes are not out of control.

I do eat a lot of carbs but my weight isn't an issue, I am not trying to lose weight.

I've noticed on a lot of these videos they eat hardly anything. My diet is much more like yours. I eat at least 2000 calories a day, although I intend to cut down when I hit menopause. At the moment I feel I need carbs and a little bit of sugar.

It just occurred to me many of them could have deals to promote shakes, bars and collagen powers all of which seem to be ubiquitous.

@Bohomovies That is exactly it, many of them seem to only be getting 1200 - 1400 calories a day, portions are so small and hardly any veg because they fill up on protein. Of course it is a personal choice but I feel hungry just seeing how little they seem to eat!

Everyone is different. I’d gain weight massively on 2000 calories a day. I only burn 1600 calories a day. Maybe those people have a much slower BMR than you? But if you can eat more and not gain weight, go for it and enjoy it!

Oh I apologise. For some reason I thought this was in weight loss. Carry on then..Your diet seems fine and resembles what I used to eat pre menopause.

The women in my family seem to get skinnier after menopause and I don't really want that myself. I may add a protein shake or extra calories if that happens to me but I will have to wait and see.

Well you're exceptionally lucky to be able to eat that volume

I now put ON weight if I eat over 900 calories

When I calculate my TDEE it's complete bollocks and claims I can eat 1700

Not everybody is the same as you.

OP, social media is a bunch of fake people presenting fake lifestyles, not a cross section of real society.

Yes @Watchkeys as I said, I didn't realise the OP was not trying to lose weight. Misread.

The reality is that most average people overeat. A lot of modern day-to-day foods are high calorie low nutrition, plus portion sizes are massive and we've become desensitised to it. I thought I was eating pretty well and wondered why I was gaining weight. When I started (loosely) tracking what I was eating I was shocked at the high calories, carb & fat levels. After some trial and error to find the right balance for me, I now eat ~1350 calories a day with good mix of protein, fat & carbs and rarely feel hungry. These influencers might be eating similarly.

I also find that when I get out of routine and drop the volume of whole foods in my diet I am regularly starving & need to eat way more. So if these people are eating lots of fresh whole foods it tracks that they may need lower calorie intake to feel satiated. That doesn't mean they are lying in their posts!

It sounds a lot to me. That amount of food would last me 3 days. But I am not very tall and struggle to stay slim. I would love to eat that much but would definitely put on weight.

@Winterjoy Some of them are eating a lot of whole foods, I eat a lot of them myself but also a lot of them I notice eat a lot of protein snack bars, and shakes instead of whole foods as a kind of meal replacement I think this is way more of this kind of thing than I would have seen a few years ago. Also a lot of them eat a lot of meat and maybe about 2 or 3 servings of fresh fruit and veg a day i.e. berries with breakfast and then broccoli with dinner and that is it. It seems like less fruit and veg in general and often the portions of the fruit and veg are very small.

@VJBR I don't eat it all of what I listed in one day but I'll have say Toast and avocado for breakfast, then a baked sweet potato with home made slaw for lunch with salad and then say a veggie curry with chickpeas and butternut squash with brown rice for dinner. A couple of snacks of fruit and an oat cake with cheese and then a cup of tea and a homemade small muffin after dinner. That could easily be just 1800 calories and no more than about 2000 calories. It seems unlikely that anyone is thriving on 666 calories a day if you say that would last you three whole days!

Not sure I'd want to share a loo with those influencers! I'd be shitting bricks on that diet.

They won't post a day of eating junk, they will be eating the best they can and likely also have extra stuff they don't record.