What is a sensible amount of crisps, chocolate and biscuits to be eating?

[PuzzledObserver]

How much is a reasonable amount of chocolate and biscuits to eat - per day or per week?

And how much is too much?

This is for a man in his 60’s with high blood pressure who is obese

Ideally none, but he's a grown man and can make his own lifestyle decisions.

Yeah, pretty much this.

This.

You cant controll an adult.
Nothing to do with you what otherrs eat, or how much they eat its not you doing it.

Is he trying to lose weight? He needs to work out his TDEE and construct a balanced diet with a daily calorie deficit, this could include a limited amount of crisps, chocolate and biscuits but to keep things balanced I would say not more than one small portion of one of them per day - one bag of crisps, or one small chocolate bar, or a couple of biscuits.

Ideally none if he's serious about improving his health, but taper it and make it just a weekly treat- going cold turkey wouldn't work.

Ideally zero but he does need a sweet treat to replace the sugary stuff; fruit, yogurt, sorbet but how motivated is he?
When I cut this stuff from my diet to be more healthy and lose weight I couldn’t have one piece or whatever and had to go cold turkey or would have been dipping in when peckish.
Crystallised ginger worked for me, although it is coated in sugar I couldn’t eat too much as it’s quite fiery.

I fully accept I can’t control another grown adult.

He is obese and has high blood pressure but does not want to increase his medication. So is seeking an alternative. And has told me he “doesn’t eat that much chocolate and biscuits.”

I wanted to get an opinion as to what was a sensible amount. It’s up to him if he wants to do anything about it, of course.

One small bag of crisps a week. One small bar of plain dark chocolate a week. No biscuits.What’s the reality?
I have a family member who had a stroke caused by alcohol and obesity and spent almost a year in hospital and the stroke unit and is now badly disabled. He sits in his armchair surrounded by packets of chocolate, biscuits and sweets and munches on them all day in front of the TV. PIP pays for his several takeaway pizzas, curries and kebabs every week. He’s happy killing himself.!

I think one portion of either a day is probably realistic, as long as it's counted in daily calories. Someone that eats alot of junk will find it difficult to go cold turkey but I don't think a daily small treat is bad.
I save mine up and treat myself to a packet of crisps, chocolate bar and ice cream bar on Sundays.

This.

Is it your dad. Could he try fruit?

Who it is is irrelevant. This person has asked for my help in making an adjustment and I am very careful to tell them it’s their choice what they eat and how much. My input is to suggest a range of possibilities and then support them in whichever of those they choose to go with - or any changes they come up with themselves.

The issue is that when I suggested cutting down chocolate, crisps and biscuits as the most obvious change to make, they said they don’t think they eat a lot. So I was trying to get a sense of what others thinks is sensible. And the amounts you’re saying are a fraction of what he’s currently eating.

Hmm your husband,then I’m guessing.

You shouldn’t eat those things daily. Once or twice a week if you must but recommendations simply say to limit them as much as possible.

It’s about more than calories. If he has high blood pressure he needs to limit his saturated fat intake. Even a 2-3% drop in saturated fat intake is shown to lower the risk of CVD.

OP saturated fat intake should be less than 10% of his daily energy (calories) for a healthy man. So if he eats 2500 calories daily he needs to eat less than 250 calories of saturated fat - that’s 27.7g of saturated fat. Things like butter are about 50% saturated fat while custard creams are 1.5g per biscuit. If he has hypertension he may wish to aim lower.

For me there is no sensible amount. I really cant have it in the house. Its addictive.

So that's his problem then. If he's eating far more than one small bag of crisps or a couple of biscuits each day then that's a lot and likely why he's obese and unhealthy.

But he has to want to cut down. He knows what he needs to do, sounds like he's in denial if he doesn't think he eats a lot but it's far more than a single portion a day.

I know MN has weird ideas about Slimming World but as a guide the plan works by limiting unhealthy foods like crisps and biscuits to no more than about 2-300 calories worth per day, alongside a healthy balanced diet of mostly unprocessed foods like fruit and veg, lean protein, eggs, pulses and wholegrain, with moderate amounts of minimally processed foods like pasta and white rice.

Does he buy the chocolate/crisps/biscuits?
Does he want you to do the research into how much he could safely eat or if crisps are "better" than chocolate .
Does he want you to nag him so that he can get the hump and eat these things and say you were on his case and you upset him, so he'll turn to these treats .
Or does he want you to say "You aren't that heavy Gary . We can ask the GP to increase your pills , A bag of crisps and a Galaxy won't hurt you"

I am trying to rein it in, it's my birthday (Big Birthday) soon and this middle is not going to shift itself is it?
I have cut out all sweets, chocolates and crisps , concentrated on having breakfast lunch dinner no snacks .
First 3 days was tough but I stuck it . I am hoping long term.

He has to do it himself make the decision. My DH would never say to me "Ah you're looking a bit chunky . wife" , maybe if he had I wouldn't have let it creep on. But it's my doing not his .

In answer to how much is too much ? Hard to tell .Probably less than he'd admit .
Would he do an honest food diary ? If he cheats then he cheats himself .
None of this "calories don't count if you eat standing up/no-one sees you/ the biscuit is broken"

Those things are an occasional treat. They definitely should be a daily part of anyone’s diet.

30g free sugar/ day
20g fat
5g salt

that’s what I’ve been told to aim for. 5g sugar in a teaspoon (level). IMO sugar is the hardest to reduce.

He needs to do a daily food diary and get real.

My MIL is in her 70s and could pass for 10 years younger. She is active and looks after my KS1 children after school a couple of times a week. She doesn't take any medication and has healthy cholesterol, blood pressure etc, which is know because she's part of a health study. She has one small biscuit (eg rich tea) with her morning cup of tea every day. I think that's absolutely fine. She probably eats less sugar than many people overall because she cooks just about everything else she eats from scratch, including bread.

If someone is obese, they can probably still have one small biscuit a day or every other day and lose weight if they cut out lots of other calories. It might be more realistic than going cold turkey if they currently eat several biscuits and pieces of chocolate daily.

Zero
If there is any reason to eat between meals, then the meals are not balanced or filling, or you are not drinking enough and water is fine!

I agree and hopefully he will in the long term, but initially it's important that he finds a way of losing weight that is sustainable. If he's used to those things forming a big part of his daily diet, he won't be able to stick to an eating plan that doesn't include them regularly. Once his weight is on a steady, downward trajectory and he is seeing results and feeling healthier, he'll be much more motivated to cut them out altogether or make them a very occasional thing.