Ive just watched my friend eat a tub of low fat humourless, half a pack of rice cakes and a large glass of juice

[Ellreejee3]

And she is desperately trying to loose weight for her wedding. I usually wouldn't comment on what another adult eats. But I think she maybe very clueless to the amount of calories and has probably just eaten one thousand , what she should have for the whole day just for breakfast.

Should I say something?

Waitrose do a lovely caramelised onion hummus, de-bloody-licious.

Might have to pick some up after reading this thread .

i like to make my own humour

Noah will power.

? will power,

After 6 morgans and coke G&Ts I'd be sitting down to a full ulster. Diet or no diet.

A 200g pot of tesco low fat hummus is 480 calories. There are 30 or so calories in each rice cake. If she is sticking to a 1000 calories a day diet she is pretty much screwed for eating for the rest of the day.

You can say something if:
a) you are directly and explicitly asked to give advice
b) you really are a good friend
c) you are genuinely knowledgeable about losing weight.

Ok Doreen maybe I did have a sense of humus failure
It just bothers me because I have a friend who loves reading mumsnet and would love join but feels she can't as she is dyslexic and has seen posters getting shredded over spelling
I normally do have a good sense of sense of humour, honest!!

Tink06 rice cakes in themselves aren't very fattening.

However if friend went out last night and had 5-6 G&Ts that is fattening! That was 180 calories a go, so wiped out her 1200-1500 calories a day target. If she had 2, she only had 2-500 calories left for real food for the whole of the day.

She's had say 6 rice cakes and a tub of low fat hummus this morning. We'll assume it's breakfast - again if a snack, it's a massive one.

6 rice cakes we've already worked out as 280 calories. Low fat anything generally isn't that healthy as it's usually had sugar added to make it taste nicer now the fat's been removed. We don't know the size of low fat hummus pot but picked at random because it was the first to come up on myfitnesspal I've gone for a 230g Sainsbury's pot. Which works out as 381 calories.

So her healthy breakfast has worked out as 661 calories. And I haven't included the juice yet, which is massively not recommended for being high in sugar. Bung in another 150 calories on juice and friend has eaten 811 calories on breakfast alone, while thinking she has picked the healthy option. She'd now have to eat lettuce for the rest of the day to come in at her target for weight loss.

I suspect friend is doing a number of things here: not counting calories in alcohol, believing juice is healthy and low calorie, eating too big portions of 'healthy food', not counting snacks. Which is what I did for many years and wondered why I was gaining weight not losing.

I would also start a conversation about the hummus. "Whats the difference in calories between this low fat hummus and full fat?" and get into it that way. May be add up the calories together?

To lose weight she needs to be eating 1200 per day, so unless she is doing exercise later she doesn't have many left!

Doing it gently, as part of a conversation, will be doing her a favour of she really has not realised how many calories she is consuming.

We are not girls.

Apart from the teen trolls on half term that is.

I think the juice is the main problem, although the rice cakes also have a really high gi. The humourless is fine.
None of your business though.

If it was my friends I would have just asked her how many calories are in that? Sat and worked it out together, probably have a laugh about it and then get on to the next topic.

What I wouldn't do is sit and watch whilst silently counting the calories and then post about it on a public forum.

Whilst the OP hasn't won our hearts on the subject of "chickpea dip" I can't see anything wrong with her actual opening post. She's not saying "should I tell my friend to eat less because she's so fat". She knows the friend is trying to lose weight and is upset by her failure to do so. She has discovered that the friend's strategies are objectively counterproductive. Yes she doesn't have full access to a week's meal plan, but low fat hummus and rice cakes are clearly going to be eaten with a view to "healthy eating" and 800 calories or so on breakfast is never going to promote weightloss. I'd find a way to make her check the calories in the hummus tub and then maybe work from here.

So many sources promote "no need to count calories, just make some healthy swaps" that it's an easy enough trap to fall into.

I'm so glad I found another person who likes hummus for breakfast. I am a fussy eater, particularly struggle with breakfast but need something to eat before I can take my morning medication. I've started eating hummus and crackers. My family think I'm weird but I strongly disagree!

no food makes you fat on its own. Very few foods are unhealthy per se.

but the guzzle and swill regime mentioned here would make most people fat. Still, the OP's pal must know that given she went to school, so not much to be done.

M&S used to do a lovely hummus with sweet potato and something else on top, it was heaven in a pot, but I can't find out what it actually was because they stopped making it.

Bastard M&S

Suggest porridge for breakfast but only if she asks. Filling and full of goodies. In summer I eat it uncooked with fruit and a sprinkling of nuts. Yummy!

I understand what you mean OP. I think some people kid themselves about the calorie content of food.

My sister has lost loads of weight. She used to think she was eating pretty healthily and would polish off a punnet of grapes in one go. She was horrified to realise that actually she had eaten the equivalent of a mars bar.

Plain rice cake 35 calories
Low fat hummus 100 cals for 60grams
Juice ( probably worst offender)

She probably ate 500-600 cals which is not a huge number.

Do recommended mfp
Don't do snything else

trixy Well, she hadn't really eaten the equivalent, maybe in caloric intake. Not in terms of other nutrients and a punnet of grapes are more filling. That said, eating that amount of fruit is hardly going to be healthy. She must have been shitting through the eye of a needle.

Craving hummus now

Do people actually sit round with their friends adding up the calories in low fat vs normal hummus together? Voluntarily? Without needing to take to gin? Good lord.

My friends do, Alconleigh. It's painful. We all yoyo diet and make each other feel guilty for enjoying anything. I consciously try not to contribute to the constant stream of critique, but I definitely hear it all day - it is really sad.

What on earth do they put in this hummus? Half a can of chickpeas drained is 153 calories according to mfp plus 89 for a tablespoon of tahini paste (and I only use 1 for the whole can). A few drops of lemon juice and there you have it. Plus it's a massive portion and really filling.