Terrible eating habits and no portion control

[Foxysoxy01]

I'm desperately trying to loose some weight at the moment. I am far too heavy and really quite unhealthy. Some of my problem is that I have always have quite an unhealthy attitude to food and portion sizes. I basically eat too much sweet stuff, have too bigger portions and just cannot seem to control my snacking.

I am doing something about it. I am on a healthy eating plan at the moment and starting slowly with the exercise.

My aibu is would it be unreasonable of me to ask you to please tell me what your normal day to day diet, portion size and exercise regimen is? (Height and weight would also be very helpful)
I know it's different for each person but I think if I could get an idea of what a reasonable diet is for a healthy person I might actually realise how much my attitude to food is skewed.

Would a portion plate help? You can get them pretty cheaply on eBay.

Liquids will curb your appetite. Do you like herbal tea and soup?

Height 5ft 10
Starting weight was 16st 10, now 14st 4 (aiming for 13)

I do 14:10 so fast for 14hrs, eat within a 10hr period

Breakfast - banana pancakes (1 egg, 1 banana mashed up), 100g Greek yog, maybe 10? Or so chopped strawberries

Lunch - one thin, 2 boiled eggs mashed with mayo, half a cucumber cut into sticks, mini pot of hummus, about 4-5 slices of thin ham or turkey or chicken
Sometimes a babybel or under 100 cal bag of crisps or snack bar

Mini meal snack protein shake, chopped up apple and 20 grapes

I don't eat tea as will be fasting. Drink tea with skimmed milk and water all day

Obviously this varies but I usually have the same food for a week before I get bored

Should add I track everything on MFP apart from salad, cucumber, milk in my tea but I track at 1200 cals which allows 100/200 cals for my milk/salad etc

Low carb, higher fat, higher protein.

Avoid bread and pasta.

I eat around 1500 cals a day to stay current weight.
10st and 5'5.

based on my height weight goal etc my daily intake should be about 1200 calories.
so I base my portion size based on my need for that meal....so a nice home made soup might be a huge bowl and a breakfast with fresh bread might be two slices with tomato or jam.
just saying I work backwards....do the math and plate it accordingly.
tonight I have a good 500 calories to spend on supper which is roast beef, i'll hope to achieve a good 300 calories of roast beef, then add the next most caloric dense food item, in this case squash for 100 calories and fill the plate with the least calorie item asparagus. if the plate looks to bland i'll add some beets onto the plate for color.

A portion plate would probably help and I have got one on my watch list so should probably get on a buy it!

I don't like herbal tea much but soup is ok and I drink tea and coffee. I know it's really bad but I drink a fair amount of Coke Zero in the hope of filling me up!

Ollivander - that is excellent! You have done very well and I'm not at all jealous......well maybe a bit! Thank you for listing that all for me. I do use MFP but tend to forget to log something and then just go off the rails because I haven't filled it out perfectly (my OCD playing up)

My main problems seem to be portion size at dinner then after dinner in the evening and not snacking! Also because I have so much weight to loose and it is going to take so long I sort of loose hope and think I'll just start another day.

Fasting has weirdly helped me so much. I'm just "right, kitchen closed" and I'm a lot calmer about food. Made me realise how much I wander to the fridge and yet I'm not hungry
It's uncomfortable, I'm hungry sometimes but if desperate I'll have a mug of bouillon or tea and drink lots of water. 1st 4 to go!

on step at a time, one meal at a time and one day at a time.
if you're using MFP start by finding a breakfast that meets your needs (say 350 calories balanced between fat carbs and protein) once your happy with that move onto a lunch plan then supper and snacks. you can do this :) stick to what you find works then try variations.

I've not had weight issues, but I eat carefully due to family history of early onset heart disease and type 2 diabetes. I'm 5'3 and 8st. A typical day is:

Breakfast- overnight oats or porridge with whole milk and mixed berries

Lunch- varies, but homemade soup (usually mixed beans with whatever veg is in season) with 1 slice of buttered sourdough or rye toast and some fruit is pretty standard. Other times, avocado on toast with egg, chilli and tomatoes, or a quinoa and bean salad.

Dinner- varies, but standard would be protein the size of the palm of my hand, 3 veg, and then a whole food carb on the side.

Snacks- rarely, but nuts and dates, or a square of dark chocolate

Exercise: daily, 1 rest day, mix of HIIT (try Fitness Blender on YouTube), running, yoga, and strenuous hiking

I’m dieting at the minute and struggle with portion control/ evening meals. The only way I have found that works for me is 28g porridge for breakfast, chicken breast and veg for lunch and then a substantial tea in the region of 800-900 calories. I wait until about 7pm to eat so that I’m too full to snack for the rest of the night. So far it’s working and I’m logging about 1400 calories. I’m a size 14 and 5 foot 7.

I can't do diets , I have no willpower . I've lost 3 stone since May due to illness and in the past 2 weeks that I've been able to eat I've pretty much just carried on from my illness and not snacked , given up all fizzy drinks except soda and lime and started eating healthier meals , smaller portions and very limited snacking . In the 2 weeks that I've been eating I've lost another 3/4 lbs and I've also now started to walk the dog again and will do more exercise as my health improves . I am 5'8" , was 14stone 8 in May and am now 11stone 8 , I still have about 1-2 stones to go . My main changes are a small portion of bran flakes in the morning instead of a bacon sandwich , very little junk food ( although we do eat out a fair bit usually) and no snacking unless I actually feel hungry . If I do feel the need to eat between meals I either have a fruit gum( I'm addicted to them I think) or a piece of fruit ( apple or satsuma) . I drink at least 2-4 pints of very dilute squash a day . I do think that your stomach learns quite quickly not to expect as much food and I also stop eating when I've had enough , rather than just finish the meal which is particularly relevant when eating out .

Porridge and fruit for breakfast
Salad, soup or jacket potato at lunchtime - portion size varies but eg if ham salad would have 2 slices of ham, or 2 hard boiled eggs
Meat, fish, chicken etc (portion size equivalent of 1 chop or chicken breast) with unlimited veg or salad
I have an occasional yoghurt, snack on fruit and try to only drink at weekends
Lost nearly 4 stone since last November

Thank you all very much for taking the time to post what works for you and also the encouragement!

It is massively obvious that a normal days food for you is no where near what I eat I honestly think I have such messed up ideas with food I don't realise what 'normal' women eat on a day to day basis. It's quite a wake up call actually.

I like big portions and have a sweet tooth.

Two years ago I lost five stone.

I went Vegan and ate massive plates full of Curries, with "No carbs rice". I did pasta dishes with "no carb pasta" and a mix of veg. I snacked on fruit, grapes, bananas, and pineapple. Sometimes I'd roast mushrooms and snack on them. I struggle with giving up food and couldn't cope with what most people on here seem to eat.

I did HIT and lifted weights, lifting weighs means that you need or use calories and really changes your body shape.

I would move away from typical western food and widen your thinking.

One Green plant has good recipes.

I'm an advocate of more exercise and less dieting, though.

Oh and I drank, water, black tea, and red wine.

Exercise wise I'm limited. I do Pilates and ride my horse but can only lift light weights. On a good week I'll ride twice and do 2 Pilates classes but my loss has been probably 95% from diet

5ft 2"
8st 8lb (at present)
Morning - a coffee, occasionally some toast or cereal, but normally can't eat until lunchtime
Lunch - something light like soup/some form of a salad/a sandwich
Dinner - some form of a home-cooked from scratch meal consisting of meat or fish / veg / rice / pulses etc. This is my biggest meal of the day which is a full dinner plate.
Snacks - I usually have a small snack between lunch & dinner or between dinner & bed. Can range from anything such as crackers to olives to something 'bad' like a bag of crisps or some chocolate

I attend the gym/pool when possible but don't schedule it into my days. Some weeks I can manage it 2-3 times a week, other weeks I don't manage it at all. But I do walk if I don't actually need to drive, and I park halfway along our school drop-off/pick-up route and walk the latter half.

I do think genes have a lot to do with build/weight though. Both my parents and immediate relatives are naturally small slim built people who don't tend to want to eat that much.

I'm with you Foxy. Plucked up courage to weigh myself today and was at least half a stone more than I thought, which was half a stone again on 6 months ago. Logged back into mfp and on the hunt for simple tasty recipes. DH could lose a bit too. Interested in what others are eating/cooking. Helps with inspiration. A lot of low cal recipes have a LOT of ingredients. Makes it ££ and takes too much time. Good luck!!

The best tip is to only eat when you are hungry and to be sparing with carbohydrates. Ideally, no cakes, no biscuits, no sugary desserts, sweets or drinks. Eat low carb, high fat foods.

I haven't eaten very much at all today. Some days I eat more, some days less. Today I have had:
Breakfast - 30g Shredded Wheat, 25g raspberries with full fat milk and double cream, black coffee.
Lunch - 120g can of sardines in tomato sauce, about 6 small tomatoes, green tea
Supper - half a carton of Tesco Thai chicken soup, followed by about 30g strawberries, one pear and a handful of blueberries with double cream, decaf coffee.

I'm 5'3" and 8st 4.Today I walked just over 10 miles. Some days I don't have time to leave my desk, so exercise is very variable.

Diet sodas are EVERY bit as damaging as full sugar sodas. Your brain cannot tell the difference, and your body reacts to them in the same way. This is proven, not a theory. Stop drinking soda PERIOD.

5'6 and 120lbs

Today I ate:
160g high protein yoghurt
Large serving of tuscan bean soup (roughly 3 ladles full)
Large garden salad, dressed with apple cider vinegar
150g chickpea pasta with tomato sauce and a few fake meat meatballs
1 babybel
Banana smoothie (1 small banana, 250mls milk, 2 tbs vanilla ice cream)

All up around 1300 calories. No real exercise today unfortunately, if there was I'd have eaten 2-300 more calories (roughly half what I'd burn).

While it’s useful to see what other people eat I think it’s worth remembering that as long as you eat less than you usually do, you will lose weight. Last year I gave up tea (with sugar) and coke after a telling off from the dentist and lost a stone in a few months, didn’t cut anything else out so didn’t lose anymore after. I eat a lot and have treats/junk everyday but I also don’t stop moving and do about 10,000 steps on a ‘normal’ day and about 18,000 a few times a week when work is busy. I’m 5”3 9st4lb.

My suggestion is ages ago they had a plate on the shopping channels and it marked up portions basically.

You're going to possibly get hungry cutting down portions, so think of a healthy snack. Maybe fruit, veg crudités, that kind of thing.

The best investment ever was a slow cooker as you can do meals so easy, stew with say mashed carrot & potato is nice. You'd have a meal for a few days there. The carrot makes the mash sweeter. So you don't have to bother with butter etc. Load yourself up on veggies, cook a few more than you need, so say you need a snack you can pick at left over veg.