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.

I think that the most important part in changing your eating habits is the way you think. For example: I am an emotional eater. Indeed, I’m a size 8, but my body isn’t exactly what I want it to be. I noticed that I tend to reward myself with caloric food.

Diet tips ... you can find them anywhere. It’s your mind that you need to convince

Crowd out the sweet stuff with lots of veggies and fruit. Mainly vegetables though. I try to eat veg 3 times a day.... so veg for breakfast.

I am 5 foot four. No idea what I weigh as I don't own any scales but am size 8.

Yesterday I ate:

breakfast: porridge with marshmallows

lunch: sandwich from tesco, banana, grapes, big bar of chocolate

snack: another bar of chocolate

dinner: oven pizza

5'8" & a bit under 10 stone.
I'm 50yo & eat a huge amount less now than I did 20 yrs ago.
But tbh, I think I still eat about 50% more than most women my age/size. > 2000 calories in this example, on a day when I did almost zero activity.
Most days I do 1.5-2 hours of exercise, mostly aerobic, but yesterday only 20 minutes of walking.

Yesterday I ate:
1 medium banana
1 can reduced sugar baked beans with shredded cheese

5 mugs of tea with milk
3 mayo cheese rolls (medium supermarket size ones, lots of mayo)
About 8oz of orange juice

something grilled meaty (DH cooks), maybe 6-8 oz?
small selection of vegetables
4 roast potato pieces (so one actual medium small potato)
1 medium sausage
pudding: (1.25" x 1.25 ") chunk of cheese

OP you could be my twin !!! I have struggled all my life, I have tried every diet there is, am under a dietician, am extremely overweight, but just can't control my portions or what I eat. I would love more than anything to lose weight - so why cant I control it ??

Reading these replies I can see that people eat a quarter of what I do. I have no willpower at all. I actually am beginning to wonder if it's a psychological problem.

I hope you succeed with your weight loss. I will keep an eye on your thread for advice :)

Hey! You’re doing really well. Nice one.

I don't know if this helps, but I go on my actual size over weight, as people lose weight and lose different amounts on their body. So get a cheap tape measure and keep say a weekly log. I'll let you know what I measure:

Bust
Waist
Hips
Biggest part of thigh
Biggest part of arm

You can track your weight loss easier that way, or I think you do.

Plus take a photo of your face & body (with say knickers & bra) as you lose weight it'll be visible and it'll be motivation. Wilko's do a journal/diary where it's not got dates so you can keep a track that way.

It's a lifestyle choice, you'll be so proud of yourself. It doesn't have to be dull and boring.

I don't know how you feel about it but I really enjoyed watching Mama June on her honest journey. I know she had surgery, but she had to adjust her diet and exercise regime.

My weight is like a yoyo, so you can never guess which way it'll go. I've got a wardrobe with clothes size 6 to 18.

I haven't RTFT, but I've got hypothyroidism & type 2 diabetes, that causes issues when losing weight.

Vitamin B Complex is good to help boost metabolism, Korean Ginseng too. Vitamin D6 helps as we're usually deficient in it.

Minor changes to your diet can have a big effect.

I'm currently 5 ft 4 and weigh 11 stone, having lost 4 st 10 in the last year. I'm also now a size 10.

For breakfast I have porridgecwith raisins and semi skimmed milk, lunch wholemeal ham and low fat cheese spread and tomato sandwich and for tea 2 chicken breasts or large piece of fish with a large potato and salad. I will eat fruit during the day, often a yoghurt and then have a small bar of chocolate each night. It works out at about 1550 - 1600 calories a day.

However I do 4 heavy exercise sessions a week. One with a personal trainer, 2 with 20 mins CV then an hour's Weight training and the final being an hour or more row. For me this balances and I've lost weight steadily. The more I exercise the more I eat!

I use Mfp and track everything. At 1200 cals a day I lose a pound a week.

It suits me because I can have a small amount of whatever I like-I don't restrict sugar (although perhaps I should). As long as I fall within 1200 cals I'm ok.

If I can walk somewhere, I Will, and aim for 10k steps a day. I've started to lift weights and that's really made a difference to my shape. I'm 58 and slimmer than I've been for some years. But I find it a struggle and acknowledge that this is it for the rest of my life.

Diets and eating plans are all very well, but sticking to them and maintaining is the issue, I find.

Diet drinks are worse than the regular kind. The combination of aspartame and caffeine causes your body to release excitotoxins, which encourage your brain to crave simple carbohydrates (ie sugar).

5ft6 - 10st 6

Breakfast - one slice of rye bread , cheese spread light one triangle. Cup of tea with semi milk and one sugar.

Lunch - salad lettuce , tomato , cucumber and tuna

Dinner - big bowl veg. Couscous / brown rice / brown pasta or small jacket spud. Fish , half fat creamer fresh.

Snacks - French fries one packet. One flat bread and low fat cheese triangle. 2 chocolate orange segments

Green tea. Sparkling water and cuppa tea.

Breakfast is 30g of cereal like sultana bran or some porridge made with water. Weigh it. It's enough. If I'm short on time I might just have a treck bar. This is around 250 cal.

Lunch. Wholemeal sandwich with marmite. Or rice cakes with peanut butter say 4. Or a tin of bean soup and a rice cake. One piece of fruit and a sweet treat like a penguine bar. Arpund 500 cal for lunch.

Dinner. Home made meal like a lasagna but only a spoon full then rest of plate veg. Or maybe a chicken breast or a piece of fish. With loads of veg. Home made curry no rice, loads of veg. You get the idea. Arpund 600 cal for dinner. Piece of fruit.

Bwfore ed big slice of cake or a choc bar, some pancakes or something around 500 600 cal. But this is cos I'm breastfeeding 3 times a night and needs some fuel to see me through. When I'm a not bf I will just have a small bar or choc in evening.

I'm 5ft 5. I weigh 9 Stone 10 lbs and have around 5 more lbs of baby weight to loose (4 kids, 4 month old baby) . After birth I was just over 11 stone. I exercise 6 days a week for 30-40 mins.

I try and eat sensibly, but I am a bit overweight. I can't be bothered to diet as such, but I make adjustments where I can, and have lost over a stone doing that. I don't eat between meals and I stick to regular meal times so I don't get totally ravenous. I drink a lot of water. My partner has some health problems (although he's naturally skinny!) so we now eat a lot of vegetarian food, and I have rediscovered my love of cooking. We certainly get through tons of veg.
My daily diet is usually a couple of rich tea bics for breakfast, a wholemeal salad type sandwich (2 slices) and fruit for lunch, and a home cooked meal in the evening with lots of lovely veg, plus fruit and yoghurt for pud. I only drink water, tea and sauvignon blanc. I never eat fast food or ready meals. I walk my dog a lot and do gardening.
I am retired, and shifting weight as you get older is very hard.

We all have different metabolisms though. Quite frankly I’d expire if I ate as little as some people on here!
I’m 5’7 and 135lbs (just over 9.5 stone). 41 years old. I’m in pretty good shape (size 10 with good muscle tone)
I work out 3x a week (lifting heavy weights for about an hour each time)
Yesterday I ate:
Post-workout protein smoothie
2 eggs scrambled, 2 slices rye bread, one with avocado on the other with butter and jam
Lunch was a bowl of homemade carrot and lentil soup, 2 wholewheat tortillas, half a tin of tuna mixed with hummus, about half a bag of salad leaves, 1 small cooked beetroot half a red pepper and some tomatoes
Dinner was a large portion of spag with meatballs and 3 slices of garlic bread plus some broccoli and carrots.
Large glass red wine and about half a (large bar) of green and blacks chocolate

That’s probably more than I eat on an average day (eg I try to only have chocolate on the weekend and I rarely eat pasta, but I was ravenous yesterday). But I probably eat around 1700-2000 cals a day, I’d guess.

My diet has been a bit shit the last few days, but generally I'm quite healthy. Like my wine a little too much though!

I'm 5ft 7, weigh 9stone 7lb.

Breakfast - Greek yogurt with frozen berries, honey
Lunch - Ham and mushroom omelette ( 2 or 3 eggs depending on how hungry I am), salad, rice cakes or cracker bread.
Dinner - Either veggie toad in the hole and veg, Tofu and veg stir fry with noodles, Spag bol, Baked salon or trout with quinoa and veg.

I like a glass (or two) of wine, and a bit of chocolate. I'll sometimes buy dark choice and have a few squares of that or will raid the fridge for what I have bought the kids. Kit Kat Chunky snack size bars are a current favourite.

Having said all that I will be having a dirty great takeaway curry tonight and wine no doubt after the few days I've just had!

I'm 5'11" and not sure what I weigh but am a size 8.

I practice the ketogenic lifestyle - which is essentially (very) low carb, mediums protein, high fat. A typical day will be:

Breakfast: 2 fried eggs, 3 slices of bacon, sautéed spinach and half an avocado

Lunch: chicken wings with a blue cheese sauce, green salad

Dinner: steak with a peppercorn sauce, cheese and kale/mushrooms

It's a very specific way of eating but really works for me - I have tons of energy, skin is good and I sleep well. Because of the high fat element I am also satiated and don't crave sugar. A few people at my work have tried it too and it's worked for them.

Mousehole Forgive me if I’m wrong, but I find your post very hard to believe. Nobody is going to go to THAT much effort to the point of obsession on a daily basis! Protein the size of the palm of your hand?! Please!

Not making the OP feel very good about herself by implying you basically eat nothing but a scoop of Earth every day!

Excuse me whilst I go and have my daily piece of chargrilled Peruvian Fennel the exact shape of my right toenail......

Protein the size of the palm of your hand?! Please!

I will easily overeat if given the chance so try to stick to this too.

It's a fairly common 'fact' (or belief/theory/whatever you call it) that a correct portion size is that of the palm of your hand - nothing outlandish or ott about that

www.colormehealthy.com/0_docs/ServingSizeInHand.pdf

I like a substantial breakfast and dinner so

B 30g porridge made with water, plain fat free yogurt mixed with cinnamon and fruit added to yogurt .fills me until lunch.

L fill a bowl with lettuce,scallions,tomatoes,cucumber,(as much as I want) add large tin of tuna (in brine) or lean ham and boiled egg or chicken breast.

D is always chicken/meat/pork and two medium potatoes, as much veg as I can fit on plate.

Snacks are fruit or cherry tomatoes cucumber sticks.
I have two plain biscuits such as rich tea at supper time with cup of tea.

I try and fit a walk in most days.

Been doing this 13 months and have lost 4 stone.

Good luck.

Get the smaller ‘side plates’ in a dark colour if possible (small and dark plates have been proven to trick the stomach into thinking it is full)
Fill your plates:
Half veggies
Quarter meat/fish
Quarter carbs

Don’t drink your calories
Low fat/calorie versions of condiments and sauces
Make your own sauces as much as possible (the amount of sugar and fats in Jarred foods is shocking)

Allocate eating times (including snacking)
Do a couple of exercises each day and try to walk more (taking stairs, getting off the bus 1 or 2 stops before etc)
Don’t push yourself too far, and have a look online to check you are getting techniques right so you don’t injure yourself

I fast one day a week. I exercise three times a week like a demon - I love it.

Now 3 stone down.

Thank you all so much for replying.

It has really helped me to see what usual, day to day eating habits should be and I can see I'm way off the mark!

I have realised that actually 'normal' people tend to eat much smaller portions than me and much better food too.

I thought my diet was a bit crap but mainly ok food, I really just thought it was my portion size but this thread has helped me see that is not the case. I have been way off what is normal.

I think the 2000 calories per woman per day is really unrealistic too (although obviously I was eating more than that) and is not a good guideline for many women.

I am going to have to have an overhaul and rethink on my relationship with food!

5' 4", 12 stones. (Was 14 stones 11 pounds at my heaviest).
I use a dessert size plate for my meals. That really helps with portion control and you soon get used to it.
Breakfast (after swimming for an hour) - 2 slices of wholemeal toast, 1 tin of mackerel in tomato sauce
Snack - big banana, small pack of quavers. Few cherry tomatoes.
Dinner - potato wedges, baked beans, grated cheese.
Just had another 2 slices of toast with marmalade.
Drinks - a few cups of coffee with whitener, water.
I eat quite a lot of bread compared to a lot of people, it doesn't stop me losing weight.
I also walk a fair amount because I don't drive. Today it was about 5 miles.