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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

How big are ready meal portions these days?!

125 replies

IntoValhalla · 21/05/2019 19:39

So firstly, I’m being lazy and having a ready meal lasagne because today has been a mad rush and I simply can’t be arsed to cook.
Anyone else really surprised at just how massive the portions are in supermarket ready meals?! I’ve got a lasagne for one and it’s huge Confused
I know it’s not a healthy option by any means - pretty much everything was red on the little “traffic light system” nutritional info label, but I’m surprised that at this size it’s labelled “serves one” Blush and I’m someone with a...let’s say “healthy” appetite!

OP posts:
Dungeondragon15 · 21/05/2019 20:30

You're defeated after just over half? So about 400 calories for your main meal of the day? That doesn't sound like much to me.

I agree. Ifsomeone only eats 400 calories for the main meal then they probably don't eat more than 1200 in a day which is far lower than required for most people to maintain a good weight. Are you only about 5ft and very sedentary OP?

Aprillygirl · 21/05/2019 20:31

I'd split it in half with my teenager, with salad or veg on the side. Ideally I'd want 2/3 of one.

My teenagers' would think I was having them on if I gave them 200g of lasagne and a bit of salad for dinner lol.

HappyRoots · 21/05/2019 20:36

I definitely tend to eat more when it's something homemade because I suck at portion control. If you've eaten reasonably healthily the rest of the day that doesn't seem too terrible for me for a main meal OP - it's high in saturated fat, but it's lasagne.

Just thinking that my teen would give me stabby eyes if I tried to get away with giving her half a ready meal!

ThanksItHasPockets · 21/05/2019 20:38

This is refreshing. Portion size threads are usually jumped on by the MN orthorexics who get a kick out of telling us all that are they simply stuffed after three tablespoons of peas and that anyone who needs any more is a ghastly greedy pig.

EntirelyAnonymised · 21/05/2019 20:38

Didn’t they actually shrink ready meal and convenience food portion sizes in order to make the stats look better on the traffic light system?

leghairdontcare · 21/05/2019 20:38

It looks massive! I could only eat a 7th of that with a small cherry tomato on the side. Anything else is pure gluttony.

WindsweptEgret · 21/05/2019 20:39

My teenagers' would think I was having them on if I gave them 200g of lasagne and a bit of salad for dinner lol. If I do a main with salad or vegetable sides it's not just a bit, the plate is full. It's about getting our 5+ a day and variety. I couldn't get through 400g of just lasagne, it would be pretty boring on it's own.

derxa · 21/05/2019 20:40

Op you're being ridiculous.

ThanksItHasPockets · 21/05/2019 20:41

@leghairdontcare Touché Grin

Original poster
IntoValhalla · 21/05/2019 20:41

Passthecherrycoke I think maybe pregnancy may have a part to play in the fact that I’ve been defeated by it - getting to the point where the baby is squishing my digestive system a bit! I remember hitting that wall with the other two DCs and thinking “what’s wrong with me? Usually I’d eat that!”

OP posts:
BlueCornishPixie · 21/05/2019 20:42

Is this a stealth boast about how little you eat OP?

That's a tiny portion and you keep acting like it's massive, you've eaten ssooooo much when you really haven't. You clearly have a small appetite

How is 650 kcal a lot for dinner? You need 1800 in a day roughly, so it's slightly over a third. Id probably eat 800 for dinner, 600 for lunch, 300 for breakfast to maintain. You haven't even eaten all of it ffs!

And I'm not overweight, size 8/10. But I think that's small. And I'd be hungry. And I certainly wouldn't eat half and one slice of garlic bread and act like it eaten masses

cccameron · 21/05/2019 20:42

I'm sensing food issues

BlueCornishPixie · 21/05/2019 20:44

thanks I think you'll find Everyone on mn has a massive salad, and heaps of veg with their teaspoon of main.

Original poster
IntoValhalla · 21/05/2019 20:45

Dungeons I’m 5’4”, and while I’m not exercising on the regular, I do have a 4yo and a 2yo to chase after and I’m pregnant - so I think I may be hitting the point of the baby squishing my digestive system so don’t feel as hungry as I would normally? Because my appetite is usually bigger. I definitely wouldn’t finish this whole ready meal, but wouldn’t be feeling as full as I am after half of it

OP posts:
WillheiminaNoMates · 21/05/2019 20:46

There's a definite competitive undereating element to a couple of the posts.

PickAChew · 21/05/2019 20:48

I find 400g ready meals to be just right with some veg or salad on the side. If it's a meal with a portion of rice included, I often can't eat all the rice but I tend not to serve myself a big portion of home cooked rice with meals, either.

Original poster
IntoValhalla · 21/05/2019 20:48

Definitely not a stealth boast, and I don’t have food issues. It just looked really big for one person to me Confused which is why I asked!
My day to day diet, isn’t what I’d consider all that healthy, and I’m definitely lacking in the amount of fruit and veg I eat. It’s very carb-heavy usually!

OP posts:
Aprillygirl · 21/05/2019 20:49

You're right @Windswept lasagne would be boring on it's own which is why it needs chips or garlic bread with it as well as that salad. Let's not forget that salad is mainly water after all and in no way would help to satisfy the appetite of me a teenager.

Original poster
IntoValhalla · 21/05/2019 20:51

PickAChew I had a microwave curry the other week, and that didn’t seem a big portion to me - like you I didn’t put all the rice on my plate, but I did eat all the chicken and most of the sauce, with naan for dipping.
I accept that most people have said they don’t think 400g isn’t all that big for a ready meal - which tells me it’s more a case of me not feeling as hungry/getting full quicker than usual than that this lasagne is massive.

OP posts:
Bugsymalonemumof2 · 21/05/2019 20:52

Passthecherry I'm a skinny person who would easily out eat my morbidly obese ex. Used to give him the rage and we never understood it 😂

Original poster
IntoValhalla · 21/05/2019 20:54

Bugsy my best friend is like that!! A group of us went out a while ago to an American steak place, and actually checked her handbag because we were convince she was hiding chips in there Grin She definitely wasn’t hoarding them anywhere, she’s just an absolutely tiny person who can eat an impressive amount of chips!! Think of it as a special talent?!!

OP posts:
ThanksItHasPockets · 21/05/2019 20:54

Of course, it isn’t a MN food thread until someone has sighed that IT’S NO WONDER WE HAVE AN OBESITY CRISIS.

OldUnit · 21/05/2019 20:54

Err no, not really. I usually pad out a ready meal with half a naan bread or something.
Where's it from?

stucknoue · 21/05/2019 20:56

They are about right and in my experience but h &dd think they are small. H doesn't like ready meals so I'm feeding him lots Grinas he's moving out in a few months. (Yes he could make his own food but I want the housekeeping money!

RoonilWazlibsQuill · 21/05/2019 20:58

400g is less than half of what a normal sized stomach is capable of holding.
Even if you were underweight it seems unlikely that this amount of food would prompt you to describe it as ‘massive’ and ‘huge’.
I’m sensing some underlying food issues here too.