To think most family meals are low enough in caloroes and the diet industry is not necessary?

[ElderAve]

Obviously not if you're going to deep fry everything but we know that. A standard family menu at home.

A grab and go breakfast of cereal, porridge, toast, eggs or fruit and yogurt will be no more than 400 calories.

A sandwich lunch will be about 4/500 calories

A home cooked dinner based around lean protein, some carbs and veg will be about 500 provided you go easy on the oil and butter . Even an M&S beef lasagne is only 620

So, 3 meals a day = 1500 calories max. We don't need special products or cookery books.

We do need to stop with all the junk we eat and drink between meals. But we have to do that whether we foĺlow a diet book or buy diet products or not.

Even a roast or freezer food is only 6-800 calories for a sensible portion. It's big portions znd/or ridiculous amounts of biscuits that is most people's downfall.

And when I have a sandwich, I just have a sandwich. And butter or mayo. Doesn't need both.

How big is that 164 calorie roast potato? Spuds, themselves, aren't particularly calorific. A lot of fat would be needed to significantly increase the calorie count and how do you measure that?

got the calories off the packet, Branleuse. Zesty quinoa is 174 cals for a tiny sachet. 160 for the pudding and (I now know) 150 for the two sausages.

What a weird meal. Did it include any veg?

@veryvery the hospital gave me huge portions when I was in
I remember after surgery (spinal) I had cheese and onion pie, pickled red cabbage, a bread roll, jam roly poly and custard, a pot of ice cream, 2 cups of tea. Living alone I eat anything someone else cooks and they seemed happy I liked the food 😂
Neutropenic so had a lovely private room too and an open window it was boiling

Branleuse, I domt know why anyone is saying weightloss portions are normal family meals though.
The meal is the normal family meal cooked. The portion is adjusted for each person's requirements including the family member who wants to lose weight. OP was talking about the diet industry not being needed and the possibility of normal family meals being able to cover the needs of those who buy into it.

TheHumans, I do an hour walk every morning with the dog, plus 1 hour cardio (getting out of breath and sweaty) 5 times a week

I can eat 2500 easily, to maintain BMI of 23

Well, I don't reach that level of burn with a similar amount of exercise. I'm lighter with a BMI of just over 21 but my fat percentage is a still little too high @32 percent so I'd like to lose a bit more body fat if possible. So I still make sure I have a calorie deficit. Tbh eating the portions I do doesn't bother me at all, I'm full. I was starting to feel a little fed up (!) last night when people were heavily critical of what I ate until another poster reminded us of the war and rationing and her grandparent's health and way of eating all their lives and the way people ate in her childhood. It's what I remember too. Probably why I don't feel like my portions are particularly outrageously low.

Client, wow that does seem like a lot! I think I'm a bit fussy really, as I don't usually want the bread and pud with my meals and didn't when I was in hospital. I ordered a cherry pie with my dinner once but it seemed really sweet. So that would make the portion seem like less. I was happy, though, as apparently the portions I normally eat are minuscule.

Well no veryvery, she said that most family meals are atound 400/500 calories each and there is no reason to diet. Even following it with an m&s lasagne is only 620 ( which is a normal meal, which most people might add veg to too, bumping it up further)
So youve come on to say your weightloss diet is really easy and go on and on about how little you eat. Thats not what most people eat, and if they did, theyd lose a lot of weight.

To stick to under 1500 a day you do indeed need to eat small portions and not snack, but its hardly normal family meals and you definitely have to get used to a certain amount of hunger and forgo a lot of really nice food.
Im doing it myself at the moment. Yes I can cope with it, but its boring af

What a weird meal. Did it include any veg?

Yes. It's zesty veg with quinoa. So broad beans, runner beans, sweetcorn and quinoa.

with an m&s lasagne is only 620 ( which is a normal meal, which most people might add veg to too, bumping it up further)

It's not really, it's a ready meal. IMO they're part of the problem.

So youve come on to say your weightloss diet is really easy and go on and on about how little you eat.

No, other posters went on (and on) about how little I eat. I don't think what I eat is that remarkable. The people around me don't, either. I posted what I eat by means of an illustration of what a weight loss portion of a family meal can look like.

To stick to under 1500 a day you do indeed need to eat small portions and not snack, but its hardly normal family meals and you definitely have to get used to a certain amount of hunger and forgo a lot of really nice food.

You don't feel hungry if these meals are low in simple (as opposed to complex carbs) with adequate fat and protein. I don't feel hungry. Sugars, though, on the other hand, really do increase appetite.

Im doing it myself at the moment. Yes I can cope with it, but its boring af

Doesn't have to be. What sort of food do you like?

Last post @Branleuse

Very interesting reading this thread. I don't calories count, according to fitbit I seem to burn about 2,200 calories a day. My weight is pretty stable. I eat fairly large meals in my opinion but I only eat fruit in-between meals if I'm hungry. I wonder if I do eat 2,200?

Owlina, with the FitBit app, it is very quick and easy to enter your food in to see.

@veryvery I dont need advice how to do it. I spent most of my life severely eating disordered. I am far far too aware of how to eat low calorie meals and how to get rid of them if I slip up. Im pretty ok with nutrition knowledge.
Im also really aware of how you are speaking about your food and exercise plans and I hope you manage to regain some balance

Yes I know. I don't think it's for me though calorie counting! I'd get too obsessed about it all. It's hard to be accurate anyway unless you weigh everything.

1500 calories is a diet. To maintain weight 2000 is recommended for women and 2500 for men.

Obesity is a lot more complex than you're making out to be OP and I suspect you probably know that.

The diet industry is a scam though. A very clever one. It teaches us to dislike ourselves, to be unsatisfied with our bodies and to reach unattainable goals for most people. It encourages starve/binge patterns of eating and is dangerous for anyone with low self esteem which is a vast amount of the female population. It creates a cycle of disorder. It's not designed to help people succeed as that would be a terrible business model!

its not that my meals are boring. I dont eat food I dont enjoy.
The joylessness part is the having to choose between tiny portions of nice food, or big portions of mediocre food.
I mean, the meal you posted looked nice, and as much as i like my vegetables, I cant say that id be satisfied with that amount of stew while i was chewing through 3 quarters of a plate of green beans to fill myself up, and then denying myself chocolate later in favour of half a boiled egg.
The joylessness of eating one piece of toast with low fat spread instead of three pieces smothered in lurpak.
Yes it takes away the hunger, but it means you are constantly thinking about food and whether its ok or not

1500 calories is a diet. To maintain weight 2000 is recommended for women and 2500 for men

depending on size, age and lifestyle a woman might well only need 1500 calories to maintain her weight. it's very individual.
I am tall myself (5.9) and for me 2000 is the top end. I am active but am of an age where metabolism slows down.

My in-laws and husband are overweight. The in-laws serve massive portions and my husband learnt to eat them and doesn't have an off switch now.

Portions and knowing when you're full (not stuffed) is a massive part of being overweight and emotional health has as much of an impact imo.

There are some incredibly disordered eating habits on this thread. MN never fails to blow my mind on what is normalised by people in regards to food. I speak of someone who has been diagnosed with bulimia and binge eating disorders in the past and had a lot of therapy to help and lost nearly half my body weight when I recovered (not all with ED are skinny).

I think the OP is right, as long as you're careful what you cook for dinner. A number of my meals would be around 500, eg chicken portion or fish with baked potato or half a Tilda pouch of rice, plus veg. It's when you add heaps of oil/fat, and puddings that it adds up.

@Branleuse

I dont need advice how to do it. I spent most of my life severely eating disordered. I am far far too aware of how to eat low calorie meals and how to get rid of them if I slip up. Im pretty ok with nutrition knowledge.

I never said you did. It's just your post where you declared having to eat less to lose weight was 'boring a f' , sounded pretty pissed off. I was just saying it doesn't need to be.

Im also really aware of how you are speaking about your food and exercise plans and I hope you manage to regain some balance

I think you are projecting your own problems with food onto me. Yes, my portions are smaller than if I would need to maintain weight because I still need to lose some body fat! Yes, I can appear pretty methodical when I explain what I do. . But not in real life. I don't need to discuss it with people. I just know what portions of different food to give myself. They don't bat an eyelid. When I'm less methodical, though, I find it can be easy to let portion perceptions slip. Hence I got fat. And I was shocked the first time I looked up the nutrition in pub meals, for example. However technology stops this methodology being obsessive or onerous. And as I've said I don't worry about indulging on special occasions and putting on a pound or two as a result. Because I know it will even out when I get back on track with my plan.

When I was overweight with a bad back and then cancer I was certainly less healthy and less happy. After that I promised myself a new fitter, happier version of myself. And it has worked so far!

I mean, the meal you posted looked nice, and as much as i like my vegetables, I cant say that id be satisfied with that amount of stew while i was chewing through 3 quarters of a plate of green beans to fill myself up

The peas and green beans mix well with everything else, actually. The meal does not taste unbalanced at all. Try them all together. And I'd be full without the green beans to be frank. The satiety in food largely comes from the fat and protein, I find.

The joylessness of eating one piece of toast with low fat spread instead of three pieces smothered in lurpak.

One piece of toast is fine. We often have homemade spelt bread with walnuts in. Which I would challenge anyone not to be filled up by. I do eat my toast with lashings of butter too!

depending on size, age and lifestyle a woman might well only need 1500 calories to maintain her weight. it's very individual.

That's pretty much me when sedentary.

exercise plans and I hope you manage to regain some balance

And if you talk to some running enthusiasts you'll realise how much people love it. Because it makes you feel so good when you have found the right technique. Otherwise, tbh, I wouldn't do it and keep doing it. When people say how running can be good for mental health they weren't wrong!

@veryvery I think you are getting a rough deal on here! Calories needed will vary massively accordingly to a person's weight, height and fitness levels. I track my calories using MFP and have a fitbit - I eat 1200-1400 calories a day and overall calorie burn is over 2000 so I'm usually in a deficit of 500-800 calories. I'm 5ft 1 and have lost 5 lbs in three weeks - you have to eat less than you burn, simple. Eat less move more. I weigh and track my food, I don't find it boring and restrictive because I'm losing weight and feel and look so much better and healthier. And watching what I eat most days means that I can stay slim but also have treats/splurges occasionally - win win!!! I try and be smart with my calories - I have a sweet tooth and could never give up chocolate so always have an options hot choc and small choc bar/popcorn/sweet treat at the end of the day and usually a snack mid morning too. When I don't watch what I eat I can easily eat 3000 calories plus a day

Thanks, Nubian.

This has made me chuckle so far.
People saying unanimously that portions are a big issue and then we come to veryverys picture and people are saying the portion is too small.
Can't win if you try eh..

I do agree though. Portions are really hard in our family. My grandmother used to dish up ginormous portions, my mother dishes up big portions and I do as a result. I've gotten alot better at it lately. Plus I've gone back to Keto and feel so much healthier now. But there is alot of education on what foods are healthy but not so much on a healthy portion. Although it's out there if you look.

The belief that fat is the enemy started when a study was done, I think it was in the 60s. Research had come out that suggested that sugar was bad for you. Coca Cola actually paid another research team to contradict them and Insist that actually, fat is bad for you. That research data is still used today. When not combined with sugar, veryvery is correct, fat isn't bad for you. It's actually refined sugar that's the killer.

I was really shocked to find how much of it is in ready made and processed foods. Jars of bolognaise sauce for example. I make my own for that reason.

I find that when I've eaten sugar, I'm tired, grumpy and lazy, until I get more sugar. Then I'm fine for an hour or so, then back to grumpy lazy cow again.
I've also struggled with fainting, throughout my life. Random times, usually when I've gone without food for the morning, or in a really hot atmosphere.
On keto I don't get that at all.
It's not for everyone. But it works really well for me.