Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think my portion was too large (photo)?

381 replies

Ribrabrob · 29/07/2020 19:45

I’m living a bit ‘on the road’ at the moment (essential) and relying on eating out - trying to be as healthy as I can as I’m trying (!) to lose weight.

I have attached a photo of tonight’s evening meal, my only meal of the day plus a few snacks. My photo isn’t the best unfortunately but it was a bowl of spicy rice and a bowl of bean stew/soup (I’m vegetarian).

Aibu to think I had too much? Would you have eaten all of it? Unfortunately through years of dieting and binge eating I have lost sight of what a normal portion of food is and how ‘normal’ people eat.

Ps i appreciate it doesn’t look very nice but it was actually quite tasty!

To think my portion was too large (photo)?
OP posts:
Thisismytimetoshine · 30/07/2020 00:01

Gawd, yes, it's too large, that excuse for food looks fit for only the bin.
Ffs, would you give over Hmm. How lacking in social skills do you have to be to think that's an acceptable reply?

SchrodingersImmigrant · 30/07/2020 00:03

And the problem with oil in your diet is?

None if it's not too much. From my experience buffet food has a lot. Plus people here were talking calories and that oil would make it much more than many estimate.

Thisismytimetoshine · 30/07/2020 00:05

Why would stew be full of oil?
Some people have evidently never cooked a meal in their lives and have zero understanding of nutrition.

bumblingbovine49 · 30/07/2020 00:06

I'd have eaten all the rice and almost none of the stew. Bean stew is my worst meal and not at all appealing to me. Then again I am obese so what do I know?

lyralalala · 30/07/2020 00:06

@uniglowooljumper

Gawd, yes, it's too large, that excuse for food looks fit for only the bin. Eating just a mouthful of that rubbish look rot is too much.
It’s just ridiculously rude
SchrodingersImmigrant · 30/07/2020 00:16

@Thisismytimetoshine

Why would stew be full of oil? Some people have evidently never cooked a meal in their lives and have zero understanding of nutrition.
If it makes you happy to think that fine. If you ever saw amount of oil used in some industrial kitchens, especially the cheap eating places, you would maybe ease up on the passive aggressive attempts to put someone down👍 And yes, even stews have oil in them🤷🏻 What else would the base veg like onion be fried in... There is also often oil added to rice so it doesn't stick.
SchrodingersImmigrant · 30/07/2020 00:17

Or in this case probably pearl barley?

CasuallyFeminine · 30/07/2020 00:17

OP, as long as you enjoy the food, it's relatively healthy and you are meeting your weight goals (whether it be maintenance, loss, gain), the portion size is fine. Some people put all their calories in one meal (OMAD), others have smaller, more frequent meals but it works out the same. If you were having this 3 times a day, it probably would be too much, but you say it's your only meal. In that case it's probably fine for you.

And some posters here are absolutely vile. There's no need to comment on how someone else's food looks when they haven't asked for your opinion. You're no better than children who don't know when to keep their mouths shut.

katy1213 · 30/07/2020 00:27

I'd have probably saved one-third for tomorrow's lunch; if only because it looks very brown and boring. But if that's your only meal of the day - why are you even thinking of being abstemious? Polish it off!

Bobbi73 · 30/07/2020 00:27

Slightly off topic but if you are trying to lose weight, you'd be much healthier to eat 3 meals a day. I work 'on the road' too but I make sure I eat proper food. I usually have porridge for breakfast, make salads for lunch and have a good dinner. Otherwise your metabolism gets messed up. I'm losing weight very slowly.
BTW. The stew looks lush!

Flowers009 · 30/07/2020 00:27

I would eat only a 1/4 of that rice and beans

Linemanfort · 30/07/2020 00:31

OP that's more food than I feed my family for a week. I think we've lost sight of what a healthy portion of food looks like, overrun as we are by vulgar American burgers and chub rub clothing. A good rule of thumb is to use your thumb ie if what's on your plate is bigger than this digit then you are on a path to obesity, hoists and removing your doorways. No plate of food, even one as delicious as that in your picture, is worth this.

MrsSnitchnose · 30/07/2020 00:44

I think the stew looks nice. For me personally, I would probably just eat the stew by itself as long as it had a lot of beans in. If I was going to have any rice, it would be about a quarter of what's on that plate but I think the stew is enough by itself goes off to google bean stew recipes

CuppaZa · 30/07/2020 00:46

That amount would leave me fall to the brim and probably quite nauseous! However it looks healthy (and tasty)

RedToothBrush · 30/07/2020 00:48

@Linemanfort

OP that's more food than I feed my family for a week. I think we've lost sight of what a healthy portion of food looks like, overrun as we are by vulgar American burgers and chub rub clothing. A good rule of thumb is to use your thumb ie if what's on your plate is bigger than this digit then you are on a path to obesity, hoists and removing your doorways. No plate of food, even one as delicious as that in your picture, is worth this.
Meh. You can just end dogfood rather than answer the question of whether its too much for one meal then.

The answer is yes that is too much for a single meal, but I guess saying it many times in a variety of ways is always going to rub people who dont want to hear about portion size up the wrong way.

Happynow001 · 30/07/2020 00:51

That's an awful lot of carbs at the end of a day OP, especially the grains. Did you feel bloated after eating the meal?

safariboot · 30/07/2020 00:56

If I'd had nothing significant for breakfast or lunch then I'd devour that!

The soup alone would be a decent lunch to me. The rice portion looks fairly generous, I think if I was having curry or chilli for dinner I'd usually have a bit less rice with it.

Linemanfort · 30/07/2020 00:56

I could never end dogfood. It would make me nauseous.

RedToothBrush · 30/07/2020 01:00

@Linemanfort

I could never end dogfood. It would make me nauseous.
Unlucky. But you might lose weight thst way.

Alternatively just have smaller portion sizes.

SickToDeathOfThis · 30/07/2020 01:08

It looks delicious but I have an eating disorder so I struggle to eat a full meal in one sitting. I am in the healthy bmi range so get my calories by having lots of small meals. I don’t want to struggle with food like I do though- it’s embarrassing to me.

eaglejulesk · 30/07/2020 01:38

And some posters here are absolutely vile. There's no need to comment on how someone else's food looks when they haven't asked for your opinion. You're no better than children who don't know when to keep their mouths shut.

Well said - I can't imagine what is going on in some of your lives that you gain pleasure from passing your time in insulting people you don't even know.

Emeraldshamrock · 30/07/2020 01:58

It looks lovely. I'd eat the stew maybe have a quarter of the rice but add a lump of homemade brown bread with butter yummy.

Gingerkittykat · 30/07/2020 02:13

@Bobbi73

Slightly off topic but if you are trying to lose weight, you'd be much healthier to eat 3 meals a day. I work 'on the road' too but I make sure I eat proper food. I usually have porridge for breakfast, make salads for lunch and have a good dinner. Otherwise your metabolism gets messed up. I'm losing weight very slowly. BTW. The stew looks lush!
Not true, go and read up on the science of fasting. A lot of people do really well on one meal a day.

OP, why don't you weigh your rice and then compare it to recommended portion sizes. Of course you are allowed more than 1 portion of carbs a day so that might fit into the allowance for the day.

Patsypie · 30/07/2020 02:15

That's far too much for one person. Eating one huge meal like that per day is not good.

kateandme · 30/07/2020 03:18

impressed that you can have one meal.ffks this is the very problem.we should never be impressed with someone having one meal.it isnt healthy wether losing weight or not.we really need to change societys views and food,weight and wellbeing.its fukd up