How bad are my eating habits?

[BovrilLavigne]

I do know I don't have the healthiest of diets, but I'm wondering if I could have some Mumsnet wisdom on the extent to which it is bad.

The way I eat currently makes me happy, so if it's only a bit bad, then I'll carry on with it, but if it's really shockingly awful, then I'll regrettably have to make some changes. So that's why I'm asking!

I don't really have a concept of how many calories I'm eating a day, although I do know that it's more than recommended amount of sugar.

I've attached screenshots of everything what I've had to eat or drink each day for the past 6 days.

This is AIBU after all, so AIBU to eat like this?

Sorry long day, not sure where the kisses came from, very un-mumsnetty

[quote BovrilLavigne]@AintOverUntilTheCatLadySings thanks for your comment! I was quite surprised to hear that you think it could be quite a salty diet- which of the foods would you say are salty?[/quote]
This is just a guess and I could be wrong - but things from Pret, bread/bagels, pastries and peanutbutter-based treats can be quite salty. I wasn't sure from your list what was ready made and what you made from scratch for some of it.

Cereals can be salty too.

I know these foods weren't on your list but this is the sort of thing I was thinking of:

www.google.com/amp/s/www.goodtoknow.co.uk/wellbeing/salt-shockers-hidden-salt-in-everyday-foods-14602/amp

it looks good to me!

And you said it makes you happy. If your health and weight are okay, carry on.

I've looked up the sugar in a Pret caramel latte and it is 11.3g for the latte and 12.1g for the syrup, so 23.4g in each one of those.

According to the NHS, "Adults should have no more than 30g of free sugars a day."

www.nhs.uk/live-well/eat-well/how-does-sugar-in-our-diet-affect-our-health/

I would be very overweight if that was my diet! But with a BMI of 21 you clearly aren't so I wouldn't be too concerned. For the vitamins I would look at including a bit more fruit and veg, but honestly if I could eat all that sugar and be slim then I probably would!

@RubyTrees oh dear! Thanks for that! Gosh, how do people get through the day with under 30g of sugar? There'll be sugar in milk, cereal, fruit, yoghurt, sauces - how do other people manage to get anywhere near under 30g?! What does a typical day look for you @RubyTrees

@Ploughingthrough I'm surprised that it would make you very overweight. What parts of it seem high in calories? I suppose the Tuesday was!

How many calories would you estimate I'm eating a day then? Over the recommended amount?

I don't really know how many calories that food diary would be, but I've looked up the calories of a Pret caramel latte and that's 167 calories, so I suppose most of the drinks are about that, milkshake much more.

@RubyTrees
I'm sure that finding loopholes is not the way to be going about this haha, but I've looked up those NHS guidelines and it turns out the milk in the latte doesn't count towards the free sugar!

"Sugar found naturally in milk, fruit and vegetables does not count as free sugars.

We do not need to cut down on these sugars, but remember that they are included in the "total sugar" figure found on food labels."

So technically only the 12.1g from the sugar counts towards that free sugar limit! So I've answered my own question at least about how people manage to get through the day without the sugar from yoghurts etc adding up to that 30g limit.

The caramel lattes, the cinnamon swirl thing, the reese's cups! It would take me over my personal calorie allowance to maintain my weight, but I unfortunately put on weight easily so can only maintain my weight on two meals a day with no snacking. I have occasional treats but cant eat as much as you every day. But we are all different and your body can obviously take it.

[quote BovrilLavigne]@ButterboxSpoon surprisingly I am in the UK- I just love an iced drink!
I have logged it onto My Fitness Pal in the past and seen that I go over the sugar limit every day. The limit seems so impossibly low to me - if I cut out sugary foods, I get so grumpy and snappy, until I eventually crack after 4 days and eat a whole load of sugary stuff![/quote]
... that’s because you’re addicted to large amounts of sugar. That’s your body telling you it doesn’t have the substance it’s addicted to. You are either going to have to keep eating this rate of sugar forever or eventually accept that at some point you’re going to have a bad few weeks (snappy, short-tempered, headaches, poor sleep) to break your addiction.

Now, the problem when people say MyFitnessPal is too in-depth, yes, but it’s tracks all your calories for you and you need that. I tried to do a quick mock-up just of Sunday.
Prêt Chocolate croissant - 350
Prêt Cinnamon danish - 489
Prêt chipotle abd hummus wrap - 469
Mini weetabix (what flavor?) - 156, if you eat it plan with no milk
Lentil masala - 176
Microwave rice - 181

350+489+469+156+176+181 = 1821kcal

For your weight/BMI (which to get 21 at 5’ 3”, should be about 54 kilo), that’s above what you need to maintain your weight, about 400kcal a day. Not to mention the sugar. And the other days look like they might be worse. But let’s just look at Sunday. You need to gain 3500 calories to gain a pound, so at that rate (7x 400), you’d be gaining a pound every nine days. I don’t know how you don’t.

So maybe you’re not eating all of each serving. Maybe you’re more active and it’s burning some calories. OR maybe you’re still quite young. I know no one for whom this diet would work over age 40 - constant sugar crashes, late night eating, so much sugar and carbs without protein.

Also you mention fruit sugar. You need to get this idea out of your head that sugar from an apple and sugar from a Prêt caramel latte are the same. They aren’t and they aren’t processed by your body in the same way. In fact, if you get rid of a lot of your “junk” sugars you’re going to feel better from sugar withdrawal.

@BovrilLavigne I had a diet not dissimilar from yours, big difference being I was 5ft 8 and 16 and a half stone.

I was having 2 or 3 Costa vanilla lattes a day, a couple of chocolate bars and a pastry.

I went cold turkey, the first week was pretty hard, I ate lots of good food but felt starving because my body wasn't getting instant carby sugar hits, headaches and tired. Then all of a sudden I felt better.

Not getting hungry between meals, not craving chocolate, more energy.

I added some carbs back in, but went for granary and wholewheat options.

I stick to my MFP calorie recommendations.

Chocolate and pastries are an actual treat, not an every day item, maybe once a week if I really want them.

I have skimmed milk if I have a latte and sprinkle cinnamon or a few drops of vanilla extract in it.

I've lost just over 3 stone since August, I'm fitter and I feel so much less tired and worn out.

It would be interesting to see what your actual sugar intake was, it might make you look at things differently.

You could definitely do with more protein, I find it makes me feel full for longer. Even peanut butter with apple to dip into it or some nuts would be better than the date bars.

Op is on a healthy weight and if not putting weight on, there is no need for calorie counts.
Just the sugar control for healthier body. So seitch some sweet for fruit, add some veg and maybe a bit of a protein.

@SchrodingersImmigrant I think that’s part of why it’s important to look at calories if you want to sit down for a moment and determine “is my diet healthy.” Maybe OP doesn’t need to look at calories every day, no. Yes, if OP is at a healthy weight and if she never gains any weight, great. BUT she should know that according to the calories she eats, she’s either: burning them slightly faster than the average person, doing more exercise than average to burn them, or something, OR ELSE her current diet would cause weight gain. And that, since she didn’t mention age, if she is currently younger than 25, it could just be age-related and she might start gaining post-30 or post-40 or at peri-menopause, IF she’s eating more calories than it says a normal person her height and weight burns.

So right, yes, if you’re at a healthy weight and not gaining, no, you don’t need to count calories every day, but if you want to determine if your diet is healthy or “good,” it’s not as helpful to track it for a week and not look at the calories at all. OP mentioned she had no idea how many calories she was eating, for example mentioning that one of her drinks, she realized was 167 calories, and not knowing (and who would) that a cinnamon danish is more calories than her entire chipotle hummus wrap. She could have a berry croissant for half the calories, if she still needs the sugar. Or if she’s worried about sugar, a ham, cheese, tomato, and bacon croissant for 100 less calories and 1/7th the sugar. Looking at food statistics is how you make these changes, for calories or sugar or anything else. You can look at them once, while you’re considering your diet or making a diet overhaul, and then never again, if you want.