To think this is a perfectly fine evening meal?

[IroningThrone]

Had porridge at about 7am this morning and have been busy all day. Have just made myself tea (see pic) and my aunt (who is staying with me for a few days) has made me feel really bad about it - apparently it's too much food and a "greedy meal"

Aibu to think it's fine as an evening meal?

It's four new potatoes, boiled and crisped in the pan with a little olive oil (not how I'd usually have them with a salad type tea, but they were still a bit hard!), two slices of cheese, a tablespoon of fat free cottage cheese/coleslaw, two slices of ham, and a bit of salad cream (plus the salad leaves)

People should stop being obsessed with calories. Porridge is a slow-release complex carbohydrate that will give nutritional requirements for many hours
You could eat a small calorie-stuffed meal and not feel full, similarly, a non-highly calorific meal can be filling

Wow, talk about sweeping generalisation and assumptions 😂
There is no way on earth you can tell whether that meal would be fine for your friends and colleagues unless you live with them and cook for them yourself. What people eat in your presence isn’t the same they eat behind closed doors when they can’t be bothered to cook 🙄

It looks lovely! It’s not even that much, the salad and the fat free cottage cheese take up quite a bit of the space on that plate. Your aunt is being ridiculous.

I also think it looks like a light lunch. Dinner should be more substantial.

It’s fine but not enough considering you skipped lunch.

Well, it is two meals in OP’s case, she had skipped lunch.

Yes, I was wondering about that comment too - how can one possibly know what all the friends and colleagues eat? 😵‍💫
Personally, I love buffet style meals, and I’m definitely not a picky eater.
And what’s wrong with using up fridge leftovers anyway?

Aww, you sound lovely!!

I think it is. I am a size 8 and I eat like a horse, not every day, but I love a meal so full that I groan afterwards. If it scares you to feel that way ever, I think that is slightly disordered.

Oh good grief. These threads set off a klaxon for the competitive undereaters and it is SO BORING. You won't win a prize for having the smallest appetite.

I just had a single grape for breakfast and I am STUFFED. Honestly, it's truly uncomfortable. You greedy mares having a whole slice of bread at one time deserve to be at LEAST 5 stones overweight.

A whole grape?

Greedy mare. This morning I had the peel from half a grape, but only because I'm doing an ultra marathon.

I know....I'm so ashamed of myself.

I was actually not hungry after my huge cucumber slice last night.....don't know why I did it, I just lost all control.

Looks completely fine to me!
You need a quite large portion when a lot of it is fairly low-calorie stuff, like the salad, cottage cheese etc. It's about the same as what I'd serve myself.

Your aunt is being obnoxious. But my mum would probably have said something a bit similar, but more like "I'll never eat all this!" if I'd served it to her.
It's a bit of a generational thing perhaps? A throw-back to that horrible diet-era of the 70s and 80s.

I’m a greedy cow and would eat more

You're all talking monthly food intake here of course?
I must admit when I really want to treat myself I just have a MASSIVE salad.

@soupfiend just a mention that Poundland sell it! Yep I was shocked but there you are . I buy 3 tubs a time as it's got a fairly long life.

I cannot stand people commenting on other peopole's food. Fuck all the way off.

FWIW that looks absolutely delicious, a perfectly acceptable amount of food, and very balanced.

But my opinion is actually irrelevant, as it's your dinner and not mine.

All I can say OP , is she normally a rude dismissive person ? because if not she may have meant it as a 'light hearted joke' - my H once said to someone we know - 'blimey , you will be a right fat pig having that' (to a very tiny someone ordering a small side salad as a main meal) thing was though this lady had a real issue around eating which he didn't know and then told me he was being a bully when even I could see he was joking. He's never commented on anyone's food since though!

I'm sure your husband meant it lightheartedly, but I think she was within her rights to be pissed off. Good on him for taking it on the chin and knowing not to make comments going forward.

It doesn't matter whether he was joking or not, that is a horrendously crass and rude thing to say. I hope he has genuinely learned his lesson and understands why it is never appropriate to make "light hearted jokes" like that.

I think it looks reasonable. I would eat similar to this and a similar quantity. I'd actually probably eat more after too if I'd missed lunch, especially if I'd been active that day.

I agree, you sound lovely @Lianna077
My MIL is like that, happily eats beans on toast herself, but would always fill the fridge to the brim and make cakes for visitors 😊

Not only that - people's calorific needs depend on:

1. their activity levels. Someone who is shovelling gravel all day is likely to need more calories than someone who is in a sedentary job at a desk

2. their metabolic rate. High metabolism burns off calories quicker than low. This can be related to ethnicity. Some body types, because of the conditions in which they have evolved, tend to convert calories to fat more effectively than others

3. hormone levels. Endocrinology is very complex and the interplay of such hormones as thyroid /ATCH/ etc is not straightforward.

I'm sure there will be more.

Probably your time of the month.

Don't beat yourself up about it - just learn from the experience.