What do normal sized people eat?

[phonetedt]

Posting for traffic and I'm being deadly serious.

Always had issues with food (abusive childhood and neglect started it I think)

I'm on a weight loss journey, doing well.

What do people normally eat? Those who are average sized and not gaining weight?

I feel like my portion sizes are insanely large but I also don't know what people would eat for lunch and stuff? I feel like porridge, sandwich, crisps, fruit and then tea (dinner) would be a lot of calories for me.

I think it's how much you eat, not what you eat.
This came to mind earlier as I was at a buffet lunch, sat next to a colleague who is (and always has been) slim. She eats whatever she likes. We were commenting on how full we all were and she said
" Yes but we won't need dinner tonight, already had enough calories"
and she probably won't eat again for the rest of the day, maybe a glass of wine this evening.

Whereas for me (overweight since childhood), that abundance of food would have set me off grazing and eating all day and I'd still make and eat a normal dinner because it's part of my routine.
I'm actually currently on an injectable weight loss drug and I probably won't eat again today as I'm full and likely to stay that way all evening.

I'm a 'normal weight', bmi is 19 and eat like shite. Not that I eat unhealthy food but I just tend to pick throughout the day so some strawberries, then a bit later some homemade brown soda bread, then a bit later some cottage cheese, then a couple of spoons of cous cous salad from the fridge etc. I'm not a meal person and hate feeling really full, much prefer to just eat a small bit when hungry and move on with my day.

I don't drink alcohol because of medication I'm on and don't get takeaways because I'm in a small town and they are all expensive and poor quality.

It depends on your portion sizes. Buy a smaller dinner plate or a plate with a large rim. This limits the amount of food that you will put on your plate. Reduce your carbon to a fist size portion & increase the salad/veggie portion.

Also, increase the exercise that you're doing so go out walking daily & fit in activities into your life style. You need to maintain a calorie deficit and increase your movement.

Also. Look. The thinnest I have been has been at times when I have been eating the most. The heaviest (and fattest, I know muscle weighs more than fat) has been at the times when I have gone to the gym religiously 5 times a week. This has what has kept me consistently in shape- 1. Only eating when I am hungry. 2. Eating what I want at that point in time. 3. Never weighing or measuring food. 4. Having seconds or snacks if needed. 5. Not eating low fat or sugar substitutes- the real thing tastes better, is more filling. 6. Walking everywhere fast- no driving, just walk if it is an hour or less.

I think there are two types of people at a healthy/slim weight - those who work hard to control it and those who have established a healthy relaxed relationship to food. Both will approach differently!

For me, I'm BMI 19 and genuinely just eat what I fancy when I'm hungry. Fruit & cereal for breakfast. Often skip lunch but snack all day (anything from biscuits to yoghurt to cheese). And then have a big dinner - pizza, pasta, roast dinner etc. Try to add veg. Normally an ice cream or some chocolate after. I'm very aware of when I'm full or hungry which helps I guess as I don't like feeling too full. And I run & do yoga. But you'd probably think most of my daily snacks are hugely unhealthy! And still eat McDonald's and things like that.

Today

breakfast was espresso to drink & 40g porrige made with water with a teaspoon of peanut butter in it & a splash of oat milk. Soemtimes I sweeten it with apple puree

lunch home made veg & bean soup. No dairy & no bread

afternoon snack decaf espresso and 2 digestive biscuits

Dinner will be slices of raw fennel & orange with olive oil & black pepper, defrosted prawns, raw courgette ribbons marinated in olive oil, chilli & lemon and maybe some olives.

Dessert will be strawberries with nothing on them

2L water
As It's Saturday I will have 2 glasses of white wine with dinner

Yesterday
espresso & 2 digestives for breakfast
lunch was one slice of left over homemade pizza abundant with veg
Snack - Banana
Dinner was a fillet of lemon sole, new potatoes & salad
Fruit for dessert
1 G&T pre dinner
2L water

10k daily. I'm in menopause too

In my 40s, BMI of 20 and stable weight. I don’t eat from after dinner, so maybe 7pm, until at least midday the next day (intermittent fasting). And I mostly eat low carb meals, although I’m not religious about it. Usually breakfast or a light lunch around midday and a decent sized meal in the evening, but still watching the carbs. If I’m eating out though I’ll have whatever I fancy.

It’ll depend on your activity levels too OP.

I eat up to 2500 calories a day but I do lots of running, weights and play a sport. If I’m less active I eat about 2000 calories a day. 3 meals and 2/3 snacks.

I don’t think anyone should get their advice about food from mumsnet OP. It has a reputation for verging on a pro ana site on this topic. Lots of the ‘what have you eaten today’ threads are full of people who live on an apple on one small meal and coffee a day whilst telling everyone that people eat too much, others saying they couldn’t possible eat a whole sandwich. Their bodies must be in a right state inside if not out.

Get done proper nutritional advice from an expert.

I’m a size 10, normal BMI but on the flabby side.

breakfast is usually poached egg on toast with baked beans

lunch pasta with chorizo, broccoli and cheese

dinner anything from spag bol to fajitas, sausage and mash, Thai green curry etc.

I don’t have massive portions.

I have binge eating disorder Which is why my weight isn’t as low as I’d like, I eat loads of shit when I’m in an episode

I’m like @Commonsense22 and seem to eat a lot more than others but have a lower end of healthy BMI. I think it’s because I eat big meals but don’t snack and generally eat quite healthily. I have friends who comment on my portions compared to theirs, but what I’ve realised is that for example with a spaghetti bolognese I would eat a much larger portion than they would, but they’d have cheese and garlic bread with theirs and I wouldn’t. And they’d cook it with bacon, whereas I’d bulk mine out with veg and lentils. It’s not a criticism of others diets or a claim that all my meals are super healthy, more than I know I want to eat large portions so tend to stick to lower calorie options

Today I had a fancy porridge (it has some dried fruit and seeds etc already in it) 40g with 140ml full fat milk. Instant coffee with full fat milk. That was breakfast.

Handful of KP paprika seasoned peanuts as mid morning snack, bottled water.

Lunch was two slices of Asda's medium white bread toasted with some Sainsbury's basics hummus on, packet of ready salted Sainsbury's crisps, three Sainsbury's basics raspberry mini rolls...very unhealthy I realise! It's often not this bad I promise, hah. Decaf tea with full fat milk, bottled water.

Snack was 3 Jacob's cream crackers with a very sparing spread of Philadelphia garlic and herb on, bottled water.

Dinner will be a 'tortilla pizza' which is two Sainsbury's basics white flour tortillas together with some Od el Paso refried beans, Asda's blacked beans, Sainsbury's basics mild cheddar cheese, tomato and shallots on. With some vegetarian dolmeh that my relative bought me from a restaurant in a local city as impossible to get her and he knows its my fave. Bottled water.

Snack will be some dairy milk caramel crunch chocolate with either a decaf tea or coffee and full fat milk.

Not a great day health wise admittedly! We need food shopping, got hardly any fresh fruit and veg in atm.

I was a healthy BMI of just under 20 at my booking appt. I'm 20 weeks pregnant and put on around 4 or 5kg so far I think, which is slightly more than in previous pregnancies at this point.

I should point out all these comments, mostly don't include people's heights or activity levels which obviously can affect how many calories people need to eat. I'm 1.65cm and at the moment pretty sedentary sadly, although hoping to get a 20 minute general pregnancy exercise video in tonight.

I’m 35, bmi of about 22 and that’s pretty stable.

A typical day would be:

Breakfast: slice of toast and an apple

Lunch: supermarket sandwich and a chocolate biscuit (or three).

Snack: bag of crisps, piece of fruit, nuts or bar of chocolate like a bueno.

Dinner: Jacket potato with tuna and cheese and broccoli on the side, pudding would be fruit and yoghurt or ice cream.

I might have a snack later, like a couple more chocolate biscuits or more nuts

Oh, and I don’t exercise much. Just normal walking round town a few times a week. I do not go to the gym or run or anything like that.

Same here. I eat a huge high calorie takeaway about once a fortnight. I eat a lot more and a lot more calories when I'm on holiday or have friends staying, this would be on average once every three months or so. But then a lot of the other days in general I won't eat nearly as much.

I fast and have 1 big meal because I like big portions.
I find the best way for me to cut fat is to go low carb. Always high protein as I'm a weightlifter.

Also, and I meant to say this… I am pretty sure I have a high metabolism. Everyone in my immediate family eats and drinks a lot and doesn’t diet… but equally everyone is very active. No one is overweight. I think the hard fact is metabolism and genetics play the biggest part.

Yes if I'm healthy all week and have a takeaway, then back on healthy then nothing changes.

Im fully plant based and very active so mostly carbs, aiming for ~2500kcal a day

Breakfast : yogurt and a banana. Sometimes with granola.
Lunch: generally a large sandwich and apple. Sometimes soup and bread. Used to also have a 'breakfast bar' type thing but have cut that out recently as they are so high sugar.
Dinner: varies - things like homemade curry, pasta, stir fry, bolognese, pizza and salad. These all have a decent amount of vegetables in them. Occasionally have a dessert, or chocolate or couple of biscuits immediately after my main meal but not everyday.
Later in evening: nothing. I very rarely eat anything after dinner has ended.

Overall I think my portions are big but I don't snack between meals. We make our own pasta and curry sauces. Takeaway is a treat - usually Indian and twice a month at most. I rarely drink alcohol at home.

As a pp said, it's not so much what I eat at meals but that I rarely eat in between meals. The only snacks in the house are biscuits and a tub of ice cream. I only eat if I'm actually hungry, a lot of people snack so much they don't ever get properly hungry, it's almost as if they're afraid of it.

I eat a big variety of food, some healthy, some not... but this thread confirms my quantities are two to three times what everyone else has. Sigh. I blame mum who cooked us two three course meals a day growing up.

I don’t eat a takeaway very often, so it wouldn’t make any difference the couple of times a year max. But I don’t eat more just because it’s a takeaway, I would usually have a normal plate worth then be full, and eat any remaining the next day for lunch. I wouldn’t eat double as it’s there as too much makes me feel I’ll

47 yo, BMI is 20. I eat as little saturated fat as possible as it gives me terrible acid. Other than that, I eat anything I want. Sometimes I just want a sandwich for tea, sometimes I'll have a three-courser. I do walk for half an hour most days though, helps keep the arthritis at bay and probably keeps my metabolism quick as well.

I massively cut down on carbs and my weight went back to normal size.

Bananas, avocados, eggs feature quite a lot in breakfast/lunch since cutting the bread

I've recently started tracking calories, to hit a specific goal, and surprised at how many calories are in certain foods. Tracking isn't for everyone if you don't have a healthy relationship with food, but it is eye opening. I generally am eating 1900-2200 calories a day to stay healthy and recomp, but that is with working out 4 times a week and I'm 5ft7/8. In that I still might eat out and have fast food etc I just factor it in.
Today I ate 4 large protein pancakes with honey, punnet of strawberries, sausage roll, 1.5 donuts, feta tomato pasta (which is 100g dried pasta), and a fibre one bar. That's about 2150 calories from 3 meals and is definitely filling enough.
I was getting takeaways weekly before and now I might do it every few weeks instead. I was already a healthy BMI but with eating better I've seen a huge difference in my body. Cutting down doesn't have to mean cutting out any foods at all, but just having things more in moderation and being aware of portion sizes.

I would say I am slim/ athletic/ healthy body. A size 10 in clothes.

This is what I've eaten today and roughly each day looks pretty similar. I am maintaining my weight.

Breakfast- 2 plain yoghurts, 1/2 banana, scoop oats, about 12 raw cashews

Snack- few raw almonds and 2 slices dried pineapple

Lunch- salad of chicken, spinach, quinoa, sweet potato

Snack- bowl containing 5 pecans, 8 raw cashews and handful raisins

Dinner - lentils, rice, pesto and vegetables

(Exercise wise I do 2 or 3 shorts runs a week, weights twice a week and yoga once a week. Walking inbetween)