If you're overweight, how much do you spend on food?

[MarinkyDinkyDink]

I suppose my AIBU is 'To think I can't afford to put on weight'... but I MUST be! I'm not on the breadline. But eating any more just looks SO expensive!

This is my question:

1. I really want to put on weight
2. Every time I go to buy excess food (thinking calorie surplus) I think of my bank account
3. But when I go food shopping, I see soooo many overweight people. Some of whom MUST have less disposable income than me
4. How have they got to that weight!?
5. My jazzy banking app tells me I spend £700/mth on food (+3kids, no other adult).
6. That's 350 on food shop and 350 on eating out (we live in a very cafe-y area, but it's like fancy quiche deli salad places. Ain't nobody getting fat on this stuff)
7. Apparently UPF is great for putting on weight but I really don't like the taste and texture of processed food (which is apparently fab for making anybody overweight)

I like homemade, pure food. Like, if I want a sausage roll, I'll make sausage rolls. I don't like the taste of pre-made or cold food. I only really like hot and fresh, made on site etc.

1. Food is so expensive! I don't buy snacks or crap for the house because it's just.. more money. But discussing snacking with school mums, I'm starting to think maybe I don't keep enough snacks in.

I only eat 3 meals, I can't dream what would happen to that £700 spend if I started snacking too!

If you are overweight: HOW!? Do you spend £700+ on food/mth?

I just want to understand the balance I need to make between my spend and my weight. Is my food spend unusually low? Do I need to start splashing out on the calories?

I get that being overweight for many isn't desirable. But being underweight is no treat either.

This is the most ED obvious thread I've seen here.

We spend about 2-300 2 adults 2 kids. I eat a lot of veg and fruit, but they don't, but I'm the fattest. I'd suggest a diet of sandwiches, sauces and cheese.... and netflix binges 😆

I want to know how you manage to spend £700 a month on one adult and 3 kids! I spend £200 a week on one adult, one child and two cats.

if you want to put on weight eat calorie dense foods. Nuts are very fattening. Have a bag of walnuts, Brazil nuts or almonds each day or use them in dishes. Avocados, full fat Greek yoghurt, etc. There are plenty of fattening whole foods. If I want to gain some weight and meet my vitamin A, B12 and fibre targets I will have pate on sourdough toast often. Add butter if you want extra calories. I had a male colleague who ate that because he was skinny (and he loved it ).

Don’t blame you at all for not liking cold pre made food and only liking hot and fresh!

Remember though - the quiche and salad places near you - quiche is often calorific and salad often has calorific dressings on it - so people DO get fat on that

Also, underweight is healthier than overweight unless underweight to dangerous levels

When working I easily spent £1k for three. £300 per weekly shop isn’t hard to do, food is ridiculously expensive. But not all of that was food. I think with £700 you could easily fatten yourself up just don’t eat at the cafes. Drink full fat milk, eat cream and cheese, put more butter on your toast. If you like whole foods and want to put on weight then eat more whole fats. And meat. Have one more bite than you want at every meal. You’ll expand your portion sizes that way.

TF is this thread? 😂

Maybe not so much cocaine, darling

The £ is irrelevant here. Cos that just depends where you shop.... if you shop at Waitrose, or get everything delivered from Londis for example, then your £700 might be a similar basket of stuff that you could pick up for £200 in Aldi or heron.

If you look at other trolleys too much white bread cakes biscuits and coke seems to be the norm!

I don’t buy any of those and I’m overweight. Just back into that (adjusted for age) from obese with the loss of the aforementioned 3.5 stone.
Can we all stop stereotyping the diet of larger people?

I’ve been thinking all along that cafe was an autocorrect…definitely meant coke

So you think I am lying about the contents of trolleys? I have not made this up.

No, I think you are stereotyping the diet of overweight people, as I said.

Im overweight...I don't drink alcohol or fizzy drinks...I don't get takeaways. I don't eat huge amounts of processed food. I am a foodie and love to cook. It's perfectly possible to get fat from homemade, cooked from scratch food I can assure you!

Have you looked at how many calories you are eating per day? Log food on my fitness pal and go from there. Are you eating 3 meals a day?

If you are really struggling to gain weight and you are eating enough calories then you really should see your doctor.

What are you buying for £700 per month? Are you shopping ok the most expensive places? Try a normal supermarket of you aren't getting much for your money.

I couldn't dream of having that much to spend on food every month.

This made me roar!!

What you need to do OP, is to use the fortification methods practised in care homes to increase the weight of malnourished older people. It's not necessarily about eating more, it's about making your food more calorie dense while also maintaining the principles of healthy eating. I don't know whether Mumsnet will allow this link, but if so, try reading this: https://flickread.com/edition/html/66421b58230b4#46 which explains how to do it. The good news is, that you won't necessarily have to spend more either. Good luck!

How are you managing to eat salad if you can’t take a picnic anywhere because you can’t eat cold food due to not liking it?

Its in another nation, their imagination.

You’re not spending enough on food. Your monthly food bill for 4 should be nearer £1000. Eating out is more expensive than eating at home and you’ll be able to get more calories if you‘re making your own food. Cook with butter/cream/cheese/pastry etc. Drink fruit smoothies/wine etc. You don’t need to eat UPF but you do need to spend more.

Eat bricks of lard.

Slightly less than i spend on cat food

Buy as much as possible to eat at home. Your money goes so much further.

But when you're out and about and need to eat, go to a fish and chip shop instead of a cafe. A bag of chips will be much cheaper. Possibly add a pie. Or both Morrisons and Sainsburys at least have hot food counters where you can get pies, pizzas, fried chicken and potato waffles. Greggs must be pretty good value on a cost per calorie basis. McDonalds value menu?

Or get yourself a flask and fill it with macaroni cheese made with maximum cheese and cream.

At home have lots of peanut butter on buttered toast. Loads of calories for hardly any money.

If you eat 100 calories more than you burn everyday then you too will be morbidly obese over 10-15 years. That's how being fat works & it's why if you stick to small changes you can lose large amounts of weight over the long term.

As for UPF - not all UPF is bad for you if you eat in moderation. And not all 'from scratch' food is good for you. I'm of Indian origin, am a nurse, and see many Indians die of diabetes / obesity related conditions / heart issues even though they cook from scratch everyday.