Is this too much to eat in a day?

[SENSummer]

I’ve lost all perspective. So many hormone triggered gastro issues since having my kids and my daily diet has gone out of the window. I feel nauseas a lot but regardless of what I do/don’t eat. I wake up early (5am) and finish eating for the day at 4/5pm.

Today I’ve had:

Small porridge with banana and oat milk

slice of toast

a small plain chocolate cupcake (homemade) & a Kit Kat chunky

a salmon fishcakes with a couple of new potatoes and garden peas

a digestive biscuit AND about 3/4 of a bag of twirl bites!

I’m done for the day now but honestly feel awful (and a bit sick at how much sweet stuff I’ve had)

I will caveat this by saying I’m rather slim and definitely in the ‘a few extra pounds wouldn’t hurt’ category and I’m pretty physically active.

That is so so sugary. Everything is a carb(sugar) and half of it contains actual sugar.

Id feel like dogshit if I ate that as well.

No, it’s one of my worse days usually I wouldn’t have the twirl bites. Without those it’s pretty representative.

You feel sick every single evening regardless of what you've eaten?

That’s really helpful thank you

It's not too much food, but it's too much sugar and not enough actual nutrition.

OP I get from your posts that you are possibly stressed, overwhelmed, exhausted, etc?

Be kind to yourself. Your diet isn’t perfect but that’s fine. You’re doing great.

Do you get any time to yourself for self care?

Also, I wouldn’t declare yourself a UPF-free household (unless you need to be for DS’s needs). I think it’s just unhelpful language that can foster temptation and lead to binges.

It’s all snacks and side-dishes, no mains. The small amount of salmon you get in the fish cakes and that’s it. Do you eat meat? Are you avoiding dairy?

If salmon is your only source of protein in the day, you need a piece of real salmon not fish cakes.

I suspect this is stress and anxiety related as the time coincides when when her very high needs child arrives home from school.

You definitely need more 'proper' food so that you are getting all the nutrients you should be. Prioritise increasing your fruit and vegetable intake- a banana and some peas is woefully inadequate for a while day.

Instead of having so many sugary snacks (one or two a day are fine if you're slim!), eat an early lunch and then dinner at about 4pm so you're done by the time your son gets home.

Why not keep some nuts and cheese slices ( not processed cheese) to snack on? Will fill you up.

I will add that it might be an idea to have a supply of dark chocolate, dates, nuts, raisins in. Then you can reach for these if needing a sweet fix. And also to pay attention to protein sources which will keep you fuller for longer. Greek yogurt /eggs for breakfast, chicken or tuna salad lunch, etc. I have seen that you are Mum to a disabled child so please cut yourself some slack.

You have a profoundly autistic child and manage to be UPF free?

OP you have had a difficult day and indulged in some chocolate. You now feel a bit shit. It will pass and you’ll wake up tomorrow and will have a fresh day ahead of you

Go easy on yourself.

A kitkat chunky isn't going to make you sick!

You might feel better with some healthy swaps, and you have been given a tonne of good advice already. Enjoy the kitkat! Bounce on the trampoline!

So I only drink water and one instant no sugar coffee per day. Sometimes I justify chocolate to myself In my head because I see others drinking super calorific Starbucks/sweet drinks and I think ‘I don’t ever do that’. When my friend ordered a crazy frappe I’ll eat a brownie and drink my water. I drink a fair bit of water tbh.

I’ve been to GP and gastro and had investigations. I cut so much out of my diet the nhs Dieticians’s told me to stop and ‘just eat anything!’ Because my bmi hit 16 and they were going to hospitalise me. Eventually gastro said my stomach issues were hormone driven (potentially endo) but didn’t want to investigate it so just diagnosed IBS and told me to try to keep my bmi above 18.
I probably sound nuts but honestly this has just been since I had kids. 7 years ago I was normal

Not enough food. If you are overeating chocolate and could do with gaining a few pounds, that sounds like you aren't eating enough. You need dinner! Try and stick to 3 meals a day with 2 small snacks if you're hungry (fruit, cheese, maybe a bowl of cereal?), and that may help you find a better balance. And you're not disgusting, you sound stressed out to me. Also to add, others are saying add protein but in my opinion you need to add more fibre 🙂

But the long pregnancies of HG (awful awful condition) followed by baby stages of digestive issues, low body weight, food allergies (DS but I had to follow to breast feed). It’s just absolutely ruined my concept of ‘normal’. I don’t have a clue what’s a regular amount or variety to eat per day anymore.
I feed the kids super healthily and then binge sweets In my car.

Could you recommend some good high fibre snacks? I’ll google too but agree this would be helpful

You need more actual nutritious food and protein. A small bowl of porridge might not be filling you up hence the chocolate snacking. Ditto the salmon fishcakes. You should also try and eat an eve meal - so ditch the snacks at 4 and just eat properly at 5/6. You need more protein definitely and that would fill you up.

You are clearly not overweight so it’s not the chocolate and snacks that are the issue is the lack of protein/good carbs/fibre etc. If you have 3 decent meals and are still hungry then by all means snack. Just don’t replace a meal with chocolate.

Do you work Op? Exercise? Happy generally?

Barely any protein there. All surgary carbs so yes it's too much. Start preparing better food and you won't need to eat as often.

@SENSummer do you get any support for you with your DS? I mean an outlet, somewhere to vent? We have a thread in SN:Chat - why don't you join us?

Your diet is not sustaining you. Even if you added in some Greek Yoghurt and some fruit, you'd feel better.

I often snack on Greek yogurt and home made granola and berries. So you get some protein from the yogurt and fibre from the granola.

Things like fruit, fresh or dried (though dried is higher in sugar so eat less!), veg sticks with hummus, nuts and seeds, bran flakes, porridge. That sort of thing. And eat them alongside your meals, not instead of! Do you find any particular food makes you feel sick, or is it more likely to be stress or anxiety?

Also oatcakes and cottage cheese are a good high fibre/protein snack. I add an apple on top.

This is really disordered thinking and behaviour. Please seek help.