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.

To me, this doesn’t sound like it’s about food. Though it may be manifesting itself in how you eat. This sounds like you are burnout and struggling psychologically, which is manifesting itself in digestive issues. I had similar when I was going through a period of enormous stress. It sounds like you need support and some respite care.

As for food, it doesn’t sound like much to me. But it’s lacking in whole proper foods. It doesn’t matter if you make a cupcake yourself or bread. It’s still not as nutritious as a bowl of berries, a handful of nuts, or some sautéed kale and roasted squash with dinner. You need more fruit and veg and protein to give you nutrients. Nothing wrong with chocolate from the petrol station, as long as you are otherwise eating filling nutrient rich foods.

Why oat milk? These plant milks have come in for a lot of stick lately.
Unless you're diagnosed as allergic you can use proper milk. Or lactose free if you're intolerant to lactose.
Get the oats from your porridge.

I mean he has severe learning disabilities and it was recommended to do this by both his specialist school and nhs speech and language therapist so…. I’m not guilt tripping myself over him being rewarded with haribo as clearly got enough guilt on my plate already

What happens at the weekend?

do you ever sit down and eat a proper meal with your husband?

I bought the Kit Kat and twirl bites from the petrol station and ate them in the car… because I’m disgusting!

No you did it because you needed some crap and once you started you couldn’t stop. Not having rubbish in the house just makes me lunge for it like that op, when I actually have it in the house I’m more measured, maybe you’re the same. Maybe living in a upf free house doesn’t work for you!

It's not a particularly large volume of food for an entire day at all. A lot of it consists of sugar, though. Maybe that's why you're feeling sick.

However, I think it's more likely that you just feel sick because you've got psychological issues around food and are panicking because you've eaten something you think is 'bad' and feel guilty.

I wouldn't feel sick after eating that in a day myself, but I'm extremely laid back about food and don't stress about it. You sound quite overwrought about what's essentially a day where you ate a bit of chocolate and a single biscuit, which makes me wonder if this is more of a mental thing than anything else.

EDIT: Just seen your update where you call yourself disgusting over a KitKat and some Twirl bites. Your issue is definitely a psychological one and sounds more about your own self-image than the food really.

I find it hard to believe that professionals are suggesting you reward a child with sweets.

And even IF they did I'd confront them and question it.

It's pretty shocking actually.

The idea of using sweets as a reward went out years ago. I'm an educational professional used to working with children with SEND.

I agree with this.

If you're physically active and have a low BMI you could eat lots more than this day's food. A good habit I heard when I was starting out taking control of my nutrition (in my case to not put weight back on that I'd lost) was to focus on what you could add in to your diet, not take away. So, add in some berries in the morning, an extra portion of veg with your fishcake etc. Don't overwhelm yourself. I've also found that if I stick to roughly the same foods, at the same times of day, and know in advance what I'm having for the day, this takes away stress and possibility of bingeing. I eat some form of chocolate or sweets every single day by the way. And I have shit days too. The important thing is to take control most of the time, if you are able.

Bless you, it seems you've had a difficult few years and a lot going on.

Sure, it's not a perfect diet, but a one off bag of chocolate isn't the end of the world imho. I have a young baby and when I'm bloody knackered if I want to watch TV and eat a bag of monster munch while he's napping on me, or have a coffee and a bar of chocolate in the bath, I will and I won't feel guilty for it, because we eat healthy meals, I go on long walks etc. When you're tired and none stop it's easy to eat a bit of rubbish, I'm sure we've all done it.

You know what to do if you want to eat better and you sound bloody fab cooking from scratch while looking after a young child and managing your other child with severe ASC largely alone while your husband is working late. I would be starving if I didn't eat from 4pm so I'd try and have my tea/dinner later on but that's just my personal preference. I'd also try and have a more substantial lunch than toast, that will help kerb the snacking if that's what you want to do.

I get we need to be healthy and look after ourselves, but if you want a brownie on your trip out with your friend, eat the bloody brownie x

I don’t know what to tell you. They did, they do. School keep a bag of haribo to motivate him to use the toilet/words. It’s always ‘imperative to motivate him’ and ‘if it works it works’ I’m not qualified they are. He has toilet trained since using them so I’m not going to argue with them. I’d rather he ate haribo than couldn’t use the bathroom

I'm going to guess you're a TA in a mainstream school. Probably best to wind your neck in.

I'd say you're not eating enough calorie dense & protein rich nutritious food and that's why you're feeling sick. Ditch the processes Juno and add more decent food to your diet as there's not enough of it. I'd say that's why you feel sick most of the time because you're not eating enough.

@SENSummer Overall, not too much, but too many sugary empty calories and not enough protein, veggies, fruit, or fibre.

A really nice but healthier snack would be peanut butter spread on crackers or rice/corn cakes and topped with thinly sliced apple... it's really nice, filling, and should satisfy your sweet tooth, whilst being better for you than chocolate.

I have porridge every day. I have it with berries or bananas. I make it with water, not milk. I don't get any sugar spikes or dips and in fact it keeps me satisfied all morning till lunchtime, no cravings for snacks or anything. I have heard that very ripe bananas contain more sugar but I can't stand very ripe bananas anyway.

No-one in the UK is going to have steak and eggs for breakfast. Eggs are a good call at breakfast though.

You could prep snacks in the morning or evenings. Things like cubes of cheese, sliced carrot, peppers and cucumber for dipping into hummous or tzatziki, etc. If you're short on time you could buy already cooked chicken chunks, either plain or tikki flavoured, etc, for a quick protein snack and keep ready boiled eggs around as a snack, too.

It sounds tough, so don't beat yourself up. Just work on having more days that are filled with better choices than days like today.

I disagree about downloading my fitness pal. It's not good for people with disordered eating as you end up focusing on numbers instead of how you feel, which can lead further into a disordered eating spiral.

Op may I further suggest speaking to a GP who can refer you to a dietician? I saw one once and they are pretty good. Common sense advice and no faddy-ness.

You're not disgusting!!! If you were craving sweet things it might mean you were a bit low on blood sugar, so maybe take some emergency snacks like apples in the car with you.

I agree. Of course your blood sugar spikes when you eat, you'd be more worried if it didn't. You only need to worry about this if you're diabetic and the op hasn't said she is.

Greek yoghurt with berries and mixed seeds are great, too. You can also use it to make overnight oats and vary the fillings so you don't get bored, eg apple and cinnamon with raisins. Banana and maple syrup with a few nuts, etc. Cherries or raspberries and dessicated coconut with almond slices. Etc.

You're not eating too much, OP, but you are eating a lot of crap, and it's the crap that's filling you up, so you will feel queasy. Porridge can sit very heavily on the stomach, and you're overwhelmingly eating carbs rather than protein or fruit and veg. It doesn't matter if you've made the bread and the cupcakes - it's still quite stodgy.

Try having some eggs on toast for breakfast, maybe with tomatoes or avocado. Then eat a proper lunch - half your plate should be veg (not counting spuds) especially if you're not having dinner. Make sure you eat something filling before your kid gets home if you won't eat after that. You won't need to fill up on chocolate if you do that, and you can give yourself a break and the odd kitkat!

That reads like an eating disorder. Undereating (I doubt this adds up to more than about 1,200 calories) and consuming most calories in chocolate. Fine if it's just a one-off but concerning if this is your regular diet.

You clearly have an eating disorder or it's just a stealth boast about how little you eat apart from crap and still stay slim

There's no way that's a substitute for chocolate for anyone with a sweet tooth. Apple is not a replacement for chocolate in the real world!

This whole thread has bought out the performative under-eaters/orthorexics.