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Weight loss chat

A space to talk openly about weight loss journeys and challenges. Mumsnet hasn't checked the qualifications of anyone posting here. You may wish to speak to a medical professional before starting any diet.

Portion size pitfalls, partners and children.

8 replies

ThatFraggle · 18/06/2023 13:36

I think where so many people go wrong is portion sizes.

I visited a friend once and they served enormous portions. I had also once been to her mum's, and they had enormous portions there too. She just grew up thinking, 'this is how much mash is normal'. She struggles with her weight.

Another place where we go wrong is forgetting that an active man needs about a thousand calories more than a sedentary woman. A growing teen needs so much more food than a middle -aged woman with a desk job. But when dishing up meals, we put pretty much equal portions. In fairness we could probably actually manage pretty well with just one big meal a day.

OP posts:
greenspaces4peace · 19/06/2023 02:47

It’s my Achilles tendon.
And constantly weighing entering logging food is tiresome,but sadly the only way I see what my portion sizes should be.
Even with smaller plates

Ragwort · 19/06/2023 04:48

Totally agree ... but I am greedy and can eat even though I am not hungry, I could happily exist on one meal a day ... but I would need a lot of willpower. My DH has a large appetite and I need to be very disciplined not to keep up with him Grin.
He can easily eat a cooked breakfast, large lunch and evening meal with an a afternoon snack and lot of cheese and biscuits, chocolate etc in the evenings. And he is not overweight Angry . He shops and cooks so doesn't expect me to provide all this food but I do get (irrationally) fed up with the sheer volume of food around.

BarbaraofSeville · 19/06/2023 06:18

It's difficult, but you just have to do what you can to manage your own eating, and don't fall into the trap of keeping up with others who eat more, or following what restaurants/shops etc tell us is a portion size.

I hadn't really thought about this until I read Paul McKenna's 'I can make you thin' some years ago. Now a lot of it is irritating nonsense designed to make half a page of simple rules into a whole book, but the key point that stood out for me was 'eat when you are hungry and stop when you are full', plus eating slowly and mindfully so you actually notice this, so not eating while watching TV, phone scrolling etc.

Now I'd never thought about it before, but when I tried it, it was obvious and a really easy way to cut down at least a couple of hundred calories a day, which for a lot of us, will be enough to keep our weight stable and stop the gradual creep upwards.

Obvious things to put this into practice would be any type of eating out, because for many places, even a starter and a main is probably far more than many people want, but they eat it because it's there.

I'm quite good at avoiding this because I won't order a starter unless I either really want one, or I'm with a group and everyone is having one and I don't want to sit without food while everyone is eating.

But if I'm honest, if I've had a starter, I'm usually full when I've barely touched my main (I like to eat more earlier in the day, so can't do the common 'eat barely anything all day in anticipation of a big dinner' because I just feel ill if I do this) so I'll probably choose and eat my main with the intention of taking most of it home with me to eat for the next day. So I'll eat anything like salad, that won't save, and take away the rest. Or I might just leave what I don't want. Food is no less wasted if you eat it when you are full/don't want to continue than if it goes in the bin.

At home, make sure you serve yourself the right amount of food for you. Leftovers can always be saved for another day. I see endless comments on here along the lines of 'I'd just have soup/wouldn't bother with dinner but DH expects a big meal' as if people are obliged to provide food to other's preferences not their own. If you don't want a big evening meal, don't have one.

Either have a small bit, and have the rest for lunch the next day, which is what I often do, or make something light. If others in the house want big meals, they can make them. But don't fall into the trap of 'I'm not that hungry so I'll just have a sandwich/some picky bits' because often 'just' a sandwich or some picky bits will have more calories than a small cooked meal with meat/fish/other protein and vegetables or salad.

lljkk · 19/06/2023 07:05

Going to restaurants I sometimes order just a side dish for me & then hoover up leftovers from the other co-diners.

Mostly I don't like restaurant meals partly because of the food waste on view in all directions. My elderly parents upset me most about it. They order whatever they fancy, eat barely any of it, pack up the leftovers, take home, eat out again next day, throw away the uneaten leftovers after 2-3 days. Repeat Repeat. Yes they eat out daily, often several times a day.

Portion sizes at home should be easy to manage.

Ragwort · 19/06/2023 09:33

I agree with all these comments but find it hard to find the willpower Blush, tasty food is just so plentiful & for many (not all I know) it is an affordable 'treat'. So much of family life and socialising is around food and I find I need to be very disciplined to only eat a very small portion (which is all I need) when my DH is tucking into a great big meal with lots of different components... I absolutely know I am greedy and over eat not because of any emotional reasons .. but I just love food! I volunteer at a Food Bank and see the irony, someone like me has far too much food to eat and others have so little.

Stickybackplasticbear · 19/06/2023 10:00

Great take. Thanks for your wisdom 👍

Menora · 19/06/2023 12:12

I have this issue but I have started being annoying about it. DP thinks a Caesar salad is healthy. He made one yesterday and I took out all the main parts of it before he mixed it and ate it with no cheese or dressing on it. He won’t listen to me that the dressing probably added a ton of calories. I also will eat something they are eating but a much smaller portion of it. When we go out now I will only eat something that’s mainly protein or veg based and I will take my own if I know it’s going to be a problem. I actually find it’s easier now to eat on the go than before. Most supermarkets now have better selections in the meal deal sections like a poke bowl, veggie sushi, salad with optional dressings or fruit etc. I always used to find this part hard as it was just all sandwiches and restaurants doing salads drenched in dressings

drpet49 · 19/06/2023 12:14

I disagree. Plus as adults you have your own mind to determine what is normal size portion and what isn’t.

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