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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.

If yoi are slim or losing weight: what do you eat on a normal day?

181 replies

Croissantsfordinner · 19/02/2025 10:38

I am 5ft2 and 11 stones heavy. The heaviest I have been in my whole life.
I need to get back in track with gym and moderate eating, was wondering if you’d like to share an average day pf eating, if you are someone who is careful not to gain weight/stays slim.
Obv I appreciate it also depends on how much movement, metabolism, age etc.
I have a big appetite and usually have big dinners, as well as a couple of take outs a week which together with a sedentary office life, have slowly contributed to my weight gain.

OP posts:
Sedgwick · 19/02/2025 11:27

Morning - mug of coffee with semi skimmed milk

Lunch - boiled egg/scrambled egg in butter or tin of pilchards/sardines/mackerel or roasted tomatoes. I often skip lunch completely.

Dinner at 6 pm (never later) - roast portobello mushrooms with garlic, lentils or baby potatoes (4 or 5) or half a head of cauliflower roasted, courgettes, spinach, purple spouting or broccoli, smoked haddock fillet or kippers or chicken breast or 3 chicken thighs or thick sirloin steak 350 gr. I cook with olive oil and butter.

I am late 50s, 5ft 5.5” and weigh 9 st. I maintain eating like this. If I want to lose I stick to only dinner (lots of veg) for a couple of weeks.

Yuja · 20/02/2025 06:44

Coffee with skimmed milk in the morning. Might snack on a bit of a fruit and/or veg during the day but no real lunch. Dinner about 6pm - whatever I want, fairly big portion, carbs included. Fruit after. I don't drink alcohol and I rarely snack, chocolate and crisps don't really feature in my life, might have a bite of chocolate now and again but hardly ever. I'm 8 stone, 5'6

JudyBlumesBlubber · 20/02/2025 06:50

This is a bit of an eye opener so far. Those who can skip meals and have a large dinner of whatever you fancy impress me and show how slim people just aren’t that bothered.
I’m losing weight at the moment counting calories but I’m still greedy and obsessed about food. It’s hard..

AperolWhore · 20/02/2025 06:53

I follow the slimming world diet but stick to whole foods as I like snacking and big portions plus I actually enjoy going to group.

breakfast is soy yogurt and tons of fruit or a veggie sausage sandwich

lunch leftover dinner from the night before such as curry and rice, pasta etc all served with a large portion or green veg if no leftovers then a jacket and beans or soup

dinner is curry, chili, pasta, potato salad, burger bowl, kebab bowl, cottage pie or a huge tofu stirfry

I make oil free hummus and sweet potato falafels to snack on with veggie sticks

3/4 coffees with soy milk plus 3ltr of water a day

I do a 5k dog walk every morning and spin 3/4 times a week

my top tip is to meal plan and get an online food shop delivered Sunday morning. I then prep my food on Sunday. Make a cottage pie, a pasta dish and throw a soup in the slow cooker on a Sunday morning. Portion up with some in the fridge and some in the freezer then I just have to boil some green veg on a night to have a healthy home cooked meal.

MidlandMum2019 · 20/02/2025 07:00

Yikes,
I’m terrible.
I’m 5 ft 4 and I weigh 12 stone (according to the scales at the GP surgery (my scales tell me I’m 8 stone - I’m waiting til the end of the month to get them calibrated). However, movement isn’t easy, as I have Scoliosis and Guillain Barre, so having a simple (fat & carb limiting diet is my only option (I’d go for protein only, but food is expensive enough as it is, these days).
Being a Food Technologist, I should know what to eat, but I’m (now) lost. My cholesterol is also high, as well as my BMI, and even Dr. Google can’t help.
Any chance you ladies can chuck me in the right direction?
In this cold weather, and in this budget, I can see soups being an option.

Wantitalltogoaway · 20/02/2025 07:20

JudyBlumesBlubber · 20/02/2025 06:50

This is a bit of an eye opener so far. Those who can skip meals and have a large dinner of whatever you fancy impress me and show how slim people just aren’t that bothered.
I’m losing weight at the moment counting calories but I’m still greedy and obsessed about food. It’s hard..

I am mid-forties, 5.5, 8 stone 3ish (I never weigh myself). Size 6.

I agree the skipping of meals is weird. For balance, here’s what I ate yesterday.

Breakfast - a glass of kefir, two fried eggs, roasted tomatoes, half an avocado plus a small bowl of full fat Greek yogurt with a few raspberries and walnuts. Full fat milk cappuccino afterwards (don’t drink coffee on an empty stomach)

Lunch - leftover beef with buttered spinach and mange touts.

Dinner - Stir fried pork with fennel, red peppers, cucumber, spring greens. A banana.

No snacks, but I think I had a hot chocolate after lunch.

Sometimes I eat bread/pasta/rice, often potatoes. Just not much.

Wantitalltogoaway · 20/02/2025 07:24

Should also say, I tend to eat between 8am and 6pm.

Hobbitfeet32 · 20/02/2025 07:29

5'3 and 8st7
I don't skip meals and eat what I want.
Breakfast: 2 slices of toast with butter and marmite, glass of fruit juice. Big mug of tea with semi skimmed milk.
Lunch: cheese or tuna mayo and salad sandwich, packet of crisps. 2 pieces of fruit. Water. Might have soup and bread plus the crisps and fruit. Sometimes it's leftover from last night so pasta or curry.
Tea: pasta or curry and rice/naan bread or chilli with sides or roast dinner all the trimmings or dish fingers/burger and chips or pizza
Always have veg or salad with tea.
Desserts-fruit or yogurt, sometimes a chocolate mousse or something with custard, homemade cake.
Snacks/supper: nuts or 4 x cheese and crackers. Or piece of chocolate.
Mainly drink water and tea. Drink about 1 bottle of wine per week.

I also exercise formally about 5 times per week and walk a lot/general active anyway.

Hurryuphumphreygeorgeiswaiting · 20/02/2025 07:30

Another slimming world follower. Lost 4 stone and kept the weight off. 54, 5ft 8, 9 and half stone.
Breakfast, light and free yogurt, berries, 2 slices of toast , nimble bread.
Lunch, ham salad sandwich, fruit, crab sticks, maybe a packet of quavers or French fries. This works for me as I love crisps and bread. I cant cut them out but make better choices with them.
Dinner, tray bake with chicken, lots of vegetables, salads, salmon with lots of greens.
I don't drink wine but have a G&T at the weekends. I don't eat many carbs. Pasta, rice potatoes etc but have to have bread.
I excerise a lot, classes and walking. I am going through the memopause and on hrt for 3 years. The weight has stayed off.

Hurryuphumphreygeorgeiswaiting · 20/02/2025 07:31

Also, drink lots of water. This helps

jellyfishperiwinkle · 20/02/2025 07:36

One meal a day? Or a tiny yoghurt for breakfast and a ham sandwich for lunch? Fuck that, that's disordered eating and not healthy at all. How do you stay active? I'd rather be a bit overweight and fit with strong muscles and bones and not regularly snap like a twig with osteoporosis in a few years' time.

AQuickDeathInTexas · 20/02/2025 07:52

Slimming World here too.

Today I'll have a cooked breakfast of Heck chicken sausages, bacon, scrambled eggs and tomatoes.

I won't want lunch as the breakfast will keep me full, later I'll snack on fruit.

Evening meal is a SW recipe with chicken, carrots, onions, green beans and lemon and garlic. If I want to bulk it out I will add some new potatoes, just depends on how hungry I feel.

Some mornings I have porridge but then I'd probably want some lunch too and that would be soup.
Other evening meals this week have been roast chicken with sweet potato fries and veg, steak with baked potato and veg, chicken orzo, salad with tinned mackerel.

I don't snack much because the meals are very filling and it's simple to follow as there's no calorie counting. I don't go to a SW group.

Yuja · 20/02/2025 08:01

It's not that I'm not bothered, just if I was to eat breakfast and lunch then no way would I have enough appetite for dinner - I find it hard to eat a lot, always have - makes me feel sick and I stay full for a long time. So I eat little during the day so I can eat well at dinner when I am most hungry. I don't cut out any food groups - eat carbs, dairy, fats, and I take a supplement too. I don't snack because I've never been in the habit of it and again, it would stop me eating properly. I don't drink alcohol because I don't enjoy it.

theressomanytinafeysicouldbe · 20/02/2025 08:06

I am currently trying to diet and reverse prediabetes.

I fast until 12, then I have chicken mayo or tuna mayo in a low carb wrap, or sandwich thins with tuna mayo and mozzarella toasted on the foreman. Cup of tea with full fat milk (sweetener in semi).

Snacks, boiled eggs, ham, for a choc fix full fat greek yogurt with chocolate protein powder (I use the one below flavour chocolate silk - honestly I have never tasted anything like it!)

Evening meal, protein so chicken, beef, omelettes, with veg

https://www.theproteinworks.com/whey-protein-360-extreme

kezzykate · 20/02/2025 08:14

I have been between 8-10 stone all my life, am 5'6''. Not really small but always within a normal weight. I love food and don't skip meals but don't eat in the evening, rarely snack and do prefer wholefoods over processed.

Yesterday I ate:

Breakfast: bowl of porridge with fruit and maple syrup.
Lunch: salad with goats cheese, avocado, lots of salad ingredients and homemade dressing. A Greek yoghurt and fruit afterwards.

Dinner: homemade chicken curry and rice with veg. A little dark chocolate afterwards. Finished eating at 6pm and then just have herbal tea or water.

KvotheTheBloodless · 20/02/2025 08:16

If you have a big appetite, try volume eating (Google it).

Girlintheframe · 20/02/2025 08:43

I'm early 50s, 5 foot 5 and 9st 3.

Typical day is

Breakfast - overnight oats with flaxseed on top and 1/2 a banana

Lunch - 2 eggs and 100g egg whites scrambled with 2 xs sourdough and maybe a couple Linda McCartney sausages. Usually mix mushrooms, spinach etc into the eggs.

Dinner - Chicken Orzo and lots of green veg

I feel like I've got a huge appetite but fill up by eating lots of veg.

FinallyHere · 20/02/2025 08:57

I'm 5'3" and never weighed myself once my weight tipped over 13 stone, think my top weight was probably around 14.5 st. Sigh

Nowadays I eat one or sometimes two meals a day and genuinely do not feel hungry. I can easily skip a whole day especially if I am busy.

What I thought was hunger turned out to be my extreme blood sugar swings when I ate the so called healthy low fat high carb food which was pushed from the '70s onwards.

Eating lots of fresh veg, with enough fat and protein to satisfy my real appetite has been transformational. If I go back to eating processed low fat rubbish I almost immediately feel the same cravings again.

It's taken me til my sixties to find this out, it's just the way I eat now. Anytime I hear someone saying how hungry they get, I so want to tell them to try this 'old fashioned' way of eating and see what it does for their stable blood sugar and overall energy and wellbeing.

You can see it in the way the population has got fatter since more processed food called
'Healthy low fat' has been so cheap and widely available, I encourage everyone to try it out.

jellyfishperiwinkle · 20/02/2025 09:18

What I'm getting from these posts is that a lot of people, even when they are "eating healthily" are not eating anywhere near enough fibre which is really bad for your bowel health.

WeGoSlow · 20/02/2025 09:38

Breakfast: kefir, fruit & Greek yogurt.

Lunch: lentil, bean & veg soup,

Dinner: fish, potato & veg.

Pudding; Greek Yogurt with fruit OR a square of 70% dark chocolate.

Chocolatefreak · 20/02/2025 10:07

5'1"
Breakfast - any of these: cottage cheese, fruit, porridge yoghurt, wholemeal toast
Lunch - salad, tuna or cheese sandwich or leftovers
Dinner - Anything - fish, veg, potatoes, salad, roast veg and couscous, lentils, soup and cheese, chicken,
Snacks -nuts, fruit, chocolate

I do quite a lot of exercise

Vroomfondleswaistcoat · 20/02/2025 10:13

Mid '60s, 5'6 and 9 stone 4.

I am also greedy and have issues with food - as soon as I start eating I struggle to stop myself. So I don't eat until the evening if I'm at home, when I have just one meal of something home cooked. I also have to have pudding, so I will have a low calorie jelly with greek yoghurt or piles of fresh fruit or baked apples. When I'm working I will have a home made muesli bowl at about 1pm, then eat in the evening when I'm home (I work a late shift0, which will be something quick, beans on toast or a ready meal.

I run 8k per day five days a week, spin for 30 minutes five days a week and do 30 minutes Pilates three days a week.

And I'm hungry a lot. I'd like to lose another half a stone this year but I'm already eating as little as I can and I'm hungry a lot, but I have to be careful as I know my eating is already disordered.

Limth · 20/02/2025 10:19

I'd class myself as 'slim'. I'm 5'5 and 8st 1lb. I'm 38.

Weekdays look like this:

Breakfast: Bran flakes and a cup of tea

Mid-morning snack: Cup of tea, two chocolate biscuits

Lunch: Cheese roll, salad leaves, crisps
OR cheese, crackers and salad leaves
OR half a pizza and salad leaves.
Then two chocolate biscuits and a cup of tea.

Mid-afternoon snack: Handful of pick 'n' mix and a diet fizzy drink

Tea: Varies hugely but usually fish, rice or pasta side dish, green beans.
Then a cake and a cup of tea

I go to three gym classes a week - one weight-lifting, one bootcamp, one martial arts class.
I walk the dog once a day for an average of 30 minutes.
I drink about 3 - 4l of water per day.
I rarely drink alcohol.

PoppyBaxter · 20/02/2025 10:42

I've always been slim, but always eaten sensibly and been very active. I do 4 x 45-minute gym workouts a week, plus dog walks, plus home-based dumbell workouts.
I'm 40, 5ft4, 9st 2.

Here are two typical week days:

Day 1:

  • cappuccino made with full fat milk and one sugar
  • blueberries, full fat Greek yoghurt, flaked almonds, honey
  • small bar 85% dark chocolate and a banana
  • salad with leaves, tomato, whole avocado, tin of tuna, hard boiled egg, olive oil, vinegar and mayo
  • chilli (no rice), whole avocado, soured cream, jalapenos, chopped coriander

Day 2:

  • cappuccino made with full fat milk and one sugar
  • blueberries, full fat Greek yoghurt, flaked almonds, honey
  • small bar 85% dark chocolate and a handful of raw cashew nuts
  • half a packet of ready cooked wholegrain Mexican rice, 2 fried eggs, whole avocado, chilli sauce
  • 1/ 2 packet wholegrain rice, homemade vegetable curry, Greek yoghurt, lime pickle

At the weekend, I'll then have an Indian takeaway one night and maybe something like homemade pizzas with all the toppings another night, and a bigger treat each day (like a Gu pudding).

Summerhillsquare · 20/02/2025 11:20

jellyfishperiwinkle · 20/02/2025 09:18

What I'm getting from these posts is that a lot of people, even when they are "eating healthily" are not eating anywhere near enough fibre which is really bad for your bowel health.

Yup. Whilst I have reduced starchy foods substantially my gut is most unhappy if I don't eat a little wholemeal bread or pasta or brown rice. Some of these diets are disordered in the extreme. Your body needs lots of veg and wholegrains to function.