How much do you eat?

[Mulholland Drive]

I do lots of running and have done for years. Therefore I stick to a fairly rigid eating regime of between 2400-2800 calories per day

Breakfast is usually cereals or eggs and wholemeal breads
Lunch is a BLT or Club
Dinner is home made spag bols, chili con carne, chicken curries. And perhaps once or twice a week the odd takeaway

Lots and lots of energy drinks and semi-skimmed milk, pears, bananas and OJ

Still have room for the odd chocolate bar, glass of wine, or beer

 

[bunnyboo]

My eating is out of control. I dont eat big portions but I do eat all the time. I haven't hardly finished chewing and I'm already thinking about what I'm going to eat next. It's something that iv struggled with for my entire life. I'm totally obsessed with food. I used to suffer with anxiety and be sick alot years ago which evened out my eating in terms of maintaining my weight but once i got a handle on the sickness i never dealt with my food obsession. I will be overweight for life i dont believe it's something i will ever deal with unfortunately. Which makes me incredibly sad.

I struggled quite a lot with eating disorders and if there's one thing I learnt is that it's never too late to change your relationship with food. I used to believe deep down that I'd always binge and purge (make myself sick) and I could never change but help is out there. And believe me when I say, I know it's easier said than done. But it's never too late to change. Reaching out to get help is the scariest step tbh if that helps too, after coming clean to the GP/Mental heath team about my mindsets and habits, I kind of felt liberated in a strange way? I had accountability to live up too because I was honest, and I had the mental support to talk about my relationship with food and where it all went wrong.

I'm so sorry if this sounds preachy btw, I can just really related to the feeling of being 'stuck'.

 

[bunnyboo]

My stomach would be in agony if I had 4 or more cans of fizzy drinks! You’re so lucky, I can’t even drink two without deeply regretting it (my vice is Vanilla Coke Zero or Cherry Pepsi Max I must admit)

Ah no, that sucks

To be fair, I think my diet coke habit runs into addiction territory at this point haha. When I tried to cut down, I got headaches! I quit smoking this year which I would consider to be easier than quitting the diet coke it's that bad!

 

[2xblended]

We're the polar opposite then. When I'm stressed, I try to push down/numb my anxiety by shoveling down slab after slab of chocolate. If I'm in a good mood, that amount of chocolate would make me feel sick, but when I'm stressed/worried/anxious I don't even register the sweetness of it; I just get into this zombie-like state.

I totally understand where you're coming from. My best friend is exactly like this as well- she says she's literally shoving down her feelings with food when she's anxious. We all have different emotional crutches when we're stressed.
Funny though, your description of not registering the taste and being a zombie is exactly what I experience when I'm stressed as well. For you it may mean you can eat a lot without noticing, but for me I can't eat at all because I taste and feel nothing so what's the point? Funny how we experience the same state but respond to it in an opposite manner.
This thread is really interesting!

 

[Kim Mild]

Breakfast- porridge or granola
Dinner - sandwiches/ jacket potato/beans on toast with crisps and a couple of biscuits
Tea- varies between meat and 2 veg / pasta / curry / freezer stuff & chips.

I can go for ages between dinner and tea but I can't go very long between breakfast and dinner ( which i need to have had before 1 ) because I feel too hungry and get lightheadedness and it takes hours to pull myself back around.
People tend not to understand .this

 

[Phil Anne Throw Pee]

I eat very healthily, the trouble is, my portions are too large. I have recently gotten into a routine where I eat more for breakfast and then have less at lunch and a smaller evening meal and try and do 10k steps a day. Yesterday I had:

Breakfast - 2 pieces of rye toast with peanut butter, a bowl of strawberries, blueberries and raspberries and greek yoghurt and a large filtered coffee.
Lunch - a small bowl of vegetable soup
Dinner - Lamb chop with roasted carrot, onion, pepper, mushroom, parsnip and steamed spinach and gravy
No booze.

The latter is my downfall. Lockdown was hard (the 1st one) and I drank more out of boredom, sometimes up to 6 bottles of wine a week. Trying to be better and abstain now and not drink Sun-Weds as a minimum.

My husband is also an excellent cook and tends to divvy out very large portions (hurr), which doesn't help.

I've got tons of lard to lose still.

 

[ChloChlo]

I have lost alot of weight because of not eating.

As a former drug addict, we often replace our addictions. You often see former alcoholics and drug addicts turning to food usually, but for me it has specifically been Monster energy drinks. I prioritise these over food and can go through 3-4 a day. I'm rarely hungry until the evening when I switch over to drinking cordial. Recently I did research to discover this is a common problem as Monsters contain Carbs, etc and I'm solely running off them. On the days where I drink 3+ Monsters I sometimes will not eat at all despite cooking meals for partner and children. I am trying to cut down but find it harder giving up Monsters than Drugs as they are legal and sold in shops.

Breakfast - nothing. I have to start my day with opening a monster, I feel physically sick until I feel the first guzzle of fizz (I hear this alot from alcoholics too)
Lunch - nothing.
May start "picking" around late afternoon, crisps, slices of cheese...
Dinner - around 6pm. Depending on Monster consumption I may not eat it, just pick at it.
Then I have a bunch of snacks at night.

I'm so aware this is unhealthy. As Monster consumption has gotten worse, I've probably lost 2 and a half stone. I wanted to lose weight just not like this. Has anyone else been or are going through anything else similar?

 

[Justreading]

We're the polar opposite then. When I'm stressed, I try to push down/numb my anxiety by shoveling down slab after slab of chocolate. If I'm in a good mood, that amount of chocolate would make me feel sick, but when I'm stressed/worried/anxious I don't even register the sweetness of it; I just get into this zombie-like state.

I very much "eat my feelings"
Anything bad and I'll turn to food and chocolate to ease the pain! Then the guilt kicks in and it's a vicious circle

 

[Stan]

I’m forever trying to diet but end up binge eating when I do!
I tend to eat more regimented Monday -Friday and then at the weekends I don’t have any fixed meals and end up eating more crap. Day to day I tend to have the following -
7am - lunch - lots of cups of tea
12pm - usually if at work something like beans (mini tin) on toast (the small 400g whole meal kind)
Dinner around 7ish will be something like chilli, spag Bol, curry, homemade chips with oven fish etc. (I’m trying to do more variety for evening meals using recipes from the bbc good food app)
My meals are generally very healthy - not lots of oil and I don’t have garlic bread or anything on the side of pastas or chillis.
snack wise I do like chocolate but usually have the small fun size bars you can buy if I have some, or I will have a yogurt or fruit.

 

[under the ivy]

My appetite comes and goes relating to how stressed how I am. I have a fairly good appetite normally but I have barely eaten these past 3 weeks due to anxiety/work deadline/not sleeping well.

Usually I have cereal with 2-3 cups of coffee before 10am, I skip dinner because I'm never usually hungry around dinner time, afternoon snacks is usually some rice cakes/crisps/protein bar, tea is usually pasta/meat with vegetables/takeaway once a week (usually Chinese). Then it gets to late evening and I enjoy some chocolate/sweets. I go through a lot of caffeine free Diet Coke too.

I really enjoy working-out and I think I would see more benefit from this if I sorted my nutrition out.

 

[Penelope Strawberry]

Thankyou for the kind words in relation to my comment, i didnt know if it was appropriate for me to mention the things i did. But once again, tattle proves me right about humans (even though we are all haters and bullies!! ha ha).
Ive been thinking, and the other thing i struggle with is my sense of self. That is pretty common with BPD. But ive always been seen as petite and slim, and for a long time i thought that was the only thing i had going for me. Its so sad that i place so much on my physical self but i do.

This thread just keeps on getting deeper and deeper, thought we'd be talking about beans on toast.

My mum has BPD and is hypercritical of her appearance. She is beautiful and has always been slim and petite but I wouldn't be surprised if she has body dysmorphia. I think because she doesn't have a firm sense of self, how she physically appears to the world is of extreme importance to her.

So glad to hear that you're on Mirtazapine and are getting help; I can only imagine what it must feel like and how lost you must feel sometimes.

 

[HowlOwl]

6.30 am couple of rounds of toast, seeded bread, with Marmite, peanut butter or cheese spread
11.30 sandwich with the same bread, tuna/salad or anything with salad
pm sometimes a mini ice-cream
5 pm well this week we had steak with peppercorn sauce, baby potatoes and peas Monday; cod mornay with broccoli and mash yesterday; today chicken burger with salt and pepper chips/salad. Have the odd Chinese takeaway or fish and chips.
Sometimes will have a full English breakfast at the weekend with tinned tomatoes, poached eggs and black pudding. Or tinned mackerel on toast.
A few cups of coffee throughout the day and have a weakness for Pepsi Max.
Sometimes wine or beer in the evening, maybe some crisps.
I don’t exercise as much as I should apart from housework and walks where possible.

 

[openbook1]

I exercise normally 5-6 days a week, on the odd week will do less. I am lifting heavier weights than I used to. I have always been petite, about 104lbs but like that, I am toning up and gaining muscle. Depending on how I feel, sometimes I will do a fasted exercise and have breakfast after.

Breakfast: It varies but this what I tend to rotate. Egg whites with pesto, olives, and wholewheat toast. Egg whites with salsa verde on corn tacos (they are super low carbs). Oats with some fruit (banana, apple, or berries) and nut butter. Boiled egg and wholewheat toast. I am mostly eating a lot of egg whites right now, I prefer them over whole eggs.

Lunch: I don't really eat lunch often. If I had a smoothie/oats in the morning, then maybe egg whites for lunch. When my husband is home, he has chicken with broccoli and I sometimes have that.

Dinners: Varies a lot but we meal plan. Chicken (I love chicken breast topped with cajun spice) w/ roasted potatoes/rice/risotto and veg. Fish, potatoes or rice/pilaf and veg. Curries, we love dahl and it lasts a while. A few different types of corn tacos (beef, fish, and chicken) with refried beans and veg. Chilli and other types of soups. Pasta, we often just throw it together with some veg, herbs, and white wine. We do get takeaway either once a week or every 2 weeks, way less since Covid. Normally pizza, sometimes Indian or sushi.
We never buy packet semi-cooked rice or risotto, the proper stuff, and never eat ready-meals.

Snacks: Chocolate, apple with almond butter, banana with Greek yogurt and nut butter, apple with nuts and cheese, rice cakes with hummus or nut butter, toast with hummus, unbuttered popcorn.

 

[Penelope Strawberry]

I totally understand where you're coming from. My best friend is exactly like this as well- she says she's literally shoving down her feelings with food when she's anxious. We all have different emotional crutches when we're stressed.
Funny though, your description of not registering the taste and being a zombie is exactly what I experience when I'm stressed as well. For you it may mean you can eat a lot without noticing, but for me I can't eat at all because I taste and feel nothing so what's the point? Funny how we experience the same state but respond to it in an opposite manner.
This thread is really interesting!

Oh, that is very interesting on the numbness!

I've seen two therapists to try and tackle my binge eating, but it goes so deep, I think it's going to take years and years of therapy to make any headway.

I grew up with very volatile and unpredictable parents, and was always walking on eggshells around them and made to feel that it was my fault if they flew off the handle. Eating became my coping mechanism because when I'm eating a) it distracts from my feelings and b) as long as I have food in my mouth, I can't express my feelings.

I must be in the minority of people who actually loses weight on holiday! That's when I'm at my most stress-free and I don't feel the need to eat all the time.

 

[caterday28]

My diet is appalling (I have a v long history of anorexia) so I won't share, but these responses are really interesting.

 

[Gym&Tonic]

Breakfast is usually wither weetabix of porridge. Sometimes boiled eggs and toast, with cofffee. Then I usually have a banana mid morning. Lunch is either a sandwich with crisps and an apple. Or occasionally a naked noodle pot. Then tea can be all sorts of things, curries, chillis, fish, lasagne. For snacks I like banana bread or pop corn. Is usually have a takeaway once or twice a week. My favourite is pizza.

 

[Nebbymoo]

Thank you for the replies you are both right there is a lot (an awful lot) of trauma I'm hiding. Alot is historical and it is also something I have been to councilling about in the past. Unfortunately the councillor was unable to help me because she said the problems where so deep rooted that my brain wouldn't let me discuss them fully. She is right. I have always just gotten on with life. Although my life in general is a lot happier now and on the outside I seem to be someone completely different I am a very damaged and broken person inside. It's something I am going to make a conscious effort to change though. Thanks again for the kind words they really do mean alot.

 

[WilmaHun]

I don't eat breakfast (I have IBS and for some reason if I eat when I wake up it sets me off so I go without, never hungry in the mornings anyway).

Lunch - at work I tend to have a jacket potato with tuna or some microwave rice. If I'm not at work I tend to just have some noodles, pasta or toast.

Dinner - 1 takeaway a week (usually a Saturday). Other than that I tend to have fish and chips, I don't eat meat so vegetarian versions of spaghetti bolognaise, shepherds pie, roast dinner, stew and dumplings, just really homely meals really..

I don't really snack. I might sometimes have a biscuit or chocolate bar in the evenings but nothing usually between meals. I don't eat after 7pm (again due to IBS).

I don't drink alcohol. I tend to drink water or squash throughout the day. I only really drink fizzy on a weekend too (never drink it at work in case my IBS decides to turn on me).

 

[2xblended]

a) it distracts from my feelings and b) as long as I have food in my mouth, I can't express my feelings.

Might I add another?
c) The act of feeding oneself/another is soothing. It's something done when you want to take care of someone/yourself. When you're upset, you self-soothe with food.

And as I typed that out, it just occurred to me that since we react oppositely to the same thing, then perhaps when I'm upset, I may be punishing myself by withholding food? Not entirely sure because I've never dived that deep into my eating habits.
I hope you find a way to practice moderation if that means that you're in a happier mental state overall. Binge eating is exhausting and breaking the cycle is not an easy journey, but it sounds like your therapy is getting you on the right path (just from the lovely insights you've shared).

Your post, as well as the earlier one from @Clairer86, have shown just how complex our relationships with food are. It's really opening up my eyes and teaching me a lot, which I wasn't expecting from a thread like this one. Thanks to you both for being so open and honest about your experiences.

 

[coconochanel]

Interesting thread!

I dont always eat breakfast but if I do I usually have 2 slices of toast with a cup of tea
Lunch- can be anything from a Mc Donalds to a sandwich and pk of crisps depending on where I am/what Im doing
Dinner is always a home cooked meal so meat veg and potatoes etc.
as for snacks I eat more at night TBH usually chocolate and crisps
as for drinks I usually drink water throughout the day and then a couple of hot drinks in the evening.