[Closed] How much do you eat? Diet advice.

Average day for me.

Cup of coffee, bowl of 'fruit' alpen, apple on the way to work, chocolate bar for snack, tangerine. Butties for dinner, usually 4 rounds, ham+cheese, pickle, mug of tea. Snack of maybe a twix for midday, proper veg/chicken/potatoes for tea.

I have plenty of mugs of tea during the day but no sugar.

I'm about 12 stone, reasonably skinny and I'm currently losing weight gradually.

IMO weight gain/loss is related more to exercise levels than calorie input. But I'm no expert, just what I see.

edit: Sorry, exercise., I ride roughly 100 miles a week over reasonably hilly ground, offroad and onroad. I ride fast and hard. It hurts on the climbs because I push hard.

It's what you eat that really counts, not how much you eat. Just eat cleaner and you'll be on the right track.

Diet advice.

leave it till next year 😉

Average day for me:

ride to work
tea + bowl of Meusli for breakfast
apple around 11am
lunch around 1pm (pasta or baguette of somekind)
ride home around 4pm
Dog walk around 5pm
then Dinner around 6:30/7pm
Yoghurt, for pudding, around 9pm

and bed Around 11pm.

Maybe post up your average day, or keep a food diary, as that worked real week for my missus;
as it suprised her just exactly what she was eating during the day!

contrary to Samuri, I think what you eat has more effect - it takes a [b]lot[/b] of exercise to burn up even a small amount of food

I would agree with SFB that it is a hell of a lot easier to to lose weight by watching what you eat/cutting calories than doing it via exercise.

For example, have a can of coke or run a mile and a half? Same diff.

Exercise to be healthy tho.

Average (non xmas) day is

3 weetabix or 2 toast and jam plus cuppa for breakfast

10.30 apple, banana, satsuma, water, crisps

1.00 mackerel salad, banana, apple, water

5.00 cuppa and biscuit

7.00 something like spag bol or salmon and roast veg or breaded fish and mash and beans or chicken and veg and a diet coke

then a couple of more cuppas before bed

Doesn't seem that bad, so must be lack of exercise (only ride once or twice a week) and do sod all physical at work. Commuting on bike is possible, but gets side tracked by getting 3 year old up and dressed and delivered on time.

I'm the same age (nearly 40) and height and weight as you ,average days intake is :-

4am
slice of bread with jam
8am
saus + egg butty
1pm
ham + egg salad
6pm
proper dinner i.e. lasagne/shepherds pie and a pudding.

All spaced with drinks , mainly coffee throughout the day not much alchohol though, even though it's always in the house we just don't really drink it.

I have to admit that I don't eat small portions and look quite big but only start to have problems if my weight goes over 15.5st but anything under 15 feels ok to me .

And I don't feel the cold.

Ok, I'm no Slimjim but have always been advised to eat very little/no carb's in the evening's. The thinking is that carbs are the fuel your body uses when exercising so if you eat pasta, potatoes, rice, bread etc once your exercise for the day is done your body will not use it up but will store it and so not burn it off.

I've tried it and coupled with eating less, eating sensibly and getting a bit more exercise it can make a difference.

Eat 3 balanced meals a day with no snacks.
Breakfast should ideally be low GI (complex carbs) with a high protein/low saturated (animal) fat emphasis - good examples are oat based cereals/skimmed milk/fruit, wholemeal bread/eggs (not fried!!)/toms, wholemeal bread/low sugar beanz, fruit/nuts/cereal bar (watch for the sugar'n'fat in the bars tho').

Make a point of reading the packs of what you eat and portion sizes so you can get a rough idea of how many calories you are eating, anything over 2200-2500 and you are heavily over eating if your exercise levels are low - if you can be bothered to keep a food/exercise diary for a week or two you should be able to work out how much you are eating relative to your size/age/activity.

If you want info on healthy eating try here for starters http://www.nutrition.org.uk/

It's very easy to eat too much of fairly healthy stuff. I can lose weight fairly easily (and I'm 39, 5'10", 68kgs) if I

- Cut out random snacks (e.g. grabbing a couple of slices of malt loaf)
- Reduce portion sizes. This has been the key for me, having about a third less carbs than normal.
- Cut out (most) alcohol
- Exercise 7-8 hours a week, moderate levels.

When I'm exercising more, and with greater intensity, I eat a lot more carbs just to keep myself fueled.

I found [url] http://foodfocus.co.uk/ [/url] a pretty good way of tracking how many calories I was really consuming and how many I was burning exercising. Probably pretty useless if you eat out often and then have to randomly guess how many calories you've consumed though.

Your metabolic rate is what determines how much you need to eat. Ok, Im 40 years old, 5'4" and weigh 9stone. For as long as I can remember my weight has been stable and I eat like a horse.

Brekkie - Bowl of museli and various mixed cereals then thick slice of grannery / wholemeal bread, toasted with honey.
Mid morning - couple of bananas & and satsumas
Lunch - Big bowl of Pasta, rice, mixed veg, boiled egg & half can of tuna.
Mid afternoon - couple of satsumas
Evening - Full cooked meal
sometimes I'll snack a couple bits of toast later in the evening.

exercise is about 60-85 miles per week on the bike, road and off road, commuting to work and back - mileage depends on how far I run, running can be anything from 5-15mile per week and I'll try to fit in a swim or cross train - sets of press ups/squats/sit ups once every couple of weeks.

Eat when hungry, not before, don't over eat, don't eat crap, stop when full. Simples.

Kev

I'm currently just under 11st and running 10k in 38 mins or so, so pretty fit and training 4 times a week or so. I eat 3 meals a day and dont really eat snacks. Breakfast is museli - a big bowl, Lunch is pasta or a sandwich with crisps fruit and a chocolate bar. Dinner is usually something with loads of rice or pasta. I would easily be 13 st with snacks and being a weekend mtber

[i]Eat when hungry, not before, don't over eat, don't eat crap, stop when full. Simples[/i]

not that simples 😉

Eat when hungry yes, that way your calories will not go straight to fat.
Stop when full, no - when you're trying to lose weight you need to stop when you've eaten what you planned, not when you're full.
Your 'body' is very poor at signaling when it has consumed enough food, that's why people get fat in the first place, you will have eaten enough long before the 'full up' feeling ! Instead of satisfying yourself with 'fullness' try eating a more highly flavoured/varied diet and satisfy yourself with 'taste'
Losing weight really is mind over matter - and remember for every 'yummy moment' you've had when the weight's been going on, you'll need at least one 'ooh I'm a bit peckish moment' to get it back off.
Once overweight, simply switching to the 'correct' food intake won't lose you weight, it will just keep you at your present weight - to loose weight you need to be prepared to feel hungry and quite often 🙁

If you're putting on weight with your current food/exercise levels, you need to eat less and/or move more. Finding out what other people eat won't really help.

I'm 32, 5'11" and weigh just over 11 stone. I ride 15 minutes to work and 15 minutes back each day during term time - I eat like a pig during the term, as just that exercise is enough to make me starving hungry. During the school holidays I eat a lot less, because I just don't feel like it.

I'm currently trying to put on the weight I lost over Christmas - no appetite due to a chest infection - as I can now put on and take off my jeans without unfastening them.

[i]Your 'body' is very poor at signaling when it has consumed enough food, that's why people get fat in the first place...[/i]

depends how greedy a person is. I'm not greedy and I'm not fat.[13-14% at the last count] When I've had enough I stop eating. I see people eating when they're not hungry, they tell me they're not hungry but they are eating because the food is in front of them to take for free... they are fat.

Kev

another good food diary one is http://www.livestrong.com/thedailyplate/

although I found if you add in all the exercise you do each day you get too many bonus calories to lose any weight!

I'm better during term time, as i only eat what i take to work. It's holiday times and weekends i end up eating crap. Fortunately/unfortunately i now get 49 days off a year plus weekends, so that's a third of the year. Discipline required me thinks!

Don't drink alcohol at all so can't blame that. Need to throw away the big plates and get out on the bike.

I'm better during term time, as i only eat what i take to work. It's holiday times and weekends i end up eating crap. Fortunately/unfortunately i now get 49 days off a year plus weekends, so that's a third of the year. Discipline required me thinks!

I'm worse during term time, due to the easy availability of chips, chip butties, chocolate, bacon sarnies, etc. in the student common room. 🙂

6,500 calories a day for the last few years and a steadyish 9 1/2st, 5'11". If you ride 15,000 miles a year you can eat anything!

Cut down a bit now I have a proper job, only ridden 9,500 miles this year, probably down to 4,000 calories per day.

I eat a lot cakes and biscuits, really sweet tooth, and not many vegatables. I do eat a lot of fruit though. Also, I'm a vegetarian, don't drink very much and never eat 'ready meals.'

@mike, i don't have that problem, break times is an excuse to get away from the little (and big) sods so i'm not going in the canteen with them. 👿

I don't ride nearly as much as andrewh, but a 15 minutes each way bike commute would apparently lose you 11 pounds of fat in a year. I don't have the fat to lose, so I get to eat those calories because of my commute 🙂

My commute is about that length if i can get out of nursery run duties. Could be significantly longer on the way home as there's some decent riding near work :D. Not sure the missus would be that impressed though with a 3 yr old and a new born :oops:. She'll never believe i'm working late.

thats interesting miketulley - because i eat like a horse and commute about 20 mins a day + training .... all makes sense lol

alot of the diets i read on this thread strike me as not alot of eating even for sedantry lifestyles ... i reckon alot of you guys are having issues because your body is saying **** you im not loosing fat - your starving me ill need that fat ....

[b]trail_rat:[/b] [i]alot of the diets i read on this thread strike me as not alot of eating even for sedantry lifestyles ... i reckon alot of you guys are having issues because your body is saying **** you im not loosing fat - your starving me ill need that fat ....[/i]

I agree with that - but the food choice might make it seem that way. 3000 calories of healthy food is going to seem a [i]lot[/i] more than 3000 calories of "normal" food.

Trends coming out now. I'm 41, 5'10" 11.5 stone. I run 3-4 times a week, 10k, and do long and fast off road, or long and fast on road rides at the weekend. breakfast generally porridge, lunch a sandwich and maybe yogurt, normal evening meal. Don't drink, don't snack

Not read all the post above but TBH weight isn't really going to tell you much. Body fat % will - often those people who weigh the same today as they did 20 years ago will have a higher % of bodyfat. If you can't measure this, then measure your waist size - to put things in perspective I'm the same weight as you but am 6'3" - would say at the moment that I'm about a stone overweight but not really worried about that, what I'll look at is my waist measurement. In my experience as you get older you need to eat more healthy food or weight gain can be a problem (probably related to decreased exercise as much as anything) - find eating every 2/3 hours with small portions helps.

oh and for the trends 23 / 11 stone 10 / 6 foot 3

dont drink, or at least little enough to say that - ive had 2 nights out this year ....

breakfast 6am- fresh brewed coffee - branflakes and blue milk , 2 slice toast with honey/jam/peanut butter/marmalade

8am snack on fruit/dried fruits/seeds and nuts after i ride to work for most of the morning
12am - bowl of soup - 4 slice of soya linseed loaf - more fruit with a large tin ricepudding

3pm - sandwich - generally spanish sausage and salad

5pm ride home/shops/ + 1 hr most nights

7pm - pasta/potatoes , meat , salad , (as much as i can get on the plate and sometimes seconds)

ice cream every other night just for the calories.

i have issues keeping weight on ..... i used to eat that plus graze on crap my parents kept about the house. i dont buy shite so its not there to graze on lost near a stone since i moved out (3 months) and have since increased my diet vastly

Agreed it's not really about weight. 7 years ago before i hurt myself and had to change careers, i could carry 13 stone comfortably as i worked 9 hours a day as a brickie, went to the gym 5 times a week, danced loads, played football and rode bmx most days (and i was only 33!)

Now, i don't do physical work, can't do weights, have no time for the gym, don't ride bmx or dance and am nearly 40. The loss of upper body muscle means i can probably only carry off 11 1/2 stone, hence the need for losing weight. Turbo trainer coming out tonight if i'm not decorating again.

get registered on livestrong.com and buy a set of scales to weigh your food before you eat it. Do this for one month and see how much you are eating and where the majority of your calories are coming from.
i did this and have since lost 2 stone....just trimmed the amounts I was eating. I eat well, just portions were too big...Im quite shocked how many calories are in certain foods which you would think were healthy and also just how little food of the right type you need to be to be healthy.

rusty - can't believe you weigh that, perhaps you need to check your scales?

My only suggestion would be to reduce carbs, I reckon we all eat too many of them!

I used to able to eat anything, but now I'm older, I find I have to put up with being hungry quite a lot to stay the same weight because my appetite seems to have increased 🙁

i hate posts like this.......... 😉

CG - i didn't weigh that a couple of months ago 🙂 Put on a stone recently 😳

About 12 stone plus, just coming up to 50, height 5'8"
Brekky porrige or toast with coffee.
Lunch sarnie and fruit
Dinner proper meal?
Tea and coffee through out the day no sugar.
Hardly touch alcohol at all now.
I have trouble with my weight, I work long hours and if I commute it's only about three miles.
So I train hard when I can then race weekends that just about keeps things stable.
I can't cut down on my food.

The idea of keeping a food diary is really good. You have to be really honest though and write every little thing down.

Also we all talk about exercise but are you a mover? In other words do you plonk yourself in front of the telly/computer for hours on end, or are you the type that is always on the go, rushing about the house, up and down doing little chores etc? All movement adds up. All my skinny friends are the types that never sit still, always finding things to do.

OK, at the start of this year I weighed 14st 4, currently 12st 7. My tips? Be honest about the amount of shit you eat, and cut back a little. Buy a road bike, and use it.

33 / 6'3" / 14st 8lb. I was 13st 10lb back in the summer which was my lowest for 10 years but a lack of riding and increase in eating put pay to that 😐 I know I eat too much and I like my sweets which is not helped in the winter where I 'graze' more as I'm not out riding as much.
Last winter I got a road bike which meant that I started this summer with the weight and fitness I usually end it with; road riding is often at a steadier pace for and longer time so is great for weight loss.
In 2010 I'm going to cut back on the food I'm looking to get to 13st, below that I look ill.

ride to work
coffee, fruit (nana) and a muesli bar (organic one where poss with less sugar etc)
have veggie chips, dry berries or fruit, more organic muesli stuff on hand for snacks, odd biscuit or slice of cake if around although a bit more of an indulgence than a regular thing
lunch is either a homemade sandwich or some pasta/noodle stuff
afternoon is as per morning for a snack
ride home
dinner is rice or rice pasta or veggies as wife is vegetarian
decaf tea or coffee and something sweet but small

However, it is all portions; when I want to loose a bit of excess weight, I do a couple of things; totally cut out drinking, reduce the amount of carb/sugar after midday. Drinking equals beer which equals carbs and the feeling that I need to eat more to not get pissed. Carbs after lunch means that I don't have too much extra that the body stores as fat etc.

Also, make sure I am as hydrated as I can be at all times; this helps a lot I find. I guess you pass the excess stuff out to a degree rather than store it up...

commute and riding gives me over 200km a week; often over 250... work is a mix of unloading trucks = physical or sitting behind desk = sedate, but generally fairly active throughout the day

. I guess you pass the excess stuff out to a degree rather than store it up...

not at all, you use it or store it - nutrients in your urine is a very bad sign 🙁

[i]not at all, you use it or store it - nutrients in your urine is a very bad sign....[/i]

depends upon your definition of 'nutrient' - if you mean simply 'source of calories' then yes, it's not good - but nutrients such as water soluble vitamins, minerals and some organic salts are normally excreted via the urine if consumed in excess (eat some beetroot, asparagus or vit B complex to demonstrate)

if you mean simply 'source of calories' then yes, it's not good

well yes, of course, and none of those other things contribute to weight excess...

Yes, now I read that, I realise I know that can't be it.

Must be the excess beer and carbs of Chrimbo stopping me from thinking clearly! 😉

I guess the staying hydrated makes you feel 'full' and therefore you are not eating 'for the sake of it'/empty calories and that also it helps to completely process what you do eat, and not pass it before the complete calorific benefit of that food has been realised.

Should add a friend of mine has followed the reduced carbs after midday thing and lost a stone and a half over about 8 months and is now holding steady; he still has enough to function, but also gives his body a period to use up any 'extra' energy rather than store it as fat. EG not having seconds of pasta in the evening, but instead having some more veg or a piece of fruit to 'fill up'; sharing a naan bread with his wife when having a curry rather than one himself and then finishing hers off as she can't eat it all Doesn't sound like a lot, and in honesty it isn't, but the change has paid off hugely without the need for excessive regimes of exercise or food deprivation type dieting. You don't need that much in the evening when you are just going to go to sleep, but your body stores it 'just in case'. Obviously, if you had just had a big ride and were due another the next day, the scenario would be different.

Also, if you don't eat breakfast, do; stops the want to snack (which is often rubbish if you are unprepared) and therefore reduces the 'poor' calories that you do consume.

It's difficult when a vegetarian. My nutritionist told me that - very helpful (not)

It's difficult when a vegetarian

tosh - I've been veggie for 28 years 🙂