How people at a normal weight eat!

My co-workers are all in great shape. That doesn't mean they eat very healthy foods: some do, some don't. We have lunch together every day and since being on MFP, I've begun paying attention to how people of "normal" weight eat.

1. They eat small quantities of food.

2. They don't finish everything on their plate.

3. They talk while eating instead of stuffing their faces.

4. They move around more just because.

5. They are able to save half their lunch (often times) as leftovers for the next day.

6. They eat maybe one piece of candy, or a cookie, after a meal. Not 2, not 5, not 10.

7. Food (as a couple explained to me) is not for pleasure, even tasty food. It's for energy.

8. Over indulgence just doesn't happen.

9. They eat slowly.

10. No pigging out happens and if it does, it's not the overweight person's version of pigging out.

Small sample size, not really indicative of how "normal" people eat.

This is true. This is where the everybody is different comes into play. Everybody puts different energy demands on their body. Some "normal" weight people can pig out like a 400 lb fat man. Many can't. It just depends on the energy demands on the body.

My co-workers are all in great shape. That doesn't mean they eat very healthy foods: some do, some don't. We have lunch together every day and since being on MFP, I've begun paying attention to how people of "normal" weight eat.

1. They eat small quantities of food.

2. They don't finish everything on their plate.

3. They talk while eating instead of stuffing their faces.

4. They move around more just because.

5. They are able to save half their lunch (often times) as leftovers for the next day.

6. They eat maybe one piece of candy, or a cookie, after a meal. Not 2, not 5, not 10.

7. Food (as a couple explained to me) is not for pleasure, even tasty food. It's for energy.

8. Over indulgence just doesn't happen.

9. They eat slowly.

10. No pigging out happens and if it does, it's not the overweight person's version of pigging out.

I'm at my normal weight and none of those is true for me
and number 7 is just sad

1) It's true, I eat small meals throughout the day.
2)Not really true unless I'm eating out
3)Ehh...
4)Eh...
5)I save half of my dinner for lunch the next day, usually
6)yeah
7)Sometimes I eat for pleasure, other times I don't.
8)About once a week
9)Yeah, i do.
10)Pigging out happens sometimes, but what do you consider overweight person's version?

Honestly, I think it all depends on many factors such as: age, gender, and physical activity levels. Oh, and a person's metabolism. Some just have super high and some super low.

#5 is really bothering me..

If those 'normal' people are eating a properly portioned lunch and saved half of it then they are not getting the proper amount of calories in a day. If you are at home packing a single serving lunch why would you put enough for two days? What sort of things are they eating if they can safely be eaten at least 3 days after originally prepared? Unless you are talking about 'lunch portions' at restaurants, those are really too much food. If so, carry on and ignore me. If not, I call shenanigans.

I'd like to think I'm at a normal weight... and I eat chocolate almost every day (and usually not just 1-2 pieces). I always finish my meals... I eat for pleasure... I don't know who these people are that you're conversing with but they sound awful.

agreed!!!

And arent we forgetting the Wine?

10)Pigging out happens sometimes, but what do you consider overweight person's version?

I did over 5000 calories the other day when I was being pretty restrained. Can do much worse if not stopping myself.
(Free pizza at the climbing place I was at.)

You also have to factor in (for the most part) you only see them eat one meal a day. Maybe some of them have an ED or save all their calories for dinner or breakfast. No one sees me eat anything but a salad usually but I save all my calories for dinner.

Just further proof that I am not a normal person! That's ok with me. I'm creating my "new normal". I love food. I usually eat the entire plate because I've pre-logged it. I'm just learning to eat more of the right things "most" of the time.

Funny, at home I have a husband and two young sons, so I either see what a 215lb man eats, or what my kids eat.

At work, I see what/how firemen eat. I truly don't think I'm ever around anyone who eats "normally."

However, I like to think I'm at a normal weight. I enjoy my food and I eat every bite. I never put more on my plate than I can or want to eat. I portion out everything in measuring cups/spoons so I know exactly what's there. I don't eat slowly (especially at work) because half the time I'm either being called by my kids or toned out for a call on the truck. I exercise as much as I want to because I love it, so I burn a lot (well, when I'm not injured).

My point is, I really think you could pull 10 normal-weight people in off the street and you'd see 10 different sets of eating habits.

My best friend is "normal" and she eats like a pig...like it's the last meal she is ever going to have...ever....makes me crazy....I eat one piece of pizza she eats half a pizza. grrr...

^^this^^ My Best friend is the same way, always has been. When we were teenagers and ate at the mall, I would have 1 bean burrito and a water or diet soda and she would get a Taco Supreme and Nachos supreme and a giant Soda. Then a couple hours later say she was hungry and get a giant cookie and more soda, while I got 1 or 2 bite size ones and more water or diet soda. I was a size 10/12, she was a size 2. Today she loses weight by going to Zumba 2x and cutting out 1 soda a day(5lbs in a week) while I workout multiple times and count every calorie to drop just 1-2 lbs a week. My DH, also normal weight, also eats whatever he likes in pretty large portions and pigs out fairly often...6ft and 185.

How overweight people eat:

1. We horf it down so fast it looks to the average passerby like we're eating with a prison mentality
2. We want to finish eating as quickly as possible to as to get more food in before the 20-minute mark when we start feeling full
3. We eat so we can take a nap later- energy? Pffft.
4. If it's not tasty- well, we'll probably still eat it, but then eat something else to get the bad food taste out of our mouth.
5. #1 rule- when there is food on the table- NO TALKING.
6. We're disgusting, abnormal pigs who should probably be shipped off to an island with our own "kind" so as not to gross out the normies who delicately pick at their plates and declare fullness after three asparagus stalks and 2 oz of grilled salmon.

KK, off to go eat a donut hamburger! Peace out b!tches!!!!!!!!

I think the list shows how people who aren't concerned with losing weight or getting in shape eat - people that don't have any of that to worry about.

Whereas for us, we have a different relationship with food !

1. They eat small quantities of food.
I think you're confusing quantity and calories. The caloric density of foods varies substantially, and the bodies of healthy weight people tend to naturally compensate for this--so for example, people will generally eat more of a green salad (without fatty dressing, etc.) than they will a pasta covered in cream sauce. In chronically overweight people, this system appears to not work well.

2. They don't finish everything on their plate.
Again, finishing everything on your plate is relative. If your plate contains reasonable serving sizes, there is nothing wrong with finishing all your food. At home my (perpetually thin) husband almost always finishing his plate of food, because I plate small plates (we eat off salad plates), he even usually goes back for seconds, taking small portions of food until he is full. I think what you are trying to get at here is that they eat until they are sated, not to some arbitrary stopping point (like an empty plate)

3. They talk while eating instead of stuffing their faces.
It's also easy to get some wrapped up in talking that you don't realize how much you've eaten. The difference may be that the normal weight people you are observing are pausing to give their body time to realize when they are full--a good habit.

4. They move around more just because.
True on average I am guessing, but there are plenty of highly sedentary thin people.

5. They are able to save half their lunch (often times) as leftovers for the next day.
This depends entirely on how they are getting lunch. Restaurant portions are often way too large, so this would be a good practice. If you are bringing food from home, however, half of lunch might not be enough calories. I pack lunches for one day, if I don't eat the whole thing (and don't eat something else), I'm not eating enough.

6. They eat maybe one piece of candy, or a cookie, after a meal. Not 2, not 5, not 10.
In most cases, yes.

7. Food (as a couple explained to me) is not for pleasure, even tasty food. It's for energy.
There is nothing wrong with enjoying your food. Eating is a necessary part of being alive, and like other important functions (e.g. reproduction) we have evolved to find it enjoyable--there is absolutely nothing wrong with this. The problem is when we substitute food for other sources of pleasure, or use it excessively in other ways.

8. Over indulgence just doesn't happen.
No, it just doesn't happen regularly.

9. They eat slowly.
This is what you meant by number 3. Although this is far from universally true. If you doubt me, you can come eat dinner with my perpetually thin husband sometime.

10. No pigging out happens and if it does, it's not the overweight person's version of pigging out.
You're assuming all overweight people binge.

Edited for typos.