How do normal people eat?

People eat many different ways.

Personally, I'm trying to learn to eat normal amounts of healthy food without requiring a scale. I look at my portions and follow my hunger. I try to spend days where I don't log anything until I'm done eating for the day...then I see how I did.

It's tough, learning to eat like a healthy, normal person when you never ate that way, lol.

I believe it can be done and am confident that I will do it.

But it's a process!!

I hope others who have mastered this will share how they went about it!!

I think everyone is different. I have never been overweight but like most people I eat food for comfort or if I'm stressed even when I'm not hungry. That's why I'm on MFP-to lose a few pounds and learn to eat when I'm actually hungry. In my case I eat a light breakfast (whole grain cereal) light lunch (usually some whole grain bread, a poached egg, and a piece of fruit, a good sized afternoon snack (Greek yogurt, small latte), and a larger dinner (around 500 calories). I have this eating pattern not because it is healthier than eating the bulk of my calories early in the day but because I tend to be hungriest in the evenings. Maybe if you figured out what time of day you are most prone to binging you could allow yourself to eat more of your daily calorie allotment at that time. I've already had quite a bit of success just by tracking diligently. Feel free to add me if you're looking for friends

I eat things like this and track all of it:
Breakfast: one Fage brand 2% Greek yogurt (either Strawberry, Cherry, Blood Orange, etc.). They are about 140 calories each and have a good amount of protein. Only drawback is the sugar.
Or 1 serving of Bare Naked protein granola (1/3 cup with 1/3 cup skim milk) and a handful of blueberries.

Mid-morning: 100 to 170 chocolate Muscle Milk light ready to drink protein drink (calories depend on the size of drink). They sell them at Vitamin Shoppe, Costco, Target, etc. High protein fills you up.

Lunch: either veggie salad with red wine vinegar dressing or container of chopped veggies (cucumber, cherry tomatoes, celery) with 1 T. Hummus. 1 Apple or other fruit. 1 snack size Cottage cheese. 1, 100-calorie natural almonds package. Sometimes I have a small can of albacore tuna in water instead of something else.

Mid afternoon snack: Think Thin brand lean fiber protein bar, or similar. About 150 calories.

Dinner: Either 1 chicken breast or 1 fish filet (baked, grilled, or broiled), a green giant frozen vegetable or a baked sweet potato (no butter), a fresh salad with red wine vinegar. Or 1-serving of turkey eggplant lasagna or zucchini turkey lasagna (no noodles in either dish!...see Jennie-o lean ground turkey recipes on their website), and fresh salad.

Evening snack: 100 calorie frozen yogurt bar, or 110 calorie rice pudding cup, or 130 calorie frozen banana covered in chocolate (Diana's banana babies). Or banana and peanut butter. Something like this.

I try to eat very little bread, pasta, white potatoes, cereals, pastries, candy, etc. It is hard but it works. I lost 35 lbs.

The problem is that "the way normal people eat" isn't appropriate for every person. I was eating "normally" and wound up morbidly obese. In order to be able to maintain without counting calories, you have to have a bead on how to eyeball what you're doing when you ARE counting, and eat like that. You should also continue to weigh yourself regularly so you can catch yourself if you're going off track. Not everyone will be able to do it. If maintaining for you means tracking forever, it may seem like torture now, but the outcome will be worth it.

Silverware?

I ask my healthy/normal friends how they eat & they think I'm crazy... I ask them how they know when to stop eating. For me, the answer is: when all the food is gone; for them, the answer is: when I've had enough. It's such a strange concept to me.

I've come to the realization that I won't be a "normal" eater ever in my life. Logging my foods, weighing foods, and making sure it's a priority will be my normal. I've lost 50 pounds before, 70 this time, and I'll never go through this again.

my husband is a normal eater, ( I am not) and lifelong slim guy.

Breakfast- usually just coffee, a few times a week he has a cup of yogurt with some cereal mixed in it.

Lunch- almost always a sandwich, with fruit/nuts or veggies/dip on the side.

dinner- a plate of whatever I cooked, rarely seconds...usually washed down with beer.

late night- chips and lots of hummus, sometimes popcorn. more beer!

Liftng4Lis wrote: »

Normal is a setting on the washing machine.

I was just getting ready to say this.

lisah180 wrote: »

I swear if I'm not counting every morsel I'm bingeing on junk! My goal is to lose weight, get and maintain a healthy weight an stay there. I don't want to count and plan forever but I don't know how normal (healthy) people eat. Do they just eat 3 meals a day, do they snack, have desert, treats etc. How often?

I understand where you're coming from.....i need to log or i'll just mess up.
Wouldn't class myself as "normal", but i eat just about anything (as long as it fits my maintenance calories).
I eat Breakfast, Lunch, another small Lunch , Dinner and normally have a couple of snacks as well (could be Almonds & an Apple, could be a packet of Crisps/Chips, could be a Doughnut)!
So just keep logging and if you do go over, just do some extra exercise.
This is where doing regular exercise really helps.
Good Luck!