Normal eating
ashleygroizard
Posts: 181 Member
What’s normal eating? What do people think about three healthy small meals a day and two to three snacks getting the right amount of nutrients needed for your body? Is that good for weight loss and converting food to energy and fueling my body? I’d like to know what other people think
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Replies
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Normal is just a setting on the dryer
In all seriousness, eat in a way that works for you. Some people like eating six times a day, others prefer one or two meals. What matters for weight loss is a reasonable calorie deficit. Achieve that in whatever way you find enjoyable and can stick to long-term, which will help you be successful. Eat a variety of different foods to get the nutrients your body needs.21 -
I think whatever food timing/phasing/content through the day that works best for you, taking into account whatever you are trying to acheive, is the right one. Don't like breakfast ? Skip it. Want a treat of somekind every day ? Have it. Love carbs ? Have them. Understanding your daily calorie requirements and working within them is the constraint.6
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What works for weight loss is a sustained calorie deficit over time. Eating a nutritious, satiating diet that you enjoy is also important for long term success.
How often you eat, what sized meals you eat, and when you eat is entirely personal preference. There’s no such thing as “normal” eating. There are people here who eat 3 meals, no snacks; who eat 6 small meals a day, who do Intermittent Fasting and condense all their calorie consumption into a particular time window, and people who eat One Meal A Day. There are success stories from each of those groups and many more. It’s all about personal preference and what works for your life.
Probably the most impactful things you can do are to set a reasonable calorie goal based on the amount of weight you have to lose, and then log everything you eat as accurately and honestly as possible, ideally using a food scale. If you exercise, log and eat back those calories burned. Do this for a period of 4-6 weeks, monitor and adjust. Does your diet satisfy you? Are you hungry? Are you happy? Can you see yourself keeping this up for the duration of your weight loss? If no, make adjustments accordingly.
Oh and read the stickied most helpful forum posts at the top of the getting started section. They have a wealth of information in them.6 -
"normal" for me is eating when hungry, only eating until not hungry, and not worrying about it all the time.
That said, actually doing that is another animal altogether. I've been eating at maintenance for a while now, but as I'm beginning to slide back towards old habits, it's time to start counting calories again.4 -
Normal for me is small meals. I do 5 small meals and a few snacks. I have to watch nutrition, I have several health issues ( see profile). I am homebound. I cook from scratch. I do 1300 calories daily.
Breakfast- midmorning - lunch - dinner - evening - snacks.
I have Rx meds that have to be taken with food or is severe nausea. And is dosages spread out over the day.
I like variety of foods and adding small bits of items for more flavor and on a Japanese Youtube I see was mention they eat way more different items, so more different nutrients in the same day, in a day than is in western food.
Also their small portions, bowls, ways of serving foods etc. inspired me.
So instead of a plain half sandwich cheese with a slice of cheese. I do 1/2 slice cheese, 1/2 tomato in thin slices, mini gherkin in bits,small salad leaf and a little sprig fresh herb.
Still have a few Easter leftovers, which get used up slowly as a snack.
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I don't even do the same schedule every day, and consider that perfectly normal. (I'm in year 3 of maintenance, but did about the same while losing.)
Usually I eat 3 meals, but in the Winter it's frequently 2 meals (I don't get up as early to go rowing: river frozen
). If I dither around the house for a while, then eat a solid breakfast, I'll go for hours without eating again, and end up only eating one more (big) meal in the evening. Once in a while I eat 4 meals, if I'm hungry and have sufficient calories left for it.
Snacks vary a lot. If I get hungry, I'll eat a little something; if I don't, I won't. Or I might have a small snack to get in some extra protein, if I'm going out for dinner and planning something that won't fully achieve my nutrition goals (I'm vegetarian, so protein at some restaurants can be limited).
Any eating schedule that meets your energy and nutrition needs, while fitting in with the rest of your life, and keeping you full and happy, is a "normal" schedule, IMO.4 -
"Normal" is a completely subjective term and will vary between individuals. And it can change, (in my case quite a bit over the past few years). For me right now 'normal' is 16:8IF along with a moderate carb intake (50g-75g net carbs). A month ago I was eating a high carb, mostly plan based diet and no IF. Who know's what my 'normal' will be next month. I like to experiment with different ways of eating-it keeps maintenance from becoming boring.0
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Normal for me is the way my mom fed us when I was a kid in the early 1960's, when none of us were fat and neither was anyone else I knew. That was three meals a day with a small after school snack and dessert only on special occasions. Restaurant meals were rare.6
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ashleygroizard wrote: »What’s normal eating? What do people think about three healthy small meals a day and two to three snacks getting the right amount of nutrients needed for your body? Is that good for weight loss and converting food to energy and fueling my body? I’d like to know what other people think
I think normal is sticking to what you feel is mostly natural or comfortable. Abnormal is overthinking it and second-guessing yourself. Weight loss requires a calorie deficit. The rest is up to you.1 -
As I recall, you mentioned being recently diagnosed with an eating disorder in another thread, right? I mention it because EDs can really skew your perspective of what normal is and I'm not sure that the advice to trust your body or to eat the way that works for you is the best advice in this specific instance. Because your eating disorder is always going to lie to you about what is and isn't normal, so it may take a while before you're comfortable with the way that you should be eating, if that makes sense.
That being said, and hopefully you're taking advice from your treatment team on this, I think that three meals and three snacks sounds like a perfectly good meal plan. I don't think they even need to be small meals, just regular size meals that fit your energy/nutrition needs. Personally, I usually do two meals and then snack throughout the night. But that's just because I tend to be hungrier in the evenings and I like to save some calories for after dinner. But that's what works for me and you should work with your doctors to find what works best for you.8 -
'Normal' means different things to different people. "Normal" in my opinion means what you do on average. Normal is your most common routine from day to day. For example, in terms of my "normal", I eat three square meals a day, and 2 sometimes 3 snacks besides (morning, noon and night). It's what those meals and snacks consist of that makes all the difference. Most of my day consists of vegetables and fruit, with some lean protein thrown in for good measure. Coffee in the morning, water most of the day with maybe a cup of almond milk, tea or kombucha in the afternoon just to break up the monotony a little. That's my definition of normal, but of course everyone is different. It takes a little experimentation to find what works for you.0
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I eat 5-6 smaller meals a day. This works best. An example of my day. Breakfast 1/2 cup fresh berries/5oz plain Greek Yogurt/12 GM Cranberry Granola a drizzle of honey and coffee. Lunch 1.5 cups homemade Chicken Vegetable soup with 1.5 oz Oyster crackers. Snack 4 Chocolate rice cakes (small) with a smear of peanut butter. Dinner 8oz baked chicken thighs with a side mozzarella/tomato salad. If I have snack after dinner it may be a Raspberry popsicle or a small ice cream sandwich. I try to stay at around 1300cal/daily. I work out 5x weekly burning about 300 calories each day. I only count back 1/2 of my calories if that.0
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diannethegeek wrote: »As I recall, you mentioned being recently diagnosed with an eating disorder in another thread, right? I mention it because EDs can really skew your perspective of what normal is and I'm not sure that the advice to trust your body or to eat the way that works for you is the best advice in this specific instance. Because your eating disorder is always going to lie to you about what is and isn't normal, so it may take a while before you're comfortable with the way that you should be eating, if that makes sense.
^^ This.
My therapist and dietitian *insist* that it's "normal" to eat a snack every day, especially when one is a distance runner. I maintain that they're full of bull feces, but I also recognize that my brain is not fantastic on determining what "normal" meal patterns are.
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If the question is, can you eat without doing anything fancy like intermittent fasting or six small meals, and still lose weight, then yes, you can. In fact I lost 125 lbs and normalized my blood sugar readings while eating an ordinary diet, three meals a day, at least one snack, and usually two. What matters for weight loss is calories in versus calories out, and if eating in this way makes that easier for you, then it will work.4
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I'll be honest.. after years of stress eating and trying to get back on track using things like WW and SW my minds a bit warped on what's normal.
After getting back into tracking on here, I just eat as and when I feel hungry. I tend to also do my meals back to front in that my biggest meal is first thing in the morning with my smallest at night2 -
diannethegeek wrote: »As I recall, you mentioned being recently diagnosed with an eating disorder in another thread, right? I mention it because EDs can really skew your perspective of what normal is and I'm not sure that the advice to trust your body or to eat the way that works for you is the best advice in this specific instance. Because your eating disorder is always going to lie to you about what is and isn't normal, so it may take a while before you're comfortable with the way that you should be eating, if that makes sense.
That being said, and hopefully you're taking advice from your treatment team on this, I think that three meals and three snacks sounds like a perfectly good meal plan. I don't think they even need to be small meals, just regular size meals that fit your energy/nutrition needs. Personally, I usually do two meals and then snack throughout the night. But that's just because I tend to be hungrier in the evenings and I like to save some calories for after dinner. But that's what works for me and you should work with your doctors to find what works best for you.
This. Ignore what I said. This.2 -
I work.. a lot (love my job)
I live solo
I can't, don't and won't cook.
Normal for me is:
Breakfast: Coffee and maybe something light (yoghurt, piece of toast, etc) when I get to work.
Lunch: Skip it. I'm too busy and never hungry during the day.
Snack: Maybe cheese and crackers, muesli bar or something as mid afternoon if I'm peckish
Dinner: Grab some take away (burger or kebab) on the way home, or chuck a 'man size' frozen dinner in the microwave or a pizza in the oven at about 8pm and then 1 or 2 (or more if I have the calories left) fun size chocolate bars for desert.
That's pretty much how my normal looks. Lost about 45kg (100lb) eating like this. Went from being couch bound and so unfit I avoided anywhere that had stairs to having just completed my first triathlon eating like this. Went from having my doctors worried to having "just great, really great" test results and health markers eating like this.
Most importantly, enjoyed every moment and have never struggled a day getting these results eating like this.
But that's my normal and no one else's. I can't do someone else's normal anymore than someone else can do mine.3 -
I would think it would vary for each person depending on lifestyle and preference.
For me on a typical work day I eat 3 square, balanced meals during the day with no snacking or eating at night.
The weekend varies. Sometimes it's one big meal and other times it's 2 decent sized meals and maybe I'll go out for dessert or have a treat.
My good friend on here does great grazing all day and another person is does one meal a day and is maintaining nicely. Everyone is different.4
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