How much do you eat vs how much you think you eat?

fteale
fteale Posts: 5,310 Member
edited October 4 in Health and Weight Loss
I am always surprised by people's own assessments of how much they eat. I often here larger people say they eat almost nothing, but when I have meals with them, they eat far more than I could. Likewise I have several very thin friends and relatives who claim to eat constantly, and yet when I spend the day with them and match what they eat, I am starving by the end of the day.

Clearly the amount people think they eat bears no relation to the actual amounts they do. MFP has put this into perspective for me. I am on 1500 cals a day and most days it doesn't feel like enough, I feel like I am eating very little, but it's clearly the amount I should be eating for maintenance. Other people on here are aiming 1200 cals a day and claim they can't possibly eat that much (I usually pigeonhole them in the "insane" category in my head).

So why is our perception of what we eat so detached from reality?

Replies

  • shovav91
    shovav91 Posts: 2,335 Member
    It's all about what your body is used to. They have developed those habits over a lifetime, and while it is perceptual, it is what they indeed feel is reality. If you asked someone who used to eat 2000 calories a day to reduce their caloric intake to 1200, they will think they're starving while those who have adapted to it already just know it as habit.
  • jakejacobsen
    jakejacobsen Posts: 584 Member
    I find its more what then how much.

    I used to eat McDonald # 2 sausage McMuffin with egg, every morning with a large diet coke and the hash brown, Then lunch would be 2 McChickens large diet coke, and 2 plates of what ever my wife made for dinner. Never snacked much unless she made cookies then I would have 6-12 chocolate chip cookies with 2 cups of milk.

    I think I eat more food in weight/mass now then I did before but its much different food.
  • yvonnej1
    yvonnej1 Posts: 904 Member
    Although this is slightIy away from your point I think it also depends what foods you eat for your calories. If you eat wholegrains and lots of veggies you feel an awful lot fuller than if you eat processed or sugary foods that are more calorie dense and hence you don't get much quantity of food for your calories. When I was on 1200 calories a day a lot of my friends commented on just how much food I managed to get into my diary for that amount of calories, I genuinely was not hungry.
  • Sidesteal
    Sidesteal Posts: 5,510 Member
    I am always surprised by people's own assessments of how much they eat. I often here larger people say they eat almost nothing, but when I have meals with them, they eat far more than I could. Likewise I have several very thin friends and relatives who claim to eat constantly, and yet when I spend the day with them and match what they eat, I am starving by the end of the day.

    Not going to chime in as I don't have any valuable contribution to this, but I just wanted to say that I've experienced this, and I enjoyed your post, OP.
  • midwifekelley2350
    midwifekelley2350 Posts: 337 Member
    i work in women's health and i notice this every single day. when i do annual exams i always ask women if they are happy with their weight and i ask them if they feel like they eat healthy. it never fails...most say they aren't happy and most tell me they eat healthy (even when they are morbidly obese!). when we talk about nutrition, many women tell me that they hardly eat. i enc them to keep a food diary and bring it back for me to review with them...they rarely do!
  • Angelabec
    Angelabec Posts: 505 Member
    I do understand when people say they can't eat enough, because I can easily get to the end of the day having eaten around 1100 cals of veggies, lean meat or meat substitutes, and a small amount of carbs (i.e potatoes or pasta or rice) and fruit as snacks, without feeling hungry. I could easily eat the extra with a biscuit or something, but if you are avoiding those things, then it isn't easy. A lot people try and take the all or nothing approach, which I can identify with, and to eat 1200 cals of all healthy food can be a task. Sometimes people are a little too quick to judge.
  • PrincessEliNa
    PrincessEliNa Posts: 524 Member
    My best friend is really o verweight, and she blames it on all these medical things, and says she doesn't eat a lot, but when I have dinner at her house I feel like I'm about to explode from everything they've fed me. She and her family drink a lot of soda as well.

    I used to say I eat a lot, but as I've been logging my food in for the past month, I've realized that I was mostly starving.
    I now eat 1200-1400 cals a day, and never feel hungry.
  • Jen788134
    Jen788134 Posts: 36 Member
    I know what you mean. I think people who say they eat nothing are kidding themselves or are just clueless as to what food is high in calories. They pretend in their head they've eaten nothing so they can blame being over weight on anything else rather than over eating. People who say they eat loads and have lost weight probably feel like they eat a lot more than they thought they could do on a healthy diet.. Maybe they eat 6 small meals rather than 3 main meals so feels like they're always having to eat. Everyone's different, just do what feels best for you
  • Rae6503
    Rae6503 Posts: 6,294 Member
    Really 1500 is maintenance? That doesn't seem right.

    My maintenance is around 2200 and I have NO problems eating it. If I'm not paying attention (or am paying attention and just not caring) I easily eat 3000 a day.
  • liveinthemix
    liveinthemix Posts: 360 Member
    I agree w/what jakejacobsen said..

    I'm find myself struggling to reach my 1800 calorie goal because I've eaten so much throughout the day.. it almost sounds cliche, but eating healthier food more often makes me feel fuller and I don't have the desire to overeat...

    Before I started eating healthier, I'd have no problem eating 2 McDoubles (390 cals x 2) a large fry (500 cals) and a large soda...for LUNCH.. that's already 1280 cals not even counting the soda, and I'd be hungry again by dinner time..
  • AI1108
    AI1108 Posts: 488 Member
    I find its more what then how much.

    I used to eat McDonald # 2 sausage McMuffin with egg, every morning with a large diet coke and the hash brown, Then lunch would be 2 McChickens large diet coke, and 2 plates of what ever my wife made for dinner. Never snacked much unless she made cookies then I would have 6-12 chocolate chip cookies with 2 cups of milk.

    I think I eat more food in weight/mass now then I did before but its much different food.

    I agree with Jake. It's like when I eat with my co-workers. One of my coworkers thinks he doesn't eat a lot. He'll get a smaller plate but it'll be filled with like chicken & pasta. I'll get a salad bowl which is a little bigger but half the container is lettuce and then just whatever fruits & veggies I want to put on top. It ends up looking like a lot more but I'd estimate his pasta & chicken to be at least 400-600 cals, while my salad is like 200 cals.

    I have a thinner friend that has never dieted in her life and claims she can't gain weight. For a snack sometimes she'll open a snack size bag of doritos but then eat some and leave the rest in the cabinet. She's done with her snack. while her roommate will eat the whole bag. To both of them, they ate some doritos but really one ate a whole bag while one ate a partial bag.
  • stimpackus
    stimpackus Posts: 22 Member
    For me it depends on what I eat rather than how much. I aim for between 1200-1400 calories a day and have been eating this way for two years. It has become habitual. During the day I get told I eat like a hummingbird, but during the night I eat a meal equivalent for two people.

    Saying that, it depends on what I put on my plate that counts the most. As much as I have had people say to me "you must be hungry" - Truly I'm not. The complex carbs and protein that I eat during the day keep me going till night time. During dinner/supper my plate explodes with lower calorie foods so I can have a larger meal amount - Considering that is the one thing I was used to before I cut down my calories. My Mother and Sister are now starting to lose weight, and I'm sure if they consumed what I did when starting off they may feel ambivalent about it.
  • fteale
    fteale Posts: 5,310 Member
    Really 1500 is maintenance? That doesn't seem right.

    My maintenance is around 2200 and I have NO problems eating it. If I'm not paying attention (or am paying attention and just not caring) I easily eat 3000 a day.

    Yup. I am 5'5" with a small build, and weight 128 lbs. I have a very low resting HR (44BPM) and a low blood temp (around 96 degrees), so I seem to just work on a slightly slower plain than most people!
  • fteale
    fteale Posts: 5,310 Member
    Interestingly, I stopped eating wheat when I joined MFP, as it makes me swell up, but I never seem to feel full without it. Protein just doesn't make me feel full at all. Today we went out for pizza, which I didn't have, but I had a salad with dough sticks, and I have felt absolutely stuffed ever since (that was 9 hours ago). Despite my lunch being nearly 700 cals (I NEVER eat more than 500 in one meal normally), I came in under calories today.
    I think I need to reintroduce bread in small doses.
  • Missjulesdid
    Missjulesdid Posts: 1,444 Member
    Actually when I decided to make this most recent push at weight loss, I decided to just start logging my food without changing my habits just to get an idea of where I was.

    My perception of portion size for regular meal foods was pretty spot on... maybe from so many years of dieting.

    But I was underestimating my caloric intake due to not really acknowledging all the little things like the milk and sugar in my coffee, a pinch of cheese while cooking, a handful of pistachios, half of a devil dog that my husband left in his lunch bag.

    I was underestimating my calories by about 400! I honestly thought I was eating 1800 calories a day but it was really closer to 2200.
  • stimpackus
    stimpackus Posts: 22 Member
    Really 1500 is maintenance? That doesn't seem right.

    My maintenance is around 2200 and I have NO problems eating it. If I'm not paying attention (or am paying attention and just not caring) I easily eat 3000 a day.

    Yup. I am 5'5" with a small build, and weight 128 lbs. I have a very low resting HR (44BPM) and a low blood temp (around 96 degrees), so I seem to just work on a slightly slower plain than most people!

    Yep, same here. I'm 5'1 and weight around 113 at the moment. These calories I have now are sustainable to keep it where it is. If I wanted to reduce further I would have to change around the ratios of fat v carb and protein; not necessarily reduce the calorie amount again.
  • hikeout470
    hikeout470 Posts: 628 Member
    Agreed, this is what Mom says who is 100 lbs over weight, and yet when we all finish a meal, we have to wait another 30 minutes for her to stop eating. Every time I call her she is eating. At some point one must realize this is just not right.
  • Debbe2
    Debbe2 Posts: 2,071 Member
    I am on a medically supervised diet and for the first time understand what portion sizes should be. It amazes me how much I used to eat vs how much I need to eat to keep healthy and active.

    Thanks for the post! You're right!
  • sleepytexan
    sleepytexan Posts: 3,138 Member
    I am always surprised by people's own assessments of how much they eat. I often here larger people say they eat almost nothing, but when I have meals with them, they eat far more than I could. Likewise I have several very thin friends and relatives who claim to eat constantly, and yet when I spend the day with them and match what they eat, I am starving by the end of the day.

    Clearly the amount people think they eat bears no relation to the actual amounts they do. MFP has put this into perspective for me. I am on 1500 cals a day and most days it doesn't feel like enough, I feel like I am eating very little, but it's clearly the amount I should be eating for maintenance. Other people on here are aiming 1200 cals a day and claim they can't possibly eat that much (I usually pigeonhole them in the "insane" category in my head).

    So why is our perception of what we eat so detached from reality?

    very interesting read on people who can't lose weight because they are maintaining an overall too strict caloric deficit, combined with occasional small binges. Even though their eating overall is too little, they manage to never lose and they stay fat.

    700-calories-a-day-and-not-losing">http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/3047-700-calories-a-day-and-not-losing
  • cbirdso
    cbirdso Posts: 465 Member
    Although this is slightIy away from your point I think it also depends what foods you eat for your calories. If you eat wholegrains and lots of veggies you feel an awful lot fuller than if you eat processed or sugary foods that are more calorie dense and hence you don't get much quantity of food for your calories. When I was on 1200 calories a day a lot of my friends commented on just how much food I managed to get into my diary for that amount of calories, I genuinely was not hungry.

    I agree entirely with this but ALSO think it has to do with a person's own health, metabolism, and genetics.

    People may be similar on a macro level, but on a micro level there are important differences. The food that one person finds adequate might not be enough for me that has nothing at all to do with learned behavior. My body might need more protein, or more potassium , or vitamin D, etc. than yours for a variety of reasons and I might still be hungry even though the calories I ate are above my BMR+activity. On the other hand, nutritional deficiencies can suppress appetites as well and prevent ingestion of excess calories like a tendency toward acid reflux. Also, there are genetic differences that relate to fullness, satiety and many other factors. A good example of this is the difference between men and women. We all understand that men generally must eat more than most women. In the final analysis, a person might not actually be deluded about the quantity of food they consider adequate, they might just have needs that are transparent to the casual observer.
  • splackk
    splackk Posts: 163
    Interesting post and responses, I've noticed this too. My dad is one of those people who will go out to dinner with the family going on and on that he "hasn't eaten anything all day!". A few months back I visited and stayed with him a few weeks and we went out to dinner several times. He would say the same thing 3/4 of the times we went out, but living with him for that period I saw very well that he ate as much or more as anyone else should during the day, but he would treat himself to a 2000 calorie dinner as a treat for being so hungry! He's very overweight.

    Meanwhile, my SO who was meeting my family and visiting the States for the first time complained of being too full frequently, saying she had been eating constantly. In truth, she would eat a big meal for breakfast with everyone, but then skip lunch being "too full" and only nibble a small dinner, in the end maybe even eating less than usual. And she's on the verge of underweight, can't gain for anything but can lose at the drop of a hat.
  • kmbrooks15
    kmbrooks15 Posts: 941 Member
    This is interesting, because I was just thinking today about my eating. I'm really not eating any less than I used to eat, but because I'm choosing my foods more carefully, I'm eating lower-calorie foods. I can eat the same amount of food but have it be less calories because I'm focusing on eating foods that are good for me, which tend to naturally be lower in calories. I was probably eating about 2500 calories a day before, and now I'm between 1200 and 1500 (depending on my exercise for the day) and still eating the same amount. I guess that's why I've not really been hungry doing this.

    You're right, though, we often don't really have a proper perspective on the amount we're eating. Now that I'm measuring and weighing, it's helped me to recognize healthy portions. I used to think 1 cup of rice wasn't much, but it's actually more than it seems it would be.
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