Do you know how much you eat?

[GePap]

Some backstory.

Back in January of this year I found out I was about 56 lb's overweight. I decided to start an excercise program to lose weight. I did not think to go on a diet because I did not consider my diet too terrible (no obvious binges on high calorie foods). Well, after 4 months of regular excecise, I lost 10 lbs, but I did that in the first 1.5 months. I had been in a plateau for the last 2.5 months.

Then I read a book about serving sizes, comparing what you are supposed to eat to what you really eat. Its amazing.

Well,seeing my method was not working as I wanted, I began to eat according to the guidelines of this book. In two weeks I have lost an extra 6lbs, and hope to continue.


So, to the point: Do you really know just how much you eat, compared to what a 2000-2500 Calorie diet really looks like?

Did you know that a 14 oz Steak is double one entire days recommended meat servings?

Of that a large bagel is more than half one day's serving of grains?

So, just how many calories do you really think you eat, specially if you live in the US?

[General Ludd]

I have no idea, but I eat alot.


And what's the book?

[JohnT]

****, you only live once. Why spend your few years on this planet denying yourself the pleasures of life?

[Bosh]

**** no, Korean food is damn healthy I can eat as much as I want and have the occasional bit of fatty **** and not gain anything as long as I get a little exercise (daily sit-ups/leg lifts/push ups are working fine for now)...

[Dinner]

I had a similiar problem because I had bad eatting habits. Up until I was 25 I was really active and no matter how much I eat I still stayed around 180 (I'm 6'1"). After college I got a real job so I had less time to hike, run, go to the gym, etc plus I finally had money to spend so I was eatting out all the time. It didn't help I moved to a new city for work were I didn't know anyone (at first) so I ended up going out to bars a lot in order to find something to do and talk to people.

It added up and by 27 I'd porked up to 230lbs though I'm now down to 210. I'd like to drop another 20 so I can be back where the height to weight graphs say I should be but I doubt I'll ever be 180 or 170 again. That would be techniquely underweight though so that isn't a problem. The first 25 years sure were nice since I ate anything I wanted and never gained weight but they weren't very good training for real life.

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by JohnT
Why spend your few years on this planet denying yourself the pleasures of life?

And suffer all those disorders that are associated with overeating?

[BeBMan]

Never care much about it - I just eat what I like, not in excessive amounts, but I don't want that anyway. Usually I'm slightly over my normal weight during winter, and lose it again next summer.....

[Last Conformist]

I did some calculations on it last winter, and came to the conclusion that I ate 2500-3000 kcal per day. Probably a little less now - I don't get as hungy in summer.

I never exercise and am thin enough (6'2", 155lbs) that people regularly comment.

[Urban Ranger]

Yeah, you are skinny.

You must have got parasites or something.

[Dinner]

6'2" 155 would be seriously under weight. Are you sure you have the conversions correct? Ideal weight for a medium build man of that height would be 185-195 so if you are 155 then you are 30-40 pound underweight and should look like a person who just got out of a concentration camp.

[Last Conformist]

6'2" 155 lbs = 1.88m 70kg = BMI 19.8 = about lower end of the "ideal" range

I'm thin, but not extremely so.

[MikeH]

I eat relatively healthy stuff, with occasional naughty snacks. 6'1" 190lbs

[CerberusIV]

Age makes a difference. Until a few years ago I could eat pretty much what I wanted and it was a struggle to gain any weight. That's changed in the last few years.

I stopped eating meat (but not fish) about 3 years ago because I was having problems with all the stuff they inject into the animals. I recently stopped with potatoes and potato products because they started to make me feel unwell. So my diet is pretty healthy - fish, vegetables, rice and pasta and not large portions either.

However my weight has gone up about 10lbs since moving to Ireland despite starting a light weights routine 3 times a week and more cycling, walking and tennis. I weigh about 220lbs and am 6'6" tall. That's OK according to the BMI scale but I know I look a bit flabby and I should not with the amount of excercise I'm getting.

The problem seems to be partly fluid retention rather than fat so I've had to make some more diet changes and we'll see what happens (more green tea, less coffee and cutting out a few other things).

Sometimes it's not just how much you eat but what you eat.

Having said that I'm not cutting out alcohol (since I drink less than the weekly recommended limits anyway)

[General Ludd]

Originally posted by JohnT
****, you only live once. Why spend your few years on this planet denying yourself the pleasures of life?

Because people who are uncontrollably self-indulgent are invariably sociopaths?

[KrazyHorse]

Yes. I eat between 1800 and 2000 calories a day on average.

When I was a teenager I used to average 3500 a day.

5'11 160 lbs