Two thirds of adults in England are obese or overweight. It would make as much sense to ask what is different about the other one third.

I imagine there are as many reasons people are slim as there are that people are overweight.

I am slim because I really want to stay slim and detest full-on dieting. It was easier in my younger years. But after 30/40 it has become harder. In my 50s, I have to ignore ‘food noise’ and not eat as much as I want to, in order to stay slim. If I see my weight creep up a few pounds, I have to cut down what I eat for a week or so. I have to weigh myself once a week now I have passed 50. I weigh four to five pounds more at 54 than I did at 18.

I would love to eat what I want. But the truth is, I like being slim more and to be able to wear what I want etc as I like fashion. I also want to stay fit and active as I age.

I guess I have found a way that works for me. Everyone is different.

I'm fat. It's because I spend all my time looking after other people, I don't even know how to put myself first.

I also have money to spend, and I'm busy, so I eat out or get restaurant food delivered most nights. I hate exercise and all kinds of sports so I wouldn't do it even I was a billionaire and had all the free time in the world.

I think people who are slim have had a good childhood where healthy habits were established early, and/or are very good at putting themselves before anyone else with no compromises. I guess there's also the edge case of people who can eat tons without thinking about it because they're super active.

I would like to be thin and wish I'd had parents that cared about healthy eating so it would be easier for me now. But also I'd hate not to enjoy food. I also dread the opposite extreme of being the kind of person who spends an hour getting ready and so much of their life in general on their physical appearance instead of something that has more impact on the wider world. I think there's a happy medium somewhere.

I wish people would understand that slim people put in the effort to be slim, its not like you diet to a certain size and then a switch goes off and you magically have lots of healthy habits and don't miss recreational eating. It's hard! Every night , every meal, is a test of willpower not to overeat.

None of this applies to myself. I make no effort to maintain my size. I have always been slim, and eat what I like, but will stop, when full. I have no desire to consume cheap UPF though, and make my food from scratch, because I care about providing my body with food that will benefit me, nutritiously.

@Boope weight gain isn't inevitable as you get older but it becomes IME harder to maintain, you need fewer calories but appetite doesn't change and in some cases spikes. You also lose muscle mass when you age. Mums/Aunties etc are generally 'bigger' than 19 year old daughters etc.

It's a whole complex of things.
Fatty, sugary foods are far more available than they were 40 years ago when I was a teenager: they are relatively cheaper, people buy coffees from Starbucks with no idea how much sugar is in them, and portion sizes of things eg cakes in cafes have increased.
We know that UPFs are the killer when it comes to gaining weight, but they are very hard to resist. We eat way more of them than we did even 20 years ago - ready meals etc. Foodstuffs contain sugar that just don't need it.
There are far fewer manual jobs than there used to be, and people used to walk (maybe to the bus stop) or cycle more to get around. Now they drive.

I'm well within a healthy BMI, though carrying more fat than I should be. I don't eat massive portions (unless faced with a roast dinner), I get a reasonable amount of exercise, and I try not to eat too much crap (that is, UPFs - currently failing due to Christmas leftovers and DH buying biscuits).

In an ideal world I would eat and drink what I liked without gaining weight. Unfortunately because that isn't the case I have to watch what I eat and eat "sensibly" so a day with something like porridge, soup and spaghetti bolognese and no wine instead of a sausage, egg and cheese sandwich, pasta with cheese for lunch then a pizza for dinner with the best part of a bottle of wine.

I still have times when I go a bit off the rails like Christmas and I do gain weight but I have to pull it back in order to lose what I've gained and not gain more.

I will never be one of those people who never indulges though, today I've had a bit of cake and some rocky road and tomorrow I'm going out for drinks.

I do a lot of exercise though so that does help keep the weight off and give me the extra calories to eat stuff that isn't just salad. I could never live on 1200 calories, I would be absolutely miserable (and starving)

Some people will happily choose a salad over mac and cheese and it doesn't feel like a hardship.

Twiglets1 I am the same as you! Chocolate and sweeties are my downfall Im afraid .My slim friend will only have one course when out for lunch .My other friend and I will have at least 2! Dessert is always my choice ,less keen on starters .I like to look nice obv, but not obsessed by my dress size.My slim SIL also watches what she eats ,and admits she is often tempted .Just more willpower I guess.I also wonder if in the 60s/ where according to figures, some 70% of the men here and 40% women smoked (1962) played a part in previous generations weight(not general health obv).I was slim as a child/young woman but it has crept on over the years .

This is very true of me. I am not skinny but I am slim. Aged 66 and the same weight as I was aged 26. 9.5 stone and 5'8".

I could gain weight.
If I ate pudding every day, biscuits between meals, cake in the afternoon, big crusty sandwich or chips for lunch, ice cream every night, I could probably gain a stone. I don't do those things because I never have. It's a lifetime habit. I don't actually feel deprived because I eat all those things sometimes and I eat anything I want at meal times.

I've been obese, overweight and I'm currently at a healthy weight. I have PCOS so getting to a healthy weight wasn't easy. I'm gluttonous to my core. I think about foods all the time and love snacking. I could easily polish off a share size bag of maltesers everyday.

For me the only thing that has worked is intermittent fasting. I have tried moderation and it doesn't work for me. But if I know I can't eat until my eating window I'm somehow okay with that. My blood sugars improved dramatically and my appetite reduced. I made other minor changes like going to bed earlier to watch tv because I was a late night snacker. I think it will always be hard work for me and I'm a fat person in a slim body.

My DH has never been overweight and just isn't motivated by food in the same way. He can eat a square of chocolate then leave the rest for weeks or forget about it. He doesn't like feeling too full and will leave food on his plate, whereas I would force it down.

That portion of roast chicken? 600 calories

Actually chicken is amazing and so few calories and fat for a good portion, and an absolute ton of protein. I have a good appetite but I don't think even I could eat a 600 calorie portion of roast chicken. Fried chicken though, sure. Chicken stopped me from being pescetarian as I realised what a convenient and tasty meat it was.

Nuts though, yeah. Good for you, but can you stop at ten cashew nuts?

Anyway, I'm not the best person to ask as I have been trying to get back just to BMI 25 for 15 years, since my weight settled after having DD2, and in fact I struggled to get to BMI 25 before I go pregnant but just about made it. But before I had DD1 I was BMI 20. I can't say that I never struggled with my weight before then, it went up and down from BMI 18 to 25, and it was at the top end by Y10 at school, say, but I was never very much overweight until after having children.

What I would say is that in all my efforts to keep exercising and lose weight I am actually 6kg lighter at age 49 than I was age 35- and most women put on 5kg - 15kg in that time so that in itself is a good thing, though as I get older and going through menopause and some of the cardiac aspects I have been reading about (and given my DM had a MI at 53) I am very keen to hit BMI 24 this year which means losing another 13kg and not strain my heart or other organs with extra weight. And I am 13kg lighter now than my heaviest in 2016/17.

This is you, but its not me.

I am slim but its not an effort. I am just in tune with my appetite. I eat when I am hungry and I stop when I am satiated. I eat what I want, when I want. Its really not an effort.

I used to overeat and have no connection with my hunger at all as I was just constantly overeating.. But I spent a year changing that (that year was hard work and effort) and getting in tune with my appetite and I am glad I did. For the two decades since I did that, food is no longer a source of stress or emotion or denial or reward at all.

For me it's because I want to look good, so I eat less (consciously) and exercise (moderately, usually just walking the dog). People might think I'm vain, but I take pride in my appearance and I care what I look like. I get my hair and nails done, regular facial treatments, do my make up (most days), love clothes, so being slim (to me) is an extension of that. I also have a public and professional facing role and don't want to stand doing a presentation worrying about what I look like.

I haven't always been slim though but made a big change nearly 10 years ago (after having dc). I lost 4 stone doing 5:2 and exercise. It really changed my eating habits. I don't eat now until around 2pm. I don't mind feeling hungry (just keep myself busy with work) and it usually comes in waves. I always have a big satisfying and tasty dinner. It's often harder to maintain at the weekends as there's less structure, but I allow myself treats anyway- wine and a takeaway/ meal out so I never feel I'm depriving myself. I always have a bag of almond and dried mango in my bag if I'm peckish to stop me buying a convenience sandwich if I'm out and about.

I don't agree that healthy food is always more expensive, yes certain fruits are but a lot of my veg is frozen and about £1 a bag in Lidl.

My friends are mostly slim. There's a mix between those who consciously monitor what they eat/ exercise and I have 2 who just aren't interested in food. I would say being in that social circle probably motivates me further.

After yo-yo dieting throughout my 20-30s I'm simply done with willpower needed to resist food noise.

But I found environment makes big difference for sustained effort

• for example, when I am on holiday in interesting location, I just walk 10+ miles a day taking in all sights and I have little interest in food.
• but at home I have no interest in taking a walk around the block/park I've seen 1000x times
• my job is completely sedentary
• I wish I were exercise junkie and will not move unless absolutely necessary, but I was good at moving when I had toddlers - parks, outdoors and museums 2+ hrs every day. Too bad I don't like dogs.

Yes.
Smaller portions to begin with and stop eating before they feel full. No need to clear the plate unless you want to.

@User14March I don't accept that weight gain is inevitable as you get older. As long as you maintain lifelong good habits it's not hormones that make you gain weight it's food.

The statistics show they are likely to be more affluent, know more slim people ( there is really interesting research showing a sort of social contagion effect of obesity, even when two people never meet in real life), and to live in nicer areas. Affluent people can afford exercise gear, to travel to active hobbies and classes, live in nicer and safer areas to walk and run in, have easier access to healthy food and can afford it, and are more likely to be able to afford the things that free up time for exercise. They can also afford to do a wider variety of things with their free time, so less likely to crash with plates of cheap, calorific food in front of the tv each night.

I live in an affluent area and the vast majority of people here are overwhelmingly a healthy weight. Very few are obese.

Because I want to be slim more than I want to eat something nice.

I would love to eat dessert everyday or have seconds every night. I love eating.

There is nothing I like more than an evening on the sofa, double portions of dinner, followed by sharing a big bag of crisps or chocolate.

But I can't do that and be slim and being slim is more important.

I actively have to fight the urge to eat for fun all evening because the kitchen is always tempting me with chocolate and other delicious things, but I have to cognitively tell myself that I'm choosing not to eat.

I'm not slim because I'm happier eating smaller portions (I can eat huge volumes if I choose, and sometimes I do at a carvery or christmas) I'm slim because I virtuslly always say no to dessert, snacking and seconds. It's hard. I wish people would understand that slim people put in the effort to be slim, its not like you diet to a certain size and then a switch goes off and you magically have lots of healthy habits and don't miss recreational eating. It's hard! Every night , every meal, is a test of willpower not to overeat.

They do not eat as badly as those who are overweight

I think it’s self control. I love food and could quite easily scoff cakes and chocolate all day, but I spend a lot of my time hungry waiting for meal times or restricting myself to a small dessert. If I do have a few bad weeks of giving into my cravings they are usually followed by a few weeks of strict dieting to lose the gained weight. I love being a size 6 so that always wins out for me.

I sometimes wonder if the constant snacking which children seem to partition in sets the bad habits throigh their lifetime. No one seems to go anywhere without snacks.

I’ve a bmi of 23. I don’t drink at all. Don’t have milky or sweet drinks, just water or herbal tea. The majority of my food is vegetables and protein. I will have a treat each day but it’s something like 2 biscuits. If I fancy a cake I would have one, but it would be rare. I do get hungry, but don’t have to immediately eat

My thoughts on this are that I never felt a physical or emotional hole that needed to be filled, until I hit menopause. I was always slim with little effort, I ate what I wanted but I never wanted to eat that much.

Menopause hit and suddenly I'm hungry all the time and am beginning to understand the term "food noise". I also have long portions of some days of the week where I'm not busy enough to be distracted from food. During those times I have long conversations with myself (in my head!) about "are you hungry or thirsty or tired? If you're hungry, is it for carbs or protein or sugar? What have you already eaten today? What have you planned for dinner? What needs to be finished from the fridge before it goes off? Remember, you don't have to eat all of it, you can always put half back" etc etc etc. It's so boring and tiresome and I never used to be this way. And I'm only 5lbs overweight!

Basically, when I was slim food was just a thing like drinking water and walking to the station and making sure I dressed appropriately for the weather. Now, there's a physical urge inside me to eat eat eat. It's as physical a feeling as my biological clock was.

I always find I lose weight after drinking, I am not sure if its dehydration but I would lose 3-5 pounds the morning after a party or heavy night out, also when following a diet I ignored the calories in alcohol and still lost 3+ pounds a week (although this was when I was in my 20s and I dont really drink now)

Input more than output for the 2/3.

Nailed it for the other 1/3

How realistic is that stat though? I assume it's based on BMI? I'm technically overweight apparently, but I'm a size 10, eat well (probably not eating enough actually), exercise, and look pretty slim. But I guess I'm in that two thirds?

And drink I think for many people (me included at times).

Plenty of calories in alcohol.