AIBU to ask how people stay slim without strict dieting?

Is it not genetics for some? I am naturally slim and I could not physically eat more than I do. I assume that’s to do with my metabolism. What I do eat is very small in portion compared to most. So I don’t diet I just eat until I’m full. I think that anyone not naturally slim, such as my dh, has to limit or change what he eats in order to stay slim.

I stay slim in the most unhealthy way possible 😄 I dont eat at all Sunday night to Wednesday afternoon.
Thursday - Saturday I eat pretty much what I like and drink absolutely loads of wine

Why? This is terrible. You must feel dreadful as well.

Why would you want to do this to yourself? Is the loads of wine to black out the trauma of not eating for 3 days?

Hilarious! Long term fasting is great for you. The wine not so much but I love it.

Gosh this is a difficult one. I am 52 and always been very slim, meaning there are no tricks or strategies, just long life habits. What I observe is that I eat smaller portions than others, I stop when I am full (eating too much makes me unwell), I cook a huge lot from scratch/eat healthy, I don't have a sweet tooth and I move a lot (I do exercise 3-4 times a week between weight lifting and running, but I also move my body a lot during the day for a million different tasks).

I feel fantastic!

For me, get to target weight by whatever means. I used mounjaro. Then weigh myself every morning and if over target, eat very very much less until back to goal. While I have access to scales, I will never be overweight again.

Not really if you make an effort and and walk everywhere

There's no point in posters saying 'I eat what I want', for me that would be, traditional pasties, pies, sausages on M&S sub rolls, a good amount of cheesecake and milky coffees. Everyone would carry body fat eating that. I was overfed as a child. I also used to treat myself with food. It is calories in vs calories out, with genetics and as we get older, what we eat thrown in. So the people eating what they want have developed good habits and have portion control.

This is true. I grew up eating all home-cooked meals. We never had takeaway or junk like pasties or frozen pizza, so it literraly never occurs to me to have them. The only thing i do differently to my childhood is i've cut out bread and biscuits.

If i want 'fast food' i microwave a baked potato with tinned tuna or make tomato soup with tinned plum tomatoes and some herbs.

My diet is really weird:

jarlsberg, Quorn ham and pecans for breakfast

avocado for lunch

paneer stirfry for dinner

Sounds nice (except i'd have real ham or a tin of tuna). You've just reminded me i love jarlsberg.

Pasties, properly made aren't junk food. But they were created for men working down the mines and later, farmers. Likewise the £55 pies M&S do for Christmas, served with vegetables are processed, but not junk. It's just too many calories unless you do a physical job or train/or do a sport. My Dad and my DH could eat them, my Mum and Nan etc would have a tiny slice. Unfortunately I wouldn't hold back and because I'm losing weight this will be the first year they won't be on my Christmas M&S order. But my Dad and DH, would often have busy days at work and probably eat too little.

Age has a lot to do with it. I was effortlessly slim until I hit my forties when I had to take drastic action. I'd got so used to being slim that I didn't know what I should and shouldn't do and I could eat what and when I wanted without any ill effects.

Get to 60 and you often realise that staying slim without dieting is no longer in your remit. And often it's diet, plus exercise, plus intermittant fasting, plus anything else you can think of just to keep weight stable.

The pasty filling, if homemade, is just some stew. So you're right, that's not junk. Sadly most bought pasties will be made with very thick, refined and processed pastry full of carbs, fat and preservatives. That's the 'junk' bit. The M&S one has palm oil as the 4th ingredient, so definately one to avoid if you're trying to lose weight!

I eat 3 meals a day, I have a good relationship with food and I think that really helps. I don’t see any food as bad, which also helps. I run and exercise too but I’ve never been on an actual diet, they’re pointless because as soon as you stop it all goes out of the window. DH does the cooking and he’s good at controlling portion sizes, which is also a big help as I think it’s easy to lose track of that. One of my friends is (to be brutally honest) huge and the portions you get in their house are insane 😂

I eat 3 meals a day, I have a good relationship with food and I think that really helps. I don’t see any food as bad, which also helps. I run and exercise too but I’ve never been on an actual diet, they’re pointless because as soon as you stop it all goes out of the window. DH does the cooking and he’s good at controlling portion sizes, which is also a big help as I think it’s easy to lose track of that. One of my friends is (to be brutally honest) huge and the portions you get in their house are insane 😂

I have lost 6 stone since 2023. So slowly and steadily, and I have kept it off. I started by adding swimming- loads of it- a mile (68 lengths) 3-5 times a week. I tend to do an early morning swim saturday and sunday before the rest of them get moving. It's not like perimenopause lets me sleep anyway. Next I added an aerobics class, then a more active job which took me from 10-12k steps a day to 16-18 steps a day. Then I was slim enough to ride my bike comfortably so I started riding my bike to work. I think exercise is the main thing that has helped.

During all this time I still enjoyed my food but I tended towards better habits

*I love home made flapjack using high fruit and less butter/sugar for a treat. I also make low fat cakes using yoghurt instead of butter, with lower sugar.
*I have a lot of air fried chips and potatoes. Get my crunchy fix without loads of fat.
*I cook from scratch and seldom eat processed food in terms of actual meal items, though I'm partial to an occasional low-sugar greek yoghurt, or my light mayonnaise.
*I never buy things like chocolate bars and I never eat more than 2 biscuits in a day.
I don't buy cake in a café, I only ever get a drink. Things like crisps only occasionally as they are so high calorie and easy to eat loads of.
*I never eat out/takeaway much as its bloody expensive and I can cook...
*I was never a bad cook but I was previously very carb-heavy and sedentary. Now I rarely eat carbs at lunch time but go for high protein. I weigh my evening carbs so I dont eat too many, this is the only weighing I do.
*I gave up pasta because it bloats me and I can eat piles of it- potatoes fill me up for longer and are more nutritious.
*I snack when I'm hungry! I have to with the amount of calories I burn. I tend to go for crackers/corncakes and cheese, fruit, oatcakes, tinned fish. At the moment my go-to "Seriously hungry after exercise" snack is a tin of tuna with light mayonnaise and pickles served on corn cakes with some red onion. Light mayonnaise us pretty processed though I do like it. Sweet things like home made healthier cake/flapjack.

• I do drink but only light tonic with gin or red wine, and only ever a couple of drinks (1 or 2) a couple of times a week, unless its a special occasion like birthday/xmas. If I drink I want a salty snack- I go for gherkins, olives mostly now not crisps! *If I really want a sweet treat in the evening I have a mini ice cream *I'm flexible and not perfect. If its a birthday I eat what I want. Sometimes I have days off, on holiday I've even had a week off. Losing weight long term and sustainably isn't about complete austerity, being miserable won't last for most people. It's about your overall habits. I used to fail because after one bad day I would throw it all out the window. Now I just start again the next day.

Like this I have gone from morbidly obese to "just" overweight. I'm still losing slowly and hoping to add more exercise... because I really love it now!!

Slim doesn’t equal healthy

All my snacks are fruit/veg, eat whole foods where possible, healthy fats (nuts/seeds)

protein, wholgrain carbs, veg for dinner/lunch

Don't drink loads of alcohol

2 minutes planking every night, 10 mins weights and 12000 steps a day

That’s it, isn’t it. And that’s what the jabs do. If I could just find things to look forward to of an evening that wasn’t food and drink.

Was this 'Supersize Vs Superskinny' where they spent a couple of days following each other's diet exactly, and then another period each following a healthy diet devised by the programme, and at the end their weight loss or gain was measured?

I remember one where the 'Supersize' woman was astonished to receive a Mars Bar for breakfast, but then she got nothing else all day until her evening meal.

People generally underestimate their daily calorie intake.

@SevenYellowHammers , there are loads of things you can do in the evenings that don't involve food and drink.
I don't eat anything in the evenings. It's much easier to not have a biscuit than to stop at two biscuits.

I tend to have most of my calories later in the day so plenty of scope for planned, healthy snacks.

I honestly think the biggest factor is car use. I get public transport/walk everywhere; so I regularly walk e.g. 25 mins to the gym, sometimes do a longer walk of about 45 mins to get to a high street with particular shops, and am always walking to and from the bus/tube.
I have family members who do everything in the car (semi-rural and shite public transport), and they are all overweight and have high blood pressure/other weight-related issues. Yes, there's probably some differences in diet too, but the major lifestyle difference I can see is transport.
Aside from that, I don't eat much red or processed meat (I might have bacon or ham once every couple of months. I can't remember when I last had beef or lamb). I don't eat a great deal of dairy (a bit of grated cheese on a chilli or baked potato maybe once a week; a few crackers with cheese as a snack maybe twice a week; I have alternative milk in tea/coffee; don't really cook with cream or much butter). Eat a few crisps or a chocolate biscuit as a snack a few times a week. I don't drink.
I do a dance fitness class, anything from once to four times a week. I also do yoga several days a week, albeit nothing energetic like astanga; I focus on stretching/balance/mobility.
None of this is a struggle; I hate cars and love walking. I eat everything I want and enjoy what I eat. I love dancing and yoga.