AIBU to ask how people stay slim without strict dieting?

The people I know who remain slim have never dieted. They keep an eye on how their clothes fit and cut back when needed. Most of them are physically active too.

For me it’s:

-Small portions
-Minimal alcohol
-Limited UPFs
-Shitloads of exercise
-Sedentary for no more than a couple of hours a day (obviously sedentary at night!)

If you have the trifle in lieu of dinner, you'll be honouring this thread too.

www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/5582378-anyone-else-have-puddings-instead-of-a-savoury-main-meal-growing-up?reply=154982791

By eating a wholefood diet basically. Cook everything from scratch. Never drink pop, rarely drink alcohol. Have a bit of dark chocolate most days but only a square or two. Eat fruit as a snack. The people I know who are overweight regularly eat takeaways, eat lots of chocolate and crisps most days, drink pop and alcohol, eat ready meals etc. I think there is also something in the practice of putting on a couple of pounds on holidays or at Xmas and then never losing it and doing that every year for a few years and your weight has crept up. I think you have to change your diet and stick to it as a lifestyle, it won't work if you do it for a bit and then revert to eating UPFs regularly etc. I also think eating UPF snacks and ready meals and takeaways and pop and booze is so so bad for you and packs the weight on. I don't think it's bad to eat this way occasionally but even I find if I do that it's v addictive and they don't make me feel full and I just want more and more so I just tend to avoid most of time.

I’ve not got a sweet tooth, and I never snack. 👍

In my case I think it was many years of being fit and active. I'm now 64 and not as active but still reasonably flexible and notice (at work for eg) that I tend to move around and bend down and pick things up a lot more than my peers and probably most of the younger ones (in their 30s) do.

For many years I only eat when I'm hungry not because it is a particular time of day that a 'meal' should be eaten. If I only have a set time I can eat (a work break) I only eat what I need to and can wait until a better time.

Smoking and coffee probably keep hunger pangs at bay if I'm honest. I don't calorie count and I eat what I want (if I have it).

It's not genetics as I have 2 sisters who are overweight. They are just lazy and greedy if the truth be known.

I'm 63, 5'8" tall and a size 10.

I eat home cooked food, everything including meat, fish, pasta, rice, lots of veg, fruit, eggs, cheese, cream, chocolate BUT....

Everything is home cooked.
Nothing is UPF
I use herbs & spices to add flavour, no sugar-loaded pre-made sauces
I eat wholemeal versions of bread/pasta/couscous. brown rice
I eat 30 different fruit & veg a week
I don't drink alcohol or smoke
I don't eat sweets
I don't snack between meals much
I seldom have dessert
Chocolate is real 70% dark chocolate, not Snickers.
Coffee is decaf

I run 10-15k a week, do at least an hour's karate and lift weights at home.

I weigh about 63kg in the summer, 65kg in the winter. My siblings are all similar so maybe we have good genes, or maybe it was the fact both parents were overweight & had type 2 diabetes.

Only if her calorie intake is more than her output. Or she has a medical condition.

I'm slim (size 8/10) but not skinny without dieting. Some of it's genetics I reckon, some of its because I walk everywhere and run about 25 miles a week, plus other sport like tennis etc.

That said, my shape has changed in the last year or so (now 48) so I might need to start looking at my diet.

Decent quality food, and a wide variety of it. Plenty of protein and fibre. Lots of fish and steamed vegetables. I don't deny myself anything but I don't needlessly over-indulge. And plenty of activity. Having the dogs is a huge boost on the exercise front alone but we're also quite active as a family. We run, have bikes, swim, all go to the gym and my son and I do yoga. My son is very heavily focused on nutrition so when he cooks it's always good, daughter less so but she can do some good basics without jars/ready meals. One of the things that made the difference for me was the famous seed mix style things. Expensive but it did make quite the difference and I felt the lack of it when we were away earlier this year.

I wear tight skirts with buttons/zips.
NO elasticated waists.
I soon know when I’m overdoing it!

Some of it comes down to luck with personal preferences. Tonight, we are having a BBQ. I am having home marinated chicken breast and salad, because that is what I honestly prefer. DH is having sausage and burgers. Because that is what he prefers. He is overweight, I am not. But I don’t have to use willpower anywhere near as much as he does. I have everything, including dessert and alcohol whenever I want them, I just don’t WANT them enough to make me overweight. It’s not willpower, it just doesn’t appeal to me. I also get at least 20k steps per day and weight train 4 times a week, again, because I enjoy it.

Yes, low/no carb really works if you stick at it but the problem I have is that, after a few weeks of it, I find myself in the kitchen at 2am, compulsively necking down half a loaf of white sliced bread ...

🤣🤣🤣🤣 same! I actually started craving fruit and I’m not usually a fruit person (gives me heartburn).

Do you think I was just born or something? I've been in this body for a few decades now.

I broadly eat what I want, fairly healthy but not crazily so.
But I run 20-40kilometres a week which burns an awful lot of calories off

I struggled maintaining weight before I took up running. I don’t anymore. I was seriously unfit when younger.

Agree @spencerishot that there is luck involved with regards to personal preferences, but I do think many people can improve/alter their palate over time. Growing up, I was not used to fine foods at all. My mum was a wonderful woman and an excellent mum but not the world’s best cook. Vegetables were quite limited in variety as we tended to have whatever Dad/Grandad was growing in the garden, so it was often carrots, cauliflower and green beans. Mum tended to overcook them too so my overall impression was that vegetables were boring and didn’t taste of much. By the time we were older kids, Mum was working a lot more hours so she then relied on Bejams (Findus crispy pancakes), and later, ready meals from Tesco once we had a microwave. None of us had heard of UPFs then, and Mum didn’t know much about nutrition- not many ordinary people did.

Then when I moved out I was a student and lived on Supernoodles, takeaways and sandwiches from the petrol station.

By the time I had my own kids, there was far more variety of foods in general, especially fruit and veg (to the detriment of the planet, sadly), and I was determined to learn how to cook properly, especially as I didn’t work for a few years after I had the children, so I had more time to really learn how to cook decent nutritious food. And as a result, I now much prefer fresh, proper food over takeaways and junk food. I genuinely don’t get a dopamine fix from that type of food any more- it gives me heartburn and makes me constipated- my body clearly doesn’t like it. I still eat too much sugar- it’s my Achilles heel- and have no doubt I’d feel better for less of that, but all of my main meals are pretty healthy these days, and I enjoy it all and never count calories. And I still have the odd takeaway when the rest of the family is having one (we had takeaway pizzas this week on one of my DCs’ birthdays) but rarely enjoy it as much as something I’d make myself.

I use Kylie Pax’s podcast (it’s free)

she breaks down exactly how to do it without dieting, it’s all about mindset.

someone kindly shared her on mumsnet earlier this year and I checked it out. I’ve lost all my excess weight and kept it off easily. I don’t emotionally eat any more.

Sugary, fatty, salty foods are addictive, the more I eat them, the more I crave them. So I don't tend to have that stuff in the house and if I do, it's just enough for that eve and then none for a while. Once I don't eat that UPF stuff for a few days or weeks I don't crave them anymore.