If you maintain a healthy weight, deliberately and fairly effortlessly, what do you eat?

[Diemme]

I really want to lose weight by learning how to eat like a normal person. I'm around 4 stone overweight and have tried every diet under the sun. But diets just make me obsess about food and lead to binges. I've also tried intuitive eating but that doesn't work either. I reckon there has to be a middle ground. I'm really interested in what would be a typical days food for someone who makes an effort to stay slim but isn't obsessed with healthy eating and doesn't find it too taxing.

Portion size is such a significant factor.

Friend of mine is overweight and is dieting. And by her account she was watching what she ate and making healthy choices.

She and the kids came over and we had a chippy tea and she said that’s fine she could have cheat meal but she wouldn’t eat loads. Great.

She ate a full sausage and large chips, some peas and a big dollop of mayo, 2 slices of bread and butter. Now for me, that’s a hella lot of food and I would not be physically able to eat even half. But for her, no problems and she ate some of the kids chips too.
Her portion sizes are probably double what I would eat. Double. I was shocked!

She looks at what I eat and laughs! But I eat a normal amount and so do my slimmer mates. So for me I think portion sizes as well as food choices are key

Agree that a lot of it is portion size. The portions we are presented with today are far larger than a single meal for one person, so if you eat it all, you will probably gain weight.

OP you will like a programme about this very question on Channel 4 at the moment:

www.channel4.com/programmes/the-truth-about-slim-people

A few days of cutting portions in half helps me get used to it - also swear by 9000 cal a week for weight loss (depending on your size) so can eat pizza one day if I want then just stick to salads the next to compensate. It’s really easy, if you use MFP

3 eggs soft boiled with porridge or 2 slices of toast, berries
Chicken avocado salad with cheese (plenty of protein to keep full)
Dinner - some meat/fish with lots of veg
For a sweet treat occasionally may have a scoop of Oppo ice cream with almond butter or coconut kefir

Snack on raw veg with hummus, oat crackers with cheese or crackers with almond butter and dark chocolate

I don’t eat high GI carbs, and eat most carbs earlier in the day. I eat lots of fat (love butter ha)
I try not to eat too late (before 8:30)
Roughly 1700 - 2100 calories a day
I walk a lot too

I’m a size 6, weight rarely fluctuates however I have very bad pcos (I’m insulin resistant) so can’t eat too many carbs

5’ 8”, size 8/10 depending on time of year

Weekdays, typically:
Whole pot of Lidl fruit or vanilla skyr yoghurt (the 300 gram one) with whatever fruit we have (avoid bananas though) or 3 boiled eggs

Lunch: half bag crunchy salad with 2 tins tuna (only once a week though, Mercury) or half large pack meat trimmings (the 400 gram ones) or pack of Lidl or Aldi feta/cottage cheese stirred through. Or soup if we have some left over.

Dinner: huge plate non-starchy veg with couple of (frozen are cheapest) chicken breasts, fresh mackerel, piece of salmon, veggie sausages, black pudding (or whatever protein was in the reduced section)

Bits of fruit here and there, few peanuts if we have them, couple of cups of coffee/tea with milk, lots of water. No alcohol in the week. Generally eat differently to the family, but it’s not a faff, bit boring but seems to work for me and I’m rarely if ever hungry.

At weekends, high days and holidays I eat what I fancy (same as the family), drink wine, have bread, pasta whatever.
I’m lucky to have the time to walk 10 miles, 5 days out of 7. If I couldn’t, at my age I’d have to cut the portion sizes. I’m generally active too.

I’m not naturally thin, lost masses of weight few years ago and had to work really hard on that, 1,200 calorie diet for about 8 months. It’s been pretty easy to maintain though and I don’t count calories any more. I’ve found exercise the key.

I just don’t eat in between meals.

Breakfast - porridge and a banana, coffee
Lunch - soup (containing protein of some sort) and a sandwich or packet of crisps, piece of fruit or a biscuit
Dinner - something like stir fry, fish pie, pasta etc with lots of vegetables followed by either a yoghurt or a bit of chocolate (I like Bendicks bitter mints which are just enough for something sweet)

Although this has gone out of the window a bit during the first weeks of breastfeeding! Now I eat all the time

I'm also around 4st overweight. I started slimming world 7 weeks ago and have lost 14lbs. It's so easy to follow and I can eat loads on it!

I've also started the couch to 5k podcast and on week 4.

A typical day in slimming world for me would be:

Large bowl of fruit and Greek yoghurt

Sandwich (whole meal bread) and large salad (or cous cous and roasted vegetables or homemade soup)

Evening meal something like that dinner, curry and rice, chilli, bolognaise, stir fry.

There's a limit on treat foods and things like bread, milk , cheese which you have to measure but lots of other foods you can eat 'free', rice, pasta, potatoes, lean meat, fish, fruit, veg.
At least 1/3 plate should be veg so it's stops you over eating.

I am 5’6 and a 12/14 currently due to baby weight but usually a size 12 around 10 stone. I have ALWAYS struggled with food. The problem being I am out and out just greedy. I love eating. I do not exercise a huge amount. So I always have to watch what I eat. By which I mean not always restrict but be aware. It is never totally effortless for me to stay a certain way but I have definitely worked out what works (for me) and so I do not obsess about food or healthy eating. ( I used to be more a 14/16 but have been a 12 for ages now so it has worked.)

For me, it is

1 portion control.
2 sheer amounts consumed over a 24 hour period (or a week or whatever). So you can have unhealthy food if you’re having small amounts, or missing a meal for example.
3 not eating everything you want. If I ate everything I wanted all the time, I’d be the size of a house.
4 trying to reduce but not eliminate totally bread and pasta. Pasta is a massive treat only food for me. I try to only have a bread based lunch day a couple of times a week rather than every day.
5 snacking. It kills me to say it but it’s my weakness. I pick up SO MANY “dead” calories this way I think. So I try and reduce but not eliminate totally the snacks. Sugar is SO addictive 😬

So breakfast is bran flakes with berries.
Lunch is eggs or beans on toast or soup and crackers or leftovers or sometimes my main meal like chicken stir fry without rice or noodles.
Snacks - fruit, rich tea biscuits, coffee with milk, some choc, yogurt.

I think it’s one of the most insidious myths about being overweight that fat people are fat because they’re constantly stuffing their gobs with cake and crisps and McDonalds. It adds an extra layer of shame to being fat (greed, no self control etc) prevents people being honest with themselves and others about their actual dietary habits, and forces many people to convince themselves and insist that they must have a slow metabolism or “fat genes” or a medical issue and might as well not bother trying to lose weight.

As many people have said - being overweight and maintaining a healthy weight is vastly about portion size. You can cook healthy, nutritious homemade meals from scratch and make your own bread and eat very few biscuits; but if you’re eating huge platefuls of dinner and cutting doorsteps from your loaf, you’ll be eating far too much. It’s also the small stuff that adds up - the large latte every day; a couple of slices of toast every evening for supper; a slice of cake most afternoons - that often goes unnoticed.

Anyone watch the secret lives of slim people? Real mixed bunch of eating habits there. I'm fat cause I eat a lot. Need another vice really

I used to eat a healthy, balanced diet with treats and stayed a 6-8 with no effort.
I had 2 children in my 20s.
I went up to an 8-10.
learnt to drive in my 30s and became increasingly time-poor.
Went up to a 10.
Hit 40
Went up to a 12
Hit 50s, I’m a 14
So I need to exercise more, eat the same and drop 30 years!

Exactly comtesse
I don't stuff my face. If I go out for dinner with a group of friends I'm the one who's most likely to have the healthy option and no dessert. But I can't sustain feeling deprived and so I end up eating loads of crap. I've tried slimming world and again it just messed my head up. Some of these responses are really helpful. There's not a lot I don't know about healthy eating. I'm not obese because I stuff myself. I'm obese because I've been on 100+ diets in 30 years, with each one screwing me up a bit more and making me binge and put on more weight than I'd lost. So I want to break the cycle and eat like a normal healthy, non weight obsessed person.

Low carbing works very well for me. It eliminates hunger and physical sugar cravings and it’s easier to maintain long term because it’s very simple to do, no calorie counting or weighing things or anything like that, and I feel much better in myself when I stick to it (less fatigue, no ‘foggy brain’, no period pains). I love having the freedom to have really delicious fat-laden meals secure in the knowledge that I am doing my body and my mind good (because I am very sensitive to carbs and they really mess with my hormones and my moods).

I went from being very slim in my younger years to my heaviest where I was a size 16, lost three stone in three months with low carbing and ended up a small size 10 and have broadly maintained since although I have crept up to a 12 now but I’m okay with that as I’m getting older.

I have maintained a 3 stone weight loss for about 7 years now. I didn't do any specific programme or diet I just started making small changes one at a time. For example start with cutting portion sizes of what you normally eat, then after a few weeks focus on swapping your breakfast to a healthier choice I usually eat porridge or overnight oats. Then I started swapping some of my snacks to things like carrot sticks or raw nuts. Then do maybe 3 nights a week healthy dinners etc. It takes time but i find this the most sustainable way to achieve and maintain a healthy weight.

The other important factors of this are regular exercise (daily yoga for me) and being prepared. I prepare my overnight oats and porridge the same way so in the morning I can either eat it cold straight from the fridge or heat it in the microwave to make porridge. I prepare snacks in advance and always have some in my handbag too.

I feel that if most of my meals/snacks are planned and prepared in advance to be healthy as possible then I can still enjoy eating out a few times a week. I don't feel guilty for eating what I want but I'm aware of everything I eat so if i had fish and chips for dinner followed by a dessert then the next day i would maybe have porridge for breakfast, chunky veg soup for lunch and scrambled eggs with spinach on wholemeal toast for dinner. I weigh myself every few weeks then if I see I've gained a couple of pounds I can address it rather than let it creep back up.

Also I would say focus on making healthy choices for your body not on 'weight loss'. Sorry that was long but hope it helps!

It’s a mindset, I don’t diet. But I do watch what I eat everyday of my life. And it’s a series of checks and balances with a good dollop of exercise thrown in.

I come from parents who had pretty sedentary lifestyles as well as drinking a lot. Combined with cancers, heart diseases on both sides. I feel like I am fighting against my genes, which motivates me. My brother is the same.

Today I am on holiday and so have eaten....
Croissant
Yoghurt, berries and granola
Pear
Coffee
Bloody Mary

No lunch
Half a beer

Dinner....prossibly oysters. At least 2 more alcoholic drinks.

I’ve cycled 10miles and will hit the gym/steam spa later.

I am SO FULL from breakfast. Kids had fish and chips and I ate probably 3 chips.

Anyway. I think about my food every meal time and so I know if I bash a big load of crisps and dips with a couple of beers I wouldn’t eat dinner. The next day I would make sure I ate a lot of vege. Checks and balances.

I’m motivated by how I look and feel. Which is shallow AF but there you go.

If you want to lose weight slowly, cut out salt. Completely. Nope, not on anything? Nope, nothing.

165 cm and 57kg - 41 y.o.

Breakfast: sourdough toast with butter and marmite and cheese or peanut butter and banana

Snack: nuts and fruit

Lunch: some sort of hearty salad - Pret type thing with veggies and protein or a Japanese ramen type thing (love Itsu)

Snack: more fruit and nuts

Dinner: If I'm home late and I need to get on with bathing and putting dd to bed I'll be less fussy and have toast with hummus and some cucumber and tomatoes. If ive time I'll have a home made soup or will knock up s salad with some leaves, avocado and tinned mackerel. Sometimes I'll chuck in something like couscous left over from another day.

Two things that make a difference

I don't drink alcohol. I don't do fizzy drinks. I do sparkling water which I love but no soda type things.

I rarely eat processed sugar. I'll have a piece of home made cake sometimes but I ditched sugar some time ago as it just doesn't make me feel good. I have a compulsion around it and I know I can't have it in moderation so I choose not to have it at all.

I cycle to work 35 mins each way and do a 20 minute HIIT workout dvd 3 times a week at home after DD is in bed. HIIT is to tone up.

I use My Fitness Pal as a habit to stop me being unconscious about food. I then pick my calories carefully and prioritise food that's good for me but if I go over I don't stress. 80/20 rule is my guide.

I'm 60 and BMI 21 and have never dieted. However it's very easy to be smug about this and I firmly believe it's mostly down to luck and genes.

I never buy "diet" or "low fat" foods but otherwise eat what I like.
A typical day.
Breakfast. Bran flakes and milk. Coffee
Morning. Coffee.
Lunch. Soup and bread. Bowl of cooked fruit and Greek yoghurt. Water.
Afternoon. Cordial and fizzy water
Dinner. Curry and rice or a casserole with potatoes. Lots of veg. Water.
Evening (the only time I snack) Wine and crisps or Tea and cake. Often an ice cream or chocolate or both

My weight drops if I am ill but otherwise stays around the same as it was 40 years ago when I was 20.

I don't snack. Ever. If I'm hungry, I just eat earlier than I'd planned to. It's not some moral thing, I've lived in food poverty and it's a habit I developed then. I also don't take milk in hot drinks (again, never able to afford to for years) Walk a lot (no car) Small plates, I'd rather fill a side plate twice, than be over faced. Only water with meals.

I'm a size 6-8 with massive knockers at 5"4 and I eat like a horse but I don't really eat processed crap. I cook from scratch most days and eat lots of healthy fats. That's probably it.

Typically I have yogurt for breakfast with berries or other fruit. Sometimes porridge or cereal instead.

Lunch is either a sandwich with cheese, ham, or turkey, etc. with one slice of bread or hummus and pitta, followed by a piece of fruit.

For dinner we tend to have protein (salmon, chicken, lamb) + vegetables, sometimes rice or pasta or potatoes as well.

I don’t drink alcohol during the week. On weekends I will usually have a glass or two of wine but never more than that. We have something sweet after dinner on weekends as well, usually something we have baked.

I generally don’t eat between meals or after dinner, though I’ll have a snack if I want one. Or some cheese with wine on a Friday evening. I try to avoid buying crisps and that sort of thing, we only have them occasionally. My diet could be improved, certainly. I’m trying to increase the amount of vegetables I have each day. Also trying to build in more daily exercise, not for weight related reasons, just for general health reasons.

Rade

In other words, you eat sensibly. Lots of (younger in particular) people would see your typical day as a diet plan 😁
I’m 55. I think we possibly have the advantage of growing up in an era where 3 meals a day - no snacks, that was it - were the norm, sweets were a rare treat, lots of people didn’t have cars and walked everywhere and we weren’t surrounded by and bombarded with adverts for fast food outlets and hone delivered crap.
I gained a lot of weight after our second child at very nearly 40 but I think my previous habits helped me to get back on the straight and narrow. My mum is 80 now, wartime generation, very slim, makes all of her own food, bakes and eats her own cakes but walks everywhere (and doesn’t waste anything).
I think it is quite hard for the young to eat sensibly now, especially if you’re hard up. There’s so much cheap, filling rubbish available that just didn’t exist 50 years ago.