If you have to work to stay slim tell me what you usually eat

[Iwouldbecomplex]

I struggle a bit with my weight - currently a size 14-16. Not massive, but the biggest I've ever been. I put on weight really really easily and it's getting worse as I get older (currently 37). I love food, I eat too much and my tastes tend towards comfort type food. I do exercise regularly.

If you're someone that is over 30, slim but that it doesn't come easily to, please can you tell me what you eat in an average day? I think I have a bit of a warped idea of what's normal. I either eat way too much or I'm dieting and massively restricting my calories. I'm not very good at moderation and need inspiration!

I was a size 18 in June this year. Then I discovered low carb and the 16:8 way of eating and have lost around 3 stone. Once you get used to a new way of eating it doesn't seem like hard work and is certainly not joyless. Yesterday I ate:
Breakfast - 2 fried eggs and a slic

anything I want but strictly controlled portions and accurate calorie tracking

Try that again!
Breakfast - 2 fried eggs and a slice of black pudding
Lunch - chicken leg and salad
Dinner - fish fingers, quinoa and garlic mushrooms.
I have Hashimoto's thyroid disease so I avoid gluten, but it is well controlled by thyroxine and has been for years so I don't think that had anything to do with my previously high/obese BMI. Our bodies aren't designed to eat as many carbs as we typically do. Maybe start by eating carbs at only one meal per day and see how you get on with that.

I can't do low carb, it makes me ill. But I can see how it works for others!

I lost about 12-14kg last year and am now a constant weight between 58-60kg (5ft 6, age 47)

One thing you need to watch is how much harder it is to lose weight the older you get

I love my food and generally eat what I like but I don't eat badly (if I snack it's nuts/olives/fruit and I also eat a lot of the 10% fat natural yoghurt mixed with things) - I reckon around 2000 calories a day but I also get off the train one stop early so walk 5km a day to work and back and run/gym 2-3 times a week. I'm one of those people who fidgets a lot and never sits still but I also don't think I'm a naturally slim person if you know what I mean

It was the running that kick started the weight loss. I'm lousy at it but it works to keep the weight down.

I actually agree that most of these responses are either depressing (“I need to stick to under 1000 calories a day) or over complicating (fad diets, low carbing, fasting) something that, for me anyway, is relatively simple.

I hover a couple of pounds under 10st at 5,7”.

I eat protein, complex carbohydrates and fruit and or veg at every meal. Example:

B: Two poached eggs on one slice of wholegrain toast with spinach and avocado.
L: Tuna, brown rice, sun dried tomato, olive salad
D: Homemade chicken and vegetable curry with quinoa.

I snack twice a day (fruit and yoghurt or ryvitas and cottage cheese/ chopped veg).

At the weekend I might drink pints at the pub or share a bottle of wine and a packet of Galaxy counters in front of the telly or go for cocktails and dinner, so I definitely don’t deprive myself. Looking at this, I guess the weekend is the only time there is any refined sugar.

I think for transparency I should add that where I do have to work is at the gym or running. I do something like that probably five times a week. I think if I didn’t do that, I would likely gain weight.

Not at all. I get a lotof joy out of being slim

Yes, I think this is the converse of getting a lot of joy from food.

I always think of it as pick your hard.

Take my friend and I. She is a size 16-18, five foot two. She eats what she pleases, when she pleases, and as much as she pleases. But she hates the way she looks and it makes her very unhappy. That's her hard.

I basically restrict what I eat, and exercise most days. That's my hard. I'm comfortable with how I look though.

I've been overweight and I didn't like it. That struggle of what to wear, trying on loads of clothes, finding something that fits, wearing stuff not because it's what you want to wear, but because it fits, disguises your tummy, arse or boobs,, looks the best from the bunch, feeling uncomfortable with how I look, not feeling great about myself. It's a daily mental struggle.

Eating whatever I fancied didn't bring me enough joy to overcome that. Like everyone else I also love food, so needed to find a way to eat, low carb, where I didn't feel deprived, and I didn't have cravings, and that I didn't have to calorie count and could still eat lots of yummy food. No one wants to be hungry.

So I don't view it as what brings you most joy, I view it as which one is less hard. Because they both are. You just need to pick your hard.

Ideally you eat in moderation, anything and everything in moderation, but not everyone has that ability. I don't. And when you don't, you pile on the pounds. I still Will eat what I fancy, for example at Christmas I will eat a lot of sugary stuff, but that's ok, because I know that after it, I can just cut it out and go back to normal.

This is an interesting thread. I have struggled with my weight in the past but now in my 40s am finally happy with my size (10) without having to restrict anything. I have a better figure now then I did in my 20s. So I've tried all manner of diets in the past with varying success but inevitably once you stop the diet the weight goes back on.
Now I eat what I want when I want by 'listening' to my stomach. Some days if I wake up and don't feel hungry I won't have anything till lunchtime other days I'll be ravenous when I get up and need a piece of toast to kick start the day. I also make sure I stop eating when I'm full which is usually about half way through a plate of food, I no longer hold onto that mentality of having to finish everything in front of me. I have sweet things when I want but stop eating them when I've had enough, also I do not drink any alcohol.
I have to say I do exercise though, a lot because I enjoy it. I run and do CrossFit which is incredibly tough but combines weights and cardio by far the hardest exercise class I've done.

The thing about low carb is that it is simple. You enjoy food but you don’t have to think about it all very much. Just buy the right stuff which is easy.

Aim for 10,000 steps a day.
16:8 or similar intermittent fasting.

If I do this I’m a size 12 and can maintain a healthy weight. If I slip, I can gain a 10 lbs and go up a dress size within a month, easily.

Weary with teens, uou seem very angry. I mean this gently but do you have issues with food or your weight?

@Bluntness100 that's reads like such a passive aggressive post to me. I don't think that Weary sounds 'very angry' at all, what makes you say that? While I don't agree with everything that she's said in her post, asking someone (even trying to say that you're asking 'gently') if they have issues with food or their weight is pretty inappropriate.

I've always struggled a bit with my weight. I have successfully really slimmed down twice in the last decade, once through low carb and once through low fat (the latter not by choice, but because of gallstones, but the incidental weight loss was great). Most diets will work if you can stick to them long-term. It's just that hardly anybody can.

LCHF is no good for me now, as I have acid reflux which is worsened by high fat. And I've recently found that intermittent fasting makes it worse too. I don't find exercise makes all that much difference even if I'm doing quite a lot of it. It's all about the food intake.

PARunnerGirl I don't think low-carb or 16:8 is over complicating things - it's really easy once you get used to it. I would find your approach (I think for transparency I should add that where I do have to work is at the gym or running. I do something like that probably five times a week. I think if I didn’t do that, I would likely gain weight.) much harder to keep up. I walk at least 10,000 steps a day and try and go to a yoga class when I can, but apart from that I don't exercise and control my weight through food on the comfort of my own sofa rather than at the gym/running almost everyday of the week :)

@constanceL Yes, I see what you mean. You just need to find what works for you and your lifestyle I guess. I love the feeling during and after exercise and dislike feeling sluggish so it’s not a chore for me (usually the hardest part is just making up my mind to go or dedicating the time to go!). In the same way, it seems like keeping active through walking and monitoring your food intake more carefully than me works better for you.

I also don't think low carb or intermittant fasting is complicated, in fact it's very simple.

What this thread shows is everyone has something different that works for them. There is no one right answer. The only common link between them all is in some way there is a control over what's consumed. Be it fasting, low carb, calorie counting, or "listening" to your body and stopping half way through a meal.

To stay a healthy weight, you simply can't over eat. You have to control your intake in a way that works best for you.

I often wonder if that's where the phrase "letting yourself go" comes from. Not retaining control of what you eat and gaining weight.

I was slim like PARunnerGirl ( eat what you want and do intensive exercise on most days ) when I was in my 30s and child free.

But four pregnancies and bringing up small children put paid to that lifestyle and irrevocably changed my pre pregnancy body. And the menopause and thyroid disease have slowed down my metabolism.

So now I have to to watch what I eat as well as exercise. I’ve reduced the junk and and improved the quality and taste.

As a Pp said, it’s not a diet it’s a way of life now. I don’t feel deprived - most of the time I don’t envy the mounds of bread, cakes, sandwiches, cereal ,pizza and pasta that my colleagues and family seem to survive on.

As bluntness says, you have to choose your hard. Very few women in their 40s and 50s can eat piles of junk and stay slim and healthy.

There’s been lots of research to show that people who say

“ Even though I’m a size 8 I can eat what I want “

usually eat a fairly healthy diet with only modest amounts of junk. They might say “ oh I eat loads of sweets and crisps “ but they mean one or two bags a week, not two family sized ones most nights.

Yes they eat pizza, but they share one and have a side salad. Not a whole one, deep fried with a side of chips and garlic bread and a bottle of full fat coke.

One chocolate biscuit, not a packet. A couple of scoops of ice cream, not the whole tub. *

They seem to have an appetite / willpower / metabolism that many of the rest of us envy.

*theoretical examples, I have never done this. Honest

About once a week I will have a dessert/ some chocolate etc.

And this is why I will never be slim and don't want to be!

And this is why I will never be slim and don't want to be!

And that's also ok. It's fine not to want to be slim. Its also ok to wish to be. We all have to be happy. And if not being slim makes you happy then it's all good. We are all different.

59 and recently lost three and a half stone (was just gaining and gaining and nothing I cut out seemed to make any difference).

I now run upward of 30 miles a week. Exercise (and LOTS of it) is the only thing that seemed to make any difference. I tried eating 1000 calories a day and still put on weight, so I cut out most carbs, eat a raw grain cereal at about 1.30pm and a meal of around 800 calories in the evening. Drink lots of tea (I don't take milk, or only a spash). No sugar. I have the leeway to eat some yoghurt or something before bed if I'm really really hungry. Run at least 4 miles a day (I have a dog, so this isn't as much of a chore as it otherwise would be).

I'm edging down into a size 8 and am aware that I'm a little bit too thin really, at 54kg. But I'd rather go into the Christmas period a bit light...

5'2, late 30s, just over 9st

I eat food. Not too much. Sounds trite, but I accept that I can't eat huge portions of anything and everything. Strict diets, calorie counting and excluding foods sounds very tedious to me and I try to cater best-fit to what my family will eat.

I exercise a lot too.

Currently sneaking up as it's Christmas, I've been off colour and not exercising. So I shall ride Christmas out, and get back to 5:2 in the New Year. I try to eat a good range most of the time, but occasionally have to rein it in manually.

34, 5ft 8, 10stone 3 and a size 8-10. Around 1400-1500 calories a day is my maintenance goal, to lose I need to do around 1200.
I try to do 400,400, 600 with my calories, sometimes I’m over and sometimes I’m under.
I have one slice of toast and scrambled egg for my breakfast, lunch depends really and tea will be lean meat and veg. I occasionally eat cake and takeaways. I’ve even been known to blow through 3000 calories in a day . But I ALWAYS stop when I’m full-it’s something not enough people have mastered.
Also drink plenty of water

I'm 54 and weigh around 9 s 5. Was at 13 s and lost the weight by cutting down on refined carbs and no alcohol through the week.
Breakfast is porridge made with full fat milk and with a tsp of jam. Lunch either soup or salad (no bread). Dinner is protein and veg - no potatoes, rice or pasta. So could be stir fry, curry, grilled chicken etc with loads of veg - including things like peas and root veg which aren't recommended on low carb diets. I do eat more at the weekends - and will have some carby things over Christmas but will just reduce them all again in January.

I'm 33, 5"5 and currently weigh 8st 3lb. I've lost 3 stone since having my daughter in May. However, my goal was 9ish but can't seem to keep it on/gain it back. This is new to me so think it could be thyroid or something. Normally, it takes a lot for me to lose/maintain. I do have two small kids so constantly on the go, up and down stairs, lifting them in and out of car plus pram/bags/etc.

I don't believe in cutting out food groups unless it's for ethical/medical/religious reasons. I eat everything in moderation, don't generally tend to snack (trying to at the moment though as want to get back to to 9st). I eat smaller but 3 square meals a day, with lots of fruits/vegetables/salad, full fat dairy, olive oil, and so on.

So, typical at the moment.
B: porridge with whole milk, banana/berries and chopped nuts
L: homemade soup with bread or a roll/jacket potato with a filling/toasted sandwich/omelette, the latter 3 usually served with salad. And fruit/yoghurt.
D: usually a homemade meal. Anything from spaghetti Bolognese to chilli and rice to curry. Usually have vegetables on the side.
Before bed: cheese and crackers, dark chocolate or hot chocolate.

In the summer, I eat more stuff like granola with yoghurt or muesli or fruit/yoghurt/nuts. Lunches are wraps or salads with egg, tuna or cheese.

or over complicating (fad diets, low carbing, fasting)

How on earth is fasting over complicating? You compensate for over eating one day by eating less or nothing the next. It has to be the simplest, least complicated method of maintaining or losing weight there is.

I’m currently on a diet to lose pregnancy weight (I’m 1.74 cm and currently 69 kilos).

I live in Asia and eat a lot of local foods so perhaps difficult to follow my diet.
But I do a few things that everyone can do:

• counting calories and planning ahead
• diet during the week but allow yourself some treats during the weekend
• don’t crash diet, your body will go in starvation mode and you won’t lose weight anymore, rather gain!
• drink lots of pure green tea (no sugar, no milk)
• I step on the scale daily to check my weight snd monitor it
• I avoid thoughtless and emotion eating
• I walk a lot, we don’t have a car so walking and public transportation it is.

Good luck 🍀