People who are seen to be "naturally" slim.. what do you eat/how much exercise do you do?

[optimisticpessimist01]

I know a lot of people in my life that have always been slim, to an outsider looking in it looks like they have the genetics of God and are naturally very slim. However, I'm sure there is a lot of hard work that we don't see

If you are quite slim and have never really gained lots of weight, what does your usual food/exercise diary look like? Or is it possible that some people are just "naturally" slim?

DH is very slim.

He is 6 ft 2 and 11 stone.

He eats fruit for breakfast, skips lunch and salad for dinner. He is not obsessed with his weight, that is just what he likes to eat.

Me on the other hand.... not

My BMI is around 21-22 and always has been (except pregnancy).

I am health conscious and cook from scratch, lots of veg, pulses, whole foods etc. Always cook with brown rice, wholemeal pasta and flour. Breakfast is sugar-free nutty muesli with coconut milk.

I drink black coffee or green tea or water. Alcohol maybe 2-3 glasses of wine a week.

I also have a sweet tooth but do consciously try to control it by eating 85% chocolate squares which often hits the spot. That said, I have never turned down cake and nearly always have dessert if I'm out. I bake regularly but often reduce the sugar in recipes.

Takeaways are a once-a-month affair, usually.

I have never eaten a Big Mac and if I'm out and want something fast I'll be drawn to a Pret salad or sandwich or Leon or something like that. I just don't like burgers or greasy food. I eat vegetarian food approx 80% of the time.

I also stay active - usually around 13,000 steps a day plus I consciously exercise 2-3 times a week but I'm not a runner or athletic. Interestingly during lockdown I gained 2kg from only walking 80% of my usual steps and not being able to do my weekly swim.

I am someone who fidgets and potters a lot. I get restless sitting down for long periods.

In my family we are all slim but then we are all home cooks and also busy/active - so it's hard to say if it's natural or not!

I was always skinny. Really skinny. Always clinically underweight no matter what I ate. Even had a dietician to fatten me up. Never worked. I didn't excercise (except for dancing when I went clubbing 😂), but I did have a job where I was on my feet all the time. Ate whatever I wanted, I should have been obese cause it was all shite I ate.
Then I bought my wedding dress in my skinny size. Suddenly I started gaining weight 😂
Sometimes it is just genetics.
I hated being skinny, bony and shapeless.
I hated people commenting on my 'figure' because I couldn't see it.
Now I miss it 😂 if only I could keep my current boobs and bum but still have 20 year old me's stomach and legs......

Naturally thin/slender. Diet Coke, tea, coffee. Some water.

After my morning brew, I eat two eggs with toast. Then more tea. Or more coffee.

I snack on crisps. If not, then eat a sandwich. Then Diet Coke.

Dinner is usually heavy - roast, or chicken with veggies, or fish with veggies. Then a glass of wine or just fizz water.

Then nighttime snack (crisps, chocolate, or both)with water.

I do not exercise, but very active (organising the closet, makeup, dresser, shopping).

I don't do diets or gym. I am just active in other ways. I eat whatever my body craves.

Also eat a lot of potatoes, maybe that is why I'm thin. Jacket potato, roasted, crisps.

I almost think my diet is caffeine, potatoes, and fizzy drinks.

I've always been a size 10 and am 5'8'

Up to 45 I didn't do any gym/classes but was always on the go, working abroad most weeks, lots of stress and have always walked loads.
I don't drink much alcohol, maybe one or two glasses of wine a week, and I've never been keen on fast food. I like to home cook.

After 45 I put on about a stone so starting parkrun and now run twice a week which keeps my weight steady.

No hard work, I'm afraid. This week (because of EOTHO) I've been out for brunch, steak and ice cream, pizza and cake, and afternoon tea followed by gyoza. BMI 20. Don't do any formal exercise. Mid 40s.

I drink very little, tend to stop eating when I'm full (although not always) and lose my appetite if I'm very stressed. Otherwise I'm just very lucky.

I was always a size 6; now a size 8 post childbearing. Genetics have a lot to do with it. But there's fascinating research linking microbiome diversity to weight balance (I work in a related field of medical research and education, so see a lot of this research professionally). There's an emerging hypothesis that those with a wider range of bacterial species and strains in their digestive tract are less likely to be overweight, less likely to be diagnosed with type two diabetes, and less likely to suffer heart disease. There is also a theory that the human microbiome is effectively shrinking with each generation (due to range of factors, not all of them necessarily negative) and this is allowing some geni and species of bacteria to dominate in colonising the large intestine in patterns that are different from previous generations.
Long story short: there'a probably not a lot you can do as an already-overweight adult about this, but it seems good advice to eat as wide a variety of plant foods as possible, as digestive bacteria use plant fibres as substrates. So it's less about the quantity of fruit/veg, and more about the variety. In my family we aim to eat as many different types of fruit/veg/nuts/legumes a possible each week to help maintain microbiome diversity.

I rarely drink alcohol, just have a couple of drinks at Christmas, weddings etc. Lot of digs on the alcohol consumption threads on MN at people like me but it does nothing for me.

I walk every day, always have I just like it so it’s not a chore.

Have never cut out a food group, eat everything but in portions that are smallish. Grew up in the 1970’s and have some of DH Granny’s dinner plates. They are much smaller than my newer dinner plates guess I have 1970’s portion sizes.

I don’t have a sweet tooth, so if chocolate or cake is on offer I’m not that bothered..

So alcohol and sweet food are things I can take or leave it’s not a case of I shouldn’t have them because of weight I just don’t like them much. I love crisps though, could eat bags every day, have around three a week.

Plus snacking and eating in the street was very frowned on when I was a kid. Takeaways were incredibly rare. So again it’s no effort because I’m not used to these things.

I can’t remember the last time I weighed myself but I’m 5ft 5 and am probably just over 9 st as I have jeans that I bought about 12 years ago that still fit and I was around 9 st then, I’m post menopause. Until I hit 40 I weighed around 8.5 st.

I don't stave myself - I eat 3 decent meals a day and therefore I don't need to snack.

I do some kind of exercise every day - I like yoga, running, cycling, kettlebells / dumbbells and swimming (pool has reopened, yay!).

I drink a heck of a lot of water.

@kierawhogives

Naturally thin/slender. Diet Coke, tea, coffee. Some water.

After my morning brew, I eat two eggs with toast. Then more tea. Or more coffee.

I snack on crisps. If not, then eat a sandwich. Then Diet Coke.

Dinner is usually heavy - roast, or chicken with veggies, or fish with veggies. Then a glass of wine or just fizz water.

Then nighttime snack (crisps, chocolate, or both)with water.

I do not exercise, but very active (organising the closet, makeup, dresser, shopping).

I don't do diets or gym. I am just active in other ways. I eat whatever my body craves.

Basically me, except no Diet Coke.

I rarely eat a breakfast.

My weight is 10 stone no matter what, eat all inclusive and drink like a fish for two weeks - still 10 stone. Eat healthy and walk more, still 10 stone.

I weigh just under 8 stone and I’m 5ft 3 and a size 8. It’s genes mostly and because I’m already slim my stomach can’t handle large portions. I think it must be hard to lose weight as your stomach can handle larger portions. I know my dh struggles a lot and feels so hungry when he diets.

I exercise most days but that’s yoga and weights rather than cardio. I eat one egg and two toast for breakfasts. Chicken salad plus crisps at lunch, normal dinner. I also snack in a biscuit or two and usually yogurt and granola. I also eat magnums way too often!

I drink about two glasses of wine on a fri say and sun evening. I don’t drink fizzy drinks much and have three cups of tea a day

@mylittleyumyum I wish!
I'm trying to lose weight and today is a typical day

B - mini light cheese, apple
L - wafer thin chicken salad sandwich, no spread/butter, pack of snack a jacks
Tea - something form Gousto around 600 cals
If I have enough calories left I'll have a yoghurt

I don't drink so no calories from that

I’m not naturally slim and up to a few years ago I struggled to lose weight. But turns out the lack of a functioning thyroid was probably a huge factor, I found this out at the same time I was diagnosed as T1 diabetic (yes, adults can develop it).

Being properly medicated for my thyroid and radically changing to a low/lower carb diet caused me to go from 70kg to 52kg (size 14 to size 8) in 6 months. I’m 165cm (so 5ft 4).

I looked horrible at that weight and have gradually put on weight. My ideal weight I think is 58-59kg (size 8/10). This is both a look factor and at this weight I use insulin most effectively. But for my height even 5kgs heavier I’d still have a healthy BMI.

If you’d look at me you’d say I’m slim. There’s also some body “construction” factors. I’ve always, no matter my weight had slim legs and they are also quite long.

I also, prior to losing weight, has quite big boobs - big boobs weigh quite a lot

I now eat between 30 - 60g of carbs a day. Most of this is vegetables, full fat Greek yoghurt, fruit like berries and kiwi.

I do drink coffee, but also drink quite a bit of herbal tea and water. I also drink wine only. Pretty much red or dry sparkling. And mostly once or twice a week and rarely over 2 glasses. I eat a decent amount of protein and do eat fats.

Exercise - I’m getting back into weight training now. I’ve struggled to manage exercise and good blood sugar management. But I do walk quite a lot.

My advice to people who are struggling to lose weight is to look at carb portions and cut those. Replace “white” with whole grain and halve your portion. Use good fats and protein to fill you up.

Replace that portion with some vegetables. Replace potatoes with another root vege like pumpkin, parsnip or Swede for roasting. Aim to have half your plate be green vegetables. Learn to season and dress vegetables properly, this makes a huge difference to taste.

Get your blood sugar and thyroid checked if you are cutting calories and not seeing results. A malfunctioning thyroid and even slight insulin resistance will sabotage your efforts.

Also look at stress management and sleep. Both of these can contribute to weight gain, I find the body chemistry fascinating and researching it really helps me understand the importance.

I snack non stop I’ve had a whole pack of biscuits and half a pack of fig rolls today.
I have toast or cereal or pastries for breakfast which I share with the toddler.
I have about 5 cups of tea and 8 glasses of water, maybe more.
Lunch of pasta or pizza or something. Alternatively bread, cheese, hummus etc. Dinner pasta, rice, that sort of thing. I’m vegetarian.
Writing it down it seems a lot of carbs..
Takeaway about once a week.
I drink wine but no other alcohol. Probably drink 3 maybe 4 nights a week, 1 large or 2 glasses.

I’m a small size 8. I wear 26 inch waist jeans so whilst not tiny I think it’s on the smaller side.

My friend, basically, starves herself until dinner.

That's her new 'secret' to staying slim. She just drinks loads of tea, water, and then eats for four at dinner time.

She's not thin but awful to be around!

Naturally slim here but wouldn’t say thin.

Usually only eat breakfast if I’m exercising that day.
Lunch is salad with cold meats and small slice of cheese, beans on 1 slice, stir fry or leftovers.
Dinner could be anything from chilli and sweet potato, meat with potato and veg to risotto with cheese but I usually try and have dinners that are higher in veg content and less in carbs as my partner is trying to lose weight. It’s challenging to balance our diets as he needs to lose weight but I need to fuel all the exercise I do without losing so high protein seems to suit both.

I do also enjoy baking so usually also eat 1 x slice of cake or 1 x cookie/brownie per day, whatever I have made that week. I don’t try and make them healthy I enjoy them for what they are but I also rarely snack outside this. If we don’t have any baking in we might have a portion of posh ice cream after dinner though have recently switched to ice lollies due to them being lower cal for my partner. We also have 1 x takeaway per week. I also don’t drink any calories- water and green tea mostly with the odd coffee. Diet coke as a treat (like on my birthday!).

I run about 20 miles a week (over 3-4 runs) plus usually end up in the gym or swimming 2/3 times. Lack of steps from wfh has been an issue in lockdown so have added in a weekly walk with a friend also on a non exercise day. I do all this because I enjoy it and naturally want to move; we recently went on a long weekend break and for me it consisted of 2 x 5 mile runs, 1 x 10 hike (very hilly) and a more gentle walking day also. Also enjoy cycling/swimming/most kinds of moving.

I’m not going to pretend I can eat and do what I want and stay this size; to me it’s very clear that I am slimmer than some of my friends because I consider what I eat (no pudding if I am full etc), often order starter size in restaurants with large portions and am very active. I constantly monitor my input and output- if I slack off and eat junk for a few days I definitely see myself getting a bit soft! I still eat what I want- I give in to the sugar cravings before I come on but I balance it out with a few healthy days after. Ultimately the driver is vanity but I do enjoy keeping to a balanced diet and being active.

The one thing I can see that a size 6 close friend does is that she never eats breakfast. However, after that she eats LOADS and has at least two takeaways a week. We’re talking a chocolate bar at break time plus any cake in the staffroom (we're both teachers), a big portion of hot lunch from the kitchen plus dessert, crisps and chocolate after school and then dinner and evening snacks. She hates exercise and loves spending weekends in her pjs watching box sets.

She is terrified that when she turns 40 this is all going to catch up with her...