What do thin/slim people eat?

[cherrypiepie]

I'm genuinely intrigued as I am far from slim with a BMI of 30.

Watching an American series with some very tiny actresses and thinking that they can't eat much. It was the Bold Type.

So if you are slim with BMI around 20 what do you eat?

And I suppose how much do you exercise? But I reckon the old rule of 80% diet : 20 % exercise is right when It comes to weight management.

BMI 19-20, late 30s

Mostly genetic - my mum is naturally slim too
Don't have a huge appetite - rarely finish a meal in a restaurant, takeaway always goes two nights
I eat little and often as my blood sugar easily goes haywire
I have some 'rules' but they're not very strict - only one chocolate bar a day, for junk food I have to genuinely want it, not just eat it because it's there
I don't drink much (lightweight) and I don't eat loads of meat, just because I don't really fancy it

BMI of 19.5 and I eat about 2000 calories a day. Today for example:

• porridge with protein powder for breakfast with tea and semi skimmed
• tuna sweetcorn Mayo and cheddar cheese wrap with a side salad for lunch
• tuna steak with stir fired veg and noodles for dinner, with half a bottle of white wine, 2 lindor balls and a fun size bag of malteasers
• 2l of water

Fairly typical (except I don’t have wine every night but had a friend over).

High fibre, High protein and low calorie density foods (To calculate calorie density divide calories by weight of food in grams, below 1 = very low density, 1-2 quite low density, 2+ high density).

40 years old and BMI 19. I always have breakfast (3 weetabix with semi skimmed milk and a coffee). Lunch is a sandwich, packet of crisps, couple of small slices of soreen, apple and banana. Dinner is usually small portion new potatoes, carrots, and a portion of green veg and then chicken pie, fish in sauce, beef casserole, etc. Fri night is pizza, or fish and chip/gammon and chips. Always a Muller type yoghurt for pudding. Couple more apples and usually something like a blue ribbon as snacks as well. Don't eat anything after Dinner. Don't drink alcohol. But do exercise a lot. Run 40-50 miles a week, cycle 40+ miles a week, average 20k steps per day made up of school run, and then walk on my lunch break at work. Give or take a couple of pound, I've maintained this weight, since after having my daughter 7 years ago. If I do see the scales creeping up slightly then I reduce my snacks slightly or cut out any extra treats I've been having.

I echo those who say i dont eat my feelings. I cook from scratch at home. I eat my traditional soups amd stews and salads. I dont eat puddings. I love the food i eat but i think a lot of people would find it boring. I dont do the eating amazing food from around the world evryday as it seems like so much pressure and time and money. I'll make a big soup ( with lots of meat and veg) and we'll eat it for 3 days until its gone.The constant reward of amazing food is not something we have although the food we eat is pretty good.

I cant eat pasta and rice anymore as i get bloated...

@Mummyneedsacoffee I think you misread the comment. They say that slim people tend to fall into two camps so it's normal that you are in a) and not b) where as someone else is entire b and not a).

Bmi 20. Small lunch, big dinner including carbs and whatever else I want. No snacks and minimal alcohol. I only eat when I'm hungry.

My bmi is around 21 but I wouldnt say I was slim. (I'm really short so look kind of medium build)

Eat real food, no processed shite. Also be aware of the calories in drinks, especially alcohol.

@IMNOTSHOUTING

Ok.

Probs the wine

This is really interesting! Do you people not crave chocolate?

They eat a little bit of whatever they like, but clearly don't eat as much as a fat person would.

Totally. I'm in my 50's, 5ft 4" BMI of 18 and weigh 48kg, I eat all day but small bits of everything. Run a lot but it doesn't actually make any difference to my weight, if I get laid off due to injury my weight doesn't change. I hate being over full, small appetite. I appreciate I'm really lucky but would actually like to weigh a bit more!

This is really interesting! Do you people not crave chocolate?

Yes, eat it every day. I've had two small slices of cake today too but it makes me feel really sick quite quickly

@Ilikecheeseontoast

This is really interesting! Do you people not crave chocolate?

No and i can't really be bothered with cake either. I love sweets though 😋

One thing I have noticed since I have got into my forties is weight quickly goes on. I have a BMI of 21 but I have had to adjust my food intake. In my twenties I could eat a lot more calories. Sigh!

I am trying to get my bmi to within the healthy range, it's 27 at the moment. I run every other day so I am fit, but I do find it helps me to not eat much after 5pm. If I eat my main meal for lunch and a light meal for dinner, I lose weight.

Replies on here seem to be roughly in two camps.

a) I eat what I like but less than a fat person
b) I weigh everything / count calories/ never eat x,y or z / artificially limit food by following a permanent diet.

I'd say there's a third type who can and do genuinely eat loads of anything and not put weight on. One of my SIL is like this and also DS1's friends Mum.

I once had a BMI of 20. I ate toast or croissants for breakfast, a whole pizza every single day, large fresh orange juice and possibly a chocolate brownie. I was in my 20s, waitressing 6+ shifts a week, and cycled or roller bladed to work every day.

Late 20s I managed to maintain a BMI of about 22-I'd have chia seeds or cereal and fruit for breakfast, salad with protein for lunch and chicken or fish with a small sweet potato and tonnes of greens for dinner, I'd usually treat myself at weekends, I was also cycling daily and doing yoga once a week.

In my 30s I have managed to get down to BMI 22 without exercise once when I was off work recovering from surgery but portions were so small I made myself unwell (heart palpitations).

Now I'm using will power letting exercise take the lead and thinking more how much do I need to eat to do the level of exercise I want to do (as my goal is building strength), build strength and (lastly) lose weight. Seeing it as long term, lifestyle shifts through small new habits.

This is made much easier by using an app which dynamically calculates how many calories to eat depending on what exercise I input for that day.

I'm not super slim but friends would say I am!

I only eat between 12-8pm
Have small portions
Stick to 1500 calories
Only eat sweet things at the weekend
Run 3 times a week (10 miles) and Gym 4 times a week

It's boring and hard work (the food, I enjoy the exercise) but worth it to fit into the clothes I have and at 43, it's not getting any easier to lose weight...

@Ilikecheeseontoast

This is really interesting! Do you people not crave chocolate?

I eat plenty of chocolate, usually two bars a week, I only like the 85% cocoa or higher though, zero interest in very sweet chocolate.

@cherrypiepie

Do you miss or crave any foods?

This is very interesting. Very little processed food, lower carbs and and two meals.

I've just lost 2.5 stone on fast 800.

I'm just about to start fast 800 OP. Can I ask how long you did it , every day for a certain amount of time, or just 2 days a week, and what did you eat?

To summarise, and to quote Michael Pollan: “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.”

By food, he meant not processed shit.

@Mummyneedsacoffee. It wasn't aimed at you. Another way to put it is that some people are slim because they just naturally eat less of everything but eat anything, while others have to follow some rules to stay slim. Plenty on here saying they only eat x calories a day or follow some other regime. Such as this example .
High fibre, High protein and low calorie density foods (To calculate calorie density divide calories by weight of food in grams, below 1 = very low density, 1-2 quite low density, 2+ high density)

@TiddyAndFletch

My husband is underweight with a BMI of 15 and he eats the biggest load of rubbish imaginable - chocolate bars, biscuits, cake. But he eats them really slowly It takes him about 30 minutes to eat a Mars Bar. I can polish one off in 30 seconds, which probably explains why I am overweight.

Is that a typo? 15 ? Are you sure? That’s the level anorexics are viewed foe hospitalisation. It’s very very very thin.