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.

If i put in a couple of pounds I don't have anything but dinner the next day

BMI 17/18. I eat a lot at meal times but the only thing I can think of is DP and I sometimes do go long stretches between meals because we're quite disorganized. We eat tonnes of carbs but exercise a lot. Have always been this way but shed nearly a stone without trying when I gave up alcohol and went plant based.

I have a BMI of 18 and I am not really that active. I walk more than I did because of lockdown but I don't go to gym or run or swim.

I never deny myself anything. If I want a whole bar of chocolate, I'll have it. I don't believe in diets, I feel like it would make me crave things I don't really need. I rarely buy crisps or treats in my weekly shop so they aren't there to snack on. I rarely finish a meal because I don't find eating hugely enjoyable, it's just something to fit in the day.

I am a healthy weight and size for my height and age. I had my daughter 9 months ago and I'm half a stone lighter than before I was pregnant.

Also, I don't drink alcohol.

I don't have absolutely massive portions but they aren't much smaller than my DHs. I do eat very slowly however which I think helps me to know when I'm full.
It was drilled into me as a child to clear my plate and I really try not to waste food now.
I don't restrict anything, if I want it I have it. No diet brands, no fat free, no zero sugar.
I'm 5'9 and my BMI is 19.4 Yesterday I had

B - 3 bacon medallions, scrambled eggs with 3 cheese and hot sauce + a slice of buttered toast.
L- seafood and spring onion Korean pancakes with dipping sauce and cucumber banchan
D - Homemade flatbreads with spicy chicken, chilli halloumi and mixed Mediterranean veggies.
Dessert - homemade cheesecake with boozy berry compote
Snacks - biscuits, cherries and strawberries from the garden, several tea cakes.
Drinks - A chocolate brownie thickshake, peach flavour sparkling water, a can of lemonade, two big glasses of fresh orange juice.

BMI between 19 and 20, I've always been slim. As others have said, I don't have emotional attachment to food in fact I really don't care about food and I see it as an inconvenience.

I'm always amazed when I'm with someone and it gets to 12pm and they start planning lunch. I think to myself - but are you actually hungry or do you just think that meal times are set in stone and must be obeyed? I will only eat if I want food. I ignore hunger pains - it doesn't always mean you have to stop and eat.

I don't like a lot of carbs - I hate potatoes, I find pasta very bulky and can only eat two slices of bread in one meal. I can tolerate small amounts of rice.

I get full up very very quickly and I absolutely cannot keep eating once I feel that way. In restaurants people will always comment on how I've left my dinner so now I throw my napkin over it to avoid the inevitable boring questions.

I'm always amazed when people clear their plates and then just keep eating more. I don't understand when people rave about food and spend hours cooking a meal, it all seems like a waste of time to me.

I do enjoy some food, but that is mainly for the flavour, the texture, the sensations. I love cake but wouldn't dream of having it every day, it seems excessive.

The older I get, the less interested I am in food.

I'm not one of your tiny actresses, but I'm well within the healthy weight range.

I eat real food at mealtimes and get lots of exercise. Rarely eat anything with refined sugar (because it makes me spotty and feel like crap) and I don't snack. Apart from that I eat exactly what I fancy. I never choose a meal because of it's low calorie content or specifically because it's healthy, but all my meals will be real food, mostly cooked from scratch with lots of veg.

I have been two stone overweight and I now have a BMI of 22/23 so not super slim, but fine.

I adore food and eat a lot. I eat out 3/4 times a week (usually just a main and one drink), but I mostly cook from scratch when at home and fill up on large portions of veggies and whole grains. I’m not vegetarian but DH is, so I don’t eat a lot of meat. I have a cupboard full to the brim with processed snacks. I find having them there all the time takes away the novelty and I tend to eat them in moderation if I know they’re always available.

I exercise a lot; walking, cycling and running. I find that has a hugely positive effect on my appetite. When I exercise regularly, my body craves ‘good fuel’ and I naturally find myself choosing to eat fresh, nutritious foods. I also have more energy for cooking from scratch after a long day.

When I do less exercise, I find myself eating more foods that are sugary or carbs which then make me feel sluggish and lazy and more hungry. I then come home from work craving easy and quick food, which is invariably more processed. This then puts me into a bit of a cycle of poor diet/less exercise which can be hard to force myself out of.

Everyone says exercise has little bearing on weight, but I find it’s vital to keeping my eating habits stable.

I have a BMI of 21 and I exercise three times a week. Nothing intense, just a 30-45 minute cardio routine or exercise class.

I eat three meals a day, never skip breakfast, lots of protein, rice and some veg. I snack on fruit, protein bars, Greek yogurt or baked crisps if I get hungry in between meals and I rarely eat after 7pm. I drink lots of water and herbal teas.

I will have a treat once or twice a week, pizza/wine/chocolate etc but I never go overboard or buy it in my weekly shop.

I used to be slim and am now apparently permanently fat since lockdown.
When I was slim I was running about everywhere so it meant I was too busy to eat and whatever I did eat I was burning off.
The pressure to not be fat in my office as well was there and now I'm wfh it's gone so I eat way more than I should and unfortunately I've also developed an emotional attachment to food and reach for a snack when I'm stressed. Add that to zero exercise and voila I'm now fat.

My DH is slim

He is a fussy eater and naturally doesn't eat things which I think make me fat. He doesn't eat any bread, pasta, cheese or has any sauces on his meals. He also doesn't see food as a treat and more a means to an end so will have one big meal for lunch then only something small in the evening.

We also don't drink alcohol at all and he mostly drinks water or squash no hot drinks

I have always had a BMI of around 21 apart from when I was pregnant. I have never dieted. Everyone I know who diets is overweight! I eat whatever I like but generally quite small portions compared to some friends (normal for me though - I rarely feel hungry). I don't really like processed foods although I love croissants for breakfast and probably eat them too much. Otherwise I eat everything but mainly pasta, vegetables and fish in the summer. I never snack after dinner and rarely between meals as I don't feel hungry and I hate feeling too full to eat properly at meals. We also spend a long time at the table together so quite a bit of wine is consumed. That is the only thing I feel I need to cut back on.

@Wearywithteens

I think there is the usual disingenuous, passive aggressive bigotry against people who aren’t slim here. ‘I only eat two biscuits I don’t scoff the whole pack…’ ‘I’m superior and emotionally intelligent as I don’t eat my feelings’…Love how some of the slimmer pp think they have all the answers and can speak for others.

No, people who are bigger can also restrain themselves to 2 biscuits too funnily enough! Not all of us are just shovelling food in our gobs because we are crying inside. There is a nugget of truth in SOME of these things - in the same way some of the slim women I know have bags of nervous energy due to anxiety, or they pour their emotions into being houseproud or that their husband only finds them attractive if they are a size 10 etc.

Quite often it isn’t as clear cut as that. Some people are just not being bothered about food, or are naturally very active. Conversely some of us mentally healthy chunkies love food and the sensuous experience of it. And we might be more sendentary.

Quite often it’s just down genes and/or hormones.

But don’t think you’re a better human being just because you’re slim.

I think you’re reading something that’s not there in the vast majority of posts, people are just answering the question.

I eat every 3 hrs, take a bunch of healthy supps, always protein and carbs included in every meal.i eat healthy in general but if I indulge I am fine with it. I exercise regularly too which helps regulate my appetite. I'd never deny myself or low carb.

@Wearywithteens

I think there is the usual disingenuous, passive aggressive bigotry against people who aren’t slim here. ‘I only eat two biscuits I don’t scoff the whole pack…’ ‘I’m superior and emotionally intelligent as I don’t eat my feelings’…Love how some of the slimmer pp think they have all the answers and can speak for others.

No, people who are bigger can also restrain themselves to 2 biscuits too funnily enough! Not all of us are just shovelling food in our gobs because we are crying inside. There is a nugget of truth in SOME of these things - in the same way some of the slim women I know have bags of nervous energy due to anxiety, or they pour their emotions into being houseproud or that their husband only finds them attractive if they are a size 10 etc.

Quite often it isn’t as clear cut as that. Some people are just not being bothered about food, or are naturally very active. Conversely some of us mentally healthy chunkies love food and the sensuous experience of it. And we might be more sendentary.

Quite often it’s just down genes and/or hormones.

But don’t think you’re a better human being just because you’re slim.

You've managed to take people talking about themselves & their experiences/choices and turned it around so it's all about you and the imaginary insults you think people are throwing at you. Eating two biscuits instead of the packet is people managing not to eat the whole packet even though they are tempted, allowing themselves a treat rather than completely abstaining. That's about them, not you!

I'm slim. So far I've had Lidl's Luxury Muesli with unsweetened almond milk and a black tea.

Not a fad diet, I genuinely like having them.

There's such a huge range on here I think it's pretty clear that it's down to genetics a lot of the time.

Im 5"6 and around 8 st 2 or 3 (don't know exactly as I don't weigh myself) but would typically have:

Breakfast

• coffee (never hungry for food really)

Lunch

• veg soup with ciabatta and houmus or oil & vinegar

Supper

• salmon with brown rice and lots of vegetables
• dark chocolate

I rarely snack as I'm just not hungry for meals otherwise. I have recently been tackling a major sugar addiction (I used to eat one or two family bags a night) so have lost a bit of weight from that.

I don't do any exercise at all at the moment as I have two toddlers and struggle but am working on it!

But with that you're just saying you're slim because you don't eat very much steel. Genetics not being a factor.

Plus with two toddlers you're probably more active than you think, running round after them, lifting and carrying them around.

But I think when people say 'genetics' a lot of the time it's how they've been brought up - do their parents and other older relatives serve large portions, always have junk in the house etc etc?

I have a BMI of 17/18 (a little under what it should be but all my family are slim, it's just how we are).

For breakfast I eat porridge made from scratch (one cup of porridge with 2 cups of water and one of whole milk) with cinnamon, ginger, tumeric, half a banana, a few nuts and 4 or 5 cherries cut up.

For lunch I might have a prawn salad with mayo or a prawn and avocado sandwich or 2 boiled eggs and toast and then an apple.

At 4 o'clock I have some sugar free muesli, kefir yoghurt and fruit.

For dinner I have a pork chop/chicken thigh/chopped chicken with veggies and a carb (wholemeal rice/wholemeal noodles/potatoes).

Every now and then I'll have biscuits/chocolate/sweets or crisps but I try to keep these as a treat and only have them a couple times a week (for health rather than weight).

@Tal45

I have a BMI of 17/18 (a little under what it should be but all my family are slim, it's just how we are).

For breakfast I eat porridge made from scratch (one cup of porridge with 2 cups of water and one of whole milk) with cinnamon, ginger, tumeric, half a banana, a few nuts and 4 or 5 cherries cut up.

For lunch I might have a prawn salad with mayo or a prawn and avocado sandwich or 2 boiled eggs and toast and then an apple.

At 4 o'clock I have some sugar free muesli, kefir yoghurt and fruit.

For dinner I have a pork chop/chicken thigh/chopped chicken with veggies and a carb (wholemeal rice/wholemeal noodles/potatoes).

Every now and then I'll have biscuits/chocolate/sweets or crisps but I try to keep these as a treat and only have them a couple times a week (for health rather than weight).

I never have a huge piled up plate though, always roughly the size of a fist of meat/carbs and then lots of veg.

Love the look of your menu yesterday 😍 so eclectic! (Half Korean and not often I see people talk about banchan on mumsnet!)

Ah that was for @SirenSays!

When I was slim, which I was for decades, I ate whatever I liked but never when I wasn't hungry. I often skipped breakfast, I physically couldn't manage pudding in restaurants or cake at parties if I wasn't hungry. I only ate emotionally about once a month when I had PMT and got craving for crisps and a bar of chocolate both on the same day. These days having crisps and chocolate on the same day would not be an event. In restaurants I used to instinctively look for the healthiest food on the menu and often had a side salad as starter because that's what I actually wanted. I'd love to get back to that mindset.

I have to work very hard and use a huge amount of willpower to stay even remotely slim. I love all the bad foods such as chocolate crisps and bread. If I go off the rails and start eating them I crave more and more of them.
Here is my typical food for staying slim:
B - 1 egg, protein such as salmon, ham, bacon, meat. Veg such as avacado, mushroom or tomato.
L- Salad with fish or chicken, nuts or seeds and a small amount of cheese.
D- fish chicken or pork in some form with salad or veg. No potatoes or rice or bread. Lasagne with no pasta- just layered mince, sauces and cheese, spag Bol with spiralised veg rather than pasta.
A couple of coffees a day with 1/2 a sugar. Tea with no sugar.
Snacks are berries, almonds, fish sticks, plain youghurt.
It’s pretty burning sometimes but if I had more time I could be more inventive.
It’s the only way I’ve found though to keep the weight off.
The absolute no nos are bread, pasta, wheat and sugar (except in coffee for me!)

I eat the same as my overweight friends but smaller portions as I feel sick when I’m too full. I’m also mostly plant based.
I exercise a lot though. I’ve normally done over my 10k steps before I’ve had breakfast in a mixture of circuit training
/ running / dog walking . My job is sedentary so I’ll normally exercise again for an hour in the evening.
The mixture of both I think means my BMI is always between 18-20