If you have always been a healthy weight, what do eat in a typical day?

[Ikeatears]

I know this has been asked before but I can't find a thread on it.
I've overhauled my lifestyle and recently lost 2 and a half stone. I still have at least the same again to go.
I want to be able to eat healthily for ever and not 'diet', especially once I get down to a healthy weight.
If you have a normal, healthy relation with food and you've never really had weight issues, what do you typically eat in a day?

I eat whatever I want. I dont however eat breakfast or lunch unless I am starving which can happen if I expend a lot of energy like when the weather is hot . Just one big meal a day. Usually around 9pm.

Seems weird but its how I have always eaten. So its not really difficult or a struggle. I start getting hungry around 5 and listen to my cravings, then I buy what I crave and start making dinner.

I do find it fascinating. I think our bodies are quite good at telling us what they need.

6ft 144lbs here. I think height is a factor that helps me, but a normal wfh day would be -

• muesli, seeds, sultanas
• hot chocolate
• an orange and a banana
• rocket, mackerel, half an advocaco, couple of seeded crackers
• chocolate, liquorice, handful of nuts
• chicken, jacket spuds, salad.

I have a drink fri-sundays and limit myself to 1or2 bags of crisps a week. I don’t eat biscuits but do love a cake!

I aim for 10,000 steps a day and exercise at home 4 days a week.

@mistermagpie

I really don't think you can compare yourself to others, people's body composition and activity levels vary so much, as do genetics etc.

However - I'm 5'8" and have been a healthy weight my whole adult life, I put a bit on through three pregnancies but lost it each time and am now 41 and about 9 stone.

Today I ate nothing for breakfast and a ham salad sandwich, apple and yoghurt for lunch. Dinner was a hotdog and chips (it was my sons first day at pre school so he got to choose!) and I had a cereal bar and a few haribos after that. That's a fairly typical day, I barely eat any fruit and veg, I eat quite basic dinners like pasta, curry, fish and potatoes etc, because that's what my kids like. I don't drink much at all but I eat sweets or chocolate every day.

My point is, I'm slim and pretty much always have been, but my diet is crap really. I don't eat a huge amount and I am very active, I work out most days, so those are positives I suppose but my diet is nothing to try and emulate! I think some people find it easier than others to maintain their weight and that's just an unfortunate truth.

I’m the same. I don’t eat breakfast and I don’t drink tea or coffee. But everything else is on the table and my diet is fairly poor. I make up for the lack of breakfast by eating lots in the second half of the day and the evening. Don’t drink alcohol all that often though. Dont really drink anything except water, through choice, and that probably helps a lot.

Should add that I’ve hovered around 50kgs for the last 25 years.

Breakfast - 2 bananas, or sometimes cereal
Lunch - Jacket potato with cheese, baked beans and salad that changes week to week
Dinner - Spag bol, fish and chips, cottage pie, pasta dish

Also cakes, biscuits, etc

I eat A LOT but I am also usually very active.

Reading this thread i know why im fat.

Reading through these I think one thing stands out. Lack of snacks. I think many slim people don't eat a thing between the 3 meals. Not. A. Thing.
This is quite a revelation for me and something I've been paying attention to recently in my effort to slim down a bit. I hadn't realised before but some days barely an hour goes past without me having a handful of nuts or a banana or an oat biscuit. Because they're small and 'healthy' I didn't think it was too bad but now I'm fairly sure cutting out snacks completely is the key to losing weight. I eat very healthily but too much of it too often!

one thing stands out. Lack of snacks. I think many slim people don't eat a thing between the 3 meals. Not. A. Thing.
It's true. I never, ever eat between the three main meals, a thing that was ingrained in me from childhood. I will have something in the evening with a cup of tea or a glass of wine though.

If I go out for coffee with friends I never have the cake. Friends will have the cake and talk about the calories or it being naughty. At work I never have the biscuits, or the cake that people bring in for birthdays. If visitors come I will offer home made cake / biscuits but never have any myself.

It's habit, not a concious decision because I am dieting, more that I like to go to my meal hungry and a snack would spoil that.

@CatAlice See I would definitely have the cake but then just have a very small tea or possibly none at all. Which is obviously not entirely ideal from a nutrition point of view, but keeps the overall calorie count down.

@mynameisnotmichaelcaine Yes I see what you mean. I think it's just habit with me, I like my food and would rather have a decent meal than a cake, nothing to do with trying to keep calories down as I have never done that.

My observation of some naturally slim people is often they graze and appear, superficially to eat a lot. Yet when it comes to a proper meal they eat much less than I would.
I guess if you added up the food intake for a day and compared grazer v 3 meals and no snacks it would be similar.

Normally don't bother with breakfast and lunch and just eat something in the evening.

It probably helps for me that I don't really like food, I just eat something as, well I have to to ultimately stay alive.

I don’t know if this is normal but I lose my appetite if I’m confronted with a huge amount of food - it’s might be the result of pressure to clear my plate as a child alongside efforts to fatten me up, but I suspect it might be genetic.

As an adult I relish the freedom to stop eating when I’ve had enough. A lot of the people I know who struggle with their weight don’t seem to get that signal when they’re full, or sometimes I hear people say “I’m only eating this for the sake of eating”.

I don’t have any food that I consider off limits. If I want something I’ll have it. In fact, I’d describe most of my eating as something akin to comfort eating. I often have quite a strong desire for particular foods, an emotional need almost, and mostly I indulge it. But it’s as likely to be a desire for fish or veg, as carbs or sweets. It’s obviously an advantage to be the cook in that situation.

I also have a preference for food that is slightly bland. I have to adjust seasonings for dh, and some of the sweet foods he likes are overpoweringly sweet to my tastebuds. Maybe another way to put it is that I can really taste food (is there a taste equivalent of “vivid”), and I think that might also play a part.

I’m not a well regulated eater. I often skip breakfast, and sometimes graze until dinner time.

For breakfast I have 2 weetabix with semi-skimmed milk, and two pieces of fruit.
I get hungry at work late morning so will snack on carrot and red pepper sticks.
At lunch I'll have a can of vegetable soup and two pieces of fruit
For dinner I have whatever my husband cooks - generally things like chicken & veg curry, roast dinner, paella, fajitas, steak pie with potatoes and veg etc.
I often have a yoghurt after dinner.

Besides that I'll have chocolate, or a take away, or a meal out when I fancy, I never really restrict those things but it's not frequent enough to cause any problems.

I’m also a bit of a lightweight with portion sizes. I can’t eat a 3 course meal, and can’t usually manage pudding after dinner unless I have a significant gap after. I find that the larger people I know have no problem. I don’t know if that’s an appetite thing or whether my stomach just is just to little and often?

@ssd

Reading this thread i know why im fat.

Was just thinking the same thing...no self control

I am 52 and never been on a diet.
I eat little and often, always have done. I exercise and make sure l get plenty of sleep. I don't ever label food good or bad. I just know l feel better if l eat nourishing food.

@rubyandbel I'm not actually sure it's about self control though. It's more natural brakes iyswim. Once I'm done, the thought of eating more of anything makes me physically sick, it's not about wanting the food and denying myself.

I'm 5'8 and just over 9 stone. I do 16:8 most days. I probably consume between 1200-1500 calories per day.

Breakfast: coffee with milk

Brunch: a sandwich (cheese/ham/coleslaw/salad), or a boiled egg with toast

Supper: whatever I want, eg veg chilli, curry, a pasta dish, roast chicken etc. We do Hello Fresh or Gousto most days. Big salad.

A bottle of beer or a couple of glasses of wine.

Snacks: cheese and crackers, crisps.

I eat a lot of vegetables but am terrible about eating fruit

Also I try to walk at least 10,000 steps per day and do yoga.

I eat 3 proper meals and 3 proper snacks per day.
E.g.
Breakfast shredded wheat with semi milk or granola with fruit and yoghurt
Mid morning large banana
Lunch homemade soup with toast or a wrap with crudites or sometimes leftovers from dinner.
Mid-afternoon something like a crumpets or hot cross bun with butter
Dinner homemade meal, I am veggie so no meat or fish but usually something like pasta or curry. Most of my meal will be veg but I usually have a big helping of pasta, rice etc too
Evening bowl of cornflakes or few chunks of chocolate or sometimes fruit and yoghurt.

I eat a lot. I also drink loads of tea but I don't often have takeaways or convenience foods, I eat about 7-8 portions of fruit and veg a day and drink loads of water.

I have to be really restrained to maintain a healthy BMI but do manage it - nowadays, I calorie-count, don't eat between meals and am careful about the size of my portions. Am quite fanatical about this as there's a history of type 2 diabetes in my family and have had relatives who've had strokes etc. I rarely drink alcohol or eat cakes/puddings. It's a bit dull as I love cooking/baking etc. Also galling as I live in a house with folk who have galloping metabolisms and are string beans (including DH who's also in his 50s)

[quote mynameisnotmichaelcaine]@rubyandbel I'm not actually sure it's about self control though. It's more natural brakes iyswim. Once I'm done, the thought of eating more of anything makes me physically sick, it's not about wanting the food and denying myself.[/quote]
Yes iswym. But what makes one person naturally stop when satisfied and another person just keep going 🤔 It's rare I feel full. I so wish I could just stop.

As others have said, many of the things are natural preferences that happen to keep you slim.

I actually enjoy a lot of "plain" foods, and additions that other people like would spoil them for me. For example I wouldn't put sugar or honey on porridge/cereal/fruit, I wouldn't add butter to boiled potatoes or veg, I don't like mayo/sauces/dressings .

This is really helpful since a salad of just lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes, peppers, chicken might have 200 calories whereas adding Caesar dressing, BBQ sauce and Parmesan shavings (as DH would) makes it about 600 calories but not much more filling.

On the other hand, I do love really indulgent desserts like sticky toffee pudding, chocolate brownies, cheesecake, ice cream... and have something like that most days.

Don't agree with the not snacking - I definitely eat more often than most people in my office, but things like veg crudites, fruit, natural yogurt, mini cheeses. I don't see things like crisps and chocolate as snacks since they don't really sate my appetite - I enjoy them as treats for the taste, but don't see them as a replacement for food.

@rubyandbel I don't know. But I do realise that I am very lucky indeed and am very careful not to see my weight as a badge of honour - it's pure luck!