If you're effortlessly thin, how often do you think about food?

[misspercy]

I'm currently on a diet and trying to repair my broken relationship with food. (I grew up being told to always finish my plate, food being a reward, and I've always turned to food as a crutch. I'm trying to unlearn those habits.)

I find myself thinking about food all the time. What I'm about to eat, what I've just eaten, how long until I can eat something again... Food is currently the number one interesting thought to me.

I'm relearning what an appropriate portion size is, and that's fine, that's all just based on simple science, but I wondered how often do you thin people actually think about food? Is it literally just when you're running out of fuel and you're actually hungry, or do you think about food outside of those times too?

I'm trying to retrain my brain to think about food normally, but I'm not really sure what normal is... Especially interested in hearing from people who are, say, a size 10 to 12 and haven't ever had to go on a diet because they somehow just know how much to eat to stay at that size.

What does normal feel like...?

I love food & think about it a lot - planning, shopping, cooking, eating, leftovers etc etc

always been size 8-10 & active, but I've had to reduce portion sizes in middle age to maintain this

See, I don't really think of anything as being a reward or punishment in my life, except for perhaps money in a limited sense (wages, fines, late fees, bonuses)

Who is rewarding or punishing me? I'm an adult. I can make my own decisions and broadly do whatever I want. Of course there are some illegal things but they are mostly things I wouldn't do anyway, not because I fear punishment. Also I expect there are things I could do illegally that nobody would ever find out about. Essentially I can make my own moral judgement on those things.

DH grew up in a very controlling household and talks about being "a good boy" and "deserving" things, mostly in a jokey sort of sense (not in a sex way :o) but occasionally it comes up almost where we've had a bad run of luck and he gets all crestfallen saying but I've been really good, or something like that, and something makes me think he's not really joking, he really does see a takeaway or something or spending money on himself or doing a nice thing as a reward for being good. I just find that so incredibly alien and it seems unhealthy and stressful to me. Maybe that's the problem with thinking, and it's just that you happen to map it onto food rather than anything else?

I'm 63 and have always been a size 12 and never dieted. I'm not skinny but I'm happy with my weight. I love food and eat anything I want, I don't exclude any food.
I think about food when I have to plan or prepare a meal.
I eat around the same time 3 times a day every day.
I don't snack during the day but will eat crisps or cake with a drink in the evening.
One of the reasons I don't snack is that I like to really enjoy my meal and if I'm not properly hungry I might not.

The only time I have had food occupy my thoughts was when I was on a high dose of steroids. Steroids are known for weight gain but it's not the drug that causes the weight gain it's the extra food you eat because of massive appetitie. I actually used to find myself fantasising about food. If that's how overweight people feel all the time I can see how hard it must be to diet.

I’ve been a 6-8 and under 50 kg my entire life (pregnancy aside). Basically what seems to have worked for me is eating what I want when I want and not eating low fat or diet versions of anything. However I also don’t drink much alcohol and tend to do most of my eating before 2pm, only eating dinner after that. I also hate feeling stuffed so stop eating when I’m no longer hungry rather than when I’m full.

I think about food a lot, the difference is when I’m enjoying cooking I think about what delicious meals to cook and when I’m not (like now) I think about what junk I can grab and what will require little effort to cook.

I should also add that in my 40s after four babies being a size 6-8 looks very different and way flabbier than it used to!!

I am 46 (today!) Have weighed between 8.5 and 9.5 stone since I was 14. I like food and cooking. I don't really think about it until midday (have coffee and fruit every morning) after lunch I won't think about food till 5pm. This excludes planning special celebration meals.

If I'm busy, generally around mealtimes. If I'm bored, it'll be more regular. I am not really a snacker though, if I'm feeling hungry I'm generally thinking about a savoury, balanced meal rather than things like crisps.

Right, I am not thin, not fat either- think Khloe Kardashian before the "revenge body" a dash extra post Xmas. I have slipped badly in the last few months but still feel good if maybe a bit pudgy. The first step is to accept you will find it hard and that you need to focus on your mindset, not beating yourself up for eating cake and finding exercise you truly enjoy.

As a 4 year old, my mum would allow me to eat 4 packs of crisps back 2 back. Now, her justification for feeding my girls 2 chocolate bars everyday is that it has nyacin in it . FYI she doesn't do this anymore, my DDs are learning to balance out snack time well even when with DM.

You are talking about changing a lifelong mindset.

Choose bold and fun clothes you like to wear- no target clothes for a certain weight! Make yourself feel good at every opportunity regardless of your weight.

Soon, sooner than you think, you will feel a switch and will get to that place where you will look back on a successful week of good eating, exercise and positivity and know you can do it again and again.

I am aiming for being a solid size 12 by end of 2022)- I will be elated when I reach this goal!

Good luck OP!

Oh and food is one of life's greatest joys- don't ever stop thinking about it

I'm slim and don't tend to think about food unless I'm hungry. Sugary drinks on the other hand...

I'm luckily naturally slim.
I think about food near meal times.

What I have observed about friends who are overweight is that however healthily they eat their portions are always double mine if not bigger.
I also stop eating if I feel full regardless of what's left on my plate.

I think about food all the time! And eat it all the time. I just really like fruit and veg. I eat some chocolate per day too.

I’m very slim and I’m in my mid 50s. I don’t think about food much at all. I don’t really get very hungry and I can forget to eat quite often. That can sometimes mean I end up gorging on big bars of chocolate, though, which isn’t good either.

I don't think about food much bar what's for lunch/dinner etc. I do graze a lot during the day but that's mostly out of boredom (working). I always make sure I have a lot of snacks in store for that purpose and I worry that I'll run out of crisps, because I hate being bored at work with a massive craving and unable to satisfy it. I'm not emotional about food though, when I'm upset/anxious I go off it entirely, whereas my partner will go straight for the biscuits if he's feeling upset or sad.

I don’t believe that anyone over 30 is ‘effortlessly thin’. In my experience, thin people over 30 are disciplined about both their food intake and exercise regime.

Once in the morning - porridge or toast for breakfast, and then what to take out of the freezer, to defrost for supper.

Once at lunchtime - what's quick or will fit in a sandwich

Once in the evening - what to put with whatever I've defrosted.

Plus the weekly shopping list

I don’t tend to think about food much during the day and often forget to eat. I think I just get too zoned into what I’m doing. I’m a healthy weight though because when I’m relaxed I’ll eat all my calories later in the day. Very often I eat one (large) meal at night.

@PlanetNormal

I don’t believe that anyone over 30 is ‘effortlessly thin’. In my experience, thin people over 30 are disciplined about both their food intake and exercise regime.

Then you are wrong. I’m not disciplined about food. I just don’t think much about it. I could easily go a whole day and not eat and not even notice. I don’t need to be disciplined. I do virtually no exercise at all. I barely leave the house. I’m mid-50s.

Constantly.
I was a dancer and a gymnast (quite a successful one) from a very early age, and it was drummed into me that food was nothing more than fuel for my body, and should never be an indulgence or pleasure inducing thing. From the age of 12 I had a prescribed diet, where my portions were weighed out. I would have my weight and measurements taken at every training session.
I’m no longer involved in the sport, but old habits die hard, and I do use MyFitnessPal to log pretty much everything that goes in my mouth. Although I’m not as obsessive as I used to be. Like Sunday night: me and the kids had a filthy takeaway and I didn’t feel remotely guilty or bad about it. I thoroughly enjoyed it!

Mid-fifties here. 5' 7" and always been around 9st. Not underweight but people think I'm slim. I don't really think about food much at all. I know I have to eat to keep going but can easily not eat until the evening, unless it's a colleague's birthday or something and someone brings cakes into work. I keep cuppa soups in my desk drawers and have one of those most days but mainly to keep warm, not because I'm hungry. I also don't like feeling too full, so I don't overfill my plate, even at Christmas. And I don't drink. None of this is consciously to keep slim - it's genetic I think. One or two other family members are the same.

Similar here. I'm size 8 and love my food. However, I weigh out portion sizes because I hate wasting food. I also do some kind of exercise every day - even if it's walking the dog. I love being active as much as I love eating.

Im a 10 and only “dieted” after having the kids. Ive always been slim. Very active. Marathon running, so a lot of calories burned. I ate only when hungry.

Im now nearly 48. I still eat only when hungry, not because the clock says 12 noon=lunch, 5pm=tea.

If im busy all day, i can forget about eating, im rarely bored so when my belly rumbles, i think about food

There's a lot of chat about intuitive eating, for example, but my intuition is to just eat and eat and eat, so I have to constantly act against my thoughts, and tell myself no, if I've eaten enough to fuel me and I'm not actually hungry, I should not eat for entertainment/comfort/reward.

This resonated with me. Im pretty immature when it comes to a flat no. If there is one thing pretty much guaranteed to make me eat everything g in sight, it's that no. I can be good and follow the rules for a while but then inevitably rebel and eat all the pies, well, ice creme and sweets.

I found this guide (there is a ted talk video and a book) really helpful https://eatingless.com

I'm a size 8-10 (5'7" if that's relevant) and rarely think about food. Only think about it in terms of asking myself what I'm cooking for dinner tonight or when I'm food shopping etc. I never restrict what I eat in terms on cutting down on fats/carbs etc, but then I don't over eat either.

As I've got older my appetite has naturally reduced anyway. I also take a lot of exercise - walking the dog, own 2 horses, house work, gardening etc, so just move about a lot as part of my daily life.

I’ve always been slim. I see food as a necessary to sustain me. I don’t think about it a lot unless hungry or craving sugar due to hormones. I used to eat rubbish food but as I’m getting older, I have more discipline.