Do you eat what you want?

[shrubgreen]

Just wondering how many of you eat what you want, when you want on a regular basis - or if you tend to view food in terms of what you can/can't, should/shouldn't indulge in?

Was just wondering as I know so many people who have been on some sort of diet for most of their lives and wondering if anyone is really immune from this? Or do some people really not think twice about what they eat - I mean in terms of "guilt" and feeling like there's a right or wrong way to eat.

Yep. Absolutely. Big fan of butter and a day without crisps and chocolate is a sad one. Do love green veg (with butter!) and beans, lentils etc. Often can't be arsed to eat though.
Don't give it a second thought and no idea what I weigh. Do swim, run, bike etc. Age 47 and a size 10ish.

I’m a creature of habit so
most days my diet looks like this:
wake up, water and black coffee
another black coffee
eggs cooked in butter after a small workout
lunch is usually cous cous with protein or roasted veg
dinner - veggie stew/soup/lentil ragu type stuff
have to have a mini choc bar like a freddo with a cup of camomile tea before bed, it’s my little treat that I look forward to!

size 10/12

I don’t restrict myself at all, I don’t go out much to eat but if I do I would have what I fancied

Yes, I've always eaten what I want but I guess compared to a lot of people around me, I have a smaller appetite.

This is lucky really as I'm mid fifties with an underactive thyroid, yet I've never been overweight.

I also don't have a particularly sweet tooth, which helps.

have to have a mini choc bar like a freddo with a cup of camomile tea before bed, it’s my little treat that I look forward to

that’s just sad. How is a mini chocolate bar a treat? 😭

I also don't have a particularly sweet tooth, which helps.

Me neither and I'm thankful for it! It makes up for other stuff... eg I've always hated the feel of brushing my teeth so sometimes only do it once a day (I know, I know) but the dentist always gives me the all clear, never had a filling in my life.

I do think that if you eat sweets less and less then you gradually stop craving it, and then when you have something really sweet like a jam doughnut then it just tastes a bit sickly.

I eat what I want, have never dieted, and no idea how much I weigh. I'm healthy to some extent, overweight though but I'm happy in myself.

I eat what I want, and when I want. I haven't been on diets since my youth, and they just made me feel awful. I am 51, and a size 8. I have various medical conditions that incline me to weight gain. However, doctors are usually astonished I am slim, in their words. I don't think I am that slim in population terms, and believe they are biased by the patient cohort they see. I do not have a massive appetite and don't like feeling overly full to bursting. But, if I want cheesecake at midnight in a double helping, it is happening without a second thought of calories or fat gain. I would imagine dieting through the menopause years would be hell on earth!

I have dieted in the past but it's always been half-hearted and usually just because someone I know is and wants a companion dieter. They don't work for me because if I'm dieting food takes over my consciousness and it's virtually all I can think about! Pointless.

Far better to eat what I want when I want and not worry about it. I used to be a very fit person because i walked pretty much everywhere (lived in central London) so kept weight off that way, but since MS took over and I got a mobility scooter I have piled on a fair bit. I never weigh myself so no idea how much nd don't care. However I have stopped eating biscuits, sweets and cake most of the time and if I get hungry I eat allbran mixed with natural yoghurt BECAUSE I LIKE IT!! I'm lucky in that a decent snack could be anything from that to plain broad beans, I love veg.

Eat what you want, dream on!! If I had eaten what I wanted all my life I would be huge. I love cheese, cake, biscuits, bread, jam, butter, sweets, chocolate. Anything that’s fattening I love.

@GoingOnce its either stick to one or I’ll eat ten! 🤣🤣 there is no inbetween

Yep, I eat what I want when I want. When I go out to eat it's a sight to behold🤣 But I am quite active during the day because something always needs doing. If I'm playing music I'm dancing and not just listening so I guess that's my balance! I also gain and lose weight pretty quickly so that's helpful...I think.

I eat whatever I want. I am a little rounder now than I would ideally like (would like to lose half a stone and fit back into a size 8) but still a reasonably healthy weight in my 50s.

The trick for me is to eat most of my calories by 1pm so I burn them off during the day. I eat my main meal in the middle of the day and only a couple of biscuits and a slice of toast in the evening. Also I don't drink sugary drinks.

Some days I do and some not so much - I am not a faddy eater but I experiment with different foods - pre meno I was always a size 6/8, active, smoked, ate a mix of super healthy and too many cakes, chocs, sweets, snacks - I do not booze at all - I am now 52, in the midst of menopause and eat everything pretty much except processed savoury snacks & junk meat, eat a lot of veg & fruit, drink water & tea (with honey & full fat milk) and enjoy cheese, carbs, a lot of nuts and still eat too much chocolate & desserts - I am a size 10 but do a 48 hr week, high activity healthcare job so burn off a lot - I try not to snack but it is bloody impossible when I am working - I love healthy food but also sugar, that is my downfall.

The trick for me is to eat most of my calories by 1pm so I burn them off during the day.

But if you have a 'trick', is that really eating what you want, when you want?

Absolutely hand-on-heart yes. And I weigh 20 stones (probably a bit over, but not weighed in a while). I do eat all and everything that I want to, and I love it. I cook & bake really nice stuff, and then eat lots of it. I wish that the blood tests from the doctor would come back 'bad' and inspire me to reign it in a bit, but the last ones showed me to be amazingly fit & healthy which is in complete contrast to how I look. I am quite active though - not in a gym way - but my job can be quite physical and I do quite a bit of shovelling shit for my daughters horse, never smoked, very rarely drink alcohol and have always drunk a lot of water. (drink, drunk, drank? - looks odd)

I wish that the blood tests from the doctor would come back 'bad' and inspire me to reign it in a bit

Please don't think like this because one day your blood tests might come back to say you've done irreversible damage, or just like my brother you might not even get that chance. He died of a heart attack 2 days after his 40th birthday due to his obesity.

Before that he was considered 'fit and healthy' by his blood test results.

If you feel deep down you need to make changes, then now is the time to do it.

I eat what I want but I'm out and about all day, so I try to make my meals healthy, fresh produce, salad, I treat myself with a nice cake sometimes or even a pizza, so it's ok

Sadly, no, I can’t.
when I ate what I liked (three healthy meals a day and chocolate a few times a week) I increased from a size 14 to 18 when I hit my forties. This was with regular exercise - weights, HIIT etc.

I lost weight through major restrictions and now eat to maintain my weight: no breakfast, smoothie for lunch (Joe Wicks - protein powder, raspberries, yoghurt, porridge oats and PB, all weighed) and then a healthy low carb ish dinner - tonight was chilli, no rice or cheese and a huge pile of kale instead of rice. No alcohol, small amount (4 squares) chocolate twice a week. I’m just in my healthy BMI and a size 12-14. I exercise 5 times a week plus Pilates. It’s bloody depends really!

I eat what I want and I also don't spend the time and angst and worry that so many people on here seem to.
That's far more unhealthy than anything you could ever eat.

No. I lost 45lb over the last year, and I have no intentions of regaining it.

I eat pretty healthily and I don't feel like I'm miserable, but I also choose not to eat the biscuits, cake, chocolate, cheesecake, sausages, pastries, cheese, and other deliciousness that I'd love to eat given half the chance.

I do within reason, I do try and eat healthy most of the time but have want I want as well

I can't stand people whose only conversation is how many calories or fat is in something, the latest diet they want to try, the 'I will only order a starter then complain I am hungry and take your food' or endless medical diet things

I eat a lot, but I’d eat even more if I let myself. I do huge amounts of running and cycling so I am slim despite eating quite a bit. I‘m a very active teacher and I love running around with the children all day.

I eat three home-made, nutritious meals a day (I easily eat 10+ portions of fruit/veg) and I have as much of that as I want. I drink a lot of coffee and water.

I have a decent amount of ‘treats’ in a week: usually one or two restaurant meals; one or two desserts like a GU or ice cream; maybe a coffee-shop cake somewhere in the week. DH and I quite often plan a takeaway for after a full day hike or bike ride and wouldn’t generally have one if we hadn’t ‘earned’ it.

Anything else, I restrict. I try not to snack at all, but if I really fancy crisps or chocolate, it’ll be a small bowl or a couple of pieces. I limit alcohol, fizzy drinks and fruit juice. I keep things like bananas and oatcakes at work incase I’m hungry during the day. I often shove something down my throat before I cycle home.

If I let myself eat freely though, I don’t think I’d stop for air.

So @shrubgreen - basically the woman who say “I eat whatever I want whenever I want” are either a) overweight, b) only wanting small amounts of mainly healthy foods (what would feel like a restricted diet to most woman) or interesting is the c) lying to themselves- several on here have said that they do eat what they want when they want, they just don’t allow themselves to eat after a certain time or don’t have chocolate or biscuits in the house as they would then eat them all.

I think the C group are the ones who are exercising self control, but are so used to it they don’t feel like they are denying themselves treats. Which is hopeful for the rest of us that it does become easier !

I think I'm going to do this too.

Yep - me too definitely.

In my 20s and early 30s I could eat whatever the heck I wanted and stayed the same weight.

Things are very different at age 58

If I just ate what I fancied, this is without binge-eating or even that much - I would gain very very quickly...