Slim women. Do you work at it?

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I always thought slim women could just eat whatever they liked naturally. But looking at the eating habits of my slim friends, they don’t seem to eat whatever they like - they are constantly making healthy, low cal choices and I can’t shake the feeling it’s deliberate in order to stay slim, rather than them just actually fancying the lower cal option.

is this your experience? Is this what slim women have to do forever? When did you start doing this and do you find it easier now?

I think I do eat smaller portions than other ppl. As pp did, I don’t like the feeling of being really full.

Went out for pizza recently and just picked out some of the middle. I never eat the crust because I know I won’t finish the thing.

I eat what I like, in the amounts I like. However, what I like tends to be fairly healthy and the amounts I like aren’t excessive. I also work out four days a week (HIIT, tabata or light weight training) and do a lot of yoga.

I was slim in my two entries despite eating like a horse! I'm 33 now and still the same weight but do find that I need to eat healthily in order to maintain my weight. Mindset is so key though - I've changed a lot as a person since my twenties and actually have a real passion for healthy eating and exercise now. So I am 'eating whatever I want' AND eating healthily, the wording of your original post doesn't really seem to recognise that you can have both at once. I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything and don't go hungry for ages.

Twenties not 2 entries!!!

It's a mixed bag for me. I started mountain biking and lost 2 stone and gained loads of new muscles and tone to my body over the course of about 4 months. I maintained that weight by riding loads because I really enjoyed it and I didn't have a big appetite either but to be honest I still ate junk food, I just got away with it because I was so active. I could do a 15 mile ride then go and smash a Macclesfield and it made no difference. Since having a baby and putting on weight again iv had to work hard but I lost over a stone and iv been eating badly over the summer and somehow maintaining my weight but I am riding and doing homeworkouts and generally staying active at home as much as I can. I think if you work hard and stay good with food for a period of time you can eventually relax more when you feel comfortable with your size and splurge a but more without worrying...as long as you stay active!

I'm slim and yes I watch what I eat and exercise...I also like a good curry and a few wines. I kind of keep the calorie count in my head and am aware when I'm overeating, then I cut down for a couple of days.

Maccies 🤦‍♀️

I’m slim and I generally eat what I want as long as it’s mealtimes. I don’t snack and wait until I’m hungry before eating. I eat chocolate every day and always have pudding after my evening meal. I eat a lot of fat-butter, cream nuts and oil but don’t really eat things like crisps and bought cake. But love toast and lots of butter.. So no I don’t work at it and have been the same weight for over 25 years-although a stone and a half heavier then when I was 20!However, although I eat what I want, we do have a pretty good diet-mostly home cooked, not huge portion sizes and lots of vegetable and fruit, nuts etc. I think if I wanted to eat lots of crisps, chocolates, biscuits etc, I’d be in trouble.

For me it’s a mix of both: I’m very active and I eat healthily, but I also really hate feeling full so always, always eat small portions. You’d go for dinner with me and think I was doing it deliberately to stay skinny, but in reality I hate feeling full so I’ll often share a main or not finish my meal. I love food though and there’s nothing I won’t eat but I save high calorie treats / meals for treats (Fri / Sat). I tend not to eat until lunch most days and I’m careful about calorie in take. Everything in moderation including moderation!

I am slim and I don't starve myself but I make a conscious choice not to eat cake, sweets, chocolate whenever I want them because otherwise I wouldn't stay slim.

I do limit 'treats' because, basically I don't need them, I just want them but I want to stay at a healthy weight more.

And, no, it's not easy and I do have to work at it.

Im slim but stay very active - on my feet for my job half my time there, always running around after the kids, keeping on top of the house etc, walk everywhere I can. Eat 3 proper meals a day but rarely snack. I wont deny myself anything so if we’re out for a walk, i’ll have a hot chocolate, cake or ice cream but combined with a long walk.

I think an active person can get away with alot more and i’d rather stay active than deny myself anything.

Some women I know who are 'naturally slim', in that they do eat a surprising amount, but they also seem to be high energy and fidgety.
Most women I know are conscious of what they eat and even if they say they eat whatever they want, they don't overeat. And they exercise regularly too.
I'm on a calorie restricted diet, I'm tracking everything on My Fitness Pal. Today I ate not as much as I'd like and when adding it all up was dismayed to see it was at my what my maintenance level will be once I hit the weight I want - still a calorie deficit for dieting purposes from where I'm at now, but I guess that's what they mean by lifestyle change rather than quick fix!
I love food and like that full feeling, but that leads to being too heavy.

No not really, I'm lucky in that a saw.... but I'm also someone who naturally doesn't eat loads.

So I tend to eat at least 3 meals a day and one or two snacks but they are rarely big meals as I get full quickly.

My excess calories tend to be when I've had a bit too many nights with a glass of wine

I have been slim all my life, and I eat whatever I like, which is often cake and icecream. The only calorie counting I have ever done is making sure I ate more then 2000 calories a day to try and gain weight.

I'm actually quite similar to this

I try to eat when I can and when I eat badly just get straight back on it.

I also walk to and from work by choice to keep the weight off. 45 mins each way.

I have recently been getting the bus a couple of times a week and eating a bit badly and have gained weight because of it. Getting older also means you have to try harder. Just what you want during menopause 😒😅

I can eat what I want and stay slim.

But the truth is, I tend to want healthier stuff, I have a natural full point and don't feel any compulsion to over eat (occasional exception when food at a restaurant for example is amazing), I don't find I'm constantly hungry. I don't feel much hunger at all in my stomach or head- have to look at other signs- I become fatigued and grouchy before I feel obviously hungry. When I'm hungry I eat what I want and as much of it as I want until I'm full. I naturally eat slowly and have been accused of "picking" at my food, which I do as I get fuller as I want to concentrate on the tastier bits! I get full quickly. I crave protein and occasionally carbs.

Today I've had a fairly typical Sunday - melon for breakfast, a croissant with butter and jam for lunch, an apple and a chip butty for tea. Massively lacking any nutritional value to be honest. But yesterday I had 2 slices of toast, an apple, some orange juice, a cup of tea and dinner was grilled marinated chicken and lamb pieces with salad (lettuce, tomato and onion) and a chocolate mousse. Friday was an apple, small baked potato with cheese and salad for lunch and dinner was Bolognese (no pasta or garlic bread).

I definitely not as svelt or toned as I was pre kids, but I've maintained a fairly static weight between 30 and 40 (I gained weight at 27, having been 9st 10 until then, I gained half a stone).

*I meant eat well.

Oh one thing that I think is relevant in me being slimmer since I had kids - I often eat dinner with them at 5/5.30pm then don't eat again til breakfast at 7. So 14 hours a day with no food intake (albeit a lot of it asleep)

Ugh. I get so tired of comments like this.

It has been proven that obese people have higher levels of hunger hormones and don't feel satiated by food the way that slimmer people do. If someone larger than you were to eat your portions they would indeed feel starving. You don't feel starving because your leptin and ghrelin functions normally.

Your comment comes across as deliberately goady.

I’m slim and I don’t monitor what I eat exactly, but I don’t want to get fat so I don’t pig out on sweet stuff and I don’t snack. I just prefer being the way I am to eating those things, there’s no angst in it. I eat as much savoury food at mealtimes as I like though. And I had an ice cream today because I knew I’d really enjoy it. There’s nothing worse than eating junk and realising you didn’t even enjoy it, so I avoid that feeling.

I think for a lot of people - always exceptions - it’s thousands of different small lifestyle decisions.

For me I know losing weight is harder than putting it on in the first place so I try not to and consciously consider what I’m eating.

I think I can call myself slim now. I’m almost back to my target weight after a few years of being overweight. I know that to keep being slim I will never be able to eat with the same abandon I did in my younger years. I could eat whatever I wanted and stay slim until my late thirties.

I will have to think about what I’m eating every day as I put on weight very very easily now. I hate that I have to do that but I don’t ever want to be overweight again so it’s a price I’m going to have to pay. I’ll allow myself treats but they can’t be daily and I’ll need to keep my carb intake reasonably low (but not too low).

I always ate loads and loads and was a size 8 ( 9 stone and 5’9) for years up from 17 till I was about 38 . Was eating about 2500 + calories a day and had a fast metabolism.
Suddenly started putting on weight and in a year went up to 11 st 4 and a size 12/14.

I had to cut back hugely and can now only eat about 1300-1500 calories a day, I’m 9 and a half stone now and a size 10 but it’s hard work, I have to make healthy choices and count all my calories

OP you sound a little jealous given how you've low key berated the work and discipline it requires to stay healthy slim 🤔 of course low calorie is a conscious decision to maintain weight and health!

Deep fried chips will always taste nicer than oven baked, and a breakfast bar cannot be compared to a dairy milk bar 🙃 But lets be honest here, fitting into a size 10 dress is also more enjoyable than loathing yourself in a size 24 dress. Before the mn wolves eat me up... we all know we are what we eat most the time, and being overweight never did anyone any good and if we had to choose between slim and overweight on even a surface level, we'd all choose slim! Only, not everyone has the strength and discipline to maintain that waistline and that's OK. But OP your post is brash, no matter your attempt to pass it off as a revelation and curiosity to gain clarity. You sound like a low key hater I'm afraid.

I'm healthy slim, and I make conscious choices, and enjoy all food consciously, but also my slim dresses and high heels, and feel a million dollars and feminine! Other times I've gained happy weight like when I first got married and felt equally beautiful, but only to a certain weight increase, after which I had to discipline myself again.

You clearly want to feel slim too, so maybe redirect your energy to achieving that, instead of coming on MN to hate and be validated by others who probably also secretly envy slimness.