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 am slim and the reason is because I don't eat breakfast. When I do I go up a dress size. I don't feel hungry in the mornings so I don't mind. Other than that I eat whatever but I am a healthy eater generally. Hate friend food etc.

I’m slim and mostly I think it’s because I eat smaller amounts than my curvier friends. I eat whatever I want, but I only ever want 1 or 2 biscuits and I don’t think I’ve ever finished a pudding in a restaurant. Denying myself things tends to make me want them more, but I think I’m just very lucky that my satiety point (or perhaps boredom point with a food) is low, so I stop.
And as others have said, I hate the feeling of being too full.

I quite often spend a week or so 24/7 with colleagues as part of my work. The fatter ones consume more. Big portions, more soda (especially diet ones),more snacks, more shite portions (I am one of the fatter ones!).
The slim ones exercise more, little and often, drink water over a latte, much less snacking and much. Enter food choices. They still eat some shite but not as much.

I haven't eaten breakfast since I was about 11 years old and I do think that's one of the reasons I've always been slim.

I mean in that I don't wake up hungry, so I tend to go from dinner at 6pm and then nothing until lunch at midday.

Back in the silly days when even doctors used to insist everyone should eat breakfast, it used to worry me that I just couldn't.

Oddly enough I have more energy too when I haven't eaten for a while but that might be my underactive thyroid.

I am slim and don't think I particularly work at it. Others might think I do work at it because I exercise but this is just what I do naturally so it doesn't feel like work.

I've been a size 8 with low BMI for ages. I like being slim and healthy, and am naturally drawn to healthy options. I eat a small breakfast, big salad for lunch and a home cooked meal in the evening. I love dark chocolate and eat it most days but in moderation. I only drink at weekends (apart from holidays!). I weigh myself every day so if I've over-indulged one day I can make small adjustments the next day to get back on track.

Self control is choosing long term happiness over short term gratification.

Would I like to eat whatever I fancy? Hell yes! But having been 90kg/13st in my late 20's and recently having to struggle to lose 5kg because I wanted to hit 60kg on my 60th birthday (I missed by a nad but got there within days)

I know how much discipline it takes but no one is going to become ill simply due to staying at a reasonable weight. Add 20/30% to your joints and organs on the other hand and you are stacking up trouble.

I can’t shake the feeling it’s deliberate in order to stay slim

Would that be wrong of them?

I'm slim, underweight based on BMI. I actually don't particularly watch what I eat, I've always been this size and have never had a big appetite. I don't deprive myself, but I'm also just not in the habit of snacking. But it doesn't take willpower for me because I just don't fancy it - if it did require willpower I wouldn't be this size, because I don't really have any. I also don't particularly like being this size, I don't dislike it, but it's hard to buy clothes. So no, I don't really work at it. I'm also not very fit, but that is something I'd like to change, but without any thought to maintaining my weight.

I’ve always been slim. I do quite a lot of exercise but I’m also careful - on a day to day basis - with what I eat. I eat fruit, vegetables, dairy and meat but very low amounts of ultra processed stuff and things like sugar, bread and pasta which I know make me feel rubbish in anything other than small quantities. I do have times when I eat whatever I like but that’s the exception rather than the rule because those foods are supposed to be a treat.

I genuinely like foods that are deemed “healthy” - fruit, vegetables etc - so it’s not like I’m living some miserable lettuce-based existence while dreaming of doughnuts, but there is also the fact that UPFs, lots of sugar etc just are not good for us.

It's not about calorie counting, it's about eating healthy food. Which is actually very tasty!

Healthy eating doesn't mean depriving yourself of lovely food.

I'm slim. I don't buy sweets, crisps , fizzy drinks, biscuits, and other crap.

I snack on nuts and fruit and a tiny amount of very dark chocolate.

I do eat puddings but maybe once a week and a small portion (think half what most people would think of as a portion.)

Umm I think even famous models have been shown to rely on chemicals to retain the slenderness (despite protestations that the lift off McDonald’s and milkshakes).
Like the rest of us, they have to consume fewer calories than they use.
It’s not a choice, it’s the application of science

I was always a 14/16 then I shared an office with some very slim women. I realised how much I was eating compared to them. I also realised a lot of my eating and snacking habits were pretty bad. I ended up syncing with them and went down a couple of dress sizes.

I know it’s common knowledge that loosing weight is really about what you eat not exercise but this is when it really clicked for me.

As I get older I also realise you have to eat less to stay slim. I do 6:18 fasting just to maintain my weight.

I have a friend who is very overweight who thinks that walking her dog each day should help her loose weight. I know that in reality she doesn’t realise how much her constant snacking impacts her weight. People are in denial about how much they eat.

People also think that all slim people are naturally that way but in reality it’s hard work.

It’s not goady. That’s that posters’ experience!

Do you have evidence that obese people have “higher levels of hunger hormones” that are not down to just overeating habits?

Don’t negate someone else’s experience because it doesn’t fit with your self narrative.

I hate this rather false idea that slim women are martyrs.

I LOVE food and over the years I've started to hate crap, processed food.

If I want a snack I'll eat good quality almond butter out of the jar and that makes me very happy.

I'm slim and eat what I like however I don't eat breakfast. This naturally frees up calories for me to eat later in the day. I don't eat breakfast because I don't fancy it rather than it being a conscious choice to keep slim.

I have tried to lower my body fat percentage and for me that's been things like getting a small domino's pizza rather than a large one. So I'm still eating what I like but a smaller amount.

I suppose it depends how tall they are. If they are 3’ 6” then size 8 is huge.

Sad that so many people still seem to think that "metabolism" is some magical thing that can be fast or slow and that varies enormously between people or throughout life.

Of course people have slightly different energy needs, but two similar people will have basal calorie requirements within 100 calories or so, if that - the equivalent of a pound or two. Differences from decade to decade as you age are similarly negligible.

The effects of these are dwarfed by the very real results of diet and exercise. Your skinny friend who supposedly eats like a horse doesn't have a miraculously "fast" metabolism - she just actually eats less than you think and/or gets a hell of a lot of exercise (perhaps just in the course of everyday life, granted, so it's not as noticeable as if she were in the gym 10 times a week). And your overweight friend who you think hardly eats does in reality take on lots of calories - albeit maybe in the form of calorie dense foods (or more likely drinks) so it's less obvious.

People who are slim take on fewer calories (compared to calories expended) than people who are overweight - either because they consciously try to, or because they happen to have smaller appetites or have formed sensible habits. As a PP said , it's absolutely not a secret.

I can’t shake the feeling it’s deliberate in order to stay slim, rather than them just actually fancying the lower cal option.

That is such a weird, odd way of phrasing the question. I'm slim - and yes of course I'm aware of the impact food choices have on weight. I want to be able to go to the gym 3 times a week, have energy for the kids, sleep better, have healthy joints etc so I make deliberate choices to not over eat or eat too many processed foods. It's not all about weight either - the foods that are better for you are obviously higher in nutrients and vitamins and minerals - so I focus on healthy foods, fresh fruits and veg and not heavily processed foods either, and as a result you don't tend to eat too much either.

I don't see it as denying myself anything really - I do eat crisps, chocolate, alcohol etc but it's all in moderation. Life is too short, so it's all about variety of foods and moderation.

I can’t shake the feeling it’s deliberate in order to stay slim

And that’s bad because…? It’s not healthy to be overweight.

I am fat because I am greedy and lazy! when I was young i could eat what I wanted and it was very hard to come to terms with the way things changed as I aged. I really dislike the outdoors and exercise, so that doesn't; help but I make myself do stretches and I walk everywhere. I focus on portion control and limit alcohol. I will never be a size 12 again (which sounds bulky given the "fairly slim 8-10s on here) and I am fine with this. I just try to stay at size 14 and not end up looking like Elvis in his declining years.

I'm slim (8), always have been, don't do any exercise except usual running around after kids. Eat what I want, some rubbish, some healthy, far too many biscuits and cups of tea. I don't really drink (booze) so not sure if that's a factor. Always getting told it won't last forever 🤣 I'm 40.

I'm slim, I don't diet and don't restrict, I will eat whatever I like but I realise I probably eat less over the course of a day compared to some people. I don't really snack and will stop eating when I'm full. It's not that I'm dieting, I'm full and satisfied so I'll stop. Today we went out for Sunday lunch, there was a small Sunday lunch option so I had that as I know I won't finish it all if I have a large one, may as well save a fiver! I never count calories and if someone buys me a cake I won't turn it down, I love cake! Do I sit eating cake all day long, course not! I also like a drink so will have a few glasses of wine at the weekend and the odd one in the week. We have take away maybe once every 2 months. We eat well but generally quite healthily, my husband does the cooking and is fairly health conscious, nothing is fried ever, we eat the odd ready made sauce but 90% is cooked from scratch. I used to be a fitness fanatic before I had children (I have 3 under 7), I don't have time now but I will walk wherever I can. I was convinced I'd get fat post children but I'm the same size as I was pre kids (6-8), took about 6 weeks to get back into shape each time, no conscious effort I'll add (I breastfed all my children until aged 2+. 6.5 years out of the past 7 I've been breastfeeding, maybe I'll balloon when I stop?). I would hate me if I wasn't me 😆.

I think it depends on a lot of things. I'm a size 10 in bottoms and a size 16 in tops due to having huge boobs that just wont shrink no matter what I do - its quite demoralising as nothing fits. I can only eat one, healthy, meal a day and run 30 miles a week plus visits to the gym and the pool. If I fail at any of this I balloon really fast. Its frustrating as minus the boobs I'd look a lot thinner as the rest of my frame (shoulders, waist, hips etc) is a lot smaller

I’m very slim and always have been. I have a fast metabolism. I lose weight quickly if I’m ill. I wish I could retain weight more. A uni friend was exactly the same. We both had to eat a fair amount of calories to maintain our weight. We both ate more lunch than fatter friends.

I eat normally. I don’t miss meals and I have a couple of snacks every day, usually mid-morning and mid-afternoon. I eat desserts, chocolate, cake, biscuits, etc, but not to excess. It’s not so much that I stop myself from eating more biscuits, just that a normal portion is enough. Eg I’ll have a couple of Chocolate biscuits with my coffee but a fatter friend will start eating them and not be able to stop. I think that’s partly because she deprives herself though and then overeats.

Sorry - no real secret. Just balanced meals with plenty of veg, desserts, snacks, wine, chocolate, but nothing to excess. I don’t eat a lot of takeaways though and I don’t see the attraction of fast food.