Genuine question - if you are slim do you feel hungry on a regular basis?

[Cruisebaby]

I'm genuinely curious about this and please, no responses of the 'I have two salad leaves a day and I'm full' variety!

The reason I ask is that although I'm not overweight, I do feel permanently dumpy. Not helped by being 5'3 and having 32G boobs admittedly and even though I've lost a little weight in the last few months I'm struggling to shift any more. I'm currently 9 st 7 and a sort of appley hourglass if that makes any sense.

What prompted my question is that I had lunch with a friend today who is the same age as me (late 50s) but very slim. The sort of slim where there is no excess fat at all and I am sure that every single item of clothing she tries on just fits without issue. When it came to ordering, she chose the lowest calorie item from the starter section and was adamant that was all she needed. Rather than look like a total glutton I also ordered a small meal but was bloody starving by mid afternoon. When I think about it, I rarely see her eat much and in situations where others might have a biscuit she will just sip on water or eat a few nuts.

It's left me wondering, is eating like that what it takes? I love my food but I really hate my body shape now and even regular strength training seems to make little impact. Is it possible to happy and ravenous at the same time? 😩

Your friend’s eating sounds disordered - we do need some body fat!

Oh, I've got one of those husbands. He has been underweight all his life. He won't eat all day, then he'll have some weird combination of food such as half a packet of Bourbon biscuits and some beetroot at 4pm, then he'll have a bowl of cereal at midnight. He doesn't seem to think about food at all until, presumably, he feels a bit of hunger, eats the first thing that comes into his head and then forgets about it again.

He gets cross with me because if we go out for the day, I'm talking about where we can get lunch as soon as we arrive, because I'm always hungry and thinking about food.

I have a friend who is very skinny. We went out for a co meal and the men were telling her to eat - she just talked and talked and tried to dish her food out to others cos she couldn't finish it and there was loads of it - it was a pasta dish portion of crispy noodles (so mainly air in the bowl).

I also have skinny friends who eat vegetables - no fats, maybe some protein (beans/veg protein), virtually no carbs - and never finish a meal.

When I was slim and not exercising like a nutter, I ate lightly, it's surprising how little food you need - think small cereal/yohurt or 1 slice of toast for breakfast, salad for lunch and soup for tea.

I’m tall but slim (BMI 21, not that that is a useful measure). I eat like a horse and only very rarely feel hungry. But I eat healthily: always home-cooked wholefoods. The only rules I have are no junk (ultra processed food, sugary drinks etc) and no snacks at all. If I wanted to lose weight I’d cut down on carbs (no bread, which I eat daily, no alcohol at all). But I have an active lifestyle so need them at the moment.
There’s no great mystery: I’m just lucky with my body type and metabolism.

I think you have a choice, either stay what seems a fairly reasonable size and eat more what you want and don't feel hungry, that's what I chose or try to stay very slim but know you will have to restrict yourself and feel hungry. Years ago I did do the restricting route, it's not worth it. Some people will be naturally very slim, eat loads, and still be underweight, though this is more generally men

I'm one of those people who can eat and eat, and stay slim (well, I do have a little pot belly now, especially after baby). I don't feel constantly hungry because I eat what I want when I want (I don't eat constant takeaways or junk though because I don't want to, but i definitely eat some junk every day, and takeaways occasionally).

I'm incredibly lucky and I absolutely love it. My cholesterol is a bit high though 😬so I'm not saying it's particularly healthyb but you asked about being slim, not necessarily healthy!

Yes, I feel hungry all the time, I just distract myself until my next meal time. Plus I try and eat big portions of food that isn’t too unhealthy, salads and whole foods mainly.

I am very slim...bordering underweight. I firmly believe it's genetic. If I ate 3 takeaways a day I imagine I would weigh more, but would be physically unable to become obese.

I have constant food noise and love eating so it does irk me when people assume I don't. I do eat UPFs etc and it gives me the same guilt as others...from the perspective I know it's unhealthy, not about weight. I eat a lot of carbs as like to feel full but hate feeling overly full so I naturally regulate my intake without much thought.

My natural preference is to eat regularly and not miss meals. I eat breakfast about 7.30/8, lunch by 12pm latest and then dinner at 5 (I do work but finish early). I go to bed early out of preference (may have small snack beforehand). I think people around me think I eat a lot because I'm always hungry but actually it's just that it's all within a relatively short period of time. I would say my portions are normal but it's hard to judge your own. In terms of threads I've seen on here, 2 wheatabix is a portion to me. Or 2 sausages (eta in a sandwich or with a big helping of mash). Or 3-4 fish fingers with plenty of chips.

I don't agree that just because you're slim you can pick up anything in a shop and it'll fit/look good.

Does it not get monotonous having to be that precise with what your eating? Or are you just eating the same stuff each week so you dont need to count it up anymore? What about sugar?

I was thinking about this recently. In the 80s, there simply wasn't the plethora of food being thrust at people from all directions - at least, not in an average UK town, it might have been different in a big city.

In the 80s, if you wanted a takeaway, it was fish and chips, or Chinese if you were lucky, and you had to make the effort to go out and get it. McDonalds etc. was only just creeping in and there weren't drive-thrus in every spare spot of land near a motorway. There weren't pop-ups selling street-food from all over the world at events, markets etc. Takeaway coffee meant a little polystyrene cup of MaxPax, not a giant confection of cream and syrup. Pizza was something you had in a restaurant.

Those are not my personal 'eating sins' - I overeat things like bread, cake and snacks at home, I find it easy to resist the takeaway culture because it's so expensive - but for people growing up now, it's been normalised.

Was once told by a relative that people need to learn that you don’t need to feel full a whole day and a bit of hunger is fine as long as you’re not starving yourself and yes everyone I know who sounds like you’re friend weight wise sounds like they live like this too. I’m in my 40s (in my 20s I would have been extremely slim never hungry but then I didn’t eat for energy as I do now (have 4 kids, work 30 hrs and write books)

You will probably find that they are just more selective with their food. Lots of food when we eat out is, quite simply, carbohydrate filled garbage. It's cheap, fills space on the plate and hides that you're not getting quality food for the marked up prices you pay.

She probably eats a little when out and then sensibly at home.

If you're hungry all the time, it means you have blood sugar fluctuations from eating foods that are quick energy but low satiety.

Protein, vegetables and healthy fats should come before any carbohydrates.

😱

My teen dd has been a bit of a revelation to me. She doesn’t really get any pleasure from food but will only eat what she likes. If she’s hungry and there’s nothing she likes then she won’t eat much - just enough to stave off the hunger. If she likes it she will eat it but always stops once she’s full. Same with sweets and cakes - she will never finish them.

She is bordering on underweight but is healthy and just seems to naturally control it

whereas I will always finish the plate in front of me and have another biscuit and take another piece of cheese! Happy balance needed!!

I have never forgotten to eat🤣 have forgotten many things in life over the years but eating is definitely not one of them.

5 foot 1 and size 6. Eat at least three times a day, and usually eat one snack. Eat when I feel
hungry and stop when feel satiated. I’m in tune with my appetite and feel hungrier and eat more when I am active, and feel less hungry and so eT less on inactive days.

Unless someone is super model thin, I think it’s a complete myth that slim people are really hungry all the time.

I'm 5'7", BMI 20, size 8-10 so consider myself slim. I exercise regularly and have a very active life, but very rarely feel hungry in the sense that I'm desperate to eat something. I never have food cravings of any sort and happily skip meals if I don't have time (except breakfast, which is a must for me!). I also utterly loathe cooking, which helps as I'm happy to grab a sandwich rather than actually cook something.

My slim friends eat very slowly.

Satiation is overrated, I think. I'm not sure it's that good for us to have an expectation of feeling 'full' after most of our meals. I don't like the sensation of fullness so it's easy for me to say, I suppose.

I’m with @Wonderwall23 where I think it is genetic. I’m not like your friend, I’m naturally thin, eat what I like (although I do try to have healthy meals), have no idea what number is high calorie or low calorie. I cook from scratch for the majority of meals, I always snack between meals, I never miss a meal as I get very hangry! I’m very often hungry but I can’t eat huge portions and I notice I stop eating when I feel slightly full whereas others keep eating to clean the plate. Although I can feel full then an hour or so later I’m ready for something else to eat.

I don’t think anyone can learn from ‘slim peoples habits’ as there are many slim people posting in this thread who are very controlling over what they eat and the ones of us who can eat what and when we like obviously have some genetic factors at play.

I'm 5ft4 and 8st11 and 41.

I'm never hungry, no.
I eat like a normal person, albeit I never eat junk as I don't like it. I only eat nutrient-dense foods and wouldnt waste intake on something like a juice, for instance. My typical day would be:

• 2 coffees with milk and one sugar
• porridge with a banana and maple syrup, or Greek yoghurt with berries and honey
• lunch of something like a 3 egg mushroom omlette, or salmon with brown rice and half an avocado
• dinner of beef chilli with brown rice
• snacks of a small dark chocolate bar, an apple with peanut butter, and more Greek yoghurt
• a glass of wine a few nights a week
• then at the weekend I'll have an Indian takeaway or homemade pizzas and a chocolate croissant for breakfast.

But, I do a LOT of exercise (hiking, strength training, running, spin, hyrox, cross fit) and need the calories to fuel me.

I've never been larger than about 9st7. My body naturally wants to be approximately this size.

The thing that changed everything for me was learning that being slim (for me) isn't about how little I can eat – it's about eating as much as I possibly can within an appropriate calorie range.

I can eat an entire tray of roasted veggies, sweet potato, and a chicken breast OR I can eat a chocolate bar and a handful of crisps.

Same calories, but one properly fills me up for ages and the other one I'm ready to eat again in about 10 minutes time.

So yes, I'm slim, but no, I'm rarely hungry, and no, I don't eat like a bird.

(to be clear, I'm not super skinny skinny – I'm 5'4 and hover around 9 stone, + or - a couple of pounds depending on the time of the month)

Yes definitely. I do 16:8 to maintain a slim figure so feel hungry in the evening once my eating window is closed. It’s has to be mind over matter, I care about being slim more than I care about snacking in the evening. You get used to it after a while and overall the benefits are worth it.

I love things like bread, but only homemade. I'm 47. For me also, I don't like the sensation of feeling full, stuffed or bloated. I know when to stop eating and don't feel compelled to eat more. I don't understand what food noise is. I don't restrict, I just don't overeat. I also don't think my appetite is birdlike. Its just normal.

I wonder what's changed, and what's different in our society compared to other healthier countries?

I was always slim until covid. I completely changed how often i eat and food types and gained weight. I've returned to my regular eating pattern and the weight has come off fairly easily. I did feel starving in the beginning but now I've adjusted I eat three regular meals have a snack some evenings and still enjoy a good glass of wine when i feel like it. My weight is very stable and rarely fluctuates now.