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Original poster

to wonder how the hell she stays so slim??

708 replies

SequinsAndSparkles · 15/03/2011 13:41

My BIL is engaged to a spanish woman, and we spent the weekend at MIL's, all of us together.

She is very slim, I'd guess a size 6/8. Her skin is glowing and she is stunning, yet her diet perplexes me?

On the first morning, we were all having breakfast, MIL made a fry up for everyone, but I am on a diet so I had special K and some toast. SIL prepared her own breakfast (they are currently staying at MILs while they have some work done on their house), and she had some kind of cheese, can't remember what she said it was, about 10 olives and a slice of ham! Yet she said that my breakfast of Special K and toast was stodgy and apparently English women have 'very strange ideas about nutrition'.

For lunch, she had a chicken salad, but it involved lots of extra virgin olive oil, all over the peppers and a big dollop of salsa. And then for dinner she had chicken smeared in pesto, with green beans in salt, more salsa and a slice of cheese.

How is she so slim??

I didn't have a particuarly healthy weekend in the end, we ended up having a takeaway on the Saturday evening, and SIL wouldn't eat any of it, she wasn't rude, she politely declined but I just find it hypocrytical that she eats all this fatty stuff and made the comment about England having strange ideas about nutrition when I was eating Special K and toast!!

OP posts:
Udderly · 20/03/2011 16:38

I haven't read the whole thread so this might have been covered. Ingredients are listed on the box in order so they largest volume ingredient appears first. Any cereal that has sugar as the third ingredient simply cannot be good for you.

FortiesCromarty · 20/03/2011 16:43

Thanks to this thread, I now have a bossy Spanish Lady living in my head, telling me off every time I have a sandwich Grin, I will try and harness her power to lose a bit of weight.

WynkenBlynkenandNod · 20/03/2011 16:50

Scrambled egg, grilled lean bacon, mushrooms and tomato instead of weetabix, plus much smaller portions of carbs have been a complete weightloss revelation to me. Finally I am losing weight (49lbs so far) and am confident I'll be able to keep it off when I finally get to where I want to be.

Laquitar · 20/03/2011 16:58

I love poached eggs and i could have them every morning but i thought it is not good to eat many eggs after the age of 40 (due to cholesterol risk).

Does anyone know if this is true?

PlanetEarth · 20/03/2011 17:13

But poached/scrambled eggs just have to go on toast! Smile Back to the good old carbs again...

onlion · 20/03/2011 17:25

I had eggs and bacon for breakfast today and was STARVING by 10.30 am :(

exoticfruits · 20/03/2011 17:31

Apparently eating eggs is now fine see here

Laquitar · 20/03/2011 17:44

exoticfruits that's good news then. I find eggs very filling.

Thank you for the link.

AlpinePony · 20/03/2011 17:45

Onion, how many and how did you cook them?

ivykaty44 · 20/03/2011 17:49

The problem was you got up to early - stay in bed till 10 am and you will find it helps Grin

ChippingInMistressSteamMop · 20/03/2011 17:53

Tomorrow I'm going to have veggie bacon, mushrooms and tomatoes for breakfast - see how long I feel full for. It's going to be weird without toast though :(

Xenia · 20/03/2011 18:06

Depends how many you have. I have 3 eggs yolks poached - ever ilked the whites and 4 slices of bacon (and a bit of brown rice heated up) for breakfast today. That is pretty normal for me and I don't tend to feel hungry until lunch time and am much the same weight I was as a teenanger - 9 stone.

Much more important than weight is health and as someone else above just echoed what I had written earlier for me the great thing about giving up processed foods is I don't seem to get ill any more.

And I think no one is saying dont' have carbs unless you want to be miserable and suffer badly. have some but don't have the massive portions people have, plates of rice and pasta absolutely piled high which is about 4x what a normal person would need.

SoftKittyWarmKitty · 20/03/2011 18:15

I've been following this thread since the start and it's actually made me reassess my diet and indeed my entire attitude to food. I've always loved foods with lots of flavour and colour but my problem is I consume too much junk food, snacks and fizzy drinks, have a lot of carb-heavy meals and huge portion sizes.

So after reading this thread I decided to make a change. I usually have toast and tea, or a bowl of cereal for breakfast but for the last couple of days I've had poached egg on ham (yesterday) and tomatoes, mushrooms (softened/heated in a saucepan) and baked beans with cheese (today). For the first time in ages I haven't been hungry until lunchtime. I've also been having very few carbs - hardly any in fact - and eating more good protein. As I've been full, I've not snacked like I normally would.

I hope I can continue with it as it's a lot healthier. I'll have to see how I get on tomorrow when I'm at work though, because I'm one of those people who eats when stressed or bored. We have chocolate and crisps available and sometimes it's just too tempting!

ivykaty44 · 20/03/2011 19:31

when you say I gave up "processed foods" what do you mean.

I think of them as sausage - processed into a plastic bag and then tied at both ends. Or a lot of cereal as they went through a whole process to become as they are in the box. The same with mince unless you make the mince yourself from the left over Sunday joint, which I am sure I don't know anyone that does. Most chocolate bars are processed unless you get go for 70% which is then really good and you only can eat a little at a time. Donuts, jams tarts and cakes I think of as processed.

|I do eat brought mince meat sometimes and never eat sausages. I do though eat porridge and have been known to eat museli - which I don't or haven't considered processed.

So what is the meaning of processed food?

orienteerer · 20/03/2011 19:36

Like many others I am finding this thread may give me the "push" I need to cut down the carbs. Proud to say I had 2 poached eggs & 4 thin slices of back bacon for breakfast today and I wasn't hungry until lunchtime. One day at a timeGrin.

noodle69 · 20/03/2011 20:00

If you have big portion sizes and snack I think you will be more likely to be bigger. It also depends how much you move. I could easily eat 3 mcdonalds for all 3 meals in a day and not put on weight, cause I never sit still and I dont snack/have large portions.

Xenia · 20/03/2011 20:02

Everybody decides for themselves how much processing they are happy with. For lunch today I had grilled salmon, two corn on the cob with butter (so you might call the butter processed I suppose) spinach and the heated up brown rice I have quite a bit as it takes a few seconds in the microwave (and I didn't grow that basmati brown rice myself and it's arguably processed). All I can say is that this way I eat makes me feel great and I won't ever change it and that I think if you dont' have enough carbs with meals you can't stick at any way of eating and don't feel happy too. Slow releasing carbs are great for you and anyone just trying virutally only protein is doomed to failure and unhappiness long term.

Bacon you could say is processed too. I don't eat cereals. I'm intolerant of yeast sadly so I don't drink or eat very much bread and I drink water. All those things take some getting used to and I think the secret is do it bit by bit and meal by meal not some huge big bang when suddenly you change masses of things at once which is rarely sustainable. I don't eat the things just mentioned above like ceareals or chocolates or ham tarst or cakes or anything like that. I would eat a sausage if I were staying in a hotel but not at home but that's just preferences.

I think the resason I use the word processed as it's a shortand. If the food is as close to the ground tree or animal, in a similar state then it's likely to be better for you than something which has had a lot of things added to it.

ivykaty44 · 20/03/2011 20:52

Rice is processed Shock I didn't know that

appleslice · 20/03/2011 21:29

Is having weetabix ok or not? as i usually have a weetabix with a chopped banana for breakfast

CointreauVersial · 20/03/2011 22:01

I stopped eating most carbs (spuds, rice, cereals, refined sugar etc) last year.

If I don't have time for an eggy breakfast I tend to have berries, greek yogurt and almonds. The nuts have lots of protein and help keep me going til lunchtime.

However, generally, I found that following a low-carb diet means I'm very rarely hungry. I guess my blood sugar is more level. I used to have a huge bowl of muesli for breakfast, but I was always ravenous by 11.30am.

My stomach is flat as a pancake now (if that's not an incentive, then I don't know what is!!).

hmc · 20/03/2011 22:13

Have you given up alcohol too Cointreau (carb city!)

CointreauVersial · 20/03/2011 22:24

Hmmmm.....given up alcohol? Well, I certainly gave up that cheeky midweek glass of wine.....and I try to drink the low-carbest drink I can (for example gin, fresh lime juice and soda), but I couldn't give up alcohol completely, that would be too much. Grin

I lost about 1.5 stone, but as I'm now at my target weight I have relaxed things a little. And if I have a night out I relax things a LOT.

hmc · 20/03/2011 22:26

Yes - life would be joyless with a total alcohol ban!

ninah · 20/03/2011 22:28

is gin low carb? (hopeful emoticon)

hmc · 20/03/2011 22:31

It's relative - I don't think it is as bad as some other alcholic drinks (eg beer and wine), spirits generally better ....but still quite carb intensive. Could be talking out of my arse - anyone else know better?

Everything in moderation I think. I am trying to restrict alcohol to Saturday and Sunday evenings - it's a start. Pretty much got bread, pasta and rice already licked (will eat but in small portions and infrequently). Cake and cereal never crosses my lips!

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