to wonder how the hell she stays so slim??

[SequinsAndSparkles]

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!!

Actually though, Mediterranean diets are based on large consumption of carbs and pulses and small consumption of animal proteins.
It is advised to eat red meat only a few times a month.

Tape worm I reckon.

What do people think is a healthy breakfast instead of 'shit in a box'?

Come on Niceguy2, Eastern European women aren't slim! Have you never met your partner's mother and aunts? Think of Italian and Greek women, it's the same kind of thing. It's how I intend to age if I can

If she is a natural 6/8 then as long as she is eating the correct portions for her size and height and a fairly decent diet then that's normal isn't it?

You don't mention the amount of exercise she does.

Weight and diet can't be discussed without knowing that in my opinion. Food type and intake can't be discussed in isolation from output.

She does sound gorgeous though and I am

Her food is all freahly prepared - no takeaways, no processed food, few carbs, healthy fats. Plus, her salt intake sounds fine - there's no problem with salt added to food cooked from scratch, it makes your food tastier so you eat less of it and find it more satisfying. It's the huge amounts of salt hidden in processed foods that is dangerous.

While I'm here, I may as well hijack a little - I'd really like to make our family diet more like that. Any tips? Especially on a budget (with no Market nearby either, sniff)

A rough calorie count if you had a 40g portion of special K (about a third of a bowl) and a slice of toast you are looking at around 350 calories, her breakfast probably just shy of 200 calories. Thats before you get into the carbs/protein debate.

A friend went to see a nutritionist (ie a specialist doctor with extra qualifications) here in France to try and lose weight.

The first thing he was told to do was eat meat and cheese first thing in the morning. If he was still hungry he could have a 'tartine' but he said this formula has been his cornerstone of weight loss ever since.

Special K and the like is all a big con.

All that diet / high carb / low fat stuff is not good.

Low carb is so much more effective.

I like a boiled egg with one slice of wholemeal/granary toast with real butter for a good, balanced, filling, low calorie breakfast. It's about the same calorie wise as a bowl of special K, which would fill me up for about five minutes.

Eat proper food for breakfast. The cereal companies have done a superb, unparallelled job of convincing us that cereal is what one has, but most countries don't. Indians have curry, Chinese have proper food (I won't write Chinese, I won't I won't)etc.

Breakfast like a King, lunch like a lord, supper like a pauper.

And don't eat anything processed.

Lots of wine is fine. (because I say so)

@rinabean. Yep, met them all. Her mum is prob. a size 12. Not bad for someone in her 50's. Her youngest sister is size 6. Her middle (who lives in UK) is size 8.

Been there a few times and it really is unusual to see anyone over size 12/14. Whereas in the UK its almost the norm and MN erupts if anyone dares to suggest that 12/14 is a bit porky.

Freudian - we should start a thread maybe, I am desperate to do low carb on a budget - it's fairly hard I've found!

Not only is one meant to have cereal for breakfast, but it is seen as the slimming option.

The worst kind of diet I have seen is in the US where people eat fat-free ice-cream etc and so many carbs. Then work out for a bit. And wonder why it is hard to lose weight.

It IS hard, with all that diet stuff.

Just to add, Atkins got such bad press here a few years ago when there was a revival of it. But I think its because people sort of Britished it up, and people were seen gorging on bacon and eggs, steaks, etc. If you do it "properly", once you are past the first 2 weeks where you barely have any carbs, you can have salmon, lots of green veg, chicken salads, seared tuna and green beans, lots of really good stuff in fact and I would hazard a guess that most people, if they did that, would be getting better nutrition than before.

My partner is from Eastern Europe. It's hard to explain but her diet usually involves a lot more vegetables and home cooked dinner's from scratch rather than processed junk. Given the choice, she'd rather eat pickled gherkins than chocolate.

Ditto.

"Freudian - we should start a thread maybe, I am desperate to do low carb on a budget - it's fairly hard I've found!"

If you do, would you link to it?

Have high blood sugar atm & want to get it down-and lose weight without too much effort

Oh, yes please, me too. I need to lose weight for my upcoming IVF cycle and I am having no luck on my own. A low carb Mediterranean diet sounds ideal

I am fairly slim (8-10) and while I wouldn't describe my diet as low carb it is certainly lower in carbs than the average British woman I know (colleagues/friends etc).

I try and limit wheat, so while I do eat cereal it tends to be oat based. I might have a sandwich for lunch, but it would be one slice of bread.

I would feel bloated and uncomfortable if I ate Special K and toast for breakfast, then 2 hours later I would be very hungry indeed. I know people that would see this as a healthy/adequate breakfast. Possibly then follow it with a 3 slice sandwich for lunch, and something else wheat based for main meal. It's far too much wheat for me.

If I have bread at lunchtime I would be unlikely to have pasta or other wheat based food for dinner.

Also although people seem to think I eat a lot, it is frequency rather than quantity iykwim. So if I have had my one slice sandwich for lunch, I will have a snack say fruit and yogurt mid afternoon.

If I have plenty of lean protein I feel great (I admit I don't always though).

I also drink, but never get drunk. 1-2 glasses of wine say 3 times a week. I have at least 3-4 nights off alcohol every week. I eat chocolate most days but a regular sized bar (say 45g) - I am aware this is quite high fat.

... in fact SequinsAndSparkles, could you ask your SIL to come on here and post everything she has eaten for the past 2 weeks, and we can just follow that

If you think of white carbs as cake it becomes much easier to see why traditional uk/USA dietary approaches fail.

Cereal is no better nutritionally than cake, ditto white bread, ditto white pasta.

Now cake is fine. But if you have cereal and white toast for breakfast then you have had cake and cake.

Carbs are fine if they are proper portions of good carb like wholewheat based.

Also, when you have cereal try actuallybweighing out a portion size. You/we tend to assume that a portion size is a small bowlful. Actually portion calories etc are usually based on 30 g or so which is tiny.

Try it.

Oh and if I ate a proper healthy main meal at lunchtime I barely eat at supper/dinner time. My body needs the fuel during the afternoon I find. :)

This thread has just inspired lunch.

Feta, anchovies, tomato, peppers and rocket salad with olive oil and lemon juice.

Thanks OP :)

to the poster who asked about what a healthy breakfast is, i would say eggs with wholemeal bread, porridge with added fruit or sweetened with honey,a banana smoothie (banana, yoghurt and milk) and a handful of nuts/berries - all delicious, packed with nutrients and keep you feeling fuler longer so you dont snack or crave sweet things

we have been conned for decades into thinking breakfast cereals = healthy - with a few exceptions eg the low salt/sugar , wholegrain ones - but then you have to look at the carbs