To ask how much slim people eat in a day?

[InSpaceNooneCanHearYouScream]

I know this is an odd question, but bear with me! I used to be a normal healthy weight when I was young, but over the years my BMI crept up to 30. I've been battling with my weight for the past few years, and have managed to wrestle my BMI down to 27. But I've yo-yo-ing up and down for a while, and I think I've lost sight of what a normal daily food intake looks like.

My worry is that if I manage to get down to a BMI of 23 or 24, with a reasonable amount of activity per day, how will I manage to sustain it long term? I know how to eat healthily, but I also like the odd takeaway, wine and occasional junk food. I suspect that slim people maybe just don't eat that much? Except for the few with high metabolisms of course.

So, it would be really helpful for some slim people in their 30's, 40's, or older, to give me a quick example of their daily diet. Thanks in advance!

Five Four, size 8

A lot usually and mostly all the wrong things

Yesterday was fairly typical
2 toast and honey
Banana
3 packets of crisps
cheese and pickle sandwich
2 apples
Carrot cake
approx 8-10 cups of green tea/coffee
steak pie, pots and veg
2 toast with pate

Although, I do have two days a week on average where I eat virtually nothing. I have days where I eat everything in sight and other days when I forget to eat because I am too busy.

(am not talking about people who are fat though, but people who want to drop a percentage or two and don't do any strength training or couldn't possibly eat enough calories to gain lean mass while running so much)

Ah Ok, I don't run a whole lot but the cardio I do is about equal (in terms of energy expenditure) to running (jogging) 40 miles a week.
I've always strength trained though and probably eat over 2000 calories, at 5ft 2 and about 7stone 10 ?

Maybe lack of strength training was key for the runners that Taubes refers to?

I bet it is key

certainly the person I'm thinking of with v high weekly mileage (all on road which I know is meant to be easier than trail but the impact must place its own special demands on the body?) has little time for weights after running 10+ miles most days with a 20 miler once a week and a job and normal life to fit in somewhere too - their body fat is coming down slowly but over years rather than weeks or months, and is still higher than mine!

before I exceed 35 miles a week am hoping regular work with a trainer will help me gain weight that is as much lean mass as possible

but as trainer has pointed out, is much harder to gain and to have a calorie surplus when you go and run it all off

I'm 5ft 2 and a size 8, today iv eaten..
nothing for breakfast (mad rush to do school run this morning)
A little left over pasta for lunch and a cappuccino
and for dinner I will eat what ever I make for kids but just usually an average portion of something home made.
I do however love chocolate and cakes and will eat them whenever i fancy.
There's nothing I don't eat, I love all foods. I just don't over eat them (most of the time )

Yes I lose strength as I get leaner, always stronger when fatter, even relative to body weight, ie I can do more pull ups when fat than when lean

5'3 and 52 kilos.
Breakfast: double espresso and basic muesli with unsweetened almond milk.
Lunch: omelette and salad
Dinner: chicken breasts and brown rice with peas. Glass of white wine. Tea. Handful of nuts.
I cycle 45 mins, ran 8 miles and rode one horse (higher level dressage work)

I stay slim by being active, running 6 days a week and being lactose intolerant and allergic to chocolate!

chocolate allergy

In short:
Eat less, but better.
Don't snack.
Do not have your personal 'kryptonite' food/s in the house.
Move more. Do anything, anything at all, just move.

My personal story: I've been obese and I've been a healthy weight. But mostly I've spent my adult life in between, as an overweight, slightly portly, if still curvy, woman. I've rarely managed to maintain a healthy weight for more than a year at a time. However, in terms of the principles I've learned through the past decade it goes something like this when I'm slim(ish!):

I have no gears, no brakes, no natural mental stopping point - I am either on point, or I'm not. And when I'm not, I mean I'm really not! For example, I cannot snack in a controlled manner. I just can't. It is the highway to hell for me. Therefore I do best when I commit to a fairly samey eating plan, because it removes the element of too much choice. So my breakfast and lunch are almost always the same, six or even seven days a week. I love to cook though, so I satisfy that creative culinary urge through our evening meals.

I am a phenomenal emotional eater. Food has been my solace, my reward, my joy, my guilt, my self punishment even, for my entire adult life. And in combination with the above lack of self discipline, I simply cannot have snack/treat/'bad' etc foods in the house, because the urge to eat when I'm in any kind of emotional state is overwhelming. Utterly overwhelming.

Excess carbs make me feel like shit, emotionally and physically. Higher protein/lower carb eating has been an absolute revelation for me. I don't do low carb by any definition of the term, but I do try and avoid processed or 'simple' carbs & foods - cakes, sweets, biscuits etc. and concentrate on complex wholegrain and natural carbs (veg) wherever possible. I'll happily eat limited frequency and controlled size portions of wholemeal pasta and bread for example, but I avoid white rice, bread, and puddings. I try to eat more veg than fruit.

I exercise more. Losing weight goes hand in hand with improving my health for me, so I've usually always increased my exercise at the same time as I've reframed my eating. I can lose weight easily through diet alone but increased exercise makes the momentum much easier to maintain.

Ultimately I believe that naturally slim people who have never been overweight have a different natural mindset. It just is. Those of use who have been overweight tend to struggle more to maintain - it's a conciousness that the naturally slim don't seem to need.

Its so true that people who have been overweight and those of us who are lucky enough to have always been slim (ish) having different ways of approaching food.
My partner was once obese. He was massive before we met. He lost it through a combination of diet and exercise, but it was really really hard work. Now, he maintains a fairly healthy weight although he's still a bit over what he ought to be on paper. All he has to do is look at food and he puts on weight. One beer and you can actually see the weight go on. Because he's big (tall, built like a rugby player), he'll burn thousands of calories running, but even so he finds it beyond hard to loose weight beyond a certain point. He's fit, runs marathons (slowly, but still), really doesn't eat unhealthily, but he can't slip for one second without it piling back on.

Which is an eye-opener for me! I've never been heavy. For me, "heavy" was when I hit 10 stone (on my frame a size 12) when I was at uni and eating college food every night and not exercising. Because now I sustain a high level of activity in training and sport is my profession, while I mostly eat healthily (high protein, high complex carbs, low processed or refined carbs, low fat), I can let it slip once in a while and have a pizza or fish and chips or something, and it doesn't show. I don't do that very often however, because it effects my training and I get a bad stomach - not fun. Basically, while I burn fewer calories than my partner because I'm smaller, I seem to also be able to burn fat more quickly. Perhaps because I don't have much body fat so have ahead start. I get hungry, really very hungry, especially when I'm racing, but I don't over eat because I hate feeling really full. So I'll stop just short of full up.

I eat a fair bit and have quite an active job. My problem is keeping the weight on which obviously doesn't help you.

But for what it's worth - I don't drink anything except coffee in the morning, un sugared tea, water and a glass if juice/smoothie occasionally.

I don't really do breakfast might have a biscuit with my coffee or a cereal bar.

Lunch is usually a sandwich on decent seeded bread with crisps an something like a yoghurt or cereal bar.

I eat things like roast chicken with the usual veg and potatoes for dinner. Or pasta. Usually with something g like peppers, mushrooms, bacon, cheese with tomato sauce. Or chicken stew and sometimes chicken stir fry. Not much red meat. Oh and bacon
sandwiches in weekends.

Obviously I don't eat massive portions only if I'm very hungry which takes getting used to if you normally eat a lot.

I do snack frequently but only if I am hungry. Which I often am. I'm not big on cake, I can have a bit and not want anymore usually.

I eat stuff like cheese or olives as treat food. And pate.

I don't exercise as such but walk to town fit shopping and have an active job.

I also have one takeaway usually mcdonalds mc chicken once a week.

I'm 5,1 and 40 kg.

I'm late 40's size 8-10 5ft5"

Breakfast- half an orange, half a banana, 2 slices toast + jam (I only eat bread from local bakery-I find it much lighter)
Lunch- salad and cheese sandwich + crisps
Tea-allsorts but with salad or veg mostly

I hardly ever snack but have a couple of biscuits or ice-cream after lunch and tea everyday. I only drink water and coffee (no sugar) except at weekends when I have a few alcoholic drinks too. Drinks can be 200+ calories a day. I don't have a huge appetite so no big portions.
I have a sweet tooth , but not a big fan of fatty foods and will avoid fry ups , burgers, hot dogs, takeaways that kind of thing out of choice.

I keep busy-I walk my dog every morning for an hour. Then again later on, most days. I walk at least another mile everyday and do all my own cleaning!

I'm 5'9" and bounce a few pounds either side of 135lbs (9.7stone) and size 8-10

I have a horrible relationship with food, really relate to PP who says they use food as every emotional response - joy, sadness, pain, boredom, punishment. I have no off switch when I'm in a bad food phase and will eat to well beyond full, go to bed with a painful stomach etc

But when I'm in a good food phase in great, I eat healthily and well, decent meals, drink minimum alcohol and feel so much better for having control and actually enjoying my food.

To combat it I don't keep anything in the house that is tempting doesn't work when I get it in for DC though I know I can binge on anything. I'm not sure why I'm not fatter, can only suppose that it all balances out to help me maintain but it's mentally very unhealthy - especially as I actually love really good food, I eat vegetarian most of the time and vegan a lot of that, love vegetables, all grains and spices and herbs and fruit, I don't really like processed or fatty or fast food, it just doesn't appeal.

I'm a SAHM so on my feet most of the day but also try to do a 45mile+ ride once every few weeks, intermittently do Shred on and off and try to run once a week (just 5K), swim once a week and yoga once week - sometimes I manage more than that, sometimes I go weeks without doing anything.

I was 12 stone at my fattest and I have a slim frame so it wasn't great despite my height, although I lose weight first from my face and put it on last there so got away with being bigger for a while - those were the days of constant drinking and eating carbs and cheese at uni, lost a lot of weight volunteering in Africa where I had limited access to anything other than fresh vegetables! Was lucky not to put much weight on during my pregnancies - it fell off within a month the first time, the second time I didn't lose anything until I stopped breastfeeding and my appetite reduced but then I also trained for a 545mike bike ride which helped a lot and has finally helped me find exercise that I enjoy.

I put weight on easily around my middle and sway with self enforced rules - I either stick to them meticulously or I fail catastrophically and "punish" myself by eating more of the banned food. I also find it difficult not leave any food on my plate - a childhood filled with "there are children starving in Africa, eat your dinner"

So I don't have an average day but tend to skip breakfast, have soup or similar for lunch and eat with the children to prevent myself having two meals in the evening, don't snack too much during the day but the evening is my downfall!

Oh and I'm 31

Ultimately I believe that naturally slim people who have never been overweight have a different natural mindset. It just is.

It's frightening how people can be one type for most of their lives and then gradually, without realizing - move towards the other type.

For most of my life I was one of the naturally slim.
Some days I would eat everything in sight, other days, hardly eat anything (was too busy), sometimes I would eat healthily, other days not. But the thing is - all through my slim years, food was never a priority. I very rarely thought of it.

But then I approached menopause and started to get slightly thicker round the waist. Not much - I was still slim, but it was enough to prompt me into going on a diet for the very first time in my life.

That first diet was the beginning of the end of my healthy relationship with food.
These days, I am now either on a diet or breaking a diet! I have turned from a person who hardly ever thought about food, to someone who plans her day around food

So the thing that I''m convinced of is, that Diets themselves are extremely addictive - more than the food itself and are very bad for you.
And once you start one - you are hooked and will be a dieter for life.
wish I could go back to the mindset I used to have

We were meant to graze.
There is absolutely no evidence for this assertion.
If you look at pre-agriculture societies, they spend all day hunting and gathering and preparing but eat nothing until the big communal meal at the end of the day.
Grazing as you go means stealing from the rest of the group so is not tolerated.

Thalassa
SO please to know I'm not the only non chocolate person on here

That first diet was the beginning of the end of my healthy relationship with food...

ginnycreeper5 I agree. From my personal perspective: I'd never been skinny as an adult - always a steady 10 to 11 stones and size 12 to 14 (mainly the latter) - but I'd never dieted. I was happy as I was.

After the birth of DD and coping with FT work my weight crept up to 15 stones or size 16 to 18 (creeping towards size 20). I started my first diet: a mixture of MyFitnessPal & then 5:2. The latter was the most effective for me because it got me back in touch with my natural appetite and hunger signals.

The weight came off surely and steadily and as a size 8 now I've maintained a healthy, natural attitude to food and find maintaining this new size needs no thought (as I mentioned up thread - I'm trying to put on a bit). I think it's because I've only dieted once in my adult life and didn't disturb my metabolism (or is the metabolism thing a myth?).

Those trying to lose weight and eat better for life do often find it best to have 3 (or possibly 2) regular meals at set times every day without fail and to eat nothing at all between those meals. Historically our species would often have days when no food was found yet I suspect most people who are over weight do not often feel really property hungry because they have not had a big enough gap between meals.

One thing that has struck me is the difference in reaction to stress. When I'm stressed weight falls off me as my appetite shuts down. If that goes on for more than a few days I find it very difficult to restart my appetite - it's as though my stomach just clamps down. Dh has learned to flag up if it's going on for more than a couple of days and I have to make a very concerted effort to break the cycle of reduced eating. I've had a week like that this week and have unintentionally dropped weight.

No alcohol per se- odd glass only
No pasta
No bread
Low processed food - think if you can't catch it or pick it it's processed
I try for periods of no sugar, it takes me 3 days before the cravings go
No caffeine
Exercise moderately ie always stairs not lift, walk anywhere under a mile, and do 1class a week
I'm slim but untoned, pre hol I ramp up exercise to shape up a bit
I'm mid 30s with 1dc 5'5 high and a small 10

5ft10 10st7 size 10. In past 12 months went down from 12st (post baby bulge so at normal weight now)

As others have said protein is the way forward, don't cut carbs apart from really bad ones like garlic bread but just watch them. Yesterday I ate (pretty typical)
breakfast: porridge with jam, 2 cups of tea.
lunch: 2 scrambled eggs homemade beans (chickpea, kidney beans and tinned tomatoes with garlic), banana, can of diet coke - mn sin there!
snack: apple, cup of tea
Dinner: lamb casserole with chickpeas, potato wedges and cabbage with horseradish sauce (am addicted) Melon for pudding, 2 glasses of wine. Coffee.

I often wonder though - surely someone of my height will need more calories to maintain a normal weight than someone 5ft who is 8 stone?

Place marking to see what all the slim people eat
Mfp and Jillian Michaels did it for me, mfp because i have a good enough diet but was eating the same portions as my very sporty and slim dp.