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!

daddy- I do agree exercise is a big key to controlling our weight, our energy levels and our ageing. I am 52, I have always exercised , but in the past 8 years or so have made it a big priority. I do weights, yoga and run. I have the body of someone half my age and I feel 22 years old. I never take stairs just one at a time.
I can enjoy a bit more food as a result, although I seem to enjoy fruit/veg and protein foods far more than carbs- they just make me feel bloated and sluggish. Good to hear exercise is working for you.

Yes bigbluestars there is a link there. If you stuff your face with dough then that's what your body will look like (like mine was). If you eat lean proteins & lots of veg & 'natural' carbs in fruit and veg then your body will change to become a lean mean fighting machine. That's what I'm aiming for!

I definitely think most people I know who are overweight have no concept of portion control and I am shocked at the quantity of food some can eat

If I don't exercise then my calorie intake to maintain my weight (10 st 2, size 10/12, 5 ft 6 ins and 48 yrs old) is around 1600 per day. If I do regular moderate exercise, it goes up to around 2200 per day. I have two meals a day (brunch and dinner) and avoid snacking. For me, it's exercise to allow for some extra calories and to stay toned, and calorie awareness to keep the lbs from creeping on.

I am currently 11 and a half stone at 5' 2" and I spend a great deal of time thinking about portion control (most days I try to put my food on a side plate rather than a dinner plate) and the quality of what I eat. If I allowed myself to eat exactly what I wanted, when I wanted without any censure I truly dread to think what size I'd be.

For me I just don't have a large appetite.
I cant physically eat breakfast, I don't eat when i'm not hungry and stop eating when I'm full.
3 course meals are a big no, if I were to have a starter I wouldn't be able to eat my dinner, then of course if I eat my dinner I cant physically eat the pudding!!!
If I am stressed or busy I tend not to eat, (not intentionally mind) I kind of forget that I haven't eaten as i just don't feel hungry. Sometimes if I have skipped meals I only realise when i start feeling sick and dizzy, then I force myself to eat something despite still not being hungry.

I am also mindful of what I do eat as I suspect I suffer from ibs. There are certain foods that I just cannot eat as they will cause pain immediately after eating.
Too many carbs, junk food/takeaways and too much sugar can knock me out a sync for a few days. so I try to limit them and stick to protein based meals.
I don't really have a sweet tooth anyway but do have a bar of chocolate or ice cream if I fancy it, I just have enough to satisfy the craving.

I don't do physical exercise as such (Ie gym, running etc) but I do find it difficult to sit still for too long I am a fidgeter, even watching the tv...I drive dh mad as I am up and down like a yo-yo, so have to keep rewinding the programme we are watching and of course it takes twice as long!!

8stone 10, 5 foot 8. I walk as much as I can (I prefer it) and exercise daily, either heavy lifting or spinning. I eat about 2500 cals a day. I am trying to eat more as my weight is a little low. I am 40 with 3 children.

Just to add I have also been very over weight (about 7 and a half stone heavier than I am now)

Another advocate of regular exercise to maintain once you have lost weight. I'm 49, 5'8 and around 9 stone, and run regularly, around 50kms a week, plus dog walk around 30kms.
I don't believe in fad diets, research has shown all diets work by reducing your overall calorie intake so you are consuming less than you use. It is nothing to do with low carb or ph or whatever is the latest trend. I try and eat more carbs for breakfast and fewer in the evening and the reverse for protein as that is most efficient for energy and muscle repair for exercise. Agree that grazing is not natural, but I live in France and 3 meals a day with no snacking is the norm here. Although the French are getting fatter there are a lot of good habits and I've found it easier to stay slim here than I did in the UK with food available 24/7.
Exercise is great for the head as well as the body and it means you can eat more of what you like too .

agree with goals as well - I hate exercise with a passion but love cycling, swimming and yoga and am teaching myself to like running

The last two summers I've had to train for a 545mile bike ride, I love the ride itself and love the training so don't view it as "exercise". Next year I want to do a sprint tri (I bailed on one this year as my ocean swimming is crap!) so need to up my swimming training, but I love that so it's fun to do.

Because of the tri I need to learn to like running and try to run 15km a week, have signed up to a 5K in a few weeks.

I periodically try to do a one week yoga challenge and get to yoga every day for a week - again, I love it, so it's fun to do.

If I don't have a goal or something specific to train for then I don't have the motivation to exercise for the hell of it.

Oh - and goals like a weekend in Palm Springs with lots of buff gays who spin several times a week help give me motivation to do 30day shred!

OP here- just wanted to say all these helpful comments have been a real inspiration to me. I feel I've really been able to put a brake on my overeating these last few days- I keep thinking about the normal food you all eat,in reasonable amounts, and it's keeping me on track. Thank you all.

InSpace - it's been a fascinating thread, really glad it's been helpful for you. :)

Anglaise - 50km a week of running is amazing - how do you make time to rack up that distance?

Yes, a fascinating thread. The bottom line if you want a small bottom remains - eat less (and ideal natural unprocessed foods) but not to much less that you end up over eating to make up for it and ideally be active too.

I always run up stairs, never walk. Sometimes two at a time. I have always been between about 9 and 10 stone since I was 14 although when I was 40 weeks pregnant with twins I went up to 12 stone - a lot of that was big babies.

Most people wanting to lose some weight and keep it off tend to find they need to eat a bit less more than just exercising.

Japanese Margaret - it is only 5 hours of running a week for me, I run twice a week with my running club Sunday morning and Tuesday evening and I fit in another couple of hours in the week, lunchtime for example.

I'm 42, 5'6'' and currently about 9st. An average days food would be:

Breakfast - bowl of porridge
Lunch - cheese/egg sandwich (2 slices of bread)
Dinner - risotto/pasta/curry

My overweight friends seem to think i have some kind of magic metabolism, but I think the main difference between their weight and mine is that they underestimate their portion sizes and also don't consider their alcohol consumption - they enjoy a couple of large glasses of wine every evening and that is an awful lot of extra calories compared to my 1 small glass a month or less.

I'm not sure that exercise makes a huge amount of difference really, my friends do as much exercise than me (we met through sports/activities) so differences in calorie burning cannot explain why they tend to gain weight when I don't.

I am naturally slim and my main thing seems to be that I eat very slowly and feel full very easily. I would never eat a whole pizza for example, not because I'm health conscious but because I could never get a whole pizza in me (I physically feel full after half a pizza). I also eat slowly so by the time I'm halfway through the pizza I'll be full whereas DH will have eaten his already. So even though I eat junk food, because I can't usually eat a whole one (I'm always on happy meals, half pizzas, sharing a curry, etc) it doesn't impact on my calorie intake as much. I've heard that if you're not like this you can try to mimic it through things like deliberately eating more slowly, interspersing eating with drinking water, eating off a smaller plate to limit portion size, etc. I also heard it can be linked to how you were fed as a baby/youngster - whether you were allowed to stop taking the breast/bottle/food when you wanted or if you were made to finish. Apparently that can disrupt the natural development of a sense of being full.