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!

I've never been overweight, and although still slim I can tell I'm not getting away with eating like I used to. I think I was just lucky that I could eat whatever I wanted and stay slim, as I'm getting older I'm not sure that's the case any more.

I'm 5ft1 and Pre-children weighed 7 1/2 stone. I now weigh 8 1/2.

I'm reasonably active but don't do any proper exercise.

An average days food:

Breakfast - banana
Lunch - ham salad sandwich, yoghurt, chocolate bar
Dinner - varies a lot, normally home-made chilli, pasta, curry etc.
Evening - I eat a bar of chocolate most evenings
Drinks - I only really drink cordial (full sugar) or water. I don't drink tea, coffee or alcohol.

I need to lose about 8 lbs. but I've been slim most of my life. Instead of listing what I do eat I will tell you what I didn't do when I'm was at my my slimmest. I didn't eat sweets. Ever. This means anything like cakes, ice cream, candy...Anything sweet. No dessert, anything sweet will be fruit. And only two fruits a day max.

I didn't eat in between meals. I didn't have more than one portion of something. I didn't give up takeaway, had it maybe once a month. I didn't exercise! In not advocating this - but exercise never made me lose weight.

Ime it's how you eat on a regular basis, the habits, that matter. Treats as log as they're actual treats don't count.

I'm currently sharing a large stuffed crust pizza with DH while he watches the footie.

milli I just ignored my weight for about 10 years, then started dieting off and on a couple of years ago

35, 5'2, 8st 4. (in the last 20 years varied from 7st7 - 9st2, normally around 8-8.7)

I don't exercise but walk everywhere & walk fast.
I eat what I fancy, and don't really see food as good or bad or limit portion size, but I am vegetarian, eat full fat options & loathe fizzy drinks/squashes/juices.
Today: didn't manage breakfast-no time!
Snack: 2 cups of coffee and 2 slices of cake,
Lunch: two big bowls of salad (leaves, cucumber, olive oil) with a buttered bagel. Water, another coffee. More water.
Childrens tea: Cup of tea. A few pesto gnocchi & a couple of mouthfuls of peas, a small bowl of rice pudding
Getting through bedtimes: slice of chocolate cake.
Dinner: pasta with ricotta, peas, lemon & parsley. More water. Probably a few cups of herbal tea and an apple later. (this looks awful written down but in my defense I am severely sleep deprived & breastfeeding)

I'm 5 foot 7 and I've just lost 6 stone this year so I'm now almost a healthy BMI (5 lbs to go!) and I'm looking and feeling pretty damn slim, certainly compared to how I was earlier in the year with a BMI of 38.8 . I'm a size 12 now so I'd say that's fairly slim. Getting there but I can tell you how I've done it and stuck to it...

I have breakfast, lunch and dinner with one or two snacks between. Usually I have a snack between lunch and dinner because that's the biggest gap and it's most often a piece of fruit. A couple of times a week I also have a slice of cake or chocolate bar in the evening. I'm vegetarian so meals are pretty carb hefty, that's fine by me. Carbs aren't the enemy...

I eat a lot of porridge for breakfast atm with fruit. Lunch is almost always something bread related- sandwiches, eggs on toast, beans on toast or homemade veggie soup with bread. Dinner is a whole host of things- I aim for a carb such as pasta, rice, jacket potato etc then protein like quorn, lentils, beans etc and veggies as a general rule. Make a lot of pasta dishes, veggie shepherds pie, jacket potato with vegetable and quorn chilli, stir Fry's etc. We also have pizza night on Saturdays and pancakes for breakfast every Sunday morning! I don't really drink much alcohol and aside from my morning coffee I only really drink water, sometimes the odd herbal/fruit tea.

Exercise wise I do yoga three times a week for 40 minutes, just a weight loss yoga YouTube video and I walk every day, I'm quite a fast walker too. I did initially do a lot of exercise to get the first few stones off, did jogging, Pilates, a lot of squats and sit ups etc but have got a bit lazier the slimmer I've got .

Portion control is where it's at! Always stop before you're full to busting, use smaller plates, drink water before and after you eat. Eating one smaller slice of cake rather than a big slab which I was guilty of before... If you want it enough you can and will do it, it's all in the mind.

Nameoexchangieo i do exactly what you do when I'm at my slimmest!!

I'm 36 and a size 6. At my largest I was a 16 (having been a steady 10/12 until I hit 29 and my metabolism fell off a cliff), but I slimmed down to a 10 in 2010 and have steadily been getting a little slimmer each year since then. When I lost the weight the thing that threw me the most was what a portion should be - I weighed everything according to recommended portion sizes and realised how much I overate.

I tend to eat protein heavy after breakfast (which is usually porridge so carby as can be) and do a lot of resistance training in the gym. I tend to leave things if I don't enjoy them - employing something we call the rule of first bites which means the moment something doesn't taste as good as it did on the first mouthful I stop eating it. And if something calorie heavy is a bit meh I don't eat beyond the first bite - if it's unhealthy it has to be worth it on the taste front!

I eat a snack mid-morning and a snack mid-afternoon to prevent me being ravenous by mealtimes which really helps me manage my portions.

I think hormones play an enormous part in it - I know for a fact that eating the same I have been gaining weight at some points and losing it at others, quite aside from the impact on your appetite.

When I was young I always ate junk whatever I wanted, drank loads of alcohol and never gained weight, I had huge hormonal imbalances which affected me negatively in other ways, though.

Now I eat much more healthily and don't drink at all and am slightly heavier than I was then, but my skin is much better and I actually get periods not that I want those any more now I'm done with having children

I've never tried it but there are loads of enthusiasts on the 5:2 thread? It seems to suit some people.

I'm slim 5'9 and 9st 7ish but I don't eat to be slim. I eat to be healthy as I have a chronic disease diagnosis which has pushed me to do everything I can to be well. I run about 25k a week, do body weight exercise like squats, core stuff and sit ups, walk the dog every day, and do meditation and mindfulness.

So today I had a banana pancake (2 eggs plus banana beaten then fried) , toast and peanut butter for breakfast. Satsuma snack.
Chicken and avocado and salad lunch with a load of mixed nuts after. Banana mid afternoon. Salmon and baked potato with Brie and broccoli. Tons of coffee and tea mainly decaf.

I think if you can really decide to eat well and look after yourself for a reason that matters to you deep down, then you've cracked it. Losing weight is fine, looking good is fine, but really it's health and energy that matter. Your reasons and motivation need to be bigger than all the crap that society chucks at you in the form of advertising, slimming industry and junk food and drinks.

For me it was a health scare that woke me up, but i do wish I'd done it sooner and not had to get to the point where I was properly I'll to get my act together.

Here endeth the sermon.

Ps I do drink wine

No it doesn't look awful kohl- you're being honest, which is brill

I did try a bit of IF but as usual, didn't stick to it

I think thin people stop when they're full, regardless of how nice something is.
I recall being In a restaurant with my slim sister. She had salt and pepper squid starter and left one.
Me'didnt you like it'.
Her 'yes, delicious thanks
Me 'I'll have that last one the please.'
Main course and dessert and the rest if our lives have gone like that and now I'm a 12 and she's an 8.

Love your username bigbum

I'm reasonably slim (BMI 22)

I dont really follow any diet or bother about 'advice' with what I eat.

I eat a fairly small bowl of cereal or porridge with berries/banana OR a piece of toast with marg and jam for breakfast. I know youre supposed to 'breakfast like a king' but I dont feel like huge amounts of food when I wake up.

I dont snack during the morning. Not hungry until lunchtime.

I have soup and bread or eggs on toast plus a piece of fruit for lunch most days.

I usually snack on chocolate or a biscuit in the afternoon with my coffee, but I dont go mad. A stick of choc broken off a big bar or 2 biccies.

I eat a fairly big dinner every night, but all decent , fresh and from scratch. I had roast chicken, roast potatoes, carrots, cauliflower and broccoli tonight. I'm making a veggie curry with chapati tomorrow, prawn stirfry and noodles the day after etc.

I have a few loose rules I stick to most of the time. I only eat puddings on Sunday. I dont buy too many crappy snacks for the household (maybe one packet of biscuits a fortnight, some popcorn, some bready treat like scones). No crisps, cakes, sweets, ice cream etc unless its a special occasion.

I dont snack after dinner. If I have a big restaurant meal or takeaway or PMT hits and I have a shit eating day, I try to be healthier and more conscious the following day.

Oh, and I drink LOADS of fluids. Probably 2-3 litres of water, 3 herbal teas, 2 decaff coffees, a small juice minimum per day. It fills you up.

If it helps, I'm 43 and between a size 10 & 12. BMI around 21.5.

I am gluten intolerant, but have never dieted. Today I have eaten..

Two slices gluten free toast and honey.

Two cups black coffee with sugar, one green tea, two glasses water.

Two slices gluten free bread, hummus, cucumber, small packet crisps, banana for lunch.

Roast chicken, jacket potato, cabbage for dinner.

I need regular meals, but rarely snack at home. I eat what I fancy when I'm out, drink only at weekends and holidays.

I play tennis a couple of times a week, but am not super fit at all. I am quite active though, and burn off a lot of calories in stress and running around!

Ok, I will start by saying first Im in the states (waves at everyone) . I was very obese 10 years ago and had shhhhh ....gastric bypass surgery. (Hides face).

Surgery worked and I have lost 1/2 my body weight in about a year and have maintained for 8 yrs. Im 6ft tall, bmi 21, and a size 6 or 8.

My lifestyle is protein first when eating. i try to get 100 g of protein in 6 "meals".

Breakfast: 1 egg, slice of cheese
Snack :protein shake or protein bar or some cheese
Lunch: 3oz of chicken or ham and a small salad
Snack: cheese and crisps
Dinner: 3oz protein of choice, veg, pasta or rice
Snack : whatever may want at this time.

I have severe back issues so do not exercise, but work full time and moving all day as much as possible.

I have to force myself to eat sometimes as do not get hungry and was hospitalized 4 times in last 8 months for malnutrition. (Had a feeding tube in my stomach for 4 months and just got it out 2 weeks ago, woohoo) So really trying to follow the "weight mgmt " plan to avoid a repeat.

I guess I am posting to say to eat as healthy as possible. Protein first and try to not graze or snack all day and dont worry about bmi, go by how you look and feel to find your ideal weight.

Hope this helps someone.

InSpace

TheBigBumTheory is: the more you talk about it or look at it, the bigger it gets

Oh, and Im 43.. Sorry forgot that.

I think you're right arethere. I am, inherently a bit of a pig

notme

That's amazing, you should be very proud of how you've turned things around.

(Waves at notmeagain)

Slimming world all the way. I eat loads, just healthily, and limit syns(eg crisps chocolate, alcohol). Have lost over a stone and now weigh the least i ever have, even after having two children. Thoroughly recommend the sw diet if you aren't good at portion control!

This might help (take no notice of my username. It is ironic). I'm 29 and am around a size eight. I used to be anorexic and a size four so I make sure I eat properly now.

If it helps you, my typical daily intake is:

Breakfast - a bagel of some sort
Lunch - a plate of pasta (I usually weigh it and have no more than 100g per meal) with tuna or chicken and a tomato based low fat sauce.

Dinner, chicken breast, veg and maybe a jacket potato.

Snacks during the day are usually:

A slice of bread and butter
A small biscuit
A light yoghurt or a bag of crisps

Not tremendously healthy but it might help you put things into perspective

oh and - am a size 8.

I try every meal to have a slight feeling of pigging out on fruit or veg, as raw as possible. Having slightly more salad than you actually want means you don't have room for the other stuff...

Breakfast - raw rolled oats with sultanas, rice milk and fruit (couple of kiwifruit, grapes); cup of black coffee

Morning - lots of cups of black tea, a piece of fruit

Lunch - something like a cup of couscous, big dessert spoon of pesto, a chopped capsicum, a tomato, a couple of handfuls of rocket, mixed together and lightly microwaved.

Afternoon - lots of cups of jasmine or green tea, a piece of fruit

Dinner - quinoa, tomato, cucumber, grilled sardines, drizzled olive oil/balsamic vinegar; or fresh baguette with (not too much) butter, deli chicken, mixed lettuce, cucumber slices; or rye bread toast with mackerel pate, squeeze of lemon, rocket; or a thai curry with light coconut milk, potato, lentils, broccoli, bok choy, fresh herbs; jasmine rice (treat) or brown rice. More jasmine tea.

Very late snack: Plain yoghurt with fruit/sultanas and rolled oats, if hungry at 10pm...