to think that women who are a size 6/8/10 are permanently on a diet?

[SabineUndine]

I don't mean diet as in counting every calorie, but diet as in they hardly eat any carbs and don't eat cakes, biscuits etc more than a couple of times a year? I am not a thin person (you guessed?) and I look at what my really slim female colleagues eat and it's salads with no carbs and just a tiny bit of protein, or soup or smoothies. Is that what it takes to be a thin person?

Ahhhh, another thread where a woman feels entitled to make judgement on another woman's weight and diet.

I'm glad I don't work with you OP.

I am 5'2 a size 8-10 and have been all my life. I eat shit loads. Some days I seem to be eating all day. I usually eat more than Dh who is 6'0 and overweight

Me and my brother both seem to have incredibly high metabolisms as he eats loads, always hungry and is very slender.

It's only now I'm 36 and since having ds2 18m ago that I've noticed I'm starting to fill out a bit and my 'resting weight' is gradually creeping up a little bit....

I am trying to come to terms with the fact that this time of eating what the hell I like whenever I like is coming to an end and I am clearly going to have to start paying a bit more attention to my diet

I'm a size 8 (or 6 in shops with ridiculous vanity sizing). Used to be a size 6 or smaller until I hit my 30s.
I eat pretty much what I want, always eat some chocolate/cake/sweets every day, last night had pie and chips in the pub for dinner, tonight having a curry.

But I recently got a Fitbit and realised that I do almost double the amount of steps that my larger friends do. Even when I'm doing sport I'm just generally pretty active - today I went shopping this morning then I've been gardening for about 7 hours - I've only just now sat down for the first time today. So I think that's why I'm slim.

Sarfeast8 - eating slowly is a huge factor I think as your brain won't tell you you're full until 20 mins after you have eaten.

I was hugely annoyed when DS came home from nursery with a Well done sticker and he told me he got it for finishing his lunch first . Not a lot of room in the dinner hall so they have to wolf it down. Such bad habits for children.

FWIW I think there is a very small percentage of the population who can genuinely eat what they want and stay thin. For the other trim folk these are either people who have been naturally slim all their lives and eat as a slim person unconsciously, or those who have lost weight, or have to try hard to maintain a certain weight.

I certainly eat for reasons other than hunger. I recognise this and I need to try to figure out how best to address it, as it's not simple greed, but I think because I'm super stressed at work (I'm a perfectionist and seem to get easily worked up by things) and then my body stops sending me the right signals.

I'm a size 8, creeping up to a size 10. Now mid 30's with 2 DC

I don't want to be a size 10, my personal choice as I just don't feel comfortable so I fast one day a week and have stepped up my exercise routine.

Colleagues and friends think I'm crazy but I'm just not happy being a size 10 and I'm another one not prepared to give up wine!

Just, to clarify, because there have been a couple of comments about my single pizza slice.

It was a 14" heavily topped pepperoni, cut into about 10. I had one slice, the two DCs had about 5 between them (and some curly fries) and DH came home late and scoffed the last 4. But it wasn't a teeny tiny legere or anything.

And I'd had a decent lunch.

I'm skinny fat. I eat a mix of sugary crap and salad /soup. You can't get away from the in/out calculation. End of.

Gone back and RTFT and agree wholeheartedly with PP about food being functional

I find the whole palaver of cooking and washing up a massive bore

I love going out to eat and will happily demolish a Sunday roast or steak and chips or gorgeous Thai stir fry

DH does most of the cooking as he actually enjoys it. I find it so unbelievably tiresome. It's so much faff for something over so quickly. Would much rather take my nutrition in the form of a tablet for the day and be done with it (and get pleasure from the snacks on top!)

I'm a size 8-10 but years ago would have been a 10-12, possibly even a 14. It's all vanity sizing. I run, swim, cycle and eat a lot. I eat far more than most people I know, even other runners.

YABU. My DD is a size 8/10 and has never dieted in her life (she's 25). She eats whatever she fancies and never exercises.

This author called Zoe Harcombe had a theory that people who crave food are actually suffering from food intolerances of the foods they crave.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B00ADQQXVG/ref=mpssa117?qid=1462038904&sr=1-7&pi=ACSX2366SY340QL65&keywords=zo%C3%AB+harcombe

Reader77 that isn't just Zoe Harcombe who says that, it is what most nutritionists say and I truly believe it too!

Nope size 8/10 here. Never dieted. Ever. I eat a lot of crisps. Every day. My weakness. I will say what i have noticed about what i eat and what other people eat is mainly portion sizes. I think some people must regularly eat until they are stuffed. I love fruit and vegetables. I dont eat ready meal rubbish. I dont find it enjoyable. I dont have tomato ketchup, mayo or things like that as it doesnt taste nice. I prefer vinaigrettes. When out for meals ill usually have the steak with salad, but i notice a lot of people eat chips. I dont tend to eat chips as they give me indigestion. I dont add sugar to anything as it takes the taste away so you can only taste sugar then.

Ive just noticed this thread is 14 pages long so i assume i should have rtft and there will by now have been a probably iced bun fight. Ho hum.

banana im the same. If im on my own ill have a cup if tea. Food is functional to me if ive to make it myself.

really interesting comments.

I totally agree about never letting myself get very hungry. I hate being hungry, I also hate being very full. If ever I get to that condition, which is rare, then as soon as I get food I absolutely stuff it down. On a normal daily basis I graze, so that come meals times I am only a bit hungry and ready to eat and consequently don't eat that much.

I am wondering whether larger people don't listen to what their bodies are telling them re being full and being hungry.

I think the idea of deprivation makes things worse. I never deprive myself of something I want. If I want something I will eat it, but I might only have a tiny amount of something 'unhealthy' but it is enough to satisfy the craving, so I never gorge myself.( except if I have been unexpectedly deprived)

Runner...I didn't know that but it does make a lot of sense.

Size 10 here,currently in process of losing baby weight from DC2.
I run most days and keep an eye on what I eat, but don't "diet." If I fancy cake I'll eat cake, but stop when I've had enough - I won't feel compelled to eat a full slice just because it's there.
I don't snack unless I'm ravenous after a run, I walk almost everywhere, and I don't have crap like fizzy drinks,crisps and biscuits in the house.
Also, if I see I'm putting on weight, I nip it in the bud and lose it. Far easier to lose three pounds than three stone.

6-8 here. I'm 36 I've had 2 kids. My weight went back to pre pregnancy with not much effort. I've never fought hard against weight gain but I eat in moderation, hardly drink and don't eat meat very often. I have never dieted so to speak but being truthful I'm quite strict about what I eat. Because I don't want to be fat.

Mid thirties and size 8 (or size 6 vanity sizing), with three kids ranging between toddler and teenager.
I was naturally slim when younger - I now find that I start creeping up to a size 10 if I'm not watching what I eat.
I am generally really careful about what I eat, but do have the occasional treat. I drink 2 litres of water a day and try to avoid drinking calories. I also walk a lot and year round, and run or cycle during the spring/summer.
I think I will have to live like this forever to maintain my weight.

I think it's different for everyone OP. I definitely had to work at being a size 10 and limited myself, because I do put on weight easily. But then my idea of portions are totally skewed so maybe it's not that my body attracts fat, but I always feel restricted because I want more So I only have to work harder at being slim because I love food. To naturally thin people they just seem to be satisfied with less... I wish I had a normal appetite.

I am wondering whether larger people don't listen to what their bodies are telling them re being full and being hungry.

I'm starting to wonder about that myself as a slightly larger person.

Just musing about the fact that when I'm on holiday I never put on weight despite having meals out and alcohol every day. I always come home and the scales are fine. I think this is because when I'm happy and relaxed my body does get the correct messages and I do know when to stop.

However when I'm working flat out then dashing off mid meeting to collect DS from the school gates, my brain barely gets time to realise that I'm eating never mind send full signals.

I also use food as a comfort crutch. Not as in sitting along eating tubes of pringles but if I have extreme emotions I tend to use food to get rid of them. Not healthy I know. Work in progress.

I think that slimmer people are better at eating healthier and exercising because their lifestyle and choices are better. It's what people on a diet try and emulate but try to create a calorie deficit. The slimmer you are the less you need to eat. My resting metabolism is about 1500 calories, I burn about 2500 by exercising and moving about, eat about 1800 cals and am losing weight steadily. When I am smaller I expect to be able to eat less to maintain my weight. It's just maths.

I haven't read the whole thread in depth - just skimmed it really, but I wanted to say - I do understand where you are coming from OP. I have this assumption that thin people are thin because they exercise and eat healthily ALL THE TIME. (Or nearly all the time, anyway). I don't think having that assumption makes me a bad person - just, although according to this thread, mistaken.

And I am glad you asked the question. Because, more than anything, the thought of having to go without nice things (or the things I think are nice things) and be "good" for the rest of my life make me want to just stay fat. But if that isn't actually the case, well... it does bear thinking about...

Yes YABU to think that women who are a size 6, 8 or 10 are permenantly on a diet... I am a size 8-10 and eat what I want. I enjoy a wide variety of foods including chips, cake, chocolate, salad, veg etc. I don't think you can form a whole picture of someone's diet just in what you happen to see them eat at lunch, on a working day. I've had comments at work like 'you don't need to eat salad, you're thin!' Why does it have to have anything to do with vanity? I just wanted salad that day. Do we need to justify it to our colleagues? Sad.