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?

I also crave green stuff, particularly if we've been away and eating hotel food etc or had a stodgy meal the day before. It's what I want
eating what you want doesn't always mean eating cake. I like cake occasionally, but wouldn't enjoy it daily

I'm a size 10 (apart from my ridiculously annoying F cup boobs) and my 18 year old daughter is a size 4. I'm 5'4, she is 5'2.

Neither of us really watch what we eat. In fact I know I eat way too much chocolate and crisps. I do like salads and suchlike but usually follow them up with cake and sweets.

We went out for lunch today so just had a light supper.... I ate about a third of a French stick, with butter, large amounts of Brie, some salami and prosciutto and some cherry tomatoes. Shortly I will have a large portion of tiramisu and pour myself some more beer.... Daughter had similar but is drinking ginger beer...

BUT I am quite active that probably helps...

Thanks Duchess, i think we're in the minority . This thread is fascinating.

Do you think it's do with what you eat as a child
dont know about anyone else but I LIVED for sweets and cakes as a child, this was the 1970's and I was slim as we all were back then

Gwenhwyfar, why does that statement make you laugh? My craving are usually for a rare steak or seared calves liver - usually means my iron levels are low as I usually avoid meat. I crave plain salads at my inlaws because they don't really eat vegetables except boiled for an hour, and I am used to a vegetable heavy diet. not sure it is based on foods I ate as a child as i ate white rice 3 times a day growing up and never now, yet I don't miss it or crave it.

Haven't read the full thread, but YABU to think that. I'm a size 8 and have always been thin without ever thinking about my diet. I love good food and sweets, although I think probably eat smaller portions than many others. My father, sister and aunt have exactly the same build as I have.

On the other hand, I used to really wonder about people who said they were on a diet but were still overweight. Not anymore. My DH is a bit overweight without eating masses of food, which has made me realise that... (wait for it)... Other people's bodies and metabolisms are not all the same as mine!

As a child I was brought up on packet meals and frozen stuff, vesta chowmein, crispy pancakes, fish fingers and chic mouse. My mum hates cooking. As I became a teen a chose green stuff.
I actually become very agitated if I don't have green veg every day,it's a physical reaction, like some people seem to have with chocolate . When I graze( which is most of the time I will tear off chunks of raw broccoli and cabbage in the fridge and stuff my face with tomatoes.( I am a aware this is a fruit and infact red not green!!)

I'm a size 8, I have a nut allergy so chocolate and biscuits are mainly out of bounds! I do watch what I eat and exercise because it makes me feel better.

interesting thread, not sure if any kind of consensus has emerged yet?

I think the general consensus is that slimmer people tend to eat less than overweight people.

It doesn't really seem to be about the food itself, but more the amount of it.

From my experience and from having had the "diet" conversation with countless female friends over the years, i don't think it's that small size is produced by being on a diet all the time, but more what society perceives to be the "conventionally attractive/model look" of flat stomach, lean, slim legs, good hip to waist ratio, slim, toned arms etc.

I think that degree of "perfection" is achieved by a controlled diet because it is more dictated by society and therefore unnatural for some people.

The portion control thing is interesting. My portion sizes have definitely go smaller since losing weight.

I was brought up with the whole, you must clear your plate mentality, and I find it difficult to leave some even if full. It's a message I never use on my own dd now because I'm convinced it's not a good message to give our children.

doweger

I agree with you to a certain extent, i do think that in a small amount of cases slim people find it very difficult to gain weight and overweight people find it hard to lose weight

YANBU - I'm always an 8 and I'm always on a diet. There are very few women who can eat whatever they want and be really slim IMO. They do exist but they are not many. Although a size 8 isn't necessarily very slim if you're very short.

There is a midway point between eating whatever you want and being on a diet. Telling yourself you've had enough when you are no longer hungry is not remotely the same thing as dieting, ffs.

I have always been 8/10. 5'5" tall. Mid/late 40's.
I've never been on a diet ever. I never have denied myself certain foods either. Although I am not a fan of fried food, I do eat pizzas, chips, biscuits etc.
I can't actually eat big portions though, once I am full that's it.
The only exercise I do is walk my dogs at least two hours a day.

I used to be 6/8, post dc it's 8/10. I'm not that slim though - I'm 5'3 and small framed so even carrying quite a bit of podge I still only end up a size 10 iyswim.

I have never dieted. I eat a lot calorie wise (I think, never counted) and I mostly eat what I want. I try to avoid too much junk food and sugar but I'm lucky in that I don't really like most junk and sweet stuff anyway.

I eat a lot of high fat food - cheese, salami, pork, butter - but that seems to suit my metabolism.

As a child I had very little sweet food or junk and wonder if that has helped shape my tastes - or it might be genetic.

I also think we shape our own tastes, eg if I eat a lot of sugary food I then want more, whereas if I stay off it for a week I find I like it less.

lottielou

YANBU - I'm always an 8 and I'm always on a diet. There are very few women who can eat whatever they want and be really slim IMO. They do exist but they are not many. Although a size 8 isn't necessarily very slim if you're very short.

But isn't the 'eat what they want' the crucial bit. If a slim woman regularly consumed well over the recommended calorie allowance, they wouldn't stay slim

'whatever they want' doesn't look the same for the same people. It's not necessarily that thin women are consciously and deliberately denying themselves food in order to maintain their physique. It's that 'whatever they want' doesn't amount to excess calories over an extended period of time.

That's the case for me. I've never tried to lose weight. I have struggled to gain weight. Because eating 'whatever I want' is usually not enough calories

I've been about the same weight and clothes size (8) since I was 12. I'm 51 now. I've never dieted and eat fairly normally I think. I'm lucky to be naturally muscular, which probably helps.

What I notice about my eating vs larger people is that I eat much smaller portions (I hate feeling "full") and I don't have any hang-ups about leaving food on my plate.

As I get older I find that I don't really get that hungry, is not a good thing - it can make it hard to feel motivated to cook and eat sometimes. If I lived alone I doubt I would ever cook an evening meal.

The idea of following what somebody else eats and trying to keep up is interesting. I suppose that I wonder how people have enough

But DH, and even DS (7) actually, tend to eat more than me. For example if we go to Subway they'll both have a footlong and DS will struggle to finish the last inch or two but normally have it out of stubbornness, DH will be happy with that and eat some crisps and/or one of their cookies on top. I am satisfied with a six inch one and a snack. I struggle to eat a footlong and I also get fed up of eating it after about 3/4 of the way through.

Oops sorry I keep doing that. Enough time to eat so much! I feel like I would be constantly making food if I ate more than I do now but possibly they just have bigger portions.

I'm at my heaviest but still a size 10 defo eat carbs crisps etc not so much chocolate unless I crave it!

I'm really slim and can eat exactly what I want.

MN usually knows better though.

I'm really slim and can eat exactly what I want.

But 'what you want' is almost certainly far less than what someone who's overweight wants. This is the crucial point, isn't it?

Yes, but, and going back to the OP, is not the same as being "on a diet".

I am 5 foot 4, a size 4 to 6 and weigh well under 8 stone. I eat a lot of food especially carbs, i eat cakes, biscuits and crisps whenever i fancy them and am really struggling to gain weight. I eat large meals, drink Pepsi and put sugar in my coffee.

I have always been slim and slight but since going back to work after having my children the weight just fell off me (was under 7 stone at one point). So much so that I went to my Dr for help. After extensive blood tests, diatary checks and having everything thoroughly investigated my Dr has concluded that I am just this way naturally and she is quite happy with my weight.

I am not happy with my weight and just how gaunt and skinny I am. I am so sick of all the offhand/helpful/judgmental comments I get on a daily basis ranging from how lucky I am, am I ill, to how I must need to eat more food. I am too polite to say anything and just smile/ nod/ agree for an easy life, when I am actually really upset by it all.

So to answer your op no not all of us slim people restrict our diet or exist on salads and fresh air.