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?

Screenshotting I think it's because the extra effort can be seen as mentally exhausting, and boring. It's never fun doing something you don't enjoy,

who says they don't enjoy it just because it takes some effort/mindfulness

some people put regular effort into making their gardens nice, do you think they're all miserable and not enjoying just because it takes effort?

I put effort into my studies. I loved doing it!

No Screenshotting, I think some people do. I'm saying that the people who think it's miserable are obviously people who wouldn't enjoy it and would find it boring.

I'm a size 8-10 and I do watch my diet; thank goodness I don't have a sweet tooth and dislike most carbs so I tend to eat protein, veg, fruit and nuts.
Don't really like cake, biscuits, chocolate.
But, I don't watch the weight for my looks, but because, in my fifties and overweight, I was struggling with stairs and even walking a couple of hundred yards was painful on hip and knee joints.
Now, thank heavens, the weight has gone and I can trot up stairs again pain free and walk miles again without any ill effects.
I just don't want to ever get so unfit again - it's miserable; much more miserable than any perceived deprivation in my eating.

I agree that fitness levels and weight aren't directly linked, you don't have to be thin to be fit, and can be thin and unfit. But it is easier to exercise if you aren't carrying too much excess weight. Fitness is more important than size.

"No Screenshotting, I think some people do. I'm saying that the people who think it's miserable are obviously people who wouldn't enjoy it and would find it boring"

thats not what's happening on this thread
people aren't saying that they find it miserable
People are stating that they think other people who work at maintaining a size 10 are miserable

On the subject of 'slim people dont eat carbs'
here is my average macronutrient breakdown:
Carbs 300g
Fat 60g
Protein 120g

I was just coming on to add that imo, fitness, stamina and most importantly strength, muscle strength, is the most important thing. Speaking as one who has in the past due to a medical condition been very frail. The experience was awful. I don't care now how chunky I get as long as I can lift/ pull/ chop / hold at a certain level. The pain was phenomenal and as I age I intend to keep as strong as I can.

I'm monitoring my weight .
I'm not miserable - I'm enjoying the benefits of being lighter which for me is having more energy , less joint pain and clothes that hang better .
Due to these benefits I am not suffering being on a healthy diet but feel good .
I cannot have unlimited wine , choc etc and have to be mindful about adjusting if I've had chocolate but that is just good habit ? Eg if I eat out and have hi calories then the next day I reduce - it's not miserable - it's common sense to me - no foods are off limits .
I do think compared to the past portion sizes in some restraunts are massive ! Does anyone else think this ???

With you Shining12, I eat plenty of carbs.

Some people are just naturally slim. I have friends that put away more food than I do and have always been slim. Sadly, this doesn't apply to me.

I've never been a size 8 in my life, I managed to stay at a 10 for a few months but barely ate to stay that size. Now I'm a size 18 and decided just to be happy in my own skin instead. I can't spend the rest of my life on a diet.

I have always eaten loads of carbs, mostly toast, closely followed by oats cake and roast potatoes

I have friends that put away more food than I do and have always been slim. Sadly, this doesn't apply to me.

I would be willing to bet that if all of your and their intake and activity was accurately tracked over a month, that wouldn't actually be the case.

You can go out for lunch with a skinny friend who goes to town and eats everything… you don't see them skimp on breakfast to make room for a blow-out lunch with a friend later, or see them have something light for dinner later because they ate a lot at lunch with you, or see them stick to light food the next day to make up for their nice big lunch at the weekend etc…

Between the ages of 16 to maybe 30 ish I was 8-10. After childbirth and the following couple of years I struggled to find anything that would actually fit nicely, size six hung off me! I'm quite tall too which looks worse. I had many hurtful comments and people would often assume I had an eating disorder. I didn't, I ate what ever I wanted.

Now pushing 40, sometimes a size 14 can be a bit tight! But I can see the differences, I NEVER used to be able to eat a whole curry to myself and I never drank a whole bottle of wine in one night.

I would say my life is less miserable since be careful with my weight. I now enjoy cooking, proper cooking not throwing a jar sauce onto something. I have discovered new foods and new flavours I wouldn't have tried before, and eat at least two new dishes each week. Before we ate a very routine diet of the same old things. I still eat out and enjoy the odd "treat" and I genuinely enjoy them more now that I'm not devouring a whole large bar of chocolate each Friday night, or regularly tucking into white bread and pate. When I have them, I appreciate them more.

I feel your pain. To maintain a size 8-10 I have to balance the calories with a food diary. If I just ate what I wanted, which I do sometimes, my weight drifts up...

I've notice my idea of portions when I weight foods, is a fair bit bigger than the suggested portion size.

The only way to par weight is to balance calories so if folk think they can eat what they like, they must be burning more- active job, running after kids, exercise etc - than perhaps some folks can with more sedentary job.

I don't mind counting though, have got in the habit of it. If I've been naughty I just revert back to food/exercise diary & it gets back on track again...

When I was a teenager I used to be really upset when people would openly comment on how skinny I was and would ask me to my face if I was anorexic.

Then every time I'd read that 'real women have curves', apparently I wasn't a real woman

When under a lot of emotional stress the weight falls off incredibly quickly - and on a size 8 figure it means I go from slim to gaunt very rapidly. I didn't know at the time, but my then boyfriend (now husband) told me that friends of ours asked him if I was OK, because the jutting hipbones over jeans that no longer fit around the waist, or visible ribs / gaunt face made me look unwell. I wasn't OK, but it wasn't an eating disorder - I don't consciously avoid food when stressed, I just lose all my appetite.

So the difference between size 8 me and size 4-6 me is me looking unwell. But that's just me - others will be a 4-6 and look perfectly healthy.

Very interesting thread, naturally slim person here, size 8, 5' 7", weigh about 9st 8lb (don't have scaled so only weigh myself when I go to my Mum's). 42 years old.

I think I eat exactly what I please, in the respect I never consider the weight implications of what I eat, I just eat what I fancy, I don't tend to eat much processed good, but did develop a fierce soft-drink addiction when I was pregnant with the DCs which lingers to this day.

So skinny person food diary for the weekend

Saturday

Sausage sandwich, cuppa no sugar

Slice of birthday cake

Glass of Coke, full sugar

Bento box thingy from Waitrose, the chicken Katsu one.

Whole Pizza Express pizza, few doughballs, coleslaw, large ceaser salad with full fat dressing.

Ben and Jerry's icecream cookie sandwich.

Glass bottle of Coke

Small packet of Jelly Belly beans.

Half a box of Maltesers.

Lots of teas.

Today

Bacon sarnie, cup of tea.

Went out to a wildlife park with the children and they had delicious looking woodfired pizzas so had one with proscuitto and rocket.

Planned for dinner

Foie gras with fig chutney and a glass of sauternes

Cote de boeuf steak, homemade frites, homemade bearnaise, green salad, half a bottle of chateauneuf du pape.

Homemade icecream, strawberries, another glass of sauternes.

Chocolates, coffee, glass of single malt.

Pretty typical weekend eating, I like to cook a special meal at least once a week.

In the week we might have homemade minestrone with parmesan toasts, followed by cheese and green salad or chicken kebabs with a Turkish salad, tzatziki, hummus and homemade flatbread.

I like a variety of food and do spend a lot of time thinking about what I going to eat, and don't deprive myself and do like a drink.

It may come down to portion size though, after reading the entire thread I am more confused than ever about what makes a person slim!

Well good for yousquidgymidgybuilding right into that myth that overweight people don't exercise.
sorry to make it not about you rookiemere but it wasn't aimed at you, or anyone else. If I ate that much but didn't exercise I would have squishy bits, and I would sit and moan about them. One of the fittest, strongest women on our team is overweight (squishy not solid) so your assumption I think fat= lazy is, well, lazy. I'm sure you'll shoot back that I should have written all of that to start with but instead of letting half a comment touch a nerve maybe you shouldn't assume everything is about your situation.

I'm an 8 and I've never been on a diet and I eat pretty much what I like, which isn't salad, soup or smoothies. I don't drink though, which can make a big difference and I have a hobby which means I am busy with my hands so I pretty much never snack in the evenings.

I was a size 8 and sometimes a 10 up until I was around 30 .... (3 years post pregnancy) ... then all of a sudden I shot up to a 12 and no idea why! Anyway I've never ever watched what I ate, pretty much lived on junk food (until I had my child and thought I better make an effort to cook decent food). My portion size was (and is) out of control. I don't drive though and am used to walking miles a day so I always put it down to that.

If you eat a mainly plant based diet (not Diet) which is nutritionally dense but light in calories, you can eat loads without putting on weight and feel great, whilst lowering your risk of all host of diseases.

I eat loads, like 2,500 calls a day according to FitBit, but am 9st at 5'8.

I am size 8 and don't spend my life on a diet, eating peas or at the gym. I eat when I'm hungry, mostly cook from scratch, I don't exclude any food groups like carbs. I just don't eat too much rubbish, love chocolate and hate fizzy drinks. I don't see this as dieting or actively calorie counting, it's just how I've always been.

I think eating full fat real food is key too, I've never used low fat products or foods with sweeteners.

I'm a bugger for a cheese sandwich at about 10pm though.

In my family 4 are overweight and 2 are stick thin, the 2 stick thin people eat absolutely loads of choc ,sweets+drink pop 😕 as well as carbs.where as other 2 yes eat bit of choc now and again, hate carbs and eat loads of veg and avoid pop. I think sometimes it's genetics