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?

Old, they menu is genuinely profoundly unappetising to me.

No berries, apples, mango. This is like nectar to me
No nutty brown rice and grilled salmon
No smashed avo on rye bread with a squeeze of lime
No natural yoghurt mixed with berries and nuts
No fresh colourful salads with seeds, beetroot and grilled chicken

This is my kind of food. Curries etc. Would rather go without than have stuff like that

Just as an aside.. I've tracked my calories today. I'm actually trying to gain a bit of weight.
I've had two pieces of toast and jam
A Mcdonalds 'special' (a taste of America job) no fries or drink. Apple pie
2 nut cutlets potatoes and salad for my evening meal.
My total calorie count according to MyFitnessPal is around 2200. I'm 5ft 10 and weigh 9st 4. I am on track to remain at my weight permanently according to MFP if I keep this intake.

I haven't read the whole thread but at the beginning other posters admitted eating large portions yet remained thin.

What is a 'large portion' though?

I know my idea of a portion that's large enough to fill me up, is nowhere near large enough to fill my best friend up.

So everyone's idea of large is often different.

"The idea that people feel discomfort and hunger differently is interesting."

It seems that some people feel hunger when they shouldn't though. If you're eating 3 meals a day, why would you be hungry between meals unless one of your meals is delayed?

I eat between meals because with just 3 regular meals a day I'd be hungry. I don't gain weight though - I just prefer to eat little and often.

Would you not just be hungry enough to eat more of your meal though, if you weren't snacking in between?

"I eat between meals because with just 3 regular meals a day I'd be hungry. I don't gain weight though - I just prefer to eat little and often."

Yes, of course, you can split your meals/snacks however you want, it's just that I'm seeing a lot of reference to hunger here and wondering why some people are feeling hungry so often. I only feel hungry if something has come up to disrupt my routine and I can't eat my meals at the normal time. I don't think someone should be constantly hungry, so I'm wondering what's going on. Is it real physical hunger or more of an emotional craving?

Abecadario - great post at 22.45

Gwenhwyfar and Gabilan I think both of those are fine and healthy; either 3 square meals or a higher number of smaller meals.

But a high number of large meals is where the problem lies.

I am a slim person who doesn't watch what I eat at all. I have absolutely zero clue how many calories I eat in a day. I have no idea how many calories are in the food I eat in each meal. I don't look at labels or keep track, and never have. I never eat low-fat versions of anything. Actually, I probably wouldn't eat them because I've heard they take the fat out but pump ot full of sweeteners and other shite instead (don't know if that's true). I have no interest in McDonald's etc though, I just like good quality food.

Worra no I just get very hungry, grumpy and don't eat enough so loose weight if I stop snacking. Little and often works for me.
Gwen dehydration can manifest as hunger. I wonder if that's part of it?

I wont be taking any strong prescription drugs like steroids if i have the misfortune to get ill. Ive worked bloody hard to lose all the weight.

On another thread another MNer got lectured about her weight by the doc while at the same time writing out the prescription for her steroid drug .

After kicking up a stink at the hypocrisy she was granted the more expensive injections next time she went in.

The NHS are HUGE hypocrites when it comes to weight. Moan like hell about obesity but will happily precribe steroids because they are cheaper!

abecedario I've always thought the only food that's 'bad' is good that's gone off. It is still better to eat less sugar and more vegetables though. This is what I tell my children. Mind you, it's not a weight issue in my house as we are all rather skinny.

I think it's about genetics not diet. You can eat shit and still stay a size 8. Or eat well and wisely and be a 16+ I feel just as sorry for those who are size 68 than those who are 2628 . Just as long as you eat a balanced diet . Fuck your size .

aye but why do you think some personality traits are fixed and others are susceptible to development? The scientific view point is that almost anything you can point to, whether it is sexual orientation, faith, intelligence or compassion, tenacity or empathy, is that it is just over half in your genes, somewhat less than half your upbringing and a tiny fraction down to what you choose to focus on and develop.

I would imagine intelligence is more, rather than less, susceptible to practice than tenacity....

If it IS possible to teach tenacity then I would very much like to know how, because it is clear to me that people with it have an advantage over those that don't in this life and I would like my DD to have that advantage...so all ideas very welcome!

Helena, re steroids - I was put on intravenous steroids whist in hospital, a week of nil-by-mouth but on the IV steroids & glucose drips and I came out half a stone heavier.
Steroids are the devil's work.

Sorry you were ill and hope you are better.

I think its extremely disingenuous of the NHS to give out these mixed messages

If a partner was moaning at you for gaining weight while at the same time forcing you to drink build up shakes or Galaxy bars it would be classed as abuse!

ice I think learning to break down larger goals into small ones is really important. It's easier to stick with something when you get frequent incremental rewards.

Carabos you remind me of something I read a while ago about someone introducing an exercise program for overweight teens. Some of these kids were so unfamiliar with the sensation of getting tired and out of breath that they thought they were having a heart attack and were frightened.

The waitress brought over a bowl of porridge with fruit and a toasted t cake, she looked at me in a "which one is yours sort of way"

"NEITHER, THEY ARE BOTH THE 5 ft NOTHING, SIZE EIGHT PERSONS... I CAN'T EAT THAT OR I WOULD BE MORE THAN THE TWICE HER SIZE THAT I AM NOW"

Exactly! And yet were supposed to believe that we're all 'naturally slim' and can all eat the same food/portions and gain/lose/maintain weight in the same way.

We can't. I wouldn't be able to routinely eat all that lot, and stay slim, either. But many people would, as evidenced by them all piling onto this thread.

Just 5 ft and size 8... Not particularly slim, and what she's eating may well see her through to lunch with no snacks whatsoever

Be brutally brutally honest with yourself. That day you met her, what did YOU eat. And I don't mean just meals, I mean all the little bits here and there. Everything.

I may have exaggerated her height

She is more like 5 ft 5,

She is a size 8 though

But it's all to do with calories consumed though. There were very few obese people during WWII.

And i should say that my point was more that the waitress was assuming that such a large breakfast would be split between the two of us (if not just mine )

Latte fills me up til lunchtime