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?

Oh I do eat small portions though. I tend to eat little but often. Am munching on a bag of Doritos right now though...

Size 6/8/10 has changed so much since the advent of vanity sizing in the 1980s and is (roughly) the size 10/12/14 of my youth.

And no, I don't think you need to be permanently on a diet to fit into what were utterly unexceptional sizes then.

Yabu, yes.
I don't eat huge amounts but I don't restrict my diet at all.
Size 6 most of my life. On an 8 now.

The very slender people do seem to eat very small portions, even of salad

Have you considered that these "small portions" might be otherwise described as "normal portions"?

Also if you're salad it covered in oily dressing a "small" portion would be advised.

i we t from size 14 to 10 in few months time when my DCs were toddlers. Always on my feet

I am a size 6-8. I am this size due to genetics and a high metabolism. I used to eat chocolate, crisps, biscuits etc all day long and wouldn't gain weight. I did realise this wasn't healthy though. I got into weightlifting and now I eat almost 3000 calories a day. 6 meals a day, of decent food. I've no doubt that some slender people DO diet/restrict calories but certainly not everyone.

OK, thank you to all the people who posted nice, helpful replies.

To the few who didn't - your replies say everything about the kind of people you are.

6 dc & im in.my 40's size 8/10.
Never been on diet in my life. Never been to a gym or done an exercise class.

I eat what i want. I dont think about it, its just the way i am.

Why not say all people over size 10 eat crap & are lazy?

Yabu!

I'm slim. I eat what I fancy. For years I have been fair game for sneering comments and raised eyebrows. It's not ok to express shock that skinny people eat cake. I eat a lot of cake. However, I feel full when I've eaten enough. I think that's the difference. Your assumption op is quite insulting. How about a reverse thread. AIBU to think that women who are size 14/16/18 permanently over eat. I don't think so.

Im an 8/10 im never on a diet i eat what I want im not that keen on cake though. What a silly thing to say bet you are one of those who say you need a pie luv I have overweight friends who say i need to fatten up i could turn round and say well you ate enough for the 2 of us but I dont

I have to be careful to stay in my healthy BMI size 10-12, although not super careful. I'd never be able to get and keep at a size 8 without sustained effort. For some people they find it easier to eat well and keep portion size down, or they burn it off easily - some just by fidgeting constantly which they don't notice. Im lazy, greedy and put weight on quickly. It's very individual but I suspect many people, especial if in the public eye, do deliberately keep their weight down. I don't blame them and wish I could manage it.

I am a size 6/8, not on a diet, eat three meals a day and eat cake and chocolate. also love wine. But, I have dogs, horses and chickens and a large garden. I am up at 7am to sort out chooks and horses, walk the dogs. I do some gardening every day, walk, do the housework. It is, in my opinion, all about calories in and calories out. I eat smaller portions than other people, and can never eat a full meal when out as the portions are far too big. I think we have lost sight of what is a normal sized meal tbh.

I'm a size 6/8, I do eat chocolate, cake, bread and carbs - most days includes at least 2 of those, but I don't eat a lot. I do have to show restraint - and normally reserve 'treat' food for the evenings, so you wouldn't see me eating cake or biscuits in the day.

It really doesn't help when people who are overweight are told "I can eat anything I want and be a size 8" because clearly what the OP wants to eat and what the size 8 person wants to eat are very different. (Unless the person who's a size 8 is exercising to professional levels).

What doesn't feel like "constaintly being on a diet" to many 'naturally' thinner people would feel like a diet to the OP. Salads and soups are my normal lunches though as I like them.

Isn't this the equivalent of saying that women who are a size 14/16/18/must be greedy pigs?

desertmum I totally agree about the portion sizes thing.
It amazes me what some people will eat. My friend usually cooks about 250g of dried pasta just for her or a whole pack of those ravioli that are meant to be for 2, + some garlic bread or chocolate

I think it depends. Often I struggle to keep weight off but when I'm really busy I can eat whatever food is available and it doesn't touch the sides. Been really busy this week and had on one day cereal and Two croissants plus OJ, then cordon bleu, chips and veg for lunch with two bread rolls, then at dinner soup, fish, potatoes and vegetables. If I'm not busy that would make me put on a few pounds instantly.

I'm a size 6 and always have been. The only time I've weighed over 8 stone was when I was pregnant - most of the extra weight I had was baby. Back into my pre pregnancy jeans after about 5 days (squishy tummy obviously still though haha) No dieting here, ever. I am quite lazy I would say and if I feel like chocolate or takeaway then I have it. I eat plenty of carbs. What I would say is I don't think I eat as much some people - e.g smaller portions. That's not intentional though - once I'm full I can't carry on. Saying slim people must be permanently on a diet is a bit daft, OP. Of course some people will work to maintain a certain weight but others are just slim without effort. Same way that some people have to put effort in to gain weight - I think it would take a conscious effort me to. And I can't be bothered!

The thing is, it's not all about cake.

I probably eat cake about once or twice a year as I really don't have a particularly sweet tooth.

However, I'm mad about crisps and salted peanuts. Oh and fizzy drinks and wine too.

But I wouldn't eat a large bag of crisps or the whole multipack. I wouldn't eat a family sized bag of peanuts, drink a whole 2ltr bottle of fizzy or the entire bottle of wine.

Ok I lied about the wine but the rest is the truth

Effortlessly slim women don't obsess about carbs and diets IME. They eat what they fancy when they're hungry.

Op you seem very judgemental of other people's choices. Some people, including me, like eating healthily. I watch my diet partly to stay size 6/8 but also because I feel better. If I eat junk food or stuff myself at the weekend, I like to eat very lightly the next day. I find it's more acceptable to make judgemental comments in RL about people making healthy choices than unhealthy ones.

I've always eaten exactly what I wanted, I was a large 8 to a small 10 for years, now I'm a 14.

YABU.

I'm a size 10 and I do have to be fairly careful about what I eat and I go to the gym a couple of times a week. I'm definitely not a naturally thin person.

I'm not really a cake or chocolate person though, but I do like my wine!

I definitely think portion sizes are to blame. I am slim and I think I can eat what I want but the point is I don't want huge meals.

I'm a size zero (sometimes 00). I would say that I eat what I want because I do. But it does strike me that I don't want to eat in the way that some people do. I literally cannot see the joy in eating a packet of biscuits or more than a slice of cake. Salad with protein is my favorite meal. So I'm not on a diet but my normal eating habits/ diet does pretty much conform to what you described.

On heavy lifting days I know that I have to eat more protein and sometimes I struggle eat enough. I never run for more than 30 mins at a time because I worry it would put me into calorie deficit/ mean I had to eat more which I just don't want to have to do.

What a stupid thread.

OP you can't get huffy and say "our replies say everything about the kind of people we are" when you've posted something so ridiculous and rude about slim people.

You're thread is bordering on shaming slim people, you're about half a step away from saying they're all boring, weight-obsessed salad leaf pushers who are bordering on an eating disorder. And bullshit that they're training for a marathon on a salad. You're talking shite.

It's rude, offensive and bloody ignorant.

Size 6, eat what I like, when I like. And eat bigger portions than most people, but I exercise.

HTH.