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?

Don't agree. I have always been about size 10 sometimes size 12. 9 to 10 stone just about all my life.

I eat a lot but it's not junk food. I eat what I call normal meals - fish, meat, love things like steak, salmon mmmmm,. I had two duck breasts for lunch which it said were for 2 people but seemed just right to me for one. yummy,

Also size 10 is not thin. It's normal weight. we have lost sight now 60% of people are fat in the UK of what is a normal weight which about 8 - 10 stone in weight for most women. Also never go by sizes as the clothing makers try to flatter people by making the sizes bigger and bigger! Go by weight and height only and also waist size.

Nope i eat a lot of choco and sweets but am a size 10 have a little stomach though gonna start going gym. Everyone is built differently and women are beautiful in all shapes dont let the media tell you whats the right or wrong size just do you

Is it really becoming the norm where over eating and being overweight is seen as normal but being slim is seen as starving yourself?!

A4Document the ones that get me are the week-long diet plans that say 'half an orange' or something, and you're sort of wondering what you're expected to do with the rest. '3 almonds' and they come in 50g bags, so you'll need 10 weeks to finish the rest. And all the recipes are like that so you'll end up with a fridge and cupboard full of unfinished odds and ends.

You are on to something there.
My father is very thin, and he always has half an orange left. Always.

He eats lots of cookies and chocolate and all that, but he just doesn't eat more if he isn't hungry. If there is half an orange left, then it is left, and it will have to wait.

There are some theories that overweight people just lost their natural sense of being full.

It probably don't explain all of it; there's also natural differences in metabolism, but it could be a factor.

It is okay to have almonds left? I always have some nuts in the house as snack. They keep pretty well if you put them in empty jam glasses or such.

The problem with compairing with colleagues is that what people eat at lunch doesn't tell you much really

e.g. the woman who eats a muller light and an apple at lunch every day.. but still weighs more than her slim colleague who is tucking ino a cheese baguette .. probably won't feel full for long and might be having sugars in her tea by her desk for the rest of the afternoon while her colleague has water, and then goes home starving and graps snacks for the commute home then eats more again at home.

I tend to eat HUGE lunches at work. But sometimes I don't eat anything at all when I get home (if I get in lateish). And I don't drink calories at home - in the evenings I can't drink caffine so I only drink herb teas after 6 and don't often drink wine at home (if I do I never fancy more than one glass).

If I dont eat a big lunch I feel rotten and crave rubbish later.

Laura812 I agree that being a size 10 doesn't mean "thin" it means healthy. I have heard plenty of larger people saying "the average woman is a size 16". If that's true then then the average woman is likely to be overweight.

Thin people generally eat less than fat people. It's a fact. People saying they spend all day eating lard and never put on weight are as much in denial about their consumption as the morbidly obese who insist they eat nothing but grilled chicken and lettuce. Metabolisms vary very little unless you have a medical problem and most people don't.

Relative to your size I am very small build and a petite 5"1 depending on store at am a size 6/8 I would not say I was skinny. I am just right for my build. If I was any bigger I would properly be a bit chubby. But for a lady who was tall say 5"11 she would look skinny as a size eight.

But body shaming people is never cool. Saying someone must constantly be on a diet is like assuming everyone bigger is constantly eating.

We are all different shapes and sizes and builds.

Is it really becoming the norm where over eating and being overweight is seen as normal but being slim is seen as starving yourself?

Yes, I'm getting it about DD from less pleasant relatives.
She's 50th percentile for height and weight. She's all knees and elbow.. like all 8yr olds used to be.. but beside a lot of other kids these days she does look a skinny wee thing

(themselves overweight) rellies have been commenting on it, and doing things like posting her clothes for birthdays/christmasses which are too small for her (i.e. size 6-7, when she's an 8yr old, and fits size 8-9 fine!) always along side a comment like "because she's so small".
They imply I need to feed her more.
She's exactly the weight and height she should be for her age but IMO people aren't used to seeing normal shaped kids so perceptions of normal kids sizes is changing

worra "I inwardly roll my eyes and think, Jesus just grab a sausage roll if you're hungry and get on with doing what you came for - ie shopping"

Do you think we enjoy having to think all day about food? To constantly be adding up the pros and cons of particular meals? It isn't much fun feeling hungry to the point it distracts you from working, then having to decide if you will eat something at lunch to aid concentration, but then not be able to eat in the evening before bed and struggle to sleep.

I am trying to very slowly loose weight at the moment, and every fucking day is a battle with very little respite from thinking about food. Either I am thinking about food because I am hungry or I am thinking about how to compensate during the rest of the day for the fact I just had to eat something unexpected in order to not puke up/get dizzy at work.

The very least you can do, as someone who has the huge privilege of not having to worry about weight, is have some sympathy for those that do.

No for me I'm nearly 6 FT and and 8 I struggle to gain weight and eat tons

Well I'm a size 8-10 and I don't diet or obsess over what I'm eating.

I do eat healthily though - well most of the time. I don't have a sweet tooth at all so don't often go for dessert which helps (can't say the same about crisps though sadly!) If I fancy some cake or chips or whatever though, I just have some.

I think I just eat sensible portions and plenty of veg really. I adore food but I'm not greedy with it - I've got friends who equate loving food with eating to excess.

Oh and I didn't drive for years so my default setting is still to walk if it's not too far. That can't hurt.

I do have friends who are as you describe though OP - I recognise the behaviour.

I am a size 6 - 10 depending on the shop, 5ft 10" and also have hypothyroid which means amongst other things I have a slow metabolism and I don't diet or eat what I would consider healthily I love cake, pasta, pizza etc. I also don't exercise but I keep an eye on what I eat, I had an eating disorder when I was younger and will never go back to that place. It really annoys me when people tell me to eat a burger or shut up about my hypo because I'm slim so I must be making it up.

I am a size 10. Sometimes I can fit into 8 tops. My BMI is 21 so exactly where it should be.

I don't spend my whole life on a diet. But I do generally watch what I eat so I don't over eat and I go to the gym three times a week. I don't deprive myself particularly - had a nice restaurant meal last night and a slice of chocolate cake today (albeit a small one).

If I do have a few weeks of "sod it I'm eating everything in sight" then my clothes get tight and I go on a sensible healthier diet until I'm back at the weight I should be.

I do think that everyone's metabolism varies though. Mine has certainly become worse since I got into my late 20s - I never had to watch what I ate before and I was a size 8.

houseofmirth metabolisms don't have to vary much to make a huge difference. If you feel full/satisfied the moment you eat a balance with the calories you are expending, and someone else eats an extra biscuits worth before they feel full/satisfied...then they overate by around 50 Kcal a day which is not that much at all. Now add that up over 10 years and you get around 4 stone.

This is such an interesting topic.

I'm currently reading a book on my kindle called something like How to eat like a slim person. It's actually not very much about dieting but a lot more about being mindful, thinking about what you're eating, eating slowly and not using food to medicate for other issues.

I've been consciously trying to do it over the last couple of days and am astounded at how little my body actually needs to keep going - I think it will be harder when I am back to work next week though as it's constant go with school collections as well and rushing everywhere - thinking about it I always feel hungry at work, but I suspect it might be because I'm stressed and anxious.

FWIW I'm a generous size 14 and I don't sit eating haribos and cake all day, in fact I'm not much of a fan of any sweet stuff apart from chocolate which is my nemesis. My best friend has a very petite build ( I'm taller with broad shoulders) and whilst she does not diet at all, she hates feeling overly full and always stops once she's had enough. My cousin is the same, I was blinking starving when I stayed at theirs, she sees food as fuel only really, so if I'd known there would be nothing between meals I would have eaten more then.

What I'm saying is that naturally thin people seem not to think about food very much at all except when they're hungry.

Screenshotting - we get the opposite with DS age 10. He's stocky and broad shouldered but not fat and fits into age appropriate clothing. People always seem to send stuff a few years older than him, still at least he grows into it.

Nah IceBeing it's just that most of them prefer Pizza Express and the other 3 prefer the local Italian.

In the end we generally end up in the local cafe anyway. It's more to do with 'treats' than anything else with them.

Same as going to the cinema or bowling, they'll be looking at the one with the nicest ice cream.

The very least you can do, as someone who has the huge privilege of not having to worry about weight, is have some sympathy for those that do.

Equally, the very least non skinny people can do is not be a bitch about those who are. Unlike the OP

(NB I am not skinny!)

I was size 6 pre-pregnancy and am now a size 8. Yesterday I ate porridge, 3 halves of buttered bagel, a bounty, spag bol, a lump of cheese, pizza.

I have never dieted in my life, I snack constantly and don't regulate what I eat. I also know from various health checks that I my internal body fat is low. I'm fairly sedentary However:

I don't drink alcohol
I don't drink fizzy or sweet drinks apart the occasional glass of squash
I'm a fidget
My portion sizes are smaller than most people
I rarely eat dessert as a part of a meal, instead saving it for a snack
I don't eat starters
If I get full, I will leave whatever is on my plate
I wouldn't eat more than 3 biscuits in one sitting

IceBeing you cannot be following a very healthy diet plan if you are feeling hungry to the point of inability to concentrate or dizziness. It's true you do have to plan your meals and there is a fair bit of thinking about food whilst you plan and shop, but having planned you don't need to think about it all day. Maybe you could use some extra help with planning your daily intake or even your relationship with food.

"Huge privilege" Icebeing?

What privilege is that, the ability to eat less?

soup well I told the OP she was wrong to assume thinner people are all starving themselves...and I told worra she could at least be sympathetic to the people who are actually starving themselves...just to stop people judging them.

I feel about naturally thin people the same way I feel about people who inherited huge amounts of cash from their parents. I don't mind them at all as long as they don't sneer at people less fortunate than themselves, or judge people as lazy or immoral for not having their unworked for advantage in life.

alis yeah - its like physical health privilege...or mental health privilege...people who aren't ill have no idea just how much harder it is for people who do have long term health issues.

People who don't have to spend any time thinking about what they eat, or battling with feeling hungry for hours on end are hugely privileged with respect to those that do.

I am eating around 1000 kcal per day at the moment. and have lost maybe 1 kilo in 3 weeks.

I would need to eat at least 1800 kcal per day on my current exercise levels to not feel hungry.

I don't think anyone is going to be able to make the maths work such that I can continue to loose weight and not feel hungry - but feel free to try!

I find it easier to stay away from food than to eat a small amount and stop eating when I am still feeling very hungry. But I find I have to do that because otherwise I get bad headaches by mid afternoon.

I feel about naturally thin people the same way I feel about people who inherited huge amounts of cash from their parents.

What the hell? How is that in any way the same thing?

The majority of slim people simply utilise their self-control and aren't greedy. How on earth is that the same as someone inheriting millions of unearned wealth

IceBeing while I'm greatful for being naturally slim, there's nothing stopping others from eating less and exercising more.

Maybe if people didn't drive everywhere that takes longer than 30 seconds to walk to, we'd have less obesity and guess what the environment would be helped too.

I walk 4-9 miles almost every day.