What do you eat if you’re slim?

[Merryoldgoat]

I’m sorry but I really don’t know.

I’m very fat and have been yo-yo dieting for years to the point where I don’t know what a normal healthy day-to-day diet is. I know all the various weight-loss diets etc but it’s the normal eating I struggle with.

I’m currently on a LONG weight loss journey and have lost 3 stone so far but I want to keep it off once I’ve lost it.

I like healthy food and a variety of food - I’m just trying to understand what slim people eat on a typical day.

In particular I’m really interested in what you have for family dinners.

I’m hoping things that can be batches cool feature as I need to save time where I can.

Thank you for reading my very boring AIBU

I ALWAYS eat breakfast first thing when I get up- I swear this has always been a contributing factor as it kick starts metabolism. A normal day for me would be

Tea and toast (two slices of bread and normal butter) no sugar in tea

Apple, cucumber and carrot sticks

Roll with ham, some olives and a yoghurt

Prawn, chilli and garlic linguine and a cornetto

Milky bar

I only ever drink water all day apart from a cup of tea in the morning. I'll have fizzy juice if I go out for dinner or have a takeaway which is maybe twice a month. I always cook dinners from scratch with fresh ingredients and I eat a normal portion and don't eat seconds but I do have some kind of ice cream cone or dessert afterwards! Because I don't snack on crisps all day or drink fizzy juice then I justify having a dessert every day! Also I don't drink alcohol regularly, maybe three times a year and I have a take away every two weeks which is usually a dominos pizza (I'd eat half a large one)

I am 5'5 and a size 8-10. I walk a lot but I don't go to the gym. I think the key is not snacking on crap all day- I see people in my work complaining about how unfair it is that some people are naturally slim but they are also on their second packet of crisps before 10am and also eat absolutely huge portions of food at lunch and dinner washed down with fizzy juice 🤷🏻‍♀️

Whereas I NEVER eat breakfast because if I do it kick starts my tummy to want more food
I mainline pints of tea all day
and I love wine
and a good delivered curry

I'm 5'5 and 60kg aged 53

I truly think the key to being and staying slim is waiting til properly hungry to eat a normal meal of appropriate size sitting at a table

We're all different I guess...we eat at the table in the evening on most days, but I graze often but usually on healthy-ish stuff and rarely let myself become really hungry.

I drink tons of green/herbal-type teas and water, never drink fizzy soda, avoid processed food and enjoy vegetables and salad a lot.

I love cooking - that helps!

I eat whatever I want but then I'm sensible within that. If I am having a day when I want to eat biscuits or chocolate .... i eat biscuits or chocolate but don't stuff myself with it everyday. I tend to eat reasonably healthy and normal portion size. Most of the time my evening meal always has either meat or fish with veg and pasta. Breakfast is normally a piece of toast or 2 with a bit of butter and jam, lunch is normally salad with ham, tuna or chicken or cheesy beans on toast . But if I fancy a pizza in a Saturday night I'll have one, I don't tell myself I can't have such a thing ...I just have it in moderation.
I think I have normal size portions, not small, normal, I think the problem is what is the "norm" now is a lot bigger than it used to be, so people have lost perspective on a normal size meal. The amount of people I see where you can help yourself to food all you can eat places and they pile their plate so high it's ridiculous.
In general, its a simple ethos, you must be burning off enough extra calories in order to eat them, if you don't exercise don't eat extras.

Just to add I understand what people are saying about genetics while some are fortunate and don't have to work as hard as others at it. People must still surely know the basic balance of calories against exercise and what you put into your body will affect how it performs. So if you have genes that tend to store weight, you have to work harder at it but it doesn't mean you will just be fat.

Picking up on a bit of Tigger's post above, boring old moderation counts for a lot!

I've never been someone to 'stuff myself.' I hate feeling too full of food. If I open some chocolate, I'm happy to have a couple of pieces and put it back. I can have a scoop of ice cream and never feel the need to sit with the whole tub .

But I think that's kind of linked with not denying myself anything - I just have some of it, and I'm happy.

I'm small (just over five feet, about 7 stone 3 pounds). I eat mostly home made food, no fizzy drinks, no biscuits, no shop cakes, rarely eat chocolate or crisps, not a lot of alcohol. Do gym (weight bearing stuff) 3 times a day week, walk a lot too. No takeaways.

My very skinny son 6 foot struggles to approach 10 stone.... if you look at how he eats compared to most of the erst of us he often just isn't interested - he will have been busy and whilst the rest of us when busy more than find the time to stuff our faces he won't have bothered and then have yes a big meal of steak with pasta (he does his own cooking) or a roast meal that is likely to be his only meal of the day other than a bowl of cereal. It's interesting comparing it because when he moans about how to put on weight and how hard it is I say what about 1000 calories of nuts and raisins that I could easily eat in a few minutes etc?

I'm 50, BMI about 21.
Today I count as a zero exercise day which means I only cycled about 10 miles (commuting).
Ate
2 small-medm bananas, a bag of crisps, maybe 1 pint of milk (in tea)
1 large piece of chocolate cake, about 12oz lemonade
1 avocado, bowl of steamed vegetables
I may have some cheese later (or not)

I think that was a low calorie day, due to heat(?). Racking my brain but don't think I ate anything else.

I LOVE food. So much that I try to not each much; then what I eat tastes even better. You need to be hungry for food to be as nice as it can be. Eating when you're not hungry is a travesty of taste deprivation.

I eat pretty much what I like but just make sure that over a week I don't eat more than I expend calorie wise. I'm not exactly skinny, more muscular (as I prefer the strong rather than skinny look for myself) and extremely active but today I've had.

5am : banana
7am : oats with alpro coconut yoghurt, blueberries and chopped nuts
11am : protein bar
1pm : roast chickpeas, wedges, cucumber and tomato with a lemon dressing
4pm : 3 rice cakes with cocoa and hazelnut spread, and banana
8pm : Mushroom and quorn fillet stir fry with homemade satay sauce

About 2000 Calories which I stick to during the week, then I splurge at 3000-4000 Calories/day at the weekend. Like I said I am extremely active though, I run around 30km/week, go to 11 exercise classes, have 5 PT sessions and strength train burning anything in the 1000-2000 range of Exercise Calories a day

Oh and I'm 5'2", 148lb, bf 26% (and dropping), size 8-10 (occasionally 12). But in November 2015 I started at 290lb (20st9)

Try the Scandi Sense diet, it's amazing. Common sense dietary requirements and portion control but super easy to get your head around. Well worth the investment in the book, under £10
My problem is portion control and this has been brilliant. My husband is also a foodie and a great cook, no separate cooking here just common sense and portion management, it's been literally life changing.

@firef1y

Wow, that is amazing! Can I ask, what was it that changed for you in order to lose the weight? I feel like I will never get in the mindset to either do enough exercise nor eat little enough to lose the weight I need (probably about 2 stone really but a stone would be great!)

I'm a size 10 and 5ft8.
Brekkie I eat fruit and yoghurt or a piece of toast with full fat salted butter.
Lunch is convenience rather than nutrition or taste. I have a bagel with butter and a slice of Leederdam cheese and a raw carrot to gnaw on.
Supper is pasta bolognese/fish pie/salmon or tuna with new potatoes/home made curry etc. All of these with lots of veg.
I snack on fruit.

I don't count calories or weigh myself as I used to be obsessed with my weight and was much thinner and much more unhappy. If my trousers feel a little snug, I cut down my carbs in the evenings a bit. We never have a takeaway or fast food.

I honestly think that genetics have a lot to do with it. My brother is 6ft5 and so thin that you can see his ribs. I remember when we lived with our parents that he would eat a whole pack of biscuits in one go and unbelievably enormous portions and remain rail thin. I could never do the same.

It really annoys me when thin people smugly brag about being able to eat mountains of fast food and brag about not exercising as it's just a genetic lottery. Some people can eat more and metabolise faster, some people have to move more than others and eat smaller portions. It's not fair at all.

I'm a size 12. I'm not skinny, but I'm comfortable with my body and enjoy food.
Average day for me would consist of:
Rich tea biscuit with a cup of tea.
Bowl of cereal
Couple of squares of dark chocolate with morning coffee
Roll and a piece of fruit for lunch
Bowl of cereal mid-afternoon
Dinner
Hot chocolate made with milk in bed.

Cutting out processed foods - sauces, cooking sauces, and sticking to salt and pepper and EVOO, lemon For taste helped me. (I chucked all the ketchup, mayo, oyster sauce), white rice, packGed snacks. If I bake, either cut most the sugar.

I guess I intuitively eat these days. I know I feel bad after soy products so that's mostly out and I always found it harder to.lose the tummy area bloat when I had soy milk or too much tofu. It didn't work for my body.

Neither does pasta or noodles. Taste good but I didn't feel good. But nothing is off limits per se, I don't seek to eat it but I don't deny it.

Dinner is usually salmon or steak with salad/kale with some.kind of roast mix veg (carrots sweet potato, peppers, potatoes, mushroom)..I keep my plate looking colourful and pretty because pretty good is infinitely appetising.

I found restrictions quite hard, so it's more asking myself the question 'would I feel good/content if I ate this?'

You’re better off eating SPAM lexie

Hi op. Im size 10- 12 aged 43 with a mum tum. Would like to be my pre child early 30s size 8 , but I suppose you would class me as slim.
This may be unhelpful to you but i have never dieted. I eat what i want but in moderation , things i dont have lots of ( but i would if i fancied it ) are alcohol and takeaways. I dont drive so walk everywhere and have a very active 4 year old.
Im sorry if this sounds blunt but it is clear to me why most people put on weight and that is because they eat too much. I had braces a few years ago and it was very painful to eat at first - lo and behold i lost lots of weight.
When pregnant with ds i put on 4 stone - this is because i ate without abandon, i was so greedy eating family bags of doritos like there was no tomorrow. I was bored and unhappy when i was pregnant and food made me feel a bit happier, i guess thats where the problem lies , the emotional connection with food

I’m not naturally slim but keep myself at an 8/10 through careful eating:

Make everything from scratch where I can, always evening meals but sometimes grab a Pret salad or an omelette from a local cafe for lunch.

Avoid anything processed where I can.

Strictly low or no carbs is my secret weapon

I do eat quite a lot of good fats but I train a lot at the gym as well which allows me to do that.

Only eat fruit at breakfast

I have a friend whose tiny but not naturally so and she has very small portions of whatever she might fancy and walks everywhere. I have a big appetite tho so that doesn’t work for me. I’d rather have a decent portion of something healthy.

Breakfast: chia seed pot & berries, homemade bircher made with almond milk, scrambled egg, ham and avocado or pressed fruit and nut bar and almond milk latte

Lunch: tomoato & spinach omelette, Pret salad (anything under 350 calories, don’t eat the dressing but squeeze lemon juice on instead), feta, beetroot leaves balmsamic vinegar, homemade veg based soup - no milk or cheese added (I batch make these and have them most days tbf)

Dinner absolutely all sorts but protein of some sort with at least 3 types of veg and sometimes things like quinoa, spelt or sweet potato. I make a lot of roasted carrot or parsnip chips with a little bit of rapeseed oil. Never white pasta, white rice or potatoes unless seriously hungover!!

Snacks - small bag of popcorn or oatcakes

Gin and slimline tonic if I’m boozing.

The Madeleine Shaw cook books are a good resource for me!

3 stone is amazing! But keep going if you’re not happy!

I would also recommend getting a slow cooker. I make a casserole that slow cooks a whole chicken on a load of veg/onions and requires no stock or oils, you take the skin off shred the chicken in once it’s cooked through and then pop it Bk in with some alcohol free wine lemon juice and fresh herbs of your choice. A whole medium chicken makes about 6 portions so plenty for the freezer. Plus there’s no oils or nasties. I just have this in a bowl.

Honestly everyone - thank you for the replies and lack of ridicule of what seems to be a stupid question.

If you haven’t suffered from disordered eating I think it’s realky hard to imagine what it’s like and the hold it has over you.

I’ll be continuing my diet to get more weight off but I’ll need a break soon as it’s so restrictive so I’ll try some of the tips on this thread to maintain during that time.

Loads of veggies. Few carbs. Lean protein. If you want something sweet try peaches or strawberries with unsweatened soy yoghurt. Takes a bit of getting used to but it's not bad.

Well done on your weight loss OP. I am 5’1. 10st (my heaviest ever) size 12. I eat porridge pot or 1 croissant (weekends) for breakfast. Lunch is a small sandwich and soup/mugshot at my desk. Dinner is normally family Meals consisting of lean meat, potatoes and veg or salad or tomato bacon pasta or casserole etc. No pudding. I snack on 2-3 small portions of fruit during the day and take a biscuit/cereal bar sometimes at 4pm. My downfall is having a couple of drinks in the evening and eating too much on Saturday/Sunday nights!

Keep going and you will get to healthy happy weight. I’m not sure asking skinny people what they eat is going to help you much to be honest. It might demotivate you. I got down to 8st and size 8 for a few months. I felt fab in my jeans but it was too difficult to maintain. I didn’t have the discipline required to eat like a little bird.