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

Until I started dieting and lost three stone my knees killed me so the idea of exercise was a joke.

This stuck out at me, you really don't need to do what most people deem to be typical exercise. I've seen it often, overweight people struggling to jog on a treadmill, when all they're doing is damaging their knees. It's really unnecessary. Far better to do a brisk walk with a small incline, jogging is extremely overrated! If you're interested in aiding your weightloss I'd recommend a fitbit if you have the funds for it (any similar step counter would do) and try to reach 10k a day steps as your first goal. There are naysayers of "eat less move more" but it really does work, and a walk isn't going to increase your appetite like jogging is. If you're interest in more hardcore exercises try HIIT which is brilliant for keeping your body in "fat burning" mode. I've been following intermittent fasting for a while now and it's the easiest thing I've done to maintain weight. A meal at 11 and a meal at 7, no snacks no drinks cals. It would be very hard to go over 1200-1500 cals a day if you split that into two designated eating times, and you'll find that your appetite shrinks too. I only feel the first pangs of hunger at say 10am, at which point I'll drink water / have a green tea and be really ready for my brunch come 11. 2 slices of brown bread with butter + 2 eggs scrambled fills me up. Dinner is usually meat / chicken / fish with veg and sometimes something carby if i feel like it, pasta or potatoes but rarely and not a lot of it.

Also- the carbs in the morning never at night has been thoroughly debunked and only increases your appetite all day.

For green tea I really recommend the salted caramel one, if you have a sweet tooth! It smells increadibly sweet but has a very subtle taste and it's my go-to if i have a craving for something sweet.

Hamiltoes

Exercise has to be very limited atm as I’m still healing from SPD following a difficult pregnancy. Physio said nothing ‘brisk’ at this stage.

Normal walking, core exercises and swimming are all I’m up to physically.

I do like HIIT though. Paradoxically, I actually like quite vigorous exercise and am looking forward to healing enough to start a bit more.

I actually detest walking as exercise. I find it beyond boring. Utterly hate it unless I’m using it as a mode of transport.

Breakfast 2 slices of toast with flora, coffees (sweetener and skimmed milk)

Snacks raisins/breadstick/more coffee!

Lunch - salad (bag of leaves, onions tomatoes fried with fry light, maybe some quorn pieces)

Dinner - stir fry (you can buy frozen bags to it at the supermarket so it's super quick and easy, with a couple of quorn Sausages chopped up into it)

Evenings I snack lots so I now buy popcorn (around 70cals a bag) breadaticks, alcohol free beer)

Every Friday I have a treat, usually a frozen pizza and fries. If I'm having a rubbish day I allow myself to go buy a bag of chocolate (around 600 cals!!!) as and when I need, no more than once in a week.
Alcohol, white wine and fizzy water once or twice a week.

I lost 3 and a half stones years ago, then after dc1 I lost 2 stone and after dc2 I had 2 stone to lose and am almost there. I think it's so hard to get into the routine but once you've been doing it and you're eating less I become less hungry and it gets easier. Some family meal ideas that may be useful are lentil and sweet potato dhal (BBC food website) cowboy casserole (net mums) roasted med veg, cos cos and meat/quorn (just have a small amount of cous cous but looooads of the veg!). Also, if you're making family meals with pasta/rice just substitute your pasta or rice with cauliflower rice of courgette spaghetti. Good luck with the rest of your weight loss!

hamiltoes

I’m very interested in intermittent fasting - I have blood pressure and cholesterol issues and I’ve read it’s supposed to be a massive help with those. I’m glad to hear it assists with maintaining weight loss as I feel like that might be a good option for me.

There was a doctor who experimented in dieting by eating sweets and chocolate and crisps. He still lost weight as long as the calories eaten were still less than those burned. So his experiment made a clear link between portion size and calorie counting and weight loss.

@Baumderose Was it this guy? edition.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/11/08/twinkie.diet.professor/index.html

Merry there used to be a thread on here dedicated to IF which I found really motiviational, it may still be running in the weight loss section.

Its hard at first but your body does adjust, my DP introduced me to it and he is a health freak, twice my width but solid muscle and can contol his weight to within the kilo if he is competing. At first I couldn't get over the idea of skipping breakfast, as we're almost programmed to believe it's "the most important meal of the day", but honestly if you think about it, we must be the only mammals in the animal kingdom who are obsessed with breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner, snack/supper within a week or two it just becomes normal and you find you really don't have the urge to go back. There is also the thought that "fat burning" begins 8hrs after you last had calories, so it's a definite motivation in the early days not to break your fast early or snack late at night.

I've always been "slim" in that at my heaviest post birth I was a size 12 (5'4), but I've noticed a difference generally in my body and in the way I feel. There is nothing like being a little hungry to make you feel more productive and switched on!

Merryoldgoat
If you are interested in Intermittent fasting (or its trendier cousin 5:2)
join this board / thread
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/fasting_diet/3292791-5-2-Thread-No-79-We-re-avoiding-POO-CRUMBS-on-communal-cake-biscuits-and-enjoying-our-meals-instead

I've been a fan of 5:2 since August 2012
I love eating out
but I also love being slim
intermittent fasting lets me do both

Fruit and veg first, to fill me up,
Protein - 70-100g per day
Lots of water, drinking before I feel thirsty
Running regularly, as cardio burns most energy and also gets me outside. If you can't manage running yet, brisk walking is good too

Thank you Ta1kinpeace

I have to have a break from this diet in 4 weeks so I’ll try this for a couple of weeks and see how I go!

I’ve lost three stone and no none can tell - it’s so depressing. It just makes me realise how out of control I have become.

I’ve lost three stone and no none can tell
Don't bet on it.
They are just choosing not to say anything either because they are scared for you that you will fail again
or waiting to say how pleased they are when the butterfly emerges from the chrysalis

I'm slim but defiantly not a slave to it. I eat a good healthy diet during the week so that I can indulge in a glass or two at the weekend and also have a take-away.
Don't buy crisps and general crap but will have a few Rich Tea biscuits with my coffee.
Lots of fruit and veg. Don't use oil for frying, just get the pan really hot. Don't eat chips or potatoes.
I do exercise and like to be busy to make sure I burn lots of calories. I'm 53, size 8-10.

I’ve got another 6 months of maternity leave left and I really want to go back a new person.

I’m already lighter than when I started working there so it’s definitely possible!

I think the best advise for family meals is still what you'd normally serve, just less of it. (This kind of assumes you are serving a balanced meal for your dcs!).

I've got to the stage that my portion sizes are only a tiny bit more than I dish out to dc1 who's 8, if you aren't able to do a lot of exercise, you probably don't need much food.

I'm size 8 and don't ever really think about being on a diet, sometimes I eat unhealthy food but 90% of the time I make healthy choices.
The deliciously Ella app is great for healthy food ideas, it's all plant based and vegan but some great ideas.
As a family we tend to cook from scratch and try not to buy any processed foods.
The body coach recipes are good too and he has workouts that you can do at home. His recipes are more basic, some of deliciously Ella's recipes have quite expensive ingredients.
I make her raw cacao balls for sweet snacks, they got a colleague kick started on a health kick!
I exercise 3-4 times a week and I only drink alcohol once or twice a week.
Hope it all goes well

I used to be very heafty and ate about 7000 calories a day!!! No I am still a bit porky (size14) but I stick to 1500 calories a day. I try to have a balanced diet but it doesn’t always work out that way. Today so far I have had a salad roll a bag of crisps and a glass of wine. I am away for the weekend so it is hard as a vegan to find food sometimes, I think I will go home hungry on Sunday 😂😂

Btw Op if you want to tone up while ‘dieting’ try Callanetics.
I have being doing Callanetics for years and it makes you look slimmer even when you haven’t lost weight

Crap and I still don't seem to put weight on! I need to eat more of the right things though... I think the crap I eat, is having an effect on my moods.

I would honestly not set much store by what naturally slim people do if you're not naturally slim yourself, as their experiences will be irrelevant to you. Almost all the naturally slim people I've encountered have fallen into two categories - either they're able to eat anything they want and not gain a pound, or they have a small appetite and they're not especially interested in food. Neither approach will help you in your situation!

I am someone who is naturally a bit overweight and during my slimmer phases I have had to accept that either I eat a lot less than I would like to, or I will put the weight back on. Sometimes I don't think the self-denial is worth it to get into a size 8 and I let myself go, but I always get back on the diet wagon eventually. Fwiw, my daily diet when I'm maintaining at a lower weight tends to be:

Breakfast: coffee and fruit, perhaps with some natural yoghurt
Lunch: a big leafy salad with a protein, like chicken, fish, or tofu
Dinner: more protein, veg, small amount of wholegrain carb such as bulgar wheat or brown rice

I have a bit of milk in my hot drinks and I still have diet Coke etc. I know a lot of people think they're evil incarnate but they're useful for making you feel full between meals because of the bubbles... no snacks between meals, and no puddings. It's not fun, but for me, it's necessary if I'm not going to balloon.

I agree. I have had to accept that if I want to be slim, I have to accept feeling a bit hungry every day before I go to bed. Otherwise I put on weight.

I've worked out I'm mrandnt to be a 12 based on what I eat when I just have what I fancy but I prefer to be a 10 so I have to make sacrifices

*Meant

Those saying whatever but very small amount, aren't you disappointed that dinner is over in 5 minutes?

I think the key is to not snack.
And to accept that feeling a bit hungry is normal and you don’t need to eat - just have a cup of tea and do something else.
Remaining active for me helps, eg housework or walking.
Portion size for me is normal or smaller than others too.

Thank you - it’s more I wanted to gauge a reasonable amount of food and they type of meals.

I also recognise that ‘slim’ is subjective - there are clearly some people on here who are very slim.

I’m currently a size 22 down from a 24/26.

If I were a size 16 I’d cope with that very well! I don’t expect to ever be a size 12 let alone a 10 - I’m not sure my norks are capable of ever fitting in a 12!