To ask, if you are slim, what do you think about?

[Whatchathink]

I am overweight. Very overweight. My weight preoccupies most of my thinking to the point where it is habitual- what will I be eating today? How many calories? How fat am I? Why can’t I just lose weight? Etc, etc etc . And on it goes.

I’m now thinking that these thoughts have become so much of life that if I were to lose weight, what would i actually think about all day? I would in a strange way, miss that fat voice!

So my question is, if you are slim, what do you think about? Does food just not really register at all in your thoughts?

I'm obsessed with food and overweight.

People assume overweight people eat shit, bad quality fast food...but I'm the opposite. I love good quality, well cooked delicious things! I never eat fast food... I don't drink fizzy drinks. I don't drink alcohol or have takeaways.

It's not that I'm even obsessed with eating food necessarily. I'm obsessed with cooking and shopping for it. I read cookery books in the same way people read novels. I watch cooking shows on TV. I research restaurant menus of places I'm never going to go to!

I think food is one of the greatest pleasures in life and I feel quite distrustful of people who don't feel the same!

I am overweight. Very overweight. My weight preoccupies most of my thinking to the point where it is habitual- what will I be eating today? How many calories? How fat am I? Why can’t I just lose weight? Etc, etc etc . And on it goes

I could have written that but replaced overweight with underweight.

I don't think the thoughts and obsessions are linked to weight. I think they're linked to disordered eating/eating disorders which manifest in people at all weights.

I'm just over 6 stone (but short!). I believe I would still feel the same as you do if I was 8 stone, 10 stone or 12 stone.
It's not the weight that's the issue; it's the mindset.

I am slim and food doesn't occupy my thoughts. I rarely know what I'm going to eat until I feel hungry and wander into the kitchen/work canteen. I don't know what I think about really! I don't have one subject that takes up most of my thinking. I'm currently spending a lot of time daydreaming about being a doctor who companion...

I love food and I love cooking and I am slim, I don't have to eat a load of it really enjoy it! I do spend a lot of time on cooking blog and instagram, it's a hobby for sure. I also like crafting and read alot, so I think about that. I've lost weight over the last year because I've become more interested in food, not less.

I’m slim and I love food. I do think about food, I love finding food and recipes that, for me are delicious, but healthy - if you see what I mean. I’m lucky I don’t have a sweet tooth. Can you find food you enjoy that’s not junk?

I’m not naturally slim. I worked hard to lose 4 stone last year and tbh food still preoccupies a lot of my thoughts. Not as in I’m hungry but meal planning and balancing so I don’t regain the weight which I’m a bit anxious about if I’m honest. I think if you’ve been overweight and slim down this isn’t that unusual? I don’t know. The best days are my fast days—no food to think about those days and I have a ton more time and headspace. I’m still getting used to my new weight. I’m hoping as I get used to maintaining then I can be a bit more relaxed about eating in general.

I think about food alot. I'm slimmish (size 12).

Because I love food I'm trying to think about, and do, exercise more rather than just worrying about what I'm eating
That said i do enjoy healthy options - fruit and veg etc and cook most things from scratch. Maybe think about making nice healthy recipes rather than worrying about calories as such.

Good post by manicinsomniac.

Just because a person is slim doesn’t mean they don’t have body battles, yes I am a size 8 but since having my two children I feel extremely loose and untoned and not as confident in my shape unfortunately. It’s all perception, and so I do battle with food and exercise probably just as much as you 😭 I hate when ppl say “oh stop complaining you are tiny” well I may look it but I don’t feel it and that’s the point isn’t it!!

@manicinsomniac 🙌

@Whatchathink I can probably guarantee you that if you woke up 3 stone lighter tomorrow you would still be obsessed with food etc 😢

I've been both sides of the coin - a size 22 most of my 20s, but now a steady size 10 for the past 6 years. And I'd say I think about food the same amount.

But in a very different way. I stressed about food more when I was overweight, beating myself up, thought about comfort foods, and I was always hungry (I ate the wrong kinds of food) but I think about food in a positive way now!

I eat a hell of a lot more now, being slim, than I did when I was bigger. Bowl of porridge with cacao powder and blueberries for breakfast, egg or cous cous salad for lunch and dinner is usually a hearty stew or chickpea curry FILLED with veg. Managed to lose half my weight (literally) by learning to cook from scratch and - the key - only eating what I genuinely enjoyed! That way you don't feel deprived.

I love food now. It's finally a friend, not the enemy. Good luck on your journey, and try to have goals of being healthier, not just focused on being slimmer.

:)

5’2”, 7 stone.

I don’t think about weight or obsess about food. I do love food in terms of cooking and trying new restaurants, but it is more about tasting and enjoying the artistry than filling my belly. In fact, I have never eaten until uncomfortably full - it is an unpleasant sensation to me. I don’t understand the idea of comfort eating - I lose my appetite if sad, anxious, or down.

I don’t really think about my body except in terms of health and it being a tool which allows me to do what I enjoy which is running.

I'm slim and would typically say I eat what I want when I want. But that doesn't mean eating lots of junk.

E.g.
I tend to think about what I would like for my next meal but otherwise have a healthy attitude to food.
I like food and I like exercise but the two arent linked. I dont exercise to earn food.
Food isn't naughty or a treat and I don't think about having a sneaky biscuit etc.
If I'm hungry then I eat.
If I'm not hungry then I dont.
I make a distinction between eating because I'm bored or habit vs eating because I'm hungry
Realising sometimes what I think is hunger is thirst helps too
I love food, enjoy meal prepping and cooking. I have large portions of healthy food, but stop when I'm not hungry anymore.
I eat slowly and enjoy my food rather than shovelling it in hello DH
I don't link food to emotions.
If I want a take away then I have one and enjoy it with no guilt.

That all probably sounds quite dull but that's what 'eat what I want when I want' means to me.

I’m slim, verging on underweight (No ED).

I very rarely think about food, I eat because I have to and sometimes skip meals because I genuinely forget to eat.

I cook for DH & DS but don’t always eat when they do.

I'm a dress size 8. I think about sex more than food

I was a size 12 after kids and have got myself to a size 8 again after 6 months of dieting. I always think about my weight. I have put 3lbs in over Xmas and will not eat today till tonight when I will have a salad. It's easier to take a couple of pounds off quicky than they pain of trying to loose a stone as it creeps back on

Hmm I have been slim all my life...except the two times I was heavily pregnant. Now that I have kids I am too busy to think about food. Sometimes I will think of what I want to eat for dinner or for the next day if I am hungry. But normally I am thinking of the things I need to do. Such as cleaning the house, laundry, kids stuff etc.

I am not slim slim but healthy BMI. I find when I go through a think about food phase I put on weight and I feel hungry all the time. At the moment I am in a lose weight phase, not because I am thinking of losing weight, but because I am learning French and decluttering the house. Food and eating doesn't have space in my head ATM.

I used to be overweight (slim without effort for all my life, then started to gain weight really easily at 45), I currently keep a mental tally of how many calories I've consumed each day and, before I eat something, consider whether I'd be happier eating that item or something else later (in the same way that, before purchasing something, I question whether I'd be happier spending the same money on something else or if having this item is worth going without another). I adore food and could easily eat myself into an early grave on cured meats, cheeses and olives alone.

I would liken dietary changes to being similar to running (in a way) when I initially limited myself to one (admittedly large) meal a day at weekends, it was as excruciating and depressing as my first 5k. Now, it's just something I do in the same way that I'll think nothing of jogging the 5k into town if the weather is nice.

This is interesting!

I am slim naturally. I dont think about food much. I dont like cooking and I don’t really like eating meals - I like to snack.

When I eat out I like tasty meals but not quantity. Not fussed on meat. Not fussed on cheese or bread.

Often skip meals esp bfast.

I don't think about food until I am hungry. I do really like food and I eat lots of it. But I wouldn't be thinking about it unless I was hungry or having to plan food for others like when I'm having people for lunch.

No I don’t think about food at all or ever actually.

I’m a size 8 naturally. I don’t eat more than 2000 calories today (I don’t think although I don’t actually count). I snack on a mixture of healthy and unhealthy things.

I stop eating when I’m full - I do get full quickly and for example, an adults resraurant meal are too large large for me to finish - I can only eat about 3/4.

I don't think about food much, although I do enjoy it.

Today I've been thinking about how the cleaning is never ending (lots of cats), and the latest cat rescue jobs I have on, and where I'm going dancing and I'm currently thinking rather too much about how many clothes I seem to be buying in the sales even though I really don't need them ... And I think about what I've just been reading on MN ... and I fret about how I'm looking older ... and how my joints seem to be seizing up ... and my knees look wrinkly

In other words I just think about the normal things in my life. But I don't obsess about food or my weight. That doesn't mean though that I don't worry about other aspects of appearance.

I am slim but do not think about food much unless really hungry

I'm average size, I coukddo with losing weight for sure. I'm 5ft but a size 10-12. I think about food constantly, but not like what am I going to eat next, but what kind of food I can indulge in that won't make me fatter! I'm a huge fan of veggies so I'm not unhealthy per se but I can also eat a ton of junk!
Now it's January I really want to start eating less junk and sugar. So I'm trying to swap craving for chocolate and sweets before meals for things like carrot sticks and hummus, raspberrys, blueberries ect.

Even though I love fruit and veg I just can't resist chocolate!

I think we'll always think about food and our appearance, just when we lose our weight, and we will! We will just start thinking about healthier food