to ask if you have to work hard at being slim

[Tobythecat]

Do you ever eat cake/pizza? Im trying to lose weight and stop binge eating, but the thought that even if i become slimmer, will it mean i can never eat cake?

I really enjoy cake/pizza/pasta and would rather be a size 14 and eat these things once a week or so than be a size 8 or 10 and never get to eat them.

Interested to read your experiences☺

I work hard but it’s so worth it. I was (am?) a binge-starve eater and a carb addict. Sugar is highly addictive to me. I now eat low carb high fat and I also do intermittent fasting. I make a pointed effort to move more and I do circuits every other day.

I have had to go cold turkey (no sugar, sweeteners, flours, grains, high carb veg). Carbs under 50g a day, usually around 25g. Cravings are gone and I’ve just broken a 24hr fast! Feel full of energy, never hungry and I can now wear whatever I want - clothes fit perfectly.

In the future I may be able to have the occasional treat but at the moment it would be too dangerous. If you’re happy as you are then I’m pleased for you but if you’re finding it a daily (hourly) battle then I would recommend completely removing sugar and cereals from your diet for a month as the cravings will then go.

I’m 46kg (I’m 48 yo).
Every 2 months I’ll have 1/2 a dominos pizza.
I tend to order a starter when we go out - never a pudding.
I never deny myself (bought myself a packet of Oreo earlier & currently drinking a glass of wine) but I don’t like food.
I cook from scratch every day for my DP but I have no interest.
I have a PT 3x a week.

I used to be size 6-8 and ate whatever I wanted to, but I was a very active person. I ballooned massively when pregnant with dc1 up to size 12 clothes and then again with dc2 up to size 14 maternity clothes.
I've shrunk down again now I've stopped breastfeeding youngest to a size 10 with some residual belly and waist fat. I still eat what I like but exercise as well.

I'm like siameasy - I do high fat low carb, don't naturally get hungry till early afternoon, loads of energy etc. I'm 8 stone 5 and 5'8 tall so 6-8. I was never big, used to be about 9 stone but was weirdly pre-diabetic so had to cut sugar, and I've never regretted it. Sugar, high-carbs, those are the culprits and in my experience, cutting them out makes a huge difference.

Yes Taranta I was heading for pre-diabetes I think it may be a genetic pre disposition but if I dont live like this I end up with a big fat belly

Yes I do.
I lost 3 stone with sw and went from size 14 to an 8/10.

I've lost 5.5st and maintained it for 10 months... I eat mostly healthy but never deprive myself. I used to gorge myself on crisps. Now I rarely eat them. I enjoy myself over birthdays/holiday etc. As long as you are sensible there's no need to deprive yourself.

Another prediabetic who cut the carbs and discovered a lighter life

I am a size 8 and eat cake and don't count calories. It seems to be a metabolism thing - I am always absolutely freezing cold so I figure there is something inefficient about the way my body uses energy, like a badly insulated house - I'm just burning through fuel and not retaining any of the benefit.

There was a time years ago when I did try to track what I ate and was appalled to see how little food 1800 calories actually is - I must eat close to twice that on an average day. I walk 3 miles a day to and from work, and go to the gym twice a week, but apart from that I'm fairly sedentary. I don't entirely buy the calories in / calories out stuff as I should be pretty stout by that logic.

No idea if I qualify as slim - 5’7” and 9st 8lb. I have a wobbly tummy and a fat face (apple shape). Since turning 40 I have noticed I can’t just drop weight like I used to - but I don’t starve myself - if I want fatty food I have it although I probably eat reasonably healthily 95% of the time. Weekdays are: Breakfast = shreddies and a cuppa, then a coffee when I get to work. Lunch = oatcakes and houmous/pâté + Apple, orange and full fat yoghurt. Dinner = bagel with cream cheese and scallion or a veggie omelette. Weekends I might eat out two meals (Thai, indian, McDo) and have a bacon butty and pancakes for breakfasts. A bottle of wine in there as well.

8-10, under 20% body fat. In a word it's hard.

Depends what you mean by slim. I've always been slim-ish and without much effort really. We cook from scratch and only drink a couple of days per week but I do have pizza and every day have something like a slice of cake plus some dark chocolate after dinner. Just don't overeat/eat junk food I guess? I'm now a size 12, would like to loose a stone but can't quite be bothered.

The people I know who maintain size 8, toned, don't change as they age all eat loads of salad and exercise a lot.

I have got down from nearly 13st to just under 9st, size 8-10.
I used to really struggle with my weight as I was drinking a bottle of wine most nights. Since I quit drinking 9 months I've lost at least 1.5 st and eat exactly what I want, the weight is still slowly coming off.
If I started drinking again I know I'd be right back where I was.

I am a generous 10
I have to work hard to stay there and I still have a mum rum and loads of cellulite
I see a PT weekly and do at least 2 HIIT classes on top aswell as 10k steps a day
I eat well as in fresh food but...
Have a bad coffee habit
I will drink once a week eg a few on a Friday night (3/4 glasses of wine maybe)
Don’t have dairy (allergic)
Crave sweet sometimes and go with it, so long as I move I’m fine
If I let go a bit I’m a generous 12 instantly- Christmas was restrained and I still had +half stone

I wouldn't deprive myself. I am slim but need to go back to monitoring my sugar intake, some days I only eat sugar. I despise the gym, but I am quite active in my day to day so think that helps, but I don't "work" at it.

I think different things work for different people (not much help I know ) but the basics are burn off more than you eat. So If you are going to eat your cake and biscuits try and burn it off.

I have had colleagues who are so dull and dieting and all they talk about is what they are eating and how many points/calories/sins or whatever else diet they have chosen that month or what they had for tea last night, what they are eating at the weekend ..........no way to live just have a cake !! (Lighthearted)

Not really. I eat quite a lot of junk/snack food - biscuits, crisps, chocolate, cake etc and have pizza once a week. I have at least two fairly healthy meals per day though, so can probably afford the extra calories. Usually natural yoghurt with blueberries for breakfast and meat/fish and veg (no potatoes)or couscous with feta cheese and tomato and avocado or soup for lunch and just a sandwich/salad for dinner Monday - Thursday. At the weekend I eat more for my main meals.

I love food, including cake and I have pizza every week.

I just eat less in total.

So I log food in My Fitness Pal (fairly roughly- if we cook from scratch I just pick something that sounds about right, not ad all the ingredients).

That way I can see on balance what my intake is that week.

I've not actually reached my target yet, but if I go back to old eating habits and my MFP is all 'in the red', I know I'll ping weight back on.

If i eat sensible portions of stuff and a bit les snacks, I lose weight.

There is nothing that I avoid completely. I love food too much.

I do eat a bit less cheese maybe.

But overall awareness of my actual intake is the key.

(I'm also shit at exercising, but am not too sedentary at work)

I didn't used to work at it, was a size 6 or 8 before I had ds.
History of eating disorders throughout my teens..
Never thought I would be someone who had to worry about being fat.
Since I turned 30, it's more work.
I do watch what I eat more but never weigh myself and don't like to restrict what I eat, if I want pasta, pizza I have it just eat less of it.
I was drinking about 1litre of coke a day, I could feel the pounds piling on so I stopped drinking it in November, still have the odd one but I've dropped a dress size. I'm also trying to be more conscious of the alcohol I drink.
I'm 5"1 size 10,pretty happy with my body now other than mum tum, gut.
Don't want to lose weight all over just the gut and don't want to diet. I guess the answer is exercise.
Short answer, as someone who has always been tiny, yes it's more work once you get to 30.
The most frustrating thing for me is, I've got a good base, and I could have a smashing body if I had -any- more motivation to exercise and eat well.

I'm slim. It doesn't happen by accident. I watch what I eat and make sure I'm getting at least a minimum of exercise. The last time I had cake was about a week ago, but I do eat dark chocolate nearly every day. Can't remember the last time I had pizza. I eat loads of pasta though. If I have something fatty like burger and chips I'll avoid fatty foods for the next couple of days.

Another thing is, I never, other than on holiday eat 3 meals a day.
Most days I'll have lunch and dinner, some days late breakfast and dinner.
3 Square meals a day is just not something I've ever felt like I needed or fit in with my lifestyle..
So that probably helps me be able to have what I want when I do eat.

I honestly think people's weights are generally pre-set and it takes a lot to shift it. For instance I eat a lot of sugary treats but am still a size 8 while I have friends whose diets are far better than mine but who have to work very hard and have constant vigilance to keep the weight off. A lot of it seems to be genetics and metabolism-related.

I know I can't afford to be complacent though as I've noticed the women in my family all seem to put on several dress sizes around menopause - need to shed my bad habits sooner rather than later!

In August 2018 I was a size 16. Im now a size 12. Pre August 2018 I ate pizza and cake and drank a lot of wine.
Now i eat salad and chicken and drink gin.
Sometimes I have a full day of eating pizza and stuffing huge amounts of Cadbury’s into my mouth. I need that. But then I try very hard to not eat anything other than soup and salad for four days. It takes four days to undo the day of pizza and Cadbury’s

I eat whatever I want but keep it within calories and exercise a lot to stay size 6-8

Yes, I have to work hard even to be a size 12 which isn't slim at all.

Its a shame in some ways because my husband and I used to enjoy eating dinner together and having a glass of wine. Now we can't, as my meal is just a small serve of veggies and glass of water, and I can't bear to sit there watching him eat a normal meal and wine. Also any social meals are out. Sometimes I meet friends for a walk but any birthday dinners or celebrations are a no.

Its not clear cut for me which is better. Size 16 - overweight, unhealthy, looks bad. Size 12 - relationship going downhill, no social life, looks better but still average, days extremely long and boring.

Honestly I think yo yo dieting is underrated! You get to have a social life and enjoy food half the time, and though you wouldn't be as healthy as a person who was always slim, you remain within reaching distance of a healthy weight.