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☺

malificent7 do you measure yourself using sizes rather than weight or inches? Cos I find sizing to be useless given how every shop has a completely different idea of what sizes mean. I got into a 4 in M&S and Tesco whereas in H&M I couldn’t even zip up a pair of size 16 jeans.

I also think that the focus on size is daft. I have a BMI of 19 and quite often buy a size 12 (depending on the shop) so I am always quite surprised that people who are about 5 inches shorter but a similar weight say they are a size 12! I not saying that they are lying but it clearly depends on where you buy your clothes, your body shape (I have small waist but quite wide hips, I think) and perhaps how tight you like your clothes to be.

I'm slimmish. Middle of healthy BMI. Yes I have to work at it. Lots of exercise or calorie counting. Sometimes both if I'm putting on a couple of pounds. It's getting harder now I am north of 40.

I have always been, I guess, generally slim. However approaching my late 20s and now early 30s I've found it much easier for the weight to creep on. I was unhappy with my weight & fitness, and so decided to change that. While I love sweets & junk I decided it wasn't for me anymore and by cutting way back actually don't feel like it now (honest). I will still treat myself at times but now instead of a huge slice of cheesecake I'll have the occasional small piece. I also just swap things out... so now instead of full fat/sugar ice cream Ill have a smaller bowl of low sugar/fat ice cream and have no/low sugar jelly or fruit with instead of chocolate /nuts etc. Making healthier swaps helps you feel as though your not missing out.

Science > Diet

Calories in < Calories burned

No secrets or magical formula.

Calories in < Calories burned

I find this so empowering :) when I realised that I am 100% in control of how much I weigh and can change my weight by altering what I eat it was a revelation. Which I know sounds really stupid cos it’s basic science, but the whole diet industry makes you think you need fancy shakes, meetings, a nutritionist, or to starve yourself. When really if you maintain a calorie deficit you’ll lose weight. The bigger the deficit the faster the rate of weight loss.

But I empathise so much with people who find it hard to do, you have to really want and be ready for it. I have spent months at a time being miserable with how I look and struggling to start losing weight. It can be mentally so tough even though the actual process is incredibly simple and straightforward on paper.

@VietnameseCrispyFish I completely agree, I take absolutely no notice to store sizing as there is such a difference from store to store.

It will also depend on your shape not just weight as to what dress size you fit into.

I received a notification from one supplier advising that their sizing was now changing. Based on their new sizing I would now be a xxs ( if they did one ) so people who were a 12 would now be in a 10 - I don't see who that benefits at all !!! it would be better if all stores had to use the same sizing guides.

I don't weigh myself I just know I like to be toned, my clothes normally show my figure but are not skin tight, so I just go off that if they were too tight I probably would have one less packet of biscuits and use a tape measure if i needed to track it.

@bluebeau I agree. The diet industry is worth millions but the basics are easy just burn off more calories than you eat in order to loose weight. I think most people know this they just need a little help sticking to it.

I see the same thing in some of my friends who are permanently on diets - the sheer amount of mental energy they expend thinking about food is astonishing.

Do you think they spend more time thinking about food than somebody who like much of the population is overweight?

I am slim and don't "work hard". I follow meal plans because it's extremely easy to know if I'm eating the right amount, eating enough of the right things, I know exactly what to buy when I shop and exactly what to cook, and it also means I can bulk cook things and save masses of time, and put very little thought into what I eat because it's already planned out.

I do have off-plan days but one day off plan is not going to make a meaningful difference if the majority of the other days are sensible.

I can maintain a 12 at 5ft 6in without any extra effort, but do eat generally very healthily (although I eat a lot), don’t drink very much and do yoga nearly every day. If I wanted to be slimmer I’d have to restrict my diet and I don’t want to do that, as it makes me miserable.

I am good all week then eat loads at the weekend. I exercise about 4 times a week though and think the weight would creep up if I didn't.

I received a notification from one supplier advising that their sizing was now changing. Based on their new sizing I would now be a xxs ( if they did one ) so people who were a 12 would now be in a 10 - I don't see who that benefits at all !!! it would be better if all stores had to use the same sizing guides.

I think it’s a ploy to get customer loyalty tbh. There’s so much self esteem and self judgment tied up in your clothes size, if you’re someone who feels genuinely better about yourself seeing a size 12 on your jeans than a size 16 (cos you can tell yourself you’re a size 12 then or avoid acknowledging you’ve gained weight) then you’re more likely to shop in a place where you can buy a 12 than a place where you’re a sixteen.

Also I think as a country we’ve normalised being overweight and obese, compared to previous generations, the average woman is getting bigger. So maybe there’s an element of trying to adjust to that. Clothes sizes are inherently meaningless across the board, they’re only useful in an individual shop with a specific garment to ask for or look for a bigger or smaller item. I think lots of us have the idea that ‘a 12 is average’, so even though the average is getting bigger maybe shops are adjusting so that the average woman is a 12, if that makes sense?

From the wiki page for vanity sizing:

The UK's Chief Medical Officer has suggested that vanity sizing has contributed to the normalisation of obesity in society

I’m a size 6/8 and eat these things all the time. Probably more than I should.

I get full easily though. I wouldn’t ever be able to finish a full pizza. If we go to Pizza Hut, I could only eat three slices before being full.

I wouldn’t be able to eat a full slice of cake, about 3/4 would fill me.

I don’t calorie count but I can’t imagine I eat more than 2000 calories a day, and I excercise daily.