To wonder what exactly middle class and upper class Mums do to be skinny

[Humpy84]

I am a Mum of a two year old turning three July. Not an age that he can be packed up for long walks in buggy.

I have gained weight and feeling overwhelmed by everything.

I have noticed and I think it is obvious that middle and upper class Mums tend to be slimmer.

I want to know if you identify this and if so what is your weekly shopping routine, meal plan, how do you exercise with or without toddler/s, tips and tricks etc, diet plans, etc etc.

Create a calorie deficit like everyone else who is slim?

Family member who works in relevant health area once told me that the biggest indicator for health (inc weight) of families is the education level of the mother

Oh I can totally believe this. Even nowadays with most women working, women are still very much the ones in control of the families diet.

"All the girls have the most amazing long thick hair and are as a rule tall and slim too. Good genetics."

And good nutrition. Being tall is genetic, of course, but also comes from good nutrition for your ancestors.

"Yes, I have always worked in admin roles, so I leave work at work and go home at 5pm on the dot - never to think about it again until I am back in the office. "

Yes, that CAN be low stress. It can also be quite stressful being told what to do all day and not having much control over your work, being scared of making mistakes and being told off.
Obviously, it's not like being a surgeon or something, but I've often found being at the bottom of the pile quite stressful, depending on the actual job and workplace dynamics.
Definitely have more time than most managers though.

Also, while it's fine for me, if I had to support a family on my income, that would be extremely stressful and actually if I was a single mother, I'd probably have to give up my job.

www.inc.com/jessica-stillman/employees-more-stressed-than-executives.html

Actually now I think about it all the women I know who absolutely ballooned during pregnancy were quite posh. I reckon it was the first time they'd eaten a normal (non-starvation) diet in years.

Eat less and move more

Being tall is genetic, of course, but also comes from good nutrition for your ancestors

Oh so true...it's breeding. I descend from Russian peasant stock. I'm basically shaped like a potato

"I always think of someone like Jane Birkin as representing this look. I remember in an interview she said she felt so liberated when she stopped wearing make up. I felt cheated, as a posh person with a tall rangey body can easily wear men’s t shirts and jeans and go without make up. "

Lol. If it makes you feel better, Jane Birkin has a very boyish figure - you're probably more feminine.

I understand what you mean, the school my DC go to have around half of the school from very very wealthy families and the other half are working class.
The middle/upper class mummies tend to be stay at home mums (not all but most) they all have very active social lives and tend to all have hobbies that keep them busy/fit. Almost all go to the same gym as well as tennis golf or horse riding. They also tend to be able to afford better quality food and go to the greengrocers/butcher etc and buy organic. Whereas working class mums tend to be all working (many of which in jobs that they are unhappy with) and don't have the time or money for hobbies/gym/organic produce etc. I expect they tend to then overeat in the evenings when they finally get to rest when the dc are in bed. I only suspect this because I fall into the latter group and that's what I do

"Supermarkets adjust their stock for their area. "

Of course. Even chain cafes and restaurants do. I was shocked to see that Nero in London stocks salad as it doesn't where I live.

"It's not hard to be skinny "

Speak for yourself Dame. I find it very hard to skinny (well, slim, I want to be slim rather than skinny). I'm not overweight, just a stone over what I want to be and it's SO hard to slim down. I know what I need to do, but I just like to eat nice food.
I wish I was one of those people who actually liked salads and didn't want to eat white bread and cheese all the time. I think some of it is down to my upbringing. The food wasn't that unhealthy, but we didn't really learn the right habits and that's partly class as well.

"The working class groups usually have cake and biscuits for the adults and the mums sometimes snaffle a bit of the kids' food at snacktime. The middle class ones have tea only for the parents and I've never ever seen one nibble the kids' food."

Yes, even party food or treat food is healthy for some people.
I made a fool of myself once when I took my turn to host a party. The snacks on offer were usually raw veg, including things that I would never have thought of eating. I decided chocolate etc. would go down well, but everyone turned their nose up at it. This was is another country, but I think what I experienced there was a class culture clash rather than a nationality one.

"I just don’t eat when I don’t have to. I’ve got a bit fat recently because it’s exam season but at other times I don’t eat unless I’m going to faint."

Wow. Can you explain a bit more Gregory? I sometimes consider not eating if I'm not hungry, but then I'm scared that the hunger will hit me later on and I'll eat something even less healthy because I'm in a hurry. I'd be a bit fearful of doing what you do, to be honest.

"People who are saying healthy food is cheap, sure some healthy food is but generally nice healthy food is more expensive.

Overweight people still eat fruit and vegetables, but let's be honest bananas, carrots are pretty dull to eat all the time. We can't survive off brocoli alone. It's the things with the vegetables that cost"

Thank you SO much for saying this.
I don't much like apples, pears and oranges, which are cheap. My favourite fruits are berries and grapes, which are expensive.
I'm not a huge fan of potatoes and carrots are just OK. I like Mediterranean veg like aubergine and courgettes, which are much more expensive.
You can fill up much more easily on cheap, unhealthy food.

Boredom at work is also a big thing, as you say.

I agree that really lovely healthy food is not cheap! That's the stuff that is delicious and easy to eat consistently. Think avocados, berries, prawns, pre prepped salads etc. Cheaper healthy food like carrots, lentils take a lot more effort to prep and aren't as tasty usually.

"It's not that the fresh produce isn't there, so yes if there's a 20p bag of carrots it's still going to be cheaper than a McDonalds or whatever, "

You can't just eat carrots on their own though. The supermarkets near me also only sell carrots and potatoes in packs. I'd have to go more than an hour away on the bus to a supermarket where I can get them loose. Nicer or slightly more exotic veg is often difficult to find in the local shops as well - there's often no aubergine and courgette, which I really like, or the tomatoes are the tasteless 'salad' ones rather than the nice 'on the vine'.

" Cheaper healthy food like carrots, lentils take a lot more effort to prep and aren't as tasty usually."

Yes. I grew up eating so many potatoes, I've more or less banned them from my own kitchen.
Realising that carrots taste much better roasted than boiled was an eye-opener for me, though I suppose really poor people wouldn't want to have the oven on too much.
I've looked at a few of Jack Monro's recipes for really poor people or anyone who wants to save money and I think that generally they're not particularly balanced - often two or three complex carbs in one meal. Also, they're only cheap if you do the same recipes many times. In real life, you can't shop in the way she prices things as you have to buy full jars of a lot of the sauces and condiments so the initial outlay's a bit higher.

It is sludge that makes people fat.
If you eat fresh stuff that you need to chew you find that you eat less, have better digestive function and reduce fat.
If you eat sludge, not so much.
Minimum 25 chews to get the initial digestive process going.

Time and time again on mumsnet people are told how cheap apples / bananas and carrots are. If you’re a low income family and you are left with eating these week in and week out you’d get sick of them (been there done that). You end up spicing it up a bit for snacks with crisps / snack bars and chocolate because who can stand to eat the same thing all the time?

Berries / unusual fruits / healthier snacks are more expensive. With a larger income comes more choice, and more choice opens doors to a bigger variety of healthier things.

Indeed you can't gwen. I was being a bit cheeky with my comparisons really. You can make carrot soup but then you're getting into costs of stock cubes, seasonings, oil and energy. Plus you'd probably want a couple of onions and perhaps some celery or potato for it too, in order for it to be an actual nice carrot soup someone is realistically going to choose to eat.

But the point to take away is that situations like I describe are only really faced by people in lower income areas, and while they're not universal to everyone in this bracket, it happens enough that on a societal level it's going to make a difference. The low income person doesn't have to be in a food desert, or a bedsit with no cooking facilities, or too ill to cook to be facing more push factors away from the healthier choices and pull factors towards less healthy than someone with more money would.

Cheaper healthy food like carrots, lentils take a lot more effort to prep and aren't as tasty usually. A tray of roast veg is super easy and tasty, or vegetable and lentil soup. I've been making a pot of soup a week lately (3 days worth). I bought a bag of carrots, a bag of parsnips, and a cauliflower for a pound the other day. I am a single parent on less than £20k, but we ate similarly when I was a single parent on benefits.

Berries, avocadoes and prawns are still cheaper than most take aways.

Can someone explains what are those unhealthy food that people are forced to eat because its cheaper?

Can someone explains what are those unhealthy food that people are forced to eat because its cheaper?

Carbs

Not necessarily unhealthy but won't keep you 'rich slim'

As I tried to say upthread, it's not just price of food; it's the "cost" of learning to make new types of food, adjusting palates and tastes and getting used to them, as well as spending time on preparing, washing up etc, and having the oven on for ages.

People generally find change difficult and when you're used to a terrible diet you have less energy. When your general life is miserable it's also easier to turn to junk food for a treat.

Please do continue being snobby and judgmental, it's quite amusing to read, but for many people it's not as simple as "gosh, let's just buy some avocados the next time we're out".

Yes @fallafal. Food is a relatively cheap, easy to acquire treat when you don't have many other nice things in your life.