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.

@cuppycakey lol, I genuinely thought you were on the attack sorry, haha!!

Even if you eat well, and theoretically not too much, there are all sorts of factors that can affect weight. Including stress (e.g. from discrimination, or issues that affect poorer people disproportionately more), sleep deprivation, air pollution etc.

So it's not always as simple as eat less, move more, be slim. We need to minimise inequality too, which is a much broader problem.

My DM ate huge amounts - around 3000+ calories a day, and exercised very little. She would walk to the bus stop opposite her house and go to the shops, then the bus dropped her off right outside her house again. She was 5 ft tall at a scrape and weighed around 6 - 7 stone my whole childhood.

She may be one of those anomalies, such as those who smoke 10/day for 70 years and die at the age of 90+. Whereas most would have suffered at least one smoking-related illness and died well before then.

Agree likely to be an anomoly and not something you can rely on, such a person is likely to be rare and far outweighed (no pun intended!) by people would would gain weight eating in such a way, or people who would stay slim but would have an illness that caused it, such as an overactive thyroid, which may sound like a nice thing to have, but it is a serious illness with serious health effects.

Upthread I mentioned the secrets of slim people programme and there was one person who apparently ate more calories than she should have been able to without gaining weight, with no obvious explanation, but this was one amongst probably at least a dozen subjects, with all the others being in significant calorie deficit when their activity and food consumption were properly assessed over time.

I find a lot of junky stuff quite addictive, things I go through phases of eating then when I stop I don't want it. I have often wondered if it's some weird shit messing with my body.

No worries Jodie - looking back I can see how it looked!

I actually was wondering if you were in Scotland as I thought they had free water but apparently not.

"Though I think some don’t have this kind of discipline and ignore the fact clothed are getting tighter and carry on with the same routine"

What I find with clothes is that I have quite a range of sizes in my clothes so the fact that a certain pair is now very tight can be ignored because I'm still fitting in fine into the ones that were baggy when I bought them, but you sort of forget which ones used to be tight and which ones roomy.
This is why I always disagree with the MN mantra that you should never tell someone, even a close friend or family member, that they've put on weight because they'll always be aware of it. I've put on weight very gradually before now and not really been aware of it until someone said what size they thought I was.

"Don’t you know people who eat like a horse and do no exercise, yet are stick thin while others get punished immediately for an odd cupcake."

No, I don't and I don't really believe it, except in rare circumstances.

"Metabolism gets lowered permanently by such dieting so you end up run piling on pounds quicker after your ‘diet’."

This is being disproved from what I've read - I confess I've been reading newspaper articles and Michael Mosley rather than academic studies.

I didn't know that HRT made people gain weight. I would have thought the menopause itself was worse for that.

" I eat quite a bit of raw food as I prefer the taste and texture (ker-unchy carrots - yum!) "

Oh yuck. I used to be a vegetarian, but I was never a rabbit.

"Rice cakes are overrated as a healthy food"

Who claims it's a health food? It's just low calorie food.
I keep rice cakes at my desk at work because it's a bit of a test of whether I'm really hungry or just bored. They're so bland that I'll only eat them if really hungry.

"It is an addiction for many. I'm not talking about people who are a couple of stone overweight but seriously morbidly obese people, then yes, it's an addiction and a form of self harm imo."

I agree.

Bit insulting

It's not a denigrating activity enjoying crunchy, sorry, kerrunchy, carrots!!

No need to be sarcastic towards those that do enjoy fresh crunchy veggies and crisps juicy applies,and oranges overflowing with their quenching health giving juice...yes, very yum indeed.

Better than stuffing with soft doughy gloop! that bungs up the system

"I find a lot of junky stuff quite addictive, things I go through phases of eating then when I stop I don't want it. I have often wondered if it's some weird shit messing with my body."

I can be like this with certain types of bread, most recently hot cross buns. I read that it could be the bacteria in my gut 'calling out' for the things they like.

"No need to be sarcastic towards those that do enjoy fresh crunchy veggies and crisps juicy applies,and oranges overflowing with their quenching health giving juice...yes, very yum indeed."

I'm not being sarcastic. I'm giving you my honest reaction to raw food.

Calling people 'rabbits' certainly is

Threads expiring OP

Are you going to link to a new one? Or let it die?

...and yes..it is yeast and sugar cravings activated by your gut flora!

I know this won't be a popular view but there is definitely a 'class' divide in my area - Those on benefits are in the main overweight - that's not being horrible it's being realistic.

I'm in the slim category whereby I work out, watch what I eat etc and value how I look - those who don't are mainly on benefits - sorry if that offends but that is how it is where I live.

Are these 'fat people on benefits' that you speak of so eloquently, on benefits because they are ill? On meds maybe that make them overweight, or struggling with all manner of health conditions?

Or just work shy do you think?

"Calling people 'rabbits' certainly is"

Salad being called 'rabbit food' is a typical saying. It's not something I created to offend you. It's an insult of the food, not the eater!

I like salads if there's a good vinaigrette and it's a really good salad. Most salads I've had in this country are not, particularly not in the places I can afford to eat in regularly.

It is possible to be on benefits and not without class. Middle class women get left holding babies too you know. The blinkered assumption that the group of people on benefits overlaps precisely with the group of people eating themselves in to obesity due to their classless ignorance, oh dear, sigh.

Well said NaBiAl

Oh yuck. I used to be a vegetarian, but I was never a rabbit

^That's taking calling it rabbit food to.another level, but I get that you can't see that.