Would you rather have an amazing figure by eating a restrictive diet and exercising or be slightly larger (not obese)and not ripped by eating whatever you fancy?

[malificent7]

Like most women i love food but would also like a leaner body. Is the slog of dieting really worth it?

In the interests of balance, I have had a few days off recently with visitors etc, and enjoy myself when I do. My problem is that when unregulated by a calorie counter, I do tend to eat All The Things! I feel like a life which is mostly abstinence but occasional gluttony is about right (and the sort of life my peasant ancestors probably had, tbh).

Depends on your age. Once you're past 40, a bit of chub is your best friend (at least from a dermatological point of view).

I'm a UK dress size 14-18 (depending on shop) creeping ever closer to 50 and can still pass for mid-thirties. I'm pretty certain I'd look every bit as haggard as I feel if I dropped below a size 12.

Would much rather be a little heavier and have a little more cake I’m losing weight at the moment to get healthier but I don’t particularly want to push myself to be properly slim. Been there, done that, didn’t make me happy.

Exercise is great for my mental health though.

Why do you ask OP ?
what's your take on this dilemma?

'Restrictive diet' makes it sound like you need to live on salad and cottage cheese to stay at a healthy weight which is bollocks

I prefer to eat a 'balanced diet' and exercise regularly to maintain a healthy weight and cannot imagine choosing to be overweight and unhealthy

Luckily I enjoy exercise so don't really see it as a chore

Agree with Abra1de!
Eating takes 20 minutes of the day (Max) and for 5 days a week one of those meals is at work so I don’t enjoy it no matter what I eat. However, I have to live in my body 24 hours a day so would prefer to be slim and confident all day than indulge for those 20 minutes.
Wine and delicious food can be consumed at times during the weekend, and are all the more enjoyable for those 20 mins.

And less than 24 hours to go now until the weekend countdown!

I reached the age of 50 and realized that I've been on one diet or another since my 20's, so nearly 30 years. I am still not slim/thin.

I have now accepted that this is the size I am meant to be (18/20) and so I am eating what I like without worrying about calories/syns/fat content and I am enjoying my life - and weirdly I'm not getting any bigger

Nothing tastes as good as thin feels.

I believe this, in the sense that the taste is on your tongue for only a moment but you can feel great all day long if you’re happy with your figure. However, it’s sometimes tricky to remember this when you’re doing the tasting!

Thin, always thin

I'm option eat what I like and be overweight, but dabble with option diet and exercise a couple of times a year, which is just enough to keep me from getting bigger and bigger for the rest of my life.

I'd much rather be thin.

I can't exercise due to my disability and I take drugs that are known to cause weight gain but I still weigh 8st. I don't eat a lot, I admit that, but I don't move much so I don't need the calories.

Option A. With a treat day once a week.

I feel better and happier when I'm thin. Weight doesn't sit well on me and makes me miserable.

If you’re doing it right, the diet shouldn’t feel restrictive and the exercise shouldn’t feel like something to be endured or avoided.

I’m “A”. It’s not a burden, it’s just my lifestyle and who I am. I love running and cycling and boxing and weightlifting. I eat good food - sure, probably what most people would call “healthy”, but I enjoy it. I also have an active social life which involves drinking a lot of alcohol and eating at nice restaurants. Do that in moderation and let your appetite balance itself out and it’s fine.

Personally, I don’t find any joy in sitting on the sofa with a family bag of crisps or eating an entire bar of chocolate in one sitting. I don’t feel I’m missing out by not doing that.

I'd like to be smaller (I'm a size 16 now) but I'm actually happier now than I was as a size 10. I guess I actually feel more comfortable with myself. It's kind of like giving in, shrugging and saying, "Well I'm a fattie and there's nowt I can do about it. This is me!"

I was very self conscious of what people thought of me, even what my husband thought when I was a size 10. Sex was boring and mundane. Now it's wild and fun (because I am far more adventurous.) I know in my heart DH would like me to lose the weight but he knows never to say anything because it would hurt me. I've tried. I suffer for months. I go through hell fucking about dieting and exercising and will be lucky to shed much weight at all. So fuck it.

The latter. I favour health over aesthetics, so what I fancy isn't necessarily all (some is) shite.

I'm pretty obese but eat really well. DH is currently rocking sub-10% bodyfat in his early 50's, same food.

I want to lose a pound or two but I'm happy.

I'd have to restrict hugely to be thin, as I'm pretty short.

I can never decide so swing between a bmi of 22 and 24. My face looks awful at the lower end but my waist looks better when Im slimmer. its tough

I like being slim. It’s a big part of my identity, always has been, and I wouldn’t feel like myself if I wasn’t on the thinner side. I like healthy, home cooked food and a certain way because of a health condition. Luckily I had a moon face when younger, so I don’t have a gaunt face at 5’7 and 8.5 stone, in my early forties.

Look at what people do, not what they say. You have a natural experiment right in front of you. The Western woman is by majority, larger than the ‘ideal’ BMI. Women have voted with their feet, and its toward the ‘comfortable’ option.

In my experience you DO have to have a very restrictive diet to stay lean. Like salad and cottage cheese restrictive. I eat like that for a few weeks and it feels good, then I just can’t be fucked saying no to everything anymore. That’s why i am a 14 not a 12.

I'm in the first group I suppose but not that incredibly amazing. I follow this kind of diet : 'Like salad and cottage cheese restrictive' to keep lean.

If I ate whatever I wanted I'd be 300lbs easily, and very very unhappy and unhealthy.

So instead I'm 132 and pretty happy.

Just getting dressed is waaay easier - I can wear anything in my wardrobe : it fits and looks good.

It really doesn't have to be such a restrictive diet if you are active too. I am small (5 foot, 48 kg) and I average around 1750 calories a day. There is room in that to have some cheese or chocolate most days, to go out to eat occasionally, and a glass of wine now and then. I enjoy my food and I like being light. It makes a big difference in my sport, which needs a good strength to weight ratio.