To think that slim people have different habits re food and exercise

[WhatWillSantaBring]

I've been overweight most of my adult life, and find I put on weight very easily. BUT I also think I have had very unhealthy food habits - I think of food as treats, I avoid the scales, I eat when I'm not hungry, I always have the cake, emotional eating etc. I know all the things I do wrong (and that I'm sure a lot of overweight people do) but what I want to know is what do thin people do "right". i.e. what are the habits of people who are consistently a healthy weight (i.e. BMI of 20-25).

I've got some very petite friends who will do things like:

• weigh every day and take immediate action if their weight goes up by more than 5lbs;
• never accept a biscuit
• only drink one glass of wine (unless its a very special occasion when they may have two)
• never order themselves a dessert/ice cream etc (will just eat whatever their kids leave)

- exercise 5-6 days a week without fail, including Christmas Day

• never have seconds

If you're slender, and have maintained a healthy weight for years, what habits do you have that you think help you?

12 croissants between 4 people is excessive isn’t it?

[quote squeekums]@Saracen completely relate to your dd. To me It's wasteful to eat what you don't want, I don't enjoy it at that point so why force it. I never understood the whole eat everything to not offend. To me, wouldn't the person who made the food rather I enjoy it over forcing till I feel sick?

Random question - am I the only person who has no idea how many calories I eat or my bmi? Wouldn't even know how to find it out, nor do I care too[/quote]
I have no idea how many calories I consume, I don't care either. I only know my BMI due to curiosity as a result of being repeatedly told I'm an "unhealthy weight". Turns out, I'm not. Well not according to BMI anyway.

@Atadaddicted and @onedaysoonish I realise that what (and how) you cook from scratch is as important as whether you cook from scratch at all (except re hidden sugar, because I would never ever add ten teaspoons of sugar to a spag Bol which is what some ready made versions contain !!!). I was just making the point that I don’t think cooking from scratch is a healthy habit that makes a difference . I don’t mean this to be about me- I know exactly what I do wrong, but I’m curious as to why and what I can adopt to help me do things right.

I would love to be able to not care about lbs and kgs, but I know from experience that I can lie to myself about the tightness of my jeans.

* I was just making the point that I don’t think cooking from scratch is a healthy habit that makes a difference grin.*

But it WOULD is....
Person 1 “cooked from scratch”. Used glugs of oil, loads of butter, double cream, cheese in everything etc

Person B “cooked from scratch” used spray oil very meagrely, never ever used double cream but rather half fat crèche freshe, never used butter etc

The difference is fat and calorie every day for 1, 2 maybe even 3 meals a day would be enormous

@WhatWillSantaBring ah I see.. sorry I misunderstood! I think it's difficult to be slim (and healthy and getting all the right nutrients (as opposed to eating half a mars bar a day and being skinny)) without cooking a lot from scratch, but I agree by itself it's probably not enough to make a difference.

@speakout

squeekums I have no idea of my weight, bmi or calories I eat.

I do know that I wear a size 10 jeans and they fit me comfortably. I don;t need to know any more.

thats how i look at it too, going by mn its rare not to know lol

@LouJ85 haha, now thats a reason to find it out, to throw it back at those who call me anorexic

I am good at losing weight but not at maintaining. I’ve realised for me I need a degree of control and will always overeat a little bit if left to my own devises. I got away with it before children as I could out exercise the excess but post children I’ve struggled. It is very easy for me for weight to creep on.

Some of my friends that are more naturally slim exercise a lot- it’s just part of the lifestyle but don’t seem to snack as much. My parents were feeders and didn’t really encourage exercise so I think there is an element of learnt behaviour.

I have a relative that is naturally underweight. She eats well but is very tall and seems to have a fast metabolism. She doesn’t exercise really. She cleans a lot though so I suspect she’s burning more calories during the day then you’d think.

I've maintained being slim after 2 children and find that I don't tend to eat lunch when I'm not working, or I just have a v light lunch like oatcakes and carrot with apple.
I go on an hours dog walk each morning and will only drink alcohol at weekends, mainly because I just don't feel like it during the week.
We don't eat out a lot and tend to cook meals from scratch, so no processed food.
I don't deny myself anything, it would make me want it more but I don't have a massive sweet tooth, I eat more crisps than I should but rarely eat cake, biscuits or chocolate.
If I feel that I've been unhealthy or as though I've put on a couple of pounds then I'll be more aware of what I eat.
I also spend a lot of time running around after two children and a puppy, that helps!

I've largely cut out alcohol although i'll drink on a night out (not had one of those since before lockdown). That's helped during lockdown not put any weight on as i've not had a drink since March.

I do eat some cake/chocolates/biscuits but not a major amount. Some with afternoon tea and with lunch.

I've cut out takeaways during lockdown whereas I might have had 1 or 2 a week previously. I've got time at home now to cook whereas I can't be bothered after a long day at the office.

I have tea between 6 and 7 but then don't eat after that for 12 hours until breakfast.

A couple of hours of exercise a day.

@Atadaddicted

* I was just making the point that I don’t think cooking from scratch is a healthy habit that makes a difference grin.*

But it WOULD is....
Person 1 “cooked from scratch”. Used glugs of oil, loads of butter, double cream, cheese in everything etc

Person B “cooked from scratch” used spray oil very meagrely, never ever used double cream but rather half fat crèche freshe, never used butter etc

The difference is fat and calorie every day for 1, 2 maybe even 3 meals a day would be enormous

Yes, I absolutely agree, but that’s still not the whole story of person B was eating portions that were twice the size.

@Atadaddicted but fat isn't bad for you ? So person A could eat butter and cream and cheese and just eat less than person B and still be slim ?

What a very interesting thread. Yesterday I was feeling very down about myself. I've put on weight throughout 2019, lost a bit the start of this year. Then lockdown happened and I gained what I lost plus another half a lb.

This thread has really made me think about what I do which makes me overweight. I have come to realise that there are 2 main areas in which I suffer. I eat far too much. DH does the cooking and his line of thought is just leave some when you're full. Now this I find hard. Plus I eat too fast so don't realise I'm full until its too late and I feel bloated and its not a nice feeling. Need to eat slower and stop eating sooner.

The other area is my activity level. Not my exercise as I run 3 or 4 times a week most weeks (I do miss sessions for various reasons occasionally - last week I ran once), but my normal everyday exercise. I have a desk job. When I was at work I'd find I was only doing 6-7 thousand steps a day. During lockdown this has gone below 4000 (this thread got me checking) on non running days. I need to be more active. Just got to figure out how. I live in the countryside so can't walk the 11 miles to work and the 11 miles home. There are no buses or public transport either so I have to drive. I do take a walk on my lunch break when in the office, but the half hour I get isn't very far. At home there isn't anywhere to walk to (ie shops etc) so its an actual exercise walk IYSWIM.

Growing up I was in a family of home cookers. We never had takeaway and would only go out for meals once a month a so at the most. However, I was always encouraged to eat my meal up. DH often had takeaways while growing up. Though when we met in our early 20's we were both slim (I was a size 8-10, he was 28 inch waist). Its just the following 18 years where we have both gained weight.

Also pregnancy. My experience is with DS I weighed the same the day before I gave birth as I did before I got pregnant. So in effect I lost weight by having a baby, this didn't take long to go back up. With DDs (2 of them) I only put on the baby weight so was the same weight after giving birth as I was before I got pregnant. I did find with DS I really couldn't eat much during the last few weeks. I got full really quickly.

Sounds silly, but in short I really need to move more and eat less. I also need to up my water intake. When I'm at work (be that in the office or at the dining room table) I'm good at drinking water. In fact that's all I do drink, but when not at work my choice of drink is either hot chocolate or pepsi max. I dont like tea or coffee. I'd love to like tea and have often tried to by drinking it every day, but I just can't. Coffee I really can't stand the taste at all. This means I only drink a litre of water a day (I do drink more when I'm exercise) and according to a quick google this isn't enough. I need to double it. At least.

So my 3 rules (I wont be able to cope with more as its too much of a lifestyle change that I wont be able to stick with) sounds like:

1. move more - need to figure that out as even an extra walk on an evening will feel like effort needed, but it may just have to be that or look for a more active job,
2. Eat less - by eating slower and finishing when full even if there is still half a plate left. Also going to go down the IF route. I've done that before and find after a week or so it becomes natural to wait until late morning before I eat.
3. Swap the Pepsi Max for more water

I rarely drink alcohol, mainly due to always driving and I've never been a big home drinker anyway.
I do weigh myself everyday (I know its obsessive, but then I use that for an average and go by that)
I take time out from exercise at certain times. If I'm busy (includes Christmas) or we're on holiday

Oh and I'm not a big snacker anyway. Most days I eat my 3 meals and that's it. Sometimes on a night (once or twice a week) I will have a few squares of Dairy Milk, but that's it. I don't like dark chocolate

Some slim people eat very healthy diets and exercise regularly

Some do not have such a healthy diet and rarely exercise

Some eat huge amounts and eat a lot of junk food and never exercise

So no not all slim people are the same as not all over weight people are the same

I used to be the third type until thyroid issue. Now I could loose weight but still in that mindset that I can eat as much as I like and never exercise and unfortunately that’s no longer true. I think many overweight people like to think slim people are depriving themselves but really many are not and just lucky

"I live in the countryside so can't walk the 11 miles to work and the 11 miles home. There are no buses or public transport either so I have to drive."

Can you park further away from your work?

"Some eat huge amounts and eat a lot of junk food and never exercise"

I'm really not convinced of this. They may eat a lot of junk food, but huge amounts would need to be checked. They probably eat smaller portions than overweight people.

I live in the countryside so can't walk the 11 miles to work and the 11 miles home.
What about cycling? DH's office is 20 miles away and he cycles there and back 2-3 times a week.

@RunningNinja79 - have you tried fruit or herb teas? Mint can be refreshing, strawberry and mango is nice, so is blackcurrant. Worth buying a selection packs and finding out if you enjoy them, as that's another great, calorie free way to increase your water intake.

I have always been a size 6. Post baby size 8. Back to a 6 again. In my case its Genes. My entire mums side is the same. I have an enormous appetite. And I dont have any sort of exercise routine. In fact I have tried weight gain programmes. Some people are just like that.

Gwenhwyfar I know a number of people that have a large appetite and eat lots of rubbish (i used to be able to) and they all in their 40’s so not particularly young and no not all are particularly active

As much as an extremely obese person that eats five pizzas a day and downs bottles of coke no but that is beyond having a large appetite

I am a few stone overweight I eat far more than some of my friends (quite a bit of junk food too surprised I’m not bigger) who are considerably larger than me

@Gwenhwyfar and @Snigletted I have thought about parking elsewhere, just need to decide where as there are a couple of shopping areas, but these may have no longer than 3 hour notices (although I've not seen any) and I have thought about a bike, but irrationally that scares me a bit. The sensible side says loads of people cycle all the time then the anxious side thinks what if I get hit by a car.

@monkeyonthetable I've tried all teas and peppermint is the best, but I'm also concerned about stinking out the office. Water is OK, I just didn't realise I needed to drink so much of it.

Running, I totally understand your thoughts about cycling. Some places are just not safe for cycling.
I don't believe people need that much water. That 8 glasses a day thing has been debunked.

That 8 glasses a day thing has been debunked

Has it? I just had a quick google. Didn't even click on any links. Although I was always confused by what was meant by a glass. A pint glass? One the size of those plastic cups you get at water filters?

It’s liquid not water. That includes liquid in food and other drinks except alcohol.