If you're a size 8-10 (or your ideal) but not naturally slim how do you stay that way?

[overweightcat]

I know some people are just naturally rather petite or slim and willowy.

But if you're not and manage to stay a size 8-10 how do you do it?

I'm 5'5 and recently lost weight and gone down to a solid size 12 - 10 in certain shops. Beforehand it was on the larger side of size 14.
I used to be very slim in my teens, had a terrible diet full of crap and sweets but was also very active around 8hrs a week of various sports/dance activities. I became quite sedentary and steadily piled on the weight since.

I don't have long legs or a small frame or anything - if anything I find that I'm rather in proportion all around and when I used to do a lot of sports I looked slim and athletic not willowy (which I'd prefer TBH).
Size 8-10 is my ideal I think as I've recently seen pictures of myself when I was that size and I think that's when I looked my healthiest and fittest - but I'm not sure how to get there.

My weight is at a bit of a standstill at the moment and I want to lose in a sustainable way. I probably have about 9lbs to go.

So anyone who has managed to achieve that and stay the desired size - can you share how you did it?

For me its food and drink. What i eat/don't eat makes the difference especially as i get older.

My friend is a size 8-10. She was a size 14 growing up and dropped the weight when she moved to London after graduating. She is a size 8 though sheer iron clad will power. She never takes her eye of the ball for a single minute - has 2 starters instead of a starter and main course and leaves half of it, never pudding, barely drinks, eats Slim-a-Soup for dinner most nights, has a personal trainer and goes to the gym most days. A treat is a small packet of Haribo. I find her hugely impressive. The rest of her family are overweight and I think she’d be a good 3 stone heavier if she didn’t rule her appetite with an iron rod.

Most of my diet is vegetables. Very little carbs or fat.

If I snack it's fruit or vegetable sticks.

I don't eat junk food very often or have pudding. But if I do then the next few days will be more sensible. I don't drink much but if I do it's one or two.

As soon as my clothes feel a bit tight I calorie restrict for a few days to sort it out quickly

Cook everything from scratch. Rarely fried food. Everyone rats the same thing in this house too.

Run lots (did ten miles before work this morning).

It's hard work at first but now it's just become habit after about fifteen years like this and it's so much nicer not being fat any more.

I weighed 70kg in my teens and early twenties, decided to do something about it and vowed that I wouldn't go back to that. I haven't. I'm now a size 8 (55kg) and three pregnancies haven't changed that. I only gained a stone with each and lost or quickly after.

I feel so much better now, both physically and mentally.

Good luck, it's really worth it!!

There was about a two year period in my early teens that I broke 80kg, but now I'm a size 8 at 5'1. I eat 1200 calories most days, do 20 minutes jump rope every morning, barn work in the morning and night, then ice skating 4 days a week for about an hour at a time.

I’m a 10 and it definitely doesn’t come naturally! I was very overweight until I was 21 then I lost 5 stone. I have since lost 3 stone twice after pregnancies (Well almost 3 stone now, I’m almost at my pre pregnancy weight since my last baby!)
I limit carbs, eat lots of fruit veg, full fat yoghurt, cheese, no low fat crap. I exercise most days, even if it’s just a dog walk. I don’t deprive myself, If I fancy pizza, takeaway, chocolate, alcohol I have it then cut back for a few days. I never let the scales go over 10st and am almost at 9st7lbs where is my ideal weight.

I have to stick to 1200 calories a day to be a 10

I eat a wide range of foods in moderation. I have a bit of a sweet tooth so will have a biscuit if I want one. If I denied myself that I would probably end up wanting it more and eat more.
I'm in my forties and haven't found that I have to cut back on anything. However I do drink far less than I did in my twenties and thirties but that is because my hangovers became so painful!
I exercise for about an hour a day. This involves some cardio (running usually or when normally attending the gym I use the elliptical) and then on some days weights, and other days, pilates.
I like to keep active. If the sun is shining and I have time I will go out for a long walk.

No snacks
No alcohol
Normal, healthy portions
No takeaways
Rarely eat out
Stop eating when I've had enough not when plate is empty

Do not drink any fizzy drinks - soda/soft drinks/whatever you call them. I do no exercise & maintain my weight, this summer I got in the habit of drinking a lemonade & noticed weight gain. Stopped drinking it, weight came off.

Just the standard stuff:

-don’t drink calories
-don’t eat cake/biscuits/crisps/chocolate on a daily basis, make it a once or twice a week treat
-eat mostly plants

Yabu

@MaskingForIt yes eating mostly plants really is the way... back in caveman times we didn’t eat meat on the daily! Only as a treat when we could catch it! Learn to love & be excited by vegetables. It’s Brussels sprouts season down here! Food of the gods.

The young lady who leaves half of her restaurant starter and has snack a soup for dinner must be a laugh a minute.

has 2 starters instead of a starter and main course and leaves half of it, never pudding, barely drinks, eats Slim-a-Soup for dinner most nights, has a personal trainer and goes to the gym most days. A treat is a small packet of Haribo. I find her hugely impressive

Sounds more miserable than impressive to me! Or the PT and things, that’s fab, but the slim a soup for dinner is beyond depressing.

I’d love to lose weight but don’t think I could hack that! Fair play to her.

Mine is all based on what I do. I do 5 HIIT classes a week (6am mon-fri), walk the dogs twice a day and do yoga or pilates most days. I can stay a comfortable 10 with that and not have to worry too much about diet, although it's still mostly home-cooked 'good' stuff.

I injured my leg a few months ago and had to reduce the HIIT and within about 3 weeks could feel my middle getting softer and more plump. I imagine without a lot of effort I could roll into a 14 if I didn't force myself to spend time with Shaun T every day.

My whole family is tall, willowy and above 6 foot, even the women. At 5'8" I'm by far the shortest so gaining weight is far more obvious on me than on my sisters.

Count my calories religiously.

I'm short, so don't have many calories to play around with and I can pile it on easily if I'm not careful.

• 5'2, size 6 - 8, late 20s.
• I aim to have around 1200 calories per day. (Weigh my food, no alcohol, rarely eat meat)
• Go on stationary exercise bike every day for around 90 minutes. Sometimes more, sometimes less depending on what I have eaten i.e birthday cake etc

I was much much heavier in my early 20s due to constant nights out with alcohol and takeaway crap, I feel so much better in myself now.

I'm a non-drinking vegetarian but I do lots of exercise so pretty much eat what I fancy without counting calories.

I run three times a week, do weights twice, walk the dog everyday and go for 10 mile plus hikes at least once a week. I also swam and played squash pre-covid.

I very rarely have takeaways too - just once so far during lock down and I can't remember the last time before that.

By meticulously counting every calorie and exercising heaps.

I yo-yo with 7lb.

Home cooked food, rare takeaway.

At my slimmest (size 10-12 at 5'11") I walked three miles to work, did an hour exercise video most days and was super careful about what I ate. No alcohol. Tea was my sweet treat. Totally unsustainable - as soon as I met my husband i had much less time to exercise, ate his home cooked meals and gained three stone pretty quick. I think a size 14-16 is a more natural size for my height anyway.

I’m 32, 5”7 and a size 8-10. I was very overweight as a teenager and weighed around 3 stone more than I do now.

My key is that I don’t do daddy diets and I don’t deprive myself, I just don’t indulge myself everyday. I eat burgers, kebabs and pizza but I make all of it from scratch and don’t consume ready made products or processed food . If I stick to these meal plans, I have a takeaway around once every three weeks.
The treats I enjoy are things like dark chocolate but I only consume 3-4 squares at a time but that’s enough for me to feel like I’ve had a treat. My tipple of choice is gin, so I always have it with a slimline or sugar free tonic.
I’ve always seen weight maintaining as a long term things that needs to be about a healthy daily attitude to food.

I’m 5 ft 7 and hover around 9 stone so a size 8. I used to weigh 15 stone.

I maintain my weight by running at least 10k 4 times a week and eating healthily. I tend to err for a low carb diet as find carbs make me sluggish. My vice is wine (2 bottles a week which is above my weekly units I know) so I won’t eat sweet treats.

Just eat healthily and see where you end up naturally. Is slim-a-soup powdered? So basically completely fake food with zero nutrition. We should all be a variety of sizes and work on acceptance of that. If plenty of exercise, fruit and veg and the occasional treat leaves you at a size 12, why not work on acceptance of that? The spectrum of a healthy weight is a huge range because we are all different.

1200 calories a day is enough for a 3 year old, not an adult woman.

I weigh everything and I log everything I eat on MFP so I know I’m not going over 1650 calories a day as per my tdee tdeecalculator.net. Any extra calories then I will eat less the next day to counteract or I put on weight.

This is no criticism of any PP but it makes me really sad to see the number of women who devote so much time and energy to tracking their food to maintain a weight that they have decided they need to be. What could be achieved if all that headspace was directed elsewhere?!