To let you into a secret about being slim.....

[Yellow1793]

I’m 5’2” and an untoned size 10. Over the last year or so (lockdown excluded) I’ve spent extended amounts of time with 4 different female friends, who are all taller, slimmer and considerably more toned than me. Aside from the fact that they all exercise at least 5 times a week, they also eat like birds. Their lifestyle revolves around making healthy choices, every single day, and I’m beginning to wonder if you do this consistently if you just stop feeling hungry. One of them regularly skips lunch. Another never has more than 2 glasses of alcohol in one sitting. Another always eats about 30% less than I do.....last time I was with her she had a small pasta portion for her lunch whilst serving me 3x the amount of pasta she had AND 2 sausages. No wonder she is tiny. None of them calorie count or talk about diets because their lifestyle choice is one big diet. I’d love to have their discipline.

@AnxiousAlpaca

I’m 5f 2 (just) and into weightlifting (we’re talking heavy). I’m around 52.5kg at my heaviest and under 20% body fat. When I’m lifting 4 times a week I eat between 2700-3000 calories a day. It’s equivalent to a lot of the men I know who weight lift. Obviously had to cut back during lockdown. For my size that’s a lot of calories so some must be due in part to genetics.

I can believe it as strongman competitors eat like 10k calories a day (saw a documentary on one who was eating 20k!).

My partner almost has a six pack and can DL nearly 300kg. He’s 6’2 and was about 17 stone last time we weighed him, so it’s impressive to be so lean given that he’s not a slightly built guy. He easily puts away 5-6k cals on some days and I believe he could eat more if he didn’t have to share threats with me. 😂

Perhaps you have a good propensity for building muscle as I believe much of it is genetic and hormonal etc.

@Jellykat

Bit of a generalisation there OP, i'm sure it has a lot to do with genetics too.. I'm 5ft 11 and weigh 10st 2, but eat whatever i want, in fact at 57 i've been trying to put on weight because i think id look better, but just dont seem able to. So no, slim people are not always eating like birds or calorie counting.

Yes, exactly the above.

I come from a slim family; slim parents and all my brothers and sisters were/are slim.

One of my sisters struggled all her life to put on weight as she felt too thin.

My children, aged from early thirties to 40 years old have always all been slim. They all eat very well, but tend not to eat a lot of junk. They certainly don't eat small quantities of the type you're describing with your friends OP.

I think it's partly just the way we're built and partly a healthy diet, that's healthy, not restricted.

@Strokethefurrywall

The obsession with being thin is so dull. What about being strong? Toned? So well defined that you're happy to walk around naked?

Nobody cares what the number on the scales says, nobody else sees it! Your weight on a scale is just your gravitational pull to the earth. It doesn't detail how healthy you are.

You could be a skinny untoned size 8, but eat utter shit, so no exercise and drink like a fish and you'll still be more unhealthy than the size 14 who lifts weight and eats food that allows her body to perform effectively.

I agree - strong and healthy is the ideal. Also, some people really suit being size 14, others suit being a size 10. You just want to have energy and feel good.

I’ll never forget the day that my partner scarfed a whole burger challenge and then ate the remainder of his skinny mate’s challenge meal, before having the ‘epic dessert’ which cost about 12-14 quid and was basically almost a casserole dish of ice cream and brownies mixed with choc buttons and gummy sweets etc. 😂

His mate’s was called something like ‘pizza in a burger in a pizza’ and was a huge burger stacked with pizza layers, then put inside a massive calzone and served with fries. My partner ate the entire calzone as his mate could only manage the burger and fries.

@GodOfPhwoar Maybe. I can’t eat like that in lockdown. I don’t burn excessive calories weightlifting (maybe ~400 a session) so possibly it is a generic predisposition to build muscle vs store it as fat

[quote AnxiousAlpaca]@GodOfPhwoar Maybe. I can’t eat like that in lockdown. I don’t burn excessive calories weightlifting (maybe ~400 a session) so possibly it is a generic predisposition to build muscle vs store it as fat [/quote]
I think there is defo a possibility of it being partly genetic. However, my understanding was that lifting weights also increases your metabolism by around 25% for at least 48 hours after training, meaning that you don’t burn as much in the gym as you would with cardio but your muscle fibres etc healing require significant nutrition.

I see that your autocorrect really prefers ‘generic’ to ‘genetic’ like mine.

Also read a study where guys were matched for height/age/weight etc, and had to lift weights. One group had never lifted, whilst the other had done a lot of lifting but not for about five years, so were completely deconditioned.

The difference was astounding with the group who had previously trained literally gaining muscle 30% or 40% faster (can’t remember which figure it was).

@GodOfPhwoar

I see that your autocorrect really prefers ‘generic’ to ‘genetic’ like mine.

D’oh

@GodOfPhwoar Weightlifting also makes me really hungry hence all the calories. I’m no where near as hungry in lockdown and couldn’t eat that much even if I wanted to.

@VestaTilley

Nah, that’s not it.

I really dieted to get to be a size 8 for my wedding, (just diet, no exercise) and it was hard- I ate 3x meals a day but not huge amounts.

I’ve had a DS but am now back at being a slim size 8-10. I’ve recently lost loads of weight and I can’t work out how! Worried, I bought scales - 8 stone 12!!

I couldn’t work out how I was doing this without trying! Then I realised - I walk DS to nursery and walk back with the buggy most days. It’s uphill- all the way. A 15 min walk uphill with a 2 stone toddler- that will do it.

Because I’m busy with DS this then WFH (busy role) all day I don’t have time to eat much. Small bowl of porridge, sandwiches for lunch, family dinner of something like poached fish, mashed potato and spinach. I don’t drink much booze and aside from having loads of treats in at Christmas, I don’t snack.

It genuinely is that simple- walk uphill for half an hour a day and eat three small meals. I couldn’t believe it.

That sort of walking never got me slim. Your portions are likely pretty small.

I know someone very slim who barely eats to stay that way , I also no someone very slim who eats very well and is partial to a few wines , she struggles to put in weight.
I know people who eat and drink more than me and move less who are slimmer than me.
We are all different and need different amounts of calories etc

[quote AnxiousAlpaca]@GodOfPhwoar Weightlifting also makes me really hungry hence all the calories. I’m no where near as hungry in lockdown and couldn’t eat that much even if I wanted to.[/quote]
Me too.

My partner is really struggling without a squat rack. The other day I had to jump on his back whilst wearing a rucksack with a 40kg dumbbell in it as doing goblet squats with the other dumbbell wasn’t enough resistance for him. 😂

It kind of is this simple and isn't anywhere near this simple at the same time.

Of course, eating much less and exercising much more would lead to fat loss BUT the truth is most obese people have issues with food and self confidence/self worth.

The truth is, most thin, heathy people like themselves and think they/their bodies are worth working/making sacrifices for. Most obese people inwardly think they're shit and not at all worth the effort of exercise or feel themselves capable of it, or they use food as both a treat and a punishment.

If all it came down to was food and movement, nobody would be obese.

It's not really a secret than if you eat less you stay slim. But yes, after a few days you just adapt to eating less and don't get hungry, I rarely get hungry but prefer to have smaller, lighter meals than one big heavy one.

I'm a generous size 14 and have been on the chunky side since puberty.

I had a friend in high school who was a size 6/8 and ate way differently to me. She'd make me meals with so much butter & cream I could barely eat it, it would make me feel sick it was so rich. She'd snack and eat copious amounts of chocolate and sweets but still never put on weight. Very frustrating for 15yr old me who had a barely concealed eating disorder and because I was way fatter than her no one noticed or cared.

I have a friend now who is about 6 inches taller but is slim and gorgeous without really trying (by her own admission).

I never eat cakes, biscuits, chocolate, crisps, sweets or anything 'junky' really besides the occasional takeaway. I can't afford to! I don't even eat fruit really as I only buy what I can make filling meals with.

The only time I've ever successfully lost a significant amount of weight I was severely depressed, living on one sandwich and walking 8 miles a day. If that's what it takes to be slim I'm not interested 😂

People are all so different which is why weight loss is so difficult, there's no one solution that fits everyone.

I'm sorry, you lost me at 2 glasses of wine (all the best emoji)

It is complex. I am 5 ft 8 and 127 lb- BMI about 19.
I certainly don’t have strong will power- if I fancy a treat I will just have it. But what I would say is I don’t eat a huge amount because I generally am not that hungry a lot of the time. Today I have eaten one slice of pizza at lunchtime, and then made a big chicken pasta bake with curly oven fries for family dinner- which I ate a big plateful of. And that’s it. I tend to be like that most days. Only exercise is the occasional walk.
I suspect because I have tended to eat one decent meal each day and a couple of snacks my body has just adjusted to that. My dad is tall and slim- my mum is short and significantly overweight.

I am thin and don’t starve myself. I drink wine most nights and I view myself as a chocoholic! What I do do is walk, never take a lift, and if I have a big lunch end up not having tea. Not just to lose weight but because I don’t need it so it balances out.

One of the slimmest people I know says she's not hungry until dinner time but eats haribo and drinks coffee all day long. Works for her, I'd die.

@ButttaFly

I’m pregnant at the minute but I’m 5’2 and usually around 8st 9oz. I eat loads, everyday. I don’t take 24-48 hours to digest it without eating anything else. I eat crisps, chocolate sweets regularly, probably more than I should. I don’t do any actual exercise, the most I do is walking to the park or shops. I snack regularly and have big meals. I’m only skinny because of my genetics, my DM and DNan were the same. I really don’t think every skinny person starves themselves

This. Definitely think genetics is at play too. I also eat a lot and eat cakes/crisps/etc.. but have stayed skinny despite no exercise. Even when I try very hard the most I will gain in weight is 2-3 kg and it will always go back to normal at some point.

Wearetheweirdos
I am like your friend. I cant peck in the day because if I break a fast with something shitty like haribo I too would die!

I just have the one main meal dinner but it is way more than 2500 calories in one go - I never count but it definitely is.

I just prefer it that way.

We got a dog earlier this year. 2 walks a day and i’ve half a stone without trying. Walking is great exercise. I spent ages in the gym and never lost a pound!

*lost half a stone.

My Fitbit tells me I use 1800 cals. a day so I try to eat roughly that. I’m average size.

I'm pretty slim/toned now (was not always) and I stay this way by exercising 5 x a week and eating healthier alternatives. My portions are also smaller and after a while of changing my diet, my stomach seems to have shrunk and I can't eat big portions anymore!

The discipline part is hard at first, but it eventually just becomes your lifestyle without even thinking about it. I don't calorie count and still enjoy a takeaway once a week!

For those people saying 'life is too short', yes it is which is why I try to make healthier choices so it can last longer!