If you are slim, what, in your opinion, keeps you that way?

[pepsicolagirl]

I read the other thread with interest and as an obese person a lot of the comments range true but it made me wonder. Those of you who are in the ideal/normal weight category, what do you attribute that to?

@whataboutbob Thank you, that is very kind guidance I will take that on board. I'm 27 now. I understand what you mean when you talk about some women with under the radar eating disorders finding themselves restricting more as they get older (and life gets more complex.) I found that pregnancy and my new body after birth were incredibly strong factors in increasing my old thought patterns. There is something so indescribably attractive about those thoughts and restrictive eating patterns to someone who is in it. I not sure what your clinical role is but I am training in a clinical role also, which I'm sure you can understand isn't wonderful for my mental health at the moment.

Genes for sure, my mum is exactly the same as me - slim. But that aside, I don’t really have Or fancy snacks but have 3 good meals a day - I’m not particularly health conscious generally but lucky that I don’t have a sweet tooth. I’m also quite fidgety so I don’t know if that burns up the calories too.

I don't order takeaways. They're very expensive and the food is poor quality.

You’re going to the wrong places.

Restriction I suppose, I don't eat bread or pasta or much in the way of carbs (although I have a sweet tooth!). I am a marathon runner and run most days of the week. I'm 5ft 3 and just under 8 stone. I work hard to keep fit and strong, being slim is just a side effect.

I strictly intermittent fasted and calorie restricted to lose weight. Once I reached a weight I was happy with (9 stone, size 8-10) I still practice intermittent fasting but not half as strictly, I do try to eat healthily 70% of the time though. I find it gives me to ability to enjoy treats and days out that involve meals and drinks, whilst keeping my weight down. I also walk wherever possible.

I'm also extremely fidgety, terrible at sitting in one place for too long, and prefer whole foods to processed foods. I wouldn't enjoy pizza, a pasty, a sausage roll or pork pie or iced bun or similar. I'm no sure why, some foods just make me feel ill.

Everything in moderation.

Realising how little humans actually need to eat. Also, it’s okay to be hungry sometimes and eat a little something, not a big meal.

Healthy diet and exercise :)

When I was in my 20’s I was very slim and never ever dieted and ate whatever I wanted without a thought to calories. Didn’t even know what calories were! After children and late 30’s I slimmed back down naturally but a little stubborn weight remains. I could do with losing half a stone maybe a little less and I would be very slim again but it’s hard and boring being so restricted. It is definitely a lot harder to lose weight as you get older and takes thought and willpower. It helps to be organised with exercise and meals.

Genes
Being fidgety
Liking fresh veg and healthy meals
Don't drink much

But I have noticed weight creeping on more now I'm in my 40s post 3 kids. 3kg over my younger weight now so just starting up exercise. I'm more tired post dc and this is hard!

Low carb...

Emotions and mental health are a factor to consider. We all know the maths of how to loose weight. Eat less, move more. But that’s ignoring human emotion.

Shitloads of effort.

I am 5'4" and 47kg. I did lots of sport until my late teens and think this somehow contributed to set my body fat at a certain level.

Although my lifestyle probably has a big impact on that too, I'm vegetarian, I don't drink, I never comfort eat, but I also don't do any exercise at all apart from walking to the shops and into town.

I listen to my body and sometimes eat like a pig and sometimes skip lunch or dinner if I'm not feeling that hungry, I find it very easy to lose weight and enormously hard to gain weight.

I'd love to have a more curvy womanly figure but im just destined to be plank of wood!

Not having much of a relationship with food - for example, I do have days where I can eat most of a packet of biscuits - but then I'm not hungry later so I'll skip that meal. (I don't recommend this btw, I end up feeling very lethargic for overeating carbs and sugar!). Other days I might be busy doing something and just grab an apple or a hunk of cheese on the go. I don't really think ahead about what I'm going to eat or crave anything. And my meals aren't very big - say one jacket potato with butter, cheese, and salad. Puddings rarely. Snacks are things like cheese or trail bars. I do eat a lot of unsalted nuts. I won't say I don't get hungry, I do often throughout the day, but it doesn't take much to fill me up!

I eat what I want when I want but won’t eat when not hungry. I just don’t want to/won’t fancy it!
I also am the most Consistently active person I know by a considerable margin.

Luck of the genes! I eat what I like, exercise for fun and have always been size 8. But everyone in my family is tall and slim so it’s just the way it is. Sorry!

Honestly, I just think genetics and luck. I'm not into exercise much and though I don't live on a diet of grease and sugar, I'm not overly careful either!

I follow what I call my “normal person diet” can’t think of a more appropriate/catchy name. I tend to think along the lines of, “would a normal/average person eat this?” i.e. would a normal person eat a couple of biscuits with tea? Yes. A whole packet? No. Steak and chips on a Friday night? Yes. Three take-aways in a week? No.

Luck! I have a very fast metabolism, although it is slowing down a bit as I'm getting older. I generally eat fairly well but I wouldn't say I have a super healthy diet. I don't drink much though and I have a very active job. I'm also breastfeeding atm so that helps burn tons of calories!

All natural thinnies (as I was pre-menopause) should avoid feeling smug, because it could be that we just have the good luck to have a properly functioning ghrelin-leptin feedback mechanism.

www.news-medical.net/health/Ghrelin-and-Leptin.aspx

Basically ghrelin makes you hungry. If the feedback mechanism is working properly, when you eat, you then release leptin which damps down the ghrelin, you feel full, and you stop eating.

There's been a lot of research recently to suggest that people who're obese simply have a malfunctioning ghrelin-leptin feedback loop - they lose that "I'm full, time to stop eating" signal.

It's one of the reasons gastric bypass surgery is effective: for some reason it resets the feeback mechanism.

Anxiety and a love of running to de-stress. And luck with my natural body type as well, I'm sure.

Childhood upbringing. DM always cooked from fresh. Very rarely allowed sweet things and certainly no ready meals (there just wasn't as much of that stuff around in the 70s though). No fussiness allowed so if I didn't eat what was in front of me, there was no other choice. It gave me a really broad palate so I love pretty much all food and have a good relationship with it.
Also DM walked everywhere + DPs worked all hours so no lifts on offer so I got used to a lot of exercise if I wanted to go anywhere!
It's one of the few things I've tried to emulate with my own DC: a love of food and lots of exercise built into the day.
I'm absolutely an advocate of moderation and no fad diets.

@Digeridont

Eating when I’m hungry and stopping when I’m full. Took ages to learn (in the end, it was fasting that made it click for me), but it makes a huge difference.

Opposite of this.

Eating to wait until hungry just makes me want to eat quickly and more than I otherwise would.

Eating at lunchtime and dinner time (I don’t snack so I am usually naturally hungry anyway) allows for a well thought out, planned and deliciously healthy meal.