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?

Eating what I like but smaller portions. For example if I have a pizza, I'll only eat half and then just pick the topping off the rest of the base. At the pub my husband and I will share a small bag of crisps rather than one each. Missing breakfast on week days so in effect I have done a mini fast by the time i eat at lunch. If I feel my trousers getting tight I may do Moseley's fast Diet for a couple of weeks to shed a few pounds.

Complete dumb luck.

My diet is ridiculous (really gone off on one since lockdown) Exercise consists of climbing the stairs to go to bed 😂

Everyone in my family is the opposite... Perhaps one day I’ll just run out of luck 🤷🏻‍♀️

the main thing is balance (calories consumed and consumed). I understood this exactly for the example of 7 years of striving to keep myself in shape. whether I work out in the gym or not, eat sweets, other forbidden or not. the main thing is that the consumption of calories is = calorie intake.
But of course, in the first case, sport + proper nutrition gives more proportional forms and relief. choose what you need and comfortable smile

Having a mother who knew about healthy eating when nobody else had heard of it. Kept me off sugary treats until I went to school (as in, story my grandmother always used to tell: I was taken to a mall and Santa Claus gave me some sweets, I had no idea I was supposed to eat them, so I played with them, and once I had finished playing with them, my mother swept them up and threw them away, must have been around three). Another story: my Dad liked ice-cream and she couldn't wean him off it, so my mother served him ice-cream and my DB and I yogurt without us knowing we were getting something different. When I went to school I was given brown bread - often with cream cheese and pistachio nuts and carrot and cheese sticks, when everybody else had white bread and jam/chocolate spread and chocolate and sweets (and sugary drinks, I of course had water or milk). I was dead jealous, and would do anything to swap, but by and large it kept me off masses of sweet things. Growing up I ended up with a fantastic metabolism during my teens, twenties on really to my forties, where i could eat whatever I wanted and it never was a problem. After three pregnancies and then menopause, my metabolism has really slowed down, so for the first time I have to watch what I eat, and I was somewhat surprised to put on weight, and that I ended up as a size 12, before I started doing something about it, and am now back to an 8/10 which I feel comfortable with (I was a 6/8 before having my first child at 34, but people tended to comment I was too thin). I think it helped that a 12 just didn't feel like me, and I liked all the clothes I had accumilated since I was 14, and didn't want not to fit into them.

@workhomesleeprepeat

Genetics

This is the vast majority of it. Weight is almost as heritable as height.

I eat what I want, but what I enjoy eating is a healthy, balanced diet. If I want to have pudding then I do, and when I do there's no guilt about it. There's no 'ooh I'm being naughty' attitude here, not do I tell myself that I 'deserve' a cake or chocolates. Food isn't a reward.

I'm good at self-regulation so if I'm full then I stop eating. Leftovers can be frozen or eaten for lunch.
Leading an active lifestyle helps, as does rarely eating out and rarely drinking alcohol.

I think there's part of it that's genetic, but largely I'd say an active lifestyle and a healthy attitude to food are the biggest things for me.

-genes - definitely a huge part of it
-walking to most places instead of driving

• running around small children!

It's not genetic - I make an effort.

The only lucky aspect is that I learned by my twenties how very easily I put on weight and how I felt uncomfortable when I was overweight. Like a PP I hate feeling sluggish or bloated.

My weaknesses like loads of crusty bread and butter or sweet things are a treat now and again.

If I put on half a stone I deal with it.

Portion control and only eating when hungry.
I have noticed however that since stopping breastfeeding baby 1 my metabolism has slowed down and I can put on weight easier so I have had to reduce the number of high fat/high sugar food stuffs I eat.

I exercise every day, I can't drive so I walk a lot and I don't have a huge appetite. My DH on the other hand exercises only once per week, drives everywhere and eats like a horse, remains slim👀

1. An active job,
2. Portion control,

I eat whatever I want but am not a big eater naturally- never been a massively hungry person. I enjoy cooking so am probably quite healthy as I enjoy cooking from scratch with loads of veg etc. But enjoy chocolate or biscuits in moderation. Not a big drinker, and when I do go to the pub or a bar I like a gin and tonic as opposed to a pint or wine.

But I honestly think my active job (A&E nurse) makes the biggest difference in keeping my weight down :)

Honestly my husband, but not in a bad way. He hates sweet things and always has, therefore I don't tend to buy them just for me and I'm not a huge fan of salty snacks. If I had married someone who liked sweet snacks I would be much bigger

Eat what I want when I want but in moderation. Prefer healthier foods.
Drink lots of water & always have breakfast

Medium portions and eating when I'm hungry. People have got used to filling their plates to the extreme. Dips and sauces aren't great either, lots of calories in them, I prefer to use herbs and spices for flavour.

I also eat chocolate every day but buy dark chocolate which makes me less likely to eat a whole box.

Not having such an emotional relationship with food. I seek comfort from other things that aren't healthy but see food more as a necessity.

Genetics, and don't eat much sweet stuff as I much prefer savoury. I try and walk for 20 minutes every day if I can.

I run at least 5k 3 times a week, do 3 military fitness classes, swim after running twice. Walk the dogs every day. Have a small bowl of cereal for breakfast, sandwich or soup for lunch and natural yogurt with banana and honey then whatever I fancy for tea

Hormones maybe or Genetics. Not virtuous healthy eating, but then not a terrible diet either.

Most likely gut microbiome! Read Tim Spectors book - the diet myth. I found it really interesting! I think the calories in calories out argument is pretty old fashioned thinking. And there is research to say exercise doesn't actually help with weight loss and can cause you to gain weight (although it is of course beneficial in other ways).

I like chocolate, but I don't drink. I don't exercise but I barely sit down all day.

I doubt it is that simple though.

Effort and all day every day. I have been v overweight and also ‘normal’ bmi. I don’t drink or smoke but I love good food, going for dinner, eating chocolate. I gain weight really easily as does my mothers side of the family. I find trying to remain a healthy weight really hard if I’m honest but I do it because I feel better. Extra weight makes my knees and back ache. I 100% know how hard (for me) it is to stay on the straight and narrow. I very rarely comment on threads about weight as it’s very personal. This is my experience.

Not following fad diets or any you have to pay for.
Using a smaller plate for meals.
Not denying yourself any of the food groups.
Eating in an 8 hr window e.g. 10am - 6pm.

Lots of exercise, active lifestyle

I don't comfort eat. I like food very much but hate eating if not hungry. One reason to keep portions down is then I get to eat anything just not huge portions.

My relatives are mostly plump & unfit but very few are/ever were obese.

Genetics.

Genetics, I guess. Although having said that, I'm a different body shape from my family – tall and lanky. My mother's family is quite dumpy, my dad's a mix of dumpy and wiry but short. I'm a bit of a mystery.

Also I don't drive, so (pre-lockdown/restrictions at least) walk quite a bit, even just to and from bus stops, around the tube network etc. I think driving as opposed to walking is one of the biggest factors in weight; friends and family members of mine who live in more rural areas (I'm in London) and drive all the time are pretty much all notably plumper than me.

And, while I think I eat good food portions, and don't avoid anything –I eat fat, sugar, carbs including white carbs – I am surprised when I hear or read about people eating a whole pack of biscuits etc. I genuinely only enjoy about two biscuits and after that I'll stop because I just don't fancy any more.

I exercise a bit – some yoga, some dance aerobics. Not madly though, maybe an hour or two of dance aerobics a week and about three yoga classes, not particularly sweaty ones.

Mainly genes. I have a bmi of 23, so I’m at the higher end of ok, but I eat well (3 meals and some snacking). I also move a lot generally in daily life, walking etc just to get around. I think it keeps your metabolism going

Pure luck, good and bad.

Good because of slim/fidgety genes

Bad because I have to eat low carb to keep my IBD in remission

I still eat dark chocolate most days though!