Is it possible to be a foodie and also be slim/ lose weight

[SeeooelllaaaCola]

Following from my post on another thread. I have only managed to lose weight for the first time by 'breaking up' with food. In the past I could take or leave chocolate and most cake, I ate probably ten bags of crisps per year, I never enjoyed fast food. My typical Sunday would be sourdough bread toasted, eggs and hot sauce, lunch would be an avocado wrap, snacks would be olives, dinner would be a roast dinner.
I now try to see food as fuel and choose foods that will fill me up but not use up much of my tiny calorie allowance. Taste rarely comes into it. I don't go until local businesses and browse the shelves for inspiration. I don't read recipe books. I don't (even when I could) travel to food markets and street food stalls. I feel like I've had to give up a side of myself, and a hobby, but I now fit into size 12 jeans. Sometimes I wonder if it's worth it.

Anyone managed to combine a love of food with losing weight or maintaining a healthy weight? Please tell me how!

I was overweight, lost 2 stone in 6 months by calorie counting and have kept it off for 10 years, including a pregnancy where I didn’t gain excess weight and was back in my regular clothes 2 weeks later. My tips:

-Don’t deny yourself, be honest with yourself about what food you really want to eat. Then eat a really good version of it, but make sure you are in a position to only eat a sensible amount. If I want a cookie, I have a good one, then I get my DH to move the others away from me and if I’m still peckish I’ll have an apple after. Then if I really really want another an hour later I have one. It’s ok.
-Always be well hydrated, keep drinking water during meals, if you’re a little peckish check you’re not actually thirsty or bored. If you know you want to eat but aren’t really hungry, low cal popcorn or similar works great for me.

-Spice and season your food rather than excess oil or carbs.
-Veg veg veg. Try to make up at least your 5 a day out of veg and have fruit as an extra. Find ways to make it interesting to eat to make your foodie side excited and satisfied, there are loads of easy healthy ways to do it (I love crispy spicy oven baked chickpeas; garlic lemon roast broccoli/green beans; peppers slow roasted to be caramelised silky smooth; oven dried tomatoes with a nice balsamic vinegar).
-If you want a big meal you know won’t be healthy, make sure you’re set up for a healthy meal elsewhere in the day, try to fit exercise in, then enjoy yourself but don’t overeat just because you don’t think it’s healthy.
-Food is food, there’s no such thing as good or bad food, just more or less nutritious. If you eat more than you wanted to, accept it and move on. Don’t punish yourself by overeating and feeling worse.

I haven't RTFT so apologies for any repetition. In my experience as a slim person, I cannot be fully healthy with what I eat and also enjoy the food I want to.

If I aim to eat a decent amount of fruit and veg then I use up my calories and can't eat the treats I want to.

The way I keep slim is by counting calories every day. It sounds boring but it's mostly subconscious (albeit still restrictive). I can only eat around 1300-1500 calories per day to maintain my weight and at the moment I have Christmas treats I want to enjoy.

So I forgo a standard breakfast and lunch and have a mince pie and an orange for brunch instead. The orange to make it less unhealthy and the mince pie allows me to feel like I'm having a naughty treat. This is about 300 calories in total.

I then have a normal dinner of around 600 calories plus wine/chocolate after dinner and milk in tea and coffee makes about 1300 calories.

It's far from ideal or healthy though and I'm hoping to increase the healthy meals and reduce the rubbish. Based on my experience though I know it's possible to eat rubbish every day and be slim but I also know it means you can't spend calories on much needed nutrient-rich food so it's not a good way to be.

I think basically accepting that I’m a foodie with a major sweet tooth, I want the things I want. Giving up sugar will never work in the longer term. But if that’s the case, I need to eat smaller meals so that I have the spare calories to indulge.

My weight has been the same for 40 years and I have never dieted. At 62 I am slim but not skinny, BMI 20/21
It would be easy to be smug and credit my good diet but I really think it's 75% genes and 25% good habits.

I have no idea what calories are in anything.
I eat anything I want, there is no forbidden food. I do cook from scratch mostly but not always. I avoid anything that says low fat or diet.

I think the most important thing I do is I don't snack during the day no matter how hungry I am.

If, for example, I was unable to get my lunch at the usual time, I would never grab a snack, I would wait.
I do snack in the evening, a glass of wine and crisps or tea and cake.
A typical day.
8am Bran flakes and skimmed milk ( I don't like milk but can tolerate skimmed).
Prune juice, coffee.
1230 Lunch Soup and bread, cooked fruit and Greek yoghurt.
1830 Casserole, roast potatoes and lots of veg. At dinner I eat a bigger portion than DH.

Some of the punishing regimes on these sorts of threads are quite sad and shocking. How can anyone function adequately on only a mince pie and an orange until dinner time?

I’ve stayed a healthy weight all my adult life - I’m the same weight now I was at 16.

My BMI is 18.5 and I’m a size 8.

I’m vegan so that does make a difference - I eat a lot of fruit and veggies and health proteins, focus on whole foods. 5-10 fruits and veggies a day.

I don’t calorie count. I just focus on healthy foods that taste great.

My usual meals are:
Breakfast: porridge with fruit or slice of sourdough and peanut butter and yoghurt with berries. Orange juice and tea.

Lunch: homemade soup or sandwich or leftovers from dinner the night before.

Dinner: rice bowl with veggies with some spice or sauce - so something like brown rice with spinach, grated carrots with sesame dressing, marinaded tofu, avocado covered in a hot gochujang sauce. Or something like home style tofu, fresh thai curry, ramen, homemade veggie burgers with oven chips and home made slaw. Etc etc. All really nice tasty food but home cooked. Usually at least 3 veggies in there.

Snacks: nuts, banana, oatcakes with peanut butter.

I eat cake/similar maybe 3 times a week. I have dark chocolate most evenings after dinner.

In normal times I go out for dinner twice a week or so.

I think as well as being vegan there are two things I do which are probably beneficial:

1. Don’t drink much - maybe one drink a week. Just don’t enjoy it/i can get migraines
2. I exercise 5-7 days a week.

[quote SeeooelllaaaCola]@FatCatThinCat if weight watchers is so good how come people are members for decades?[/quote]
Haha this made me laugh, as I completely agree. Weight watchers and slimming world do not allow you to eat the lovely food you talk about, it's just a method to get people who don't want to exercise to eat less calories.
Basically, eat whatever you like in moderation and stay active, and you shouldn't gain weight

@MolotovMocktail

You burn about 100 calories walking a mile, not 300-400!

Very overweight people would burn more calories walking a mile than somebody who weighs a lot less though

A op at the beginning of the thread mentioned Chinese style food and I agree with them that Asian style dishes cooked with fresh ingredients is a great way of eating low calorie while maintaining fresh and flavourful menu. I did Gousto for ages and when I looked into the menu choices the Asian recipes were low cal, comparatively high fibre and had most veg (especially green veg). They were always my favourite dishes because of their flavour. Egg noodles, brown rice, lentils etc are great for feeling full.

I think what the world needs to wake up to is that we need to reassure fat people that losing weight will be hard. I don't think that message is put out there a lot.
I feel hungry a lot. I sometimes do my teeth straight after my tea at 7pm to stop me eating anything after that. I feel guilt and shame if I eat. I look at my body so much to monitor if I have gained or lost weight. All these things I would have considered unhealthy behaviours a year ago but the more I speak to thin people I realise that some of them have been living this way for their whole lives. I always assumed they didn't want to eat more but they've actually been denying and depriving for at least some of the time for years!
I feel like someone has taken the blindfold off. Yes you'll be hungry, sometimes you'll feel angry at the sight of a bakery window, but don't worry you'll be slim!

Well then, I guess it’s based on your definition of what a foodie is. If it’s someone who enjoys good food, likes trying a variety of different foods, flavoured and recipes, but is aware of nutritional content of food, it is possible to be slim/lose weight. Have a piece of cheese but skip the bread and crackers, eat the organic eggs but skip the toast, enjoy a square of dark chocolate but pass on a bar of whole-milk. Have the roast and veg but go easy on the potatoes.

If you define being a foodie as eating lots of carbs -breads, grains, processed foods, food with high sugar content, food with heavy sauces, then chances are you might not be slim and find the pounds will creep on.

I cook from scratch most days and am slim. I rarely eat bread, biscuits, crackers or cake but don’t feel deprived in any way. For snacks, I’d eat a wedge of good cheese, a few nuts, olives, smoked salmon or a few berries, Other than tea or coffee, unless I’m out, I try not to eat after 7pm (any food eaten after an evening dinner is just putting un-necessary calories into your body).

I don't know jf I will ever consider soup without bread a meal. I can eat eggs without toast. If I make a stir fry I would miss rice or noodles. I never have a biscuit at work but there's not one day I don't longingly wish I can't have one. I just feels miserable that this is life now. I think that's why I like eating one meal a day, at least then I don't have to worry when I do eat. The thought of living this way forever just makes me a bit sad though.
But then so does being fat.
I'm sure not everyone has to live like this just to fit into size 12 jeans!

I'm slim and a foodie. I eat a varied and mainly quite healthy diet. Never calorie count, no forbidden foods, and eat carbs with every meal. I think some of its probably genes/metabolism but a lot of it is growing up with good eating habits, not snacking much and portion sizes.

Reading your last post, I think you might need to learn about nutrition.

Eating well and healthily does not mean having to deprive yourself at all or being starving. Maybe try eating more foods with a high protein content - this should keep you feeling fuller for longer. Have snacks in the fridge/pantry to munch on if you feel hungry - a small amount of nuts, cold meats, olives, unflavoured quark, berries, a tin of Tuna or sardines with cherry tomatoes and salad greens, cheese.

If you wean yourself off sugar, you will find within a week or so, your body does not crave it and you will have no interest in sugary foods. Your bread, wraps, etc probably all contain sugar. It’s not denying or depriving yourself.

Carbs aren’t evil. You just need to be aware of what you’re eating.

I have toast for breakfast every day. I eat soup with toast. I have carbs with dinner most days. I just weigh pasta and rice so I don’t eat too much. I eat biscuits.

I’m a size 8 and I love eating. One meal a day would be utter misery for me.

Exercise is really helpful for maintaining weight on a mainly healthy diet.

People are all different tho. My Dmum is 81 and has never been overweight or on a diet in her life. She would undoubtedly tell you that she eats whatever she wants and she is genuinely bewildered at how anyone gets fat. BUT - she doesn't have a sweet tooth. Her natural tastes are for plain/basic foods so a normal meal might be roast meat or a piece of fish and boiled potatoes and vegetables. She eats a decent portion. She doesn't snack. She never eats dessert. But none of this feels restrictive for her because this is the way she has always eaten. She doesn't like that feeling of being stuffed full - whereas I do! I love having a massive dinner and feeling really full, and I find it relaxing and comforting- whereas my Dmum would hate it and find it uncomfortable and unpleasant.
So I think there are a LOT of people out there who are very careful about what they eat in order to maintain their weight, and there are also some whose tastes, preferences and habits cause them to be slim whilst being no effort. What I dont believe is that anyone out there over the age of about 21 eats huge portions of unhealthy high sugar foods every single day and stays slim. The people who claim they do (and I know a few) have wildly different ideas about what a huge portion is than I do. As a PP mentioned, they did a TV documentary about this a few years ago and all the 'naturally thin' people on it who claimed to stuff themselves with takeaways etc but never gain weight did not, in fact, have high calorie intakes and generally balanced indulgent meals with days of eating much less and being physically active in the sense of always being busy and on the go (not extreme deliberate exercise).

You’ve posted again since my last post - could you see a nutritionist to talk through your diet. You shouldn’t have to limit yourself to one meal a day to maintain a healthy weight.

You shouldn’t be longing for a biscuit every day - either eat the biscuit or find other lovely things to snack on that are nutritionally better than a biscuit. There are lots of options.

Anyone can do a two hour course on the internet and be a nutritionist. I wouldn't trust anyone but a dietician to be honest.
You can tell me that I should be able to lose weight eating correctly but I haven't in years. I've had two babies, worked as a shop manager constantly lifting heavy boxes and serving all day, and sat at a desk all day. I've always stayed the same. I've told you what I eat, it's not huge portions or excess either in fat, sugar or carbs. I just don't lose weight.
The only way I have ever managed to shift weight (which has been dropping two dress sizes) has been eating one meal a day and sticking to less than 1,000.
I don't think people realise how patronising they sound when they ignore your life experience and just tell you to eat more protein and stop snacking. It might work for you but it doesn't work for everyone.

I have always been a foodie and used to eat like a six foot workman. Never had to worry about my weight stayed small naturally.

After my first two pregnancies I Was back in skinny jeans by two months. Without bothering to diet or exercise.

Then I hit 32, had my third child and stayed fat. Even starting to put more weight on.

Now I have to watch what I eat and I run. Apparently my metabolism caught up with me.

Well then, ask your GP to refer you to a dietician or ask them to investigate if you have an underlying condition which causes you to gain weight while eating healthily.

@DillyDilly I haven't gained weight. I just stay the same. If you haven't been overweight have tried to lose it you don't know the frustration of trying to eat well and exercise and not getting anywhere.
I know lots of similar people.

[quote SeeooelllaaaCola]@DillyDilly I haven't gained weight. I just stay the same. If you haven't been overweight have tried to lose it you don't know the frustration of trying to eat well and exercise and not getting anywhere.
I know lots of similar people.[/quote]
Well I was that until I finally caved and realised that one can indeed get fat on healthy food.... If they eat enough of it.

As pp said. If you think something is wrong, speak to the doctor.

@SchrodingersImmigrant I think that's it. I'm watching this Tom Kerridge program and it's making me angry as I think it would be very easy to think that you could eat lamb bhuna, homemade crumble, overnight oats and chicken thighs every day and lose weight. People aren't going to look at the portion sizes, they're going to pile it on the Plate and maybe have seconds as it's 'healthy innit.' The only people who will lose weight this way will be those swapping from a 3,000 calorie a day diet.

OP I feel your pain. I have given up the idea of being slim and am now podgy and enjoying life.

We used to walk the coastal paths every weekend but that’s not been allowed for months. Walking and eating are our reason for existing!

Is being slim that important? If you died next week would you have enjoyed the last one?

I’m happy being chubby, enjoying a fabulous dinner with my husband that has taken all day to shop for and cook, with a bottle of wine that is perfect for the dish. That’s life for me. It’s utterly perfect and joyous. My hips are wide but I’m soft and happy and enjoying it all! Isn’t that enough? X

On this thread you said you currently eat one meal a day consisting of less than 1,00 calories and previously your day would consist of

My typical diet was
Porridge with almond milk or water
Two coffees
One whole meal roll with half tin of soup
Two rice cakes and half an avocado
Dinner was usually pasta or stir fry
1 glass of red wine

Even leaving out your glass of wine would save many calories. You said you like cheese with bread and chutney - even if you were to skip the bread, you’d be eating less calories while still having a delicious snack.

Maybe try logging all your food on myfitnesspal for a few weeks and watching portion size.