To wonder what posh Mums cook for dinner…

[Primrosecottagelover]

I have just seen Pippa Middleton’s bikini photos on the DM. Three different bikinis so far, washboard abs & nothing jiggles as she chases three kids. She could easily pass as a fibreglass mannequin. I’m wondering why it is that the Middleton women and affluent women (even middle class at my child’s school), always seem to be so impossibly slim. I struggle with my weight and I would love to see the groceries, fridge contents, packed lunchboxes and dinner plans of the other half. Obviously I know what healthy eating and cooking is but, the bodies of Mothers these days is next level. Why am I struggling to keep my tummy from flopping out while women in their 40’s pull off wearing linen mini shorts (not in UK) and high waisted jeans.

They have completely different body shapes. Halle Berry or not.

But Kate isn't overly tall at 5'8 1/2 to 5'9. She looks taller as she wears very high heels. William's mother was nearly 5' 11 in stockinged feet and she also had a much better figure than Kate, more boob and hip and very long limbs. Kate wasn't always as sylph-like as she is now. It was notable that she lost an awful lot of weight between just before she got engaged to getting married. She was a strapping, athletic girl at university, not overweight but not a waif either. I think Carole drilled it into them about staying slim, after all she was an air hostess in the days where they used to regularly weigh them and tell them to lose weight if they gained 3 pounds! That said, it is amazing how many women in the public eye started out slim but rapidly lose weight and develop that low body fat, muscly look once they obtain fame/money. I guess the pressure to be able to fit into designer clothes is quite intense! This could also be why they resort to cosmetic surgery/fillers help as no fat makes one look older as they age.

This is their body type. It's not necessary to do anything other than eat healthily most of the time and exercise usual amounts.
Pippa Middleton has a runner or athlete's build with small bosom etc. She will likely have the same physique as her mother in later years.

I remember reading an interview with a woman who worked with models. She said they all lied about what they ate,
She said a typical thing they would say is they had chips for lunch and a massive salad with chicken and a chocolate mousse for dinner. But in reality they would have a plate of chips for lunch, eat two chips and their boyfriend would eat the rest. Then they would pick at their salad and have a mouthful of chicken and a spoonful of chocolate mousse, then push it away saying they were full after the massive plate of chips at lunch.
She said this is how nearly all the models acted, she had worked in the business for years.

In general, they tend to eat very little. Know plenty of local mums like that too. Usually say things like 'I don't like puddings and sweets', 'I'm vegan/vegetarian' - in my book they probably started out more as calorie-limiting platitudes that they have now adopted fulltime.

I mean, I know someone who doesn't like pancakes or ice cream. And will drink champagne but no other fizz (presumably due to sugar content being much less). I mean WTF??

They usually go on about how much they love food but then just pick at it. Everything in moderation, for sure (and being really overweight really is bad for health), but sounds pretty boring to me.

I'd say it was is quite unusual not to like anything sweet, or chocolate

I'm unusual then. I don't dislike them, but I'm really not bovvered

My downfall is cheese, twiglets, crisps, pizza, nuts, red wine (the wine usually coming before the sod it I'll just have a nibble of cheese, twiglets etc)

yes, I always assumed it was incase you got hit by a bus or had cancer and had to go a week or two without really eating. I work in palliative care and I’m used to seeing people with terminal cachexia so slightly fat people look healthy and full of life to me!

William, who more or less had his pick of widely body type, chose to get married to someone tall, athletic and thin

This is such a strange sentence. He didn't chose to marry someone tall, athletic and thin. He chose to marry her and that's her body type. He wasn't picking out a headless, mannequin.

Yes and also it was reported that Kate and Pippa used to spend hours working out in the gym at Kensington Palace trying to see who could 'outdo' the other. I think both women are very competitive physically and very body-conscious.

@AuntieStella
out of interest, were your parents very health conscious re food, and did they limit sweets/chocolates?
Or did you perhaps try to keep slim/lose weight when younger and you chose to limit sweets/chocs etc to do so?

Look at Victoria Beckham’s daily menu and you’ll get the idea.

I agree, such a strange point of view. He married a human being.

This is all so odd. How many overweight athletes do you see? These ladies are not in the Olympics but they are athletes. There's nothing odd about their body type at all. Gyms are full of slim people!

Yes, wasn't she living on barely more than prawns and a dish of peas with balsamic vinegar at one point?

One of my DD's is that shape and it's due to chronic under eating... I try to get her to eat well but she basically eats too few calories end of, no tricks. My dd doesn't exercise or steam food, she literally eats like a fly. Her sister spends 90 mins plus a day exercising,sports at a high level, non sedentary job yet is a size 12 because she eats healthily but normal portions and drinks (too much). Me? I'm overweight and know exactly why. Our income and background puts us in the semi posh category but we aren't, we like pints down the pub

I completely agree with all of this. It’s not carbs, oil, and healthy fats that cause overweightness - Italy, France and Luxembourg have the lowest rates of obesity in the world and all love bread and cheese! We should eat healthy, wholesome, nutritious food with very occasional high quality treats, and we will look great for it. Exercise/activity helps!

But also, I think the physiques of PM and KM look as though they have a very low body fat percentage. KM is all over the pro-ana websites as a role model! Women are supposed to have a bit more fat on them than men, so it may not be all that healthy to be noticeably thin with defined abs.

Slightly off topic but when you all talk about pudding.. Is that the word you use for dessert? Or do you eat a rice pudding after dinner?

@Naillig222 Yes, pudding usually used to describe a dessert...

i know she had to change her diet recently as her her mercury levels were high due to the amount of fish she ate.

@Naillig222 in my house, pudding is hot and dessert is cold. Or something posh. Or served in a restaurant.

I wish I hadn't read this thread. It should have a trigger warning for people with Eating disorders. I wasn't expecting it to be about body image and pining after the bodies of people like KM and PM.

I think a trigger warning would be OTT, you could have stopped reading at any point.

@Comedycook it just gives you some reserve. As @Coatsoff42 says if you can't eat for a while and are on nutritional feed (that gives most people very loose stools!) it helps. Get knocked by one serious infection, which is very common, and you've got literally nothing to fall back on. Of course these are all sweeping generalisations and all are different but of all the patients I've treated who have very slim chances of survival, it's only ever been the slightly or quite overweight ones who make it in experience. This is obviously an ITU standpoint, I'm sure my cardiac colleagues will have a different experience but it's always nice to have some balance

The posher people I know who are slim all eat the Michael Pollan way: eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants. Everything is high quality, so they eat chocolate but it's premium and/or organic with a high cocoa percentage. They drink wine, and maybe the occasional Gin and tonic, but no other alcohol and no soft drinks. Drinks are water, and green tea or black coffee (or maybe with a dash of plant milk). They don't eat UHPFs as a rule. 50% of every meal or more is green in colour. Carbs are the wholegrain variety. Down time is spent exercising or socialising (or both), but never watching Tv.

Time and money, no sifting through the yellow stickered goods in the reduced section, no freezer diving at the end of month trying to cobble a meal out of various odd unrecognisable things that you forgot to label. I have always menu planned but this was due to being skint rather than in pursuit of a slender frame and my weight has been up and down over the years as I so many other things to be busy with like earning enough to pay the bills