AIBU to ask how people stay slim without strict dieting?

[Coffeeloveer]

If you are wanting to lose weight or if you maintain a slim figure but dont go on a specific diet or calorie count. What eating patterns/ habits do you have to achieve this? I have a busy and a social lifestyle so conventional diets don’t work for me and to be honest I just end up breaking them.. how do you achieve the above on the go etc

By not snacking and just eating 3 healthy meals a day.
Walk whenever you can.

I don’t snack, and not a huge fan of sugar.

Surely busy active people are normally the slim ones?

Walk a lot and don't snack.

Busy and social not active lol

There’s no magic way to eat everything you want and stay slim, you can’t outrun or out exercise a bad diet

the one tip that hasn’t been shared so far is… stop drinking excessive amounts of wine each night

it’s not invisible calories but so many on here make it out to be

I don’t eat breakfast or snack usually, my biggest meal is lunch and I limit sugar. I also make a conscious effort to slow my eating down.

Eat a diet based mainly on vegetables. Only eat at mealtimes.
Chew your food properly.
Eat sensible portions.

Ditch the sugar. I don't bother with 'low fat' or 'sugar free' food.
Cut out empty calories like high-GI food. Avoid UPF.

I'm not very slim but my husband is. It turns out the secret is... he just doesn't eat much! He isn't that bothered about food.

In order importance:

Two meals a day (three is really unnecessary for me).

No snacking.

Exercise.

That's probably it...
I am the same size, more or less, I was since puberty. I eat 3 meals a day but, in all honesty, mostly two because I am too busy to bother with lunch. I walk everywhere within 45 minute distance. I haven't moved my car since last Sunday.
If you work in the office, take a packed lunch. It is likely to be less calorific than anything you get from the shop/cafe. If you drink alcohol, drink less.
But if by social you mean eating out 3 times a week, there is very little chance of keeping slim unless you order something like steak or fish with minimal sides.

Well... we don't is the answer.
Size 12, 5"8 , 9.5 stone.

I eat one proper meal per day, a really big but healthy dinner. Think salad piled with tofu, crunchy broccoli, beans, sweet potato. Jacket with cheese and beans. Scrambled tofu, beans, mushrooms, beans, avocado. Normally some chocolate after.

I might have the odd slice of toast or crackers and cheese or porridge in the day if I'm hungry but that's it. I don't eat crisps or drink calories. Im an infrequent drinking, like i might drink a rum and coke once a month ish.

I wouldnt maintain my size by eating out multiple times a week, especially with dessert and alcohol.

Me - Eating a wholefood diet based on nutrition, lots of exercise. No junk or processed foods, despite liking them. Staying a healthy weight for me takes effort.

My mum - never been overweight, doesn't have a big appetite, and naturally dislikes junk or processed food. She doesn't exercise. Staying slim for her takes no effort.

I don't have any rules because I've never put on a lot of weight and I think I just naturally adjust (eg I'll eat 3 doughnuts and obviously then not be hungry later). But in terms of habits I don't drink alcohol and very rarely any fizzy drinks. Also don't often get takeaways (a few a year). Don't eat out that much - lunches more often eg cafe lunch once a week, restaurants maybe 8 times a year.

My job and social life is quite busy too. Airports, service stations and to a certain extent hotels etc are a nightmare to eat well, which for me means whole foods, nothing much ultra processed and very low added sugar.

breakfast almost always savoury. Even if it needs to be something a bit “weird” or if I need to find an actual supermarket the night before. I’d eat a plain chicken and salad wrap over a pastry or big bowl of cereal. At home it’s mostly eggs or mixed beans/ lentils with some veggies on toast

lunch at conferences etc I just don’t take the bread or pasta or desserts usually. I’m not saying never, but like 90% of the time I’m eating the salads and veggies with meat or fish.

dinner mostly like lunch. I don’t drink alcohol during the week, but at the weekend I don’t stress about having two glasses of wine and maybe a G&T or martini too if it’s been a long week 😅

i also know that when I’m travelling I’m out of my regular exercise routine and likely eating not as well, so even if I feel a little hungry in between meals, that’s fine 🤷‍♀️ I know I’m not going to wither away before dinner! So I just don’t reach for a snack.

if I’m home then it’s much easier and I guess I just stick to what is termed a “Mediterranean diet”. I think a massive help to me is I just don’t have a sweet tooth so it doesn’t feel hard not to eat cakes and biscuits etc.

I've just discovered recently an.easier way
I've always been a fan of slimming world but I eat too much food !
So instead of filling up on free foods that can sometimes really make u feel like your missing out
I've swapped things around I really enjoy a proper breakfast and lunch then when it comes to dinner I'm not hungry I'm actually satisfied because I just ate what I wanted for brekkie and lunch
Example.
I love bran flakes & banana semi skimmed milk instead of just fruit !
Lunch I had a small baguette with butter smoked cheese and coleslaw instead of a small sarnie with salad !
I skipped dinner cus I felt full up but normally I'd be starving then have chicken and veg and I was so sick of eating like this I do what I'm doing and feel great ! Not gained any weight and I look slim !
I'm 50 it's the first time I've felt like I'm not dieting I just eating what I fancy and when I am.hungry I do get full eating like this thou might not be for everyone but it works for me .
I walk as well I don't drink alcohol either !

I eat what I want, but love vegetables. I drink alcohol, but don’t snack and don’t drink fizzy drinks. I don’t drive so I walk loads.

What a lot of bollocks I drink a bottle of wine most nights and eat incredible amounts of food but at 43 still a size 6 and never done exercise in my life.
You are either fat or your are thin. - like you are tall or short.

People who 'stay slim without dieting' follow a way of eating that to you (or me, or anyone else who is heavier than they'd like and wishes they could eat more without gaining weight) looks like dieting.

They'll come on and say they don't watch what they eat, eat out all the time and never eat 'diet food' but in just about every case, the amount of calories they eat will be low, if they eat out, they'll probably eat very little else that day.

The main difference between me ( really not slim) and my sister (slim), is that she eats a "normal" amount of food and her appetite is naturally regulated.
Otherwise we eat the same type of food, 3 meals a day, cook from scratch, drink about the same, don't really snack, are both active etc etc.

So for instance if we have a big meal (e.g. family lunch), she'll eat the same as me, but probably won't eat dinner that day because she won't be hungry.
Give me a few hours and I could easily eat the leftovers and dessert!

Repeat every day over years and years since childhood, she's always stayed slim and I've just gotten bigger.
So I'm going to say that calorie counting is her secret. Although her body naturally "counts" for her, whilst I would use an app or journal.
It does work and give you better awareness of what the food around you does to your body.

Luck.
Some people do everything "right" and are overweight due to medical conditions.
Some people eat lots of junk and are slim. Mix of things.

How can you be a size 12 at that weight and height? You’re 7/8lbs heavier than me and 5 inches taller and I’m a 6…

BMI 19 but size 12?

A heck of a lot of exercise! I don’t do well with deprivation and I love cake, but I also love fitness, I do a lot of running, and am very active generally (16k+ steps a day on average) which happily has the side effect of giving me some extra calories to play with. I don’t count them but it means I don’t really have to think about grabbing a cake when out and about or buying a chocolate bar or whatever. I suspect if I didn’t exercise so much I might find my weight creeping up.

You have to really want to change forever, and you have to give up crap like crisps and chocolate almost entirely (the odd one or two portions a fortnight won't hurt). If you must eat out a lot, order a healthy main with no dessert and not loads of wine! You also have to get through a barrier of about 3/4 weeks of cravings, in my experience. It isn't fun.

I run 3 times a week but I think that only burns about 1000 calories.

I don’t really eat ‘meals’ a typical day for me would look like the below:

10am - cereal bar
12-1pm - some kind of protein, usually chicken breast ( ready made ) and fruit
dinner time - small picky meal. Pesto pasta, calorie counted ready meal or most the time I just have toast 🤣

not exactly healthy but I don’t like big meals and prefer to snack