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

No snacking and no dieting, I have done Slimming World twice and used the my Fitness Pal App, all worked and I lost a lot of weight but it made me obsessed with food and what i "could" and "couldn't" eat. So now I eat when I am hungry, always have a e healthy breakfast, a small lunch and a reasonalbly healty evening meal. If I want a cake, biscuit or a glass of wine then i have it and don't mentally beat myself up, i am not slim but I havn't gained any weight for years now. Well I guess i haven't as i threw my scales out but all my clothes fit fine

I eat when I want and what I want and yes some of that includes crappy food and snacks. I just don't gorge myself on it. My portions in general are what portions should be. I don't feel the need to keep eating because it is there. Portions are crazy nowadays.

In fairness though, I am not addicted to food, I couldn't eat a full share bag of crisps or chocolate. I do understand that people do have addictions to food and can't stop once they start. I have had an addiction but food wasn't it so I get it.

I used to be able to eat anything and everything I wanted, didn’t even think or acknowledge what calorie content etc it was, or how healthy it was. Always loved and enjoyed food, yet consistently stayed a size 8-10 throughout the whole of my 20s. Never worked out or went to the gym either!
Then since hitting mid-30s I’ve put on nearly five stone, gradually losing it but omg it’s so difficult.
also to add nothing changed for me to be putting on the weight! I really think some people can just naturally stay slim with no effort 🤷‍♀️

The most naturally slim person I know simply isn't interested in food.

Doesn't seem to ever get particularly hungry, can often go all day without eating something as theyre just not hungry & honestly forget that they 'should' eat something.

They never think about food, think about what they are having for din er, doesn't ever crave a bar of chocolate or a slice of cake. They eat to keep themselves alive but not for enjoyment or desire.

I wish I was like this but they do struggle with it as they feel like this miss out on social experiences linked to food etc. They can also feel quite poorly sometimes & then work out they havent eaten anything for a long time.

This is correct (in most cases). My dad eats mostly vegetables, weird combinations of food (never a tasty meal as such) & never snacks. Doesn’t do sugar. Or meat. Or booze. He’s not that bothered about food, and will just get salad or chips when eating out. He also walks everywhere. It is a conscious decision, however, he’s a bit nutty about what others eat. He’ll go on a cruise & comment on all of the fatties stuffing their bloated chops!

You’re doing the intermittent fasting diet without realising. I think this is the best way to lose or maintain weight.

@Coffeeloveer how slim do you mean?

For most of the women, I know it is strict diet

Even those of us who are regularly at the gym are eating very carefully

I’m very active, but I’m not sure how prepared I am to cut back with the food I like

I find doing the macros and everything really boring

I think it’s easier for those of us who naturally adjust their food intake when we’ve had big/heavy meals and don’t overeat.

I’m naturally slim and the same weight since my teenage years. I’ve never ever thought about my diet. I never consciously monitor or adjust what I’m eating. I never deprive myself. But I do naturally feel like I want a light dinner if I’ve had a big lunch. I don’t like the feeling of being too full. I don’t feel I have to finish everything on my plate.

My DH is a healthy weight but has to work to maintain it - he doesn’t seem to have the same connection between brain and body and will often over eat (eg if we go on holiday he will have big breakfasts at the hotel and then enjoy eating out and will come home having put on weight, whereas I’ve never fluctuated like this).

I eat a healthy diet.

Today for example - breakfast was oats, banana and yogurt

Lunch was a veggie soup with beans for protein

I had a couple of snacks - nuts, fruit and a glass of soya milk

Dinner was brown rice bibimbap with plenty of veggies and protein

I’d also say I’m fairly active, although I have a desk job I have a dog so walk 1-2 hours a day plus run and go to the gym.

I start every day at the gym and do 90 mins of classes. I'm a veggie and I limit carbs. I don't eat before the gym and eat two meals a day and the odd snack. I don't drink alcohol.

If I start feeling my clothes getting a bit snug I start intermittent fasting more strictly, cut out sweet stuff apart from fruit and walk more. Recently lost half a stone in 2-3 weeks doing this. I never eat breakfast anyway so just prolong it and fast for longer. Consciously eat better and move more. It works for me anyway.

I don’t eat three meals a day. Normally just brunch and dinner.

I eat mostly plant based and try to avoid processed crap. So very high fibre and naturally fairly low in fat.

I don’t drink alcohol, only really drink black coffee, herbal tea water and sometimes squash

I don’t snack much, if I do it’s fruit or lentil cakes or something healthy

I don’t sit and watch tv in the evenings as I don’t have time! Apart from when I’m working I don’t really sit down.

tbh I am so busy I don’t have time to think about food much. I sometimes wonder if “dieting” just makes people fixate on food?

I’m the same height as you, 5lb heavier, and I’m a size 8! i am honestly shocked you’re a size 12, I weighed 12 stone at that dress size.

To answer your question OP, I have adhd and take medication which suppresses my appetite (side effect) so I have to force myself to eat some days. I don’t get cravings or the urge to snack anymore, I never ate breakfast, so I just eat two meals a day and top up my calories with protein shakes.

I thought that too-I was exactly that weight and height a few years ago and I fit in a size 8.

Having got down to 20kgs lighter than I am now, it involved only eating 2 meals a day, no snacks, I only had a drink occasionally on a Saturday, and I went to the gym 3 times a week to lift weights or do spinning, and I probably walked for nearly two hours a day, including a long walk in the evening of around 45 mins nearly every day. I was a PhD student so I had the routine and flexibility to do it. Towards the end of it I stopped going to the gym because I was so tired and it was a way to make myself less hungry.

The only way the weight shifts now despite lifting heavy twice a week and lots of walking is to eat two meals a day for me. I find calorie counting so oppressive and miserable. It is much harder in your thirties with a sedentary job. I can’t wait to retire and spend an hour on the bike every day as I think that will help.

Much of it is genetic, which determines your body type and metabolism. I'm tall and have always been slim and always will be, and I eat a lot and burn it off. But certain things hold true.
Sugar is the enemy. No empty calories in the form of biscuits, sweets, cakes, desserts, alcohol.
Some cardio exercise is good. If I couldn't run or cycle a couple of times a week I'd be distraught. I should probably lift weights.
Everything gets harder after 40.
My breakfast is muesli with fruit and greek yoghurt.
Lunch, eggs or avocado on toast. Dark chocolate daily.
Supper, wholegrains, lentils, brown rice, potatoes with a protein and steamed veg. No snacks. No ready meals. all homemade.

Exercise 4 x week, don’t snack ever, only eat breakfast 3 or 4 days a week not every day.
only drink alcohol at the weekend. Very little sweet treats - we have pudding with Sunday dinner that’s it and I very rarely eat chocolate or sweet treats after dinner.
I break these rules 4 x year for hols and Christmas. My portion control at dinner isn’t great and I do find it a battle not to put on weight but I’m 43 a healthy BMI and a size 10 so not doing too badly.

This is typical for a lot of women I know

I love the gym, but it does mean I need my three meals a day.

Same here. Love salad and veg.
I rarely eat out or have takeaways. I enjoy them when I do but I'd probably pile on weight if I did.
Generally I'm not that bothered with food. Often forget to eat.

Wait until menopause. I was back in my size 10 jeans on the Monday after giving birth on Friday.( I was 37 with my last baby so not super young either) I ate and drank more or less whatever I wanted until I was approx 47. The menopause struck and I have to be very careful of my diet. I eat two meals a day, lots of veg , one treat maybe every other day and the occasional glass of wine or cocktail. I walk a lot and lift weights too. I was always 8 stone 4 without trying. Was 7 stone 10 when three months pregant. Now I have to try really hard to stay below 9.

I snack a lot but walk loads.

I'm slim because I don't eat very much and exercise a lot, that's pretty much the secret.

It pisses me off when people say 'Oh you don't need to go to the gym, you've got a lovely figure'. Or 'You're slim, you don't understand what food noise is like'. 🙄 I look this good because I work out every day and resist the food noise, if I didn't then I'd be the size of an elephant.

I rarely eat bread now which I find helps enormously.

Well I'm not like this anymore but I was until I got pregnant 6 years ago. First off maintaining is much easier than losing so I already had it on my side that I was slim. I ate small meals, took my time with them, listened to my body and stopped when I was full, I was very active, my socialising was either in the gym, walking in nature areas or around the shops or dancing (any calories from alcohol were burned off then some). I walked pretty much anywhere that I could rather than drive. Drink lots of water. Deserts and take aways were special treats not a regular occurrence.

I do a lot of exercise. Mainly running. Am 53kg at 161cm. I am always gobsmacked when I go to other people's houses and they have snack cupboards of things I would never regularly eat. I tend not to snack. I eat fairly large portions but generally healthy. Today I consider to be not a typical day and an example of my worst day:
Today I ate 1x slice of toast, 1 almond croissant at Costa, 2x white fish fillets with a baked potato and carrots, Muller corner. A small protein bar. A home made biscuit, half a pizza (Asda pizza) and another muller corner.
A more typical day is oats so simple chocolate porridge with a banana in, homemade shakshuka with 3 eggs for lunch, falafel and houmous pitta (one large bread) plus loads of salad for dinner, with a yogurt after. I might have a small protein bar as a snack at some point. I'm mid 40s.

I’m not slim but trying to lose weight- have really changed what I eat- I calorie count- have reduced the amount of carbs that I eat and eat mainly chicken, steak or fish of various kinds with variations of salad or vegetables. Greek yogurt for breakfast and snacks tend to be berries
I do vary that if eating out/at weekends but am mindful of what I’m eating on most days