to want to know what all them slim people eat that are not on a diet and never gained a pound....

[FairLadyRantALot]

well, am I?

they are careful, i've never been above a size 12 bum and that was for about 3 years in my teens. Usually a size 8-10. People see me tucking into a cheese sarnie and muesli bar and think "god she's lucky"
nope I'm not - I work at it.
I dont' eat sweets or cakes
I dont' eat fried food or fatty preprocessed things
I drink minimal amounts of alchohol
I walk or bike everywhere
YES I will eat 'normal' or even 'huge' portions of other types of food and NO I dont' go to the gym. But i hardly maintain my weight on a diet of lager and crisps.

This used to be my job and I can catergorically tell you that both the size 8's who maintain that they eat crap and the size 18's who say they eat hardly anything are deluding themselves.

People usually miscalculate how much they eat, if you are carrying more weight than you want and you are convinced you are eating healthily the best adivce is for a full wekk keep an incredibly detailed food diary.
Weigh and measure EVERYTHING, do not eat anything that you can't get accurate calories on.
For example the difference between 2 tablespoons of oil when making a tomato sauce and a 'swig' many resturants etc will put in can be about 500 calories or more.

If you are really and truly eating 1800 calories or less and still weigh more than you want then you need to up your exercise.

Friday

muesli with mango and half-fat creme fraiche
baguette with hoummous and roasted veg
Double Decker bar
2 chipolata sausages, jacket potato with creme fraiche, lettuce with salad dressing made with yet more creme fraiche
nuts and dried fruit for snacks

brilliant example of perception!

I'd also call that 'alot' I know I couldn't eat that much without putting on weight unless I was biking again every day.

My typical daily diet
2-4 pieces of wholemeal toast with low fat marg
2 apples or oranges
2 cups of tea
water

cheese and salad sandwich made with low fat cheese and spread.

Pasta and tomato sauce, glass of white wine, low fat greek yogurt and fruit tinned in juice.

fruit for snacks, if I've done more than my uual walk around town etc then I will have dried fruit and nut or fruit cake/tea loaf for snacks.

If i get munchies I eat plain rice cakes, celery sticks etc.

Drink lots of water.

and I'm still unahppy with the extra 3 pounds round my waist. That wont' go unless I starve myself or get more specific targeted exercise.

halia did you see the TV prog lastweek showing exactly what you have said- I posted about it several pages back here.

Basically, when asked to make a video of what she ate, the guinea pig was honest ( well the video was) and the diary was dishonest- the result was that many people underestimate by 40% what they eat over a day- this woman thought she was eating not a lot, but in fact was eating over 3000 calories a day- she should have been eating 1800-2000 or less to lose weight.

People think i am lucky to be a size 8-10 which is so untrue- it is a constant battle as I could eat twice what I do- but I know that the misery of being chubby ( was as a teenager) is not worth that extra bit of cake or larger portion of whatever.

Some people have a high metabolic rate- my DH is rake thin, and eats like a horse- I don't, so have to be careful.

ok- my typical diet- no, not a diet- my typical day.

Breakfast- either boiled egg and 1 piece gluten free toast, or porridge made withhalf soya and half water, and afew chopped dried apricots. Herbal tea.

Lunch- usually either homemade soup- lentil and carrot, or a small sald- almost always tuna ( smallest size tin) or prawns, with lettuce, cuc. red pepper, grated carrot, few olives, small amount of mayo. Or, hummuus and carrot sticks,maybe an oat cakse or two, Apple.

Dinner- depends- might be salmon fillet, or any other fish ( do fish about 3 times a week) fresh veg, ( always steamed) chicken with vegs, pasta with vegetables. Last night it was a home made chicken burger made from chicken breasts, salad, inc. potato salad, and then a tiny bit of choc fudge pudding.

Snacks during the day- a few nuts and dried fruit.

I am 5ft 2", size 8. Always have been slim, dont get as much excersise as I used to pre DS (IE none now), eat what I want when I want, larger portions than my DP usually. Just very lucky I guess.

Didnt put a lot of weight on whilst pregnant, ate for Scotland though. Had a huge bump but looking at me from behind or straight in front you wouldnt know I was pregnant til I turned side on and blocked out the sunlight!

5 days after giving birth I was back into my own clothes which drew many comments from Community Midwives & I was sick of telling people that was just my build! Eventually GP had to step in as I was feeling harrassed at all the questions and assumptions that I just wasnt eating, she told CM's and HV that I had always been "A slight framed girl".

I get sick of people asking me if I have an eating disorder because I am slim, No I bloody dont its just the way I am!

Typical days food.

Beakfast - Porridge with fruit, 2 slices of toast(usually white bread, gluten free)

Lunch - Baked potato with cheese coleslaw and salad

Dinner - Steak with chips and veg(3 or 4 portions of veg)
Desert of cake(gluten free) and ice cream

Snacks during day include biscuits(Gluten free), bars of chocolate, packets of crisps, pitta bread(gluten free) and houmous, plenty of fruit etc

Dont have the healthiest of diets but I have never had to go on a diet.
I was slim before I was diagnosed as Coeliac too incase anyone thinks my GF diet affects my weight.

plus I have PCOS which usually leads to you being overweight but again I am lucky that I am slim(well if you can call being misdaignosed for 3 years lucky as docs at hospital wouldnt test me for PCOS because of my natural frame)

Hope I dont come across as smug but just want folk to know that slim women get quite a few jibes pointed in their direction too! Not all of us are on diets or go without food or have eating disorders!

Did you see that programme where people who overeat the same number of calories can either gain muscle instead (he was a little freaky!), put on a little weight, or really wham on weight. So it's not purely to do with the food, although obviously if you don't overeat then it doesn't matter how differently your body metabolises calories!

Watch this program "10 things you need to know about losing weight" on the BBC iplayer it explains everything!

It tells you all you need to know about how to be slim and stay slim. It also explains why some people are overweight even though they diet, think they eat healthily and exercise. Tells you about metabolic rates, how fat is processed by the body, what your body tells you to eat and why and the visual effect of food and lots more interesting stuff.

I am going to follow the advice just as soon as my baby is born until then anything goes! At 7 months pregnant I look like the michelin man so am past caring

Oooh just found a thread where a kind person has typed out the 10 things you need here

Please don't hate me, I guess I just have a fast metabolism or something. No exercise to speak of, part-time student at the moment so not very active, and I eat like a garbage disposal unit, and most of it's processed crap. I find it really hard to keep weight ON if anything. If someone wants to use me as a genetic guinea pig to help out others, I'm sure I could be persuaded for a small fee!

Sorry, I don't mean to sound smug or anything. And it's just as much a struggle to put weight on as to lose it. Maybe I have worms

Wierdly I lose weight after having each child and weigh about a stone less now than before kids. This is because I am no longer desk bound and move more. Also probably eat less as have less time. I' m approx. 9 stone 4 and 5ft5, not skinny granted, but ok. I agree, all the really slim people I know (say size 8) think they eat loads but dont.

I really would like to tone up a bit more and cut out the snacking, but feel a bit 'what for?' at the mo. I would rather pilates than wieghts (worried about the bull neck look) it stregthens core muscles and elongates the look of muscles as opposed to 'bulking' up. Swimming would be good too - now just need to find motivation and more time...

I think tho' OP just a bit more exercise and you will proabably moderate your weight reasonably (although you sound absolutely fine already).

dittany, those hindu squats look, erm, painful ...as in ouch my knees....and I love squats....those on Nell McAndrews work out vid are brill...but those fast ones...I best not, lol...

All those skinny Birds that say they are lucky, etc....and are scared they will be hated....not on this thread....so, don't worry....

tbh, considering the amount I shovel away and the currently reduced activity, I think I am pretty lucky myself....

oh, and who was it that said my hair is tres chic....hmm....and there is me bored with it...but thank you very much, you are very nice.......(obviously my grey isn't showing, lol....but joke aside, I can't believe how many more grey hairs I find now-a-days....sigh...and I really don't want to dye my hair, because, well, it would end up broken/spilit and falling out....so...I suppose I just have to go grey graciously ...but that is another thread, eh)

see, it is the exercise part that is letting me down...started Uni last year, and that means more sitting (lectures, driving to Uni...I try to walk whereever, but from home to uni, well...it's 20+ miles, lol....and of course more compute bound work , with assignemnts and stuff...) however, I am trying to get back into some kind of exercise routine...but I hate getting up early, and if I don't do it first thing in the morning, I kinda loose the motivation, lol....

izyboy: women don't really bulk up, certainly not like men do, it's a common fear. Even with weights, you're likely to just get nice muscle definition - I've seen an increase in my arm muscles, but my arms still look slim - with no more bingo wings and more definition at the top

I lost 2 stone when I was pregnant, and I'm sure if I followed the same diet I'd be a stone less now.

I ate less (because of heartburn)
I ate healthy (because it was tastier)
I ate less carbs and more protein (carbs - except rice - made me feel ill).
I gave up drinking - that's a sure fire way to lose weight.

Problem is, it's a lot harder to do when your body doesn't force you to do it! .

I was a size 12 before pg - 8 after pg - 10 now.

Gosh - I really do think I eat quite a lot. I suppose what I mean is that I eat three square meals every day plus snacks, and don't get up from the table hungry. Whereas friends who are on diets talk a lot about what they aren't eating and that they're hungry, and that they're having to go without food they want.

p.s. I agree that 2 chipolatas was not a lot - but sadly that was my share of what was left in the packet!

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oh bloss, do share that exercise programme...was it gymbased or was it weights, you possibly could do at home?
Did you train daily? Did you do weights every day, or did you do one day weights , one day cardio, one day weights, 1 day cardio...and so on?

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If you have a Wii, My Fitness Coach is excellent - sets up a training program for you and varies it - effectively becomes an interactive DVD (you say after each segment if it was about right/too hard/too easy) and it's only £15. Doesn't use the Wii Fit board either (so a far cheaper option).

You can use it with no extra equipment (though if you have a hard floor then some sort of exercise mat would be helpful) or can add exercise ball, handweights and step. Routine vary from 15 mins to 120 mins depending on preference and personal masochism

(I do 45 mins 3 times a week because I enjoy it, combined with cycling through local woods for 30 mins 3 times a week - but that's only because I find exercise pleasurable. Oh and a 2hr Wing Chun Kung Fu class weekly. 15 mins of exercise, 5 times a week is more than enough to see results, though).

Actually, I think that's the biggest trick - find some form of exercise that you actually ENJOY.

I hated PE/sport at school, thought I was naturally inept at all forms of exercise. It's only been in the last year or so that I've found a) some pleasant activities that I don't feel are a chore and I actively look forward to doing and b) that I can be good at them, and the sense of achievement/level of control over your body you have when you start to improve is one of the best feelings in the world.

this is an interesting thread. I neither lose or gain weight with ease. I've been between 7 st 12 and 8.2 since I was about 16. I often think I'd like to be a bit closer to 7 and a half (I'm only 5 foot 1) but I like cheese and chocolate too much and am not sufficently displeased with my average of 8 stone to cut either out.

I often wonder how healthy my diet is. On the one hand I eat chocolate, or something similar, most days, I use butter not low fat spread or even poly-unsaturated and I'm not the world's biggest fan of vegetables. but on the other hand we cook all our food from scratch, I eat small portions, and don't eat if I'm not hungry. I do eat fruit and will have at least some veg or salad most days. We don;t usually have chocolate or crisps in the house, but when we do (eg dds' birthdays recently) I tend to have quite a scoff.

I run about 3 times a week (though certainly haven't done that ever since 16) and recently was running 4 times - doing upto 30-40 miles a week. I ate like a horse and my weight stayed the same. I walk a reasonable amount and generally avoid taking the lift.

I think my key thing is small portions, only eating when I'm hungry, and exercise.

But I think there's a danger in being like this - my weight is fine but could easily be masking high cholestorol or other problems from the chocolate, cheese and butter.

that was a bit long. just ignore!