Why weren't Victorian upper class women fat?

[waltzingparrot]

They sat around drinking tea, playing the piano, embroidering, reading. Just the odd amble round a park, occasional dance.

How did they stay slim with their tiny waists?

Gawd, I would trade being slightly porky for the right to vote, joggers, my own money and Uber Eats any day. Happy to be a modern woman.

As has already been said several times, lack of processed foods.

If your hormones aren’t so buggered up by modern diets, and dieting, then your body tells you when to stop eating. Add in social pressure, like being slim and the Puritanism of the times that would stop people wanting to appear greedy, then you’re way less likely to get obese.

Genetics plays a role as well. The modern diet can leave people overweight and malnourished. That can lead to epigenetic changes in offspring that drive overconsumption.

Diets were different back then as other posters have said, plus the upper classes were the only ones who could afford meat and fish, therefore the high protein intake would have kept them full.

Well some of them were fat but the fashion was for women to be dainty and frail so those are the pictures you usually see. Corsets made almost anyone look thin. Corsets also limited how much you could comfortably eat, and most importantly in my opinion, they couldn't spend the afternoon gorging on crisps or order a pizza. Highly processed food didn't really exist. Plus snacking was much less acceptable.

Tiny portion sizes and a lot more exercise as part of daily life than we’d expect.

@waltzingparrot

They sat around drinking tea, playing the piano, embroidering, reading. Just the odd amble round a park, occasional dance.

How did they stay slim with their tiny waists?

Because they didn’t eat any of the things that make us fat. Refined sugar, margarine, vegetable oil, artificial sweeteners, processed food. Readymade meals etc

Does anyone else sort of freak out about the lack of privacy they would have lived with back then? No sneaking to the kitchen for a midnight snack, no having a third portion of that amazing dish, without it being gossiped over.

I'm sure some were?

I reckon cold houses, not driving everywhere and lack of processed food.
I don’t believe corsets were that big a factor, tight lacing was not ubiquitous and I have worn corsets for reenactment and never had trouble stuffing my face in them. Don’t forget working women wore them as well, they don’t need to be all that restrictive.
There are plenty of fat women in Dickens, both the text and the illustrations.

‘Corsets made almost anyone look thin.’

Y, not just the corset but the dress as a whole. If your skirt is massive enough it’s not hard for your waist to look tiny by comparison.

And for those mentioning piano playing. According to my Garmin, one Beethoven sonata = 5k 😂 and that’s for real.

@WineAcademy

Does anyone else sort of freak out about the lack of privacy they would have lived with back then? No sneaking to the kitchen for a midnight snack, no having a third portion of that amazing dish, without it being gossiped over.

That’s not the most freak-out aspects of their lives. Attract and marry a man who can feed and house you. Or starve

What Don't said up thread.

Also when they were sitting around drinking gin, it wasn't with chemicial or sugar filled tonic and they didn't stuff their faces on crisps and snacks.

they were fat, also thin, tall short and so on. Here's a picture of atelier Maison Worth

Huge shifts in population from agrarian to industrial urban led to chaotic food production and delivery. Plus restrictive laws such as the Corn Laws, contributed to their attitude to food being different from those of today. The threat of famine hung over the country.

Food was mainly seasonal, and often local, and all was cooked from scratch as we now so charmingly call it. There were different social standards, for instance men were served larger portions. All contributing to thinner women. Oh, and corsets of course!

Lashings of laudenum and amilnitate probably knocked their appetites off a bit.

It's rumoured that queen Victoria's circumference was equivalent to her height in the end.

@godmum56

they were fat, also thin, tall short and so on. Here's a picture of atelier Maison Worth

I'm gonna be a twat and say that photo is technically Edwardian rather than Victorian. You can tell by the loose bun hairstyles but mainly by the fact the women are wearing separates. An outfit of a skirt and blouse is a hallmark of Edwardian fashion.

@WineAcademy

Gawd, I would trade being slightly porky for the right to vote, joggers, my own money and Uber Eats any day. Happy to be a modern woman.

I don’t disagree with you, but I have to say I smiled at the juxtaposition of the right time vote and joggers!

It's a myth. Plenty of them were 'stout' especially in middle age and later.

Dinner: Not sure yet. Bought a peacock to roast
I hope the peacock is a MN peacock that will feed your family for at least 10 meals!

Not all corsets employed boning at all. This one, marketed specifically at women in domestic service, had very minimal boning, & used cording instead for shape & support.

Have you seen any of those programmes on historical food - unsurprising really (as it all sounded bloody awful)!

I have antique glasses (wine). They are so small compared to today’s so I’d imagine potions for everything were smaller

Because you had a finite amount of food in your pantry and that had to last you a certain amount of time so bingeing wasn't an option. Also, proper full fat stuff made you feel full for longer so you didn't feel the need to snack constantly.