Slim ladies.. for whom staying skinny is secretly a constant battle...Tell me how you do it!!

[Callipo]

So I have lost 3 stone .. Hurrah!! and now I am slim... Hurrah!! And I'm starting to love following you SandB lot and enjoying feeling nice about myself and wearing stylish clothes and looking not too bad at all, though I say so myself .
But shaping up was hard work and I am terrified that I will put it all back on the second I stop concentrating. Over Christmas I stopped working on it for about 3 days and gained 2lb. So I need to hear from slender ladies who work at it - not those who are naturally skinny - but those who can tell me how they stay mindful without being obsessed.
I've posted here cos my motivation is to stay slim for style and beauty but do tell me if I need to scurry back to Big/slim..

I'm not skinny (tall size 14) but try to keep my weight stable by eating less during week (what I like, just less) and not worrying so much over the weekends

its def easier not to eat as much when I'm at work

But being mindful is what you HAVE to be. Not in a mad diety way , just in a 'Am I hungry?Do I even LIKE this?' way

I used to be naturally slim then having my two kids changed it all! I started the Dukan diet a month before Christmas and lost half and stone (need to loose 1.5 stone). I feel miffed as have gained about 4lb over Christmas. My plan is to loose the weight and then weigh myself every other day ( I know some people think this is obsessive) to make sure I dont start creeping over goal weight again! Then it just reminds you to be healthy in the way you eat! I think the only true way is to change your eating/exercising habits for life. Still enjoy meals out and Christmas food etc but to keep tabs on it after. After all staying a healthy weight/BMI will protect against other illnesses in the long run.

I always tell myself that people who are slim and can eat anything are fat and unhealthy on the inside (heart disease/clogged arteries etc)!!

Are there other frequent scale hoppers out there? Does it take over your life?

Congrats on the amazing weight loss. I want to lose double that! Please can you tell me how you did it?

Hence no advice on keeping weight off!

I've lost 2 st and kept it off for several months - put a bit on over Christmas and want to lose more.

I'm just resigned to having scales nearby and getting on a least once a week and if it bad going back to be very strict. I don't want it to take over my life but don't see any other way - I'm not so in tune with my body that I notice a few pounds going on which can happen very quickly.

Jenda I did slimming world and it come off very quickly - more healthy eating and portion control. I had to stop going but have managed to lose some by myself by just following the plan.

I gave up butter and margarine type spreads, weight literally fell off.

Other than that I just eat healthily.

I did weightwatchers and cannot recommend it enough. I have never ever felt hungry and lost it reasonably fast, although I am not one for cooking up the recipes so have stuck to one breakfast and about 6 interchangeable lunch/tea options so I have felt a bit bored! But compared to fat and sad, bored is fine. Not saying I am now a size 8, but feeling good at a small size 12 and think I will probably be a 10 at goal.

I'm 6foot tall & a size 10/12. I do a lot of exercise so that I can eat what I like. And even then I try and keep it 80/20. Eat mostly healthy with a few crisps and glasses of wine thrown in for good measure.

There isn't a secret. Burn more calories than you ingest.

I did an extra session in the gym. If you don't go to a gym, just add a bit more in to the exercises that you do do. Burn off that extra mince pie!!

I think my body wants to naturally be at about 10 and a half stone BUT as I am 5 ft 3 I want my body to be more like 9 and a half stone (currently 10.2, was 9.13 before xmas) I do have to battle with it, when I'm 10 and a half my size 12 clothes don't fit and 14's are too big so even though I'm only just over 10 stone I feel fat because my clothes are too tight, I have recently lost a few lbs and I did it by cutting down on evening snacking, eating cereal for breakfast and lunch and going swimming once a week (40 lengths)

hth

Sorry meant to say well done on the weight loss, I lost about 3 stone a few years ago after having dd2 and I can remember worrying about the same thing as my sister had said to me that I would put it all back on again if I wasn't careful. I have tried to be careful!

Portion control. Weigh cereal, pasta and rice. You don't need big portions of these- much less than the packet suggests. Avoid too many carbs (no toast/bread/potatoes.) Big piles of veg/salad instead. Not too much booze. Once a week at most. Plenty of water. Lots of exercise. That is not 'a diet' - that's just what I do. I do eat a slice of cake or some chocolate every day- I am not health obsessed. I weigh myself about once a week.

Am 5 ft 10. Size 10. Weigh around 10 st. Don't fluctuate much at all unless I booze too much and them have the resulting hangover munchies..

I'm not exactly slim (especially at the moment, as baby weight is on its way off still), but my 'maintenance' diet when I'm a sensible weight is:

• walk loads - like, everywhere. Park further away at the supermarket, walk to town, get off the bus a stop earlier etc etc
• eat whatever I fancy (really whatever) but the second I'm not enjoying it as much as the first mouthful, I stop eating
• eat dinner early so I don't snack all evening while cooking dinner
• weigh myself daily. If it's up a fraction I might be a bit more aware that day. I know that the body fluctuates daily and all that, but the chances are that if it's up a few days on the trot that I need to be a bit more sensible
• but clothes that fit (and aren't leggings). It is not comfortable carrying 5lbs more if your clothes are tight.

Oh, and I eat cake every single day - I love cake. If I don't have it regularly I go bananas when I am finally allowed it.

Mmmmm cake

Eat a mainly protein breakfast (scrambled eggs works) within 30 mins of waking. Works to curb hunger and kick start metabolism. Avoid carb binges which make you crave more carbs.

I think you are right birds. Perhaps shouldn't have used the word skinny. I'm after BMI in the healthy range (will be 23 at goal) and a size 10-12, not size 0. I think its a healthy aim, I've just got so used to our crappy western world eating rubbish/snacking eating habits that I am finding it hard to reprogram to achieve what should be a healthy stable equilibrium. I am after tips to help me do this. I am in no way promoting being underweight.

I don't know if I count as skinny or not, I'm a size 10 on top and 12 on the bottom. These are the things that I learnt from the 'French ladies don't get fat' book:

1. enjoy your food - this means getting as good quality as you can afford, I am capable of happily eating a 200g Dairy milk in one sitting, however if I buy a bar of Green and Blacks Dark Cherry chocolate then I have a couple of squares each night and really concentrate on them and their flavour and this truly does give me as much satisfaction. For many, many fewer calories.

2. stop eating when I'm full, it doesn't matter if there is only one mouthful left on the plate, if I'm full, I'm full. This sometimes means that i don't clear my plate and that is fine (it took me a long time to get over this).

3. pre-DCs when DH and I used to go out for meals (sigh), we would share a pudding or have a hot chocolate instead of desert, or if it was somewhere that you knew would serve a chocolate with coffee then I would order an espresso and have the chocolate instead of desert.

4. use every opportunity to exercise just a little bit - park at the far end of the supermarket car park. Walk to the stairs in the shop instead of using the lift or the escalator. I don't go to the gym etc.

5. I buy pre packed fruit as a treat from the supermarket (think the pre-prepared packs of tropical fruits etc) and have this for desert.

6. make sure that I don't get thirsty. Sometimes first thing in the morning I will have hot water and lemon juice, sounds disgusting but really wakes me up and makes sure that I'm not dehydrated.

7. get half bottles of wine or even the single portion bottles, I enjoy wine and like having a glass but if there's not a full bottle then the temptation isn't there to drink more.

8. look at the broad picture, if you have a day where you eat or drink more than usual then for the couple of days surrounding it, eat a little less or walk a little more.

Ummmmmmmm, think that's it for now. Hope it doesn't sound too preachy I really do recommend the book though.

Callipo- having thought about it, I think that what is key to maintaining my weight is understanding what j can cut out without feeling deprived and getting rid of it. Keeping the little treats that really make me feel happy. And LOTS of exercise. So, for example- choosing the fish course with salad at restaurant everytime....but having a pudding. And then having a run/circuits session the next day. I'm fine with that.

Agree with the protein recommend. I eat lots of eggs, fish, salad, veg and soup. But also cheese and cake!

I've lost weight lately and am now maintaining my pre-pg weight.

I go to they gym three times a week.

Dietwise - this is probably not advised in the slightest but it has worked for me for that past decade plus - I really don't eat very much at all in the daytime. I might have a single weetabix for breakfast, a couple of slices of toast for lunch and that's it til teatime.

I don't get hungry in the day, and the fact that I;ve normally only consumed about 300 cals by the time it gets to 7 o clock means that I can pretty much eat whatever I like for tea and not gain weight.

I'm not recommending this, btw. I know they say you should breakfast like a king etc...and that you should snack to keep your metabolism going. But this is simply the only way of eating that works for me

Oh - I normally go to the gym first thing. I do a lot of cardio and try to always do it on an empty stomach. I did read a study which suggested that fasting before exercise makes you burn more calories, which I am about due to the whole calories out/calories in thing. Still, I find that a good 5k run before eating stops me feeling very hungry.

well done on loosing the weight, hopefully enjoying being slim & having clothes fit nicely will help you stay this way.

My tips are don't pick between meals & if you over eat one day, eat less the next. And finally small portions of carbs & puddings

Ooh intresting thread this, I too have lost quite a bit of wight using weightwatchers (30lbs so far,another 20 to go) including a pound this week when my diet included all the usual christmas crap treats

I think it is about changing habits for life and being mindful of how your body feels. I know I am more confident,move more easily and find i am fuller much more quickly on less than i ever used to be. I have also noticed this last few days when the type of food offered was differant to my usual fruit and veg laden plates, that I felt more sluggish and grumpy - I actually said "i am eating crap,and feel crap" (DH who cooked dinner was not impressed oops!)

Callipo are you on maintenance? It is worth going at least monthly to get wighed I would say. It is free if you are within so many pounds of goal (think its 5) so a great incentive to keep in trim and alos a good way to help stay "mindful" if you are worried about this coming naturally.

I also look at the long term picture. I expected to put on over Christmas and was ok about this as, in the scheme of things I eat healthily all year round.

Well done on your success.