The Royal diet

[FreakOfNature]

How do they do it? It's not just the Princess of Wales, Beatrice is slim these days, as are other European royals, what's the secret? They all look very healthy, well proportionated for their shape with incredibly tiny waists.

It goes without saying they have access to good food/chefs etc but I doubt they are used 24/7 to meet every need (quite frankly, if I had access to such means I would be the size of a house!). They work, but not a routine 9-5 and they have young children whose lives they are very involved in.

Exercise certainly comes into it, but none look like this is done to excess.

Vegan? Gluten Free?

Looking for ideas more than debate!

But butchers and green grocers now are usually more expensive than the supermarket. Also a lot of women work and don't have time to walk down to the high street every day or so to pick up veg and meat. I'm pretty sure the housewives of the past would have happily thrown some frozen nuggets and chips into the oven if they'd been available!

Again, you don't need to starve yourself or eat dull food to be thin. I love food, eat too much of it! But I'm a size 10/12 and 5'7". I could be a lot thiner if I ate a bit less, but I cook from scratch, very little processed food, healthy and varied. Fresh fish, meat, vegetables, grains, pulses, just basic food.

And I work full time and have 2 children and no family near by to help out. And although life is easier now with older children and working mostly from home, I've also commuted for 2h each way when the dc were babies and still cooked mostly from scratch, not even past sauce jars or beije freezer food. It's just not how I was brought up and I strongly believe children and adults shouldn't eat crap. It's a choice.

If you had:

no money worries
no housing concerns
no need to tidy or do housework
no need for life work or personal admin
immediate medical support
no house maintenance
no stress from work, colleagues or manager,
no transport worries
the ability to use headspace for purely fulfilling things
no concerns about retirement
a cleaner
a chef
a chauffeur
a nanny
a tutor
a personal assistant
a financial adviser
a dresser
a hair and make up artist
your own gym
your own swimming pool
access to daily massage and beauty treatments

you too could look like that

I remember one of my old colleagues lost a lot of weight and maintained it for her wedding. She wasn't stick thin...just a nice slim size 8. She barely ate anything...she once told me all she'd eaten one day was a bag of crisps.

I have known lots of very thin women and I can categorically say they eat very little. People who can genuinely eat anything and remain thin are an extreme rarity despite what many posters on here might tell us.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/jun/08/long-covid-impact-quality-of-life-cancer-study

It's not a choice for these people, they can't shop, cook or exercise like others, they will have a reduced network around them too.

I met Kate last year. She looked amazing and taller than I thought she'd be. Her waste was tiny. I reckon she had a very tight corset on.

I cook from scratch every day, it is how I grew up, I don't think it really occurs to me not to. Lots of vegetables etc.

But I do work full time with young children and reach for the wine too often in the evenings. Once in a while, we get a takeaway because we are tired. I can only find the time to exercise once a week. When I cook, I make compromises to suit everyone - my DH loves carbs so I eat more than I would if I cooked just to suit myself.

There's no doubt in my mind that I would be a stone or two lighter if I had the time and resources to work out with a PT every day. And had the option to have someone cook a balanced meal for me every day and separately for my DH/kids if they didn't want the same.

https://metro.co.uk/2023/06/08/long-covid-effects-worse-than-some-advanced-cancers-18912681/

Once in a while, we get a takeaway because we are tired.

Now do you see anyone can get sick, not have the energy to exercise, shop and eat well?

Kate seems the type to never have had enjoyment when it comes to food, however she seems to get pleasure from exercise and she has chefs to shop, cook nutritious family meals bring them to her dining room and take the dishes away for the family.

It's a funny world where those most able get so much and those lest able don't.

I often think the key thing here is appetite, if that doesn’t sound too obvious. I am pretty slim (age 50, BMI under 20) and probably don’t eat all that much comparatively but the crucial thing is I eat what I want. In other words, I don’t think I have a massive appetite. I never feel like I’m ‘starving myself’ although it’s not unusual to feel hungry. Thing is, I don’t really mind being hungry sometimes because I don’t feel as though I am depriving myself. I’m honestly not showing off, just explaining it from the perspective of someone who is thin apparently without much effort. The question is what determines appetite? I think this might be partly genetic but also ‘discipline’ over very many years - in other words I have stayed the same weight most of my adult life so perhaps have a certain set point when it comes to weight!? Not sure. I would fall firmly in the affluent middle class bracket if that’s relevant - but work full time and v definitely do not have a chef or any other ‘help’!!!!

I agree...I hear people say "oh I eat what I want and never put on weight" but it depends on what you want doesn't it?!

@Comedycook exactly. And again not being smug! I have all sorts of anxieties and other challenges etc. But I think I have a fairly straightforward relationship with food (which I like) where I just eat what I want … and what I want tends to be sort of enough to maintain the same weight. I also have never been in that diet mentality where I eat loads on one day because I think I’m going to have to starve myself tomorrow, and then the cycle repeats.

People are talking about being a size 8, 10, 12 etc which is of course healthy....but I'm pretty sure Kate is not a size 8 or 10, more like 4 or 6. Her waist is tiny.
She obviously has good genes and is tall but id imagine she is super disciplined/restrictive about eating. VB has also been mentioned and I would say she was borderline anorexic. I think it would be very stressful having everything (your hair, face, figure, clothes, behaviour, parenting etc ) analysed and I think that would be enough to make you very strict about food.

Super disciplined

Using advantages to maintain that too

just thought something about the being hungry thing. For me, feeling hungry is a fairly neutral thing. It doesn’t come with emotional baggage? So it can sort of be a background feeling that doesn’t bother or distract me that much because I know that at some point, normally quite soon .. I won’t be hungry!

I think I’m trying to say that being super disciplined doesn’t have to be painful or a sort of punishment.

I think you're underestimating the amount of excercise they get; many of them have energetic pastimes (riding, hunting, polo, rural pursuits with strenuous walking, dancing, active social lives) and many boring royal duties involve hours on their feet meeting people, walking round hospitals and schools etc. They've spent their growing years at the kind of boarding schools which emphasise frequent strenuous outdoor activities, team sports etc. Because physical health and fitness is part of the USP the school sells.

Royals eat top quality food; often grown or produced on their own estates. If all your meals are cooked and served to you by staff, you'd never be tempted to put trash snacks in the smkt trolley, raid the fridge, pick and nibble as you cook dinner.

The royal lifestyle hasn't changed much so as a family they are still notably slim and fit. The working classes lifestyle has changed far more;more calories, less excercise, more sedentary, large amounts of unhealthy food, warmer houses. Children spend more time indoors on the sofa.

D

There are paparazzi photos of Kate and Harry smoking

I think this proves that "eating what you want" and being restrictive about food can both be true?
As in you don't want to eat a lot because you prefer to be thin
But not necessarily that you have a small appetite rather you are disciplined about what /when you eat and being hungry (but not starving)is a habit that you are used to.

Yes, exactly @Fizbosshoes i think it’s become a habit over so many years that I don’t feel deprived but I also accept others might eating the same amount. I think one of the surprising things is that now I think about food/weight less than almost any other woman I know. The habit is so ingrained I hardly think about it? Again NOT at all smug - I feel sad when I read and hear stuff which makes weight/weight management sound like a daily struggle and constant worry for many women. ( I do have other worries!!!)

I stand corrected! Recent ones? Pass me a Marlborough Light.

Also a lot of women work and don't have time to walk down to the high street every day or so to pick up veg and meat.

I work 30hrs a week plus train for the sport I compete in anywhere between 15-24hrs a week.

My DS also competes in a sport so a lot of weekends are spent juggling his events and mine.

DH works full time too and has his own hobbies.

We have no "bought in" help.

I still manage to shop for and eat plenty of non-processed foods.

Yes I agree it's cheaper to eat processed and I can totally understand why those who are poorer eat that way.

But IMO money is the only reason not to eat a healthy diet.

"Not having time" is a choice people make about their priorities.

I think a main reason poorer people are fatter is that food is a cheap, available, quick mood boost. If you have a nice life with lots of opportunities and experiences you are far less likely to crave a short term sugar fix. I remember in lockdown my DD was really bored and struggling...I noticed her suddenly wanting to eat sugary food all the time during that period.

I also think that being the subject of such intense media and public scrutiny would be a real motivation to diet and exercise

I think this is A BIG factor. There are so many women in the public eye who weren't fat to start with but lose A LOT of weight to being underweight.

I'm sure if you are appearing in photos every day and reading people commenting on you it does something to your mind.

The shocking thing is (and it upsets me to say this) is that women who actually looked great before, do generally look much better on television and photographs when they are a lot thinner - and in fact are underweight most likely.

People I'm thinking of like this that just spring to mind, but there are bound to be tons more

Kate Middleton - she looked lovely at St Andrews/early days of dating - now she looks amazing but is v. v. thin.

Jennifer Aniston - Friends early series - not fat but curvy - then by end she was super thin
S3:
https://bombayballoon.com/2020/06/24/the-one-with-rachel-greens-green-dress/

S7:https://www.spotern.com/en/spot/tv/friends/78956/the-black-dress-of-rachel-green-jennifer-aniston-in-friends-s07e01

Holly Willoughby

https://cdn.entertainmentdaily.com/2020/04/09170246/Article-Header-HW-742x388.png

Victoria Beckham

They will alll have gone to private schools where sport is a complete part of life. They will all be used to exercise from a really early age. They’ll be surrounded by fit and active people. unspoken pressure not to get fat, And yeah they all probably smoke. I would imagine they’d be pretty much the same even if they weren’t in the papers.

I have coeliac. If gluten free was a quick route to weight loss, I'd be a sylph. I'm not.