Aibu to ask what normal healthy slim people eat?

[Toofrigginfat]

Have name changed.

Things have reached an all time low, found myself sobbing in the bathroom about to stick my fingers down my throat, luckily - I suppose - interrupted by the cries of 'mummyyyyyy' from two bickering children.

I am SO fat and SO depressed about it. I have tried WW, SW. Watched programme last week about dieting industry and it has put me off doing anything commercial/faddy. After failing to be able to stick to anything for the past 20 years my weight is now at an all time high of 11st 10 (I'm 5ft 2) and I have lost all concept of what a healthy balanced diet consists of.

What do normal, slim people eat? And if I eat that way, will I lose weight too? Just bought a juicer, husband and I keen to get into that.

Help. Please.

[MelanieCheeks]

I'm your height, and 2 years ago I was your weight.

Here's what I did.

Joined MFP.
Learned where calories actually were.
Listened to my body's reaction and reduced my carbs to about 100g a day.
Cut my portion sizes.

That got me done to about 10 stone.

In January this year I started 5:2ing, and I'm now about 9 1/2 stone, still aiming for 9.

You can do this. You have everything you need to make this a success - and it's all in your head.

[SquinkiesRule]

I'm just under 8 stone and 4' 11" I drink loads of water found some exercise I enjoy (for cholesterol control)and eat pretty much what I like in moderation.
I don't eat much bread, eat a lot of protein, in meat, greek yougurts. I drink fat free milk, and use it to make milky coffees, drink lots of tea with one sugar and milk in it.
No crisps on a regular basis, maybe once every couple of months, sweets the same.
Breakfast I have a yogurt and coffee sometimes a granola bar too.
Dinner I eat something small, or if I'm really hungry I eat soup, always fills me up, no bread or crackers with it.
I eat a lot of veg on my tea, it's my main meal and I eat whatever I like, meat, potatoes, chips, but not in huge portions and with a lot of veg as well. I'm not big on fruit.

[FetaCheeny]

I would really recommend the myfitnesspal app. it forces you to be really honest about how many calories you are actually consuming. Just make sure you include everything, butter, oil, every cup of tea with sugar etc, be really strict with yourself.

I'm just under 8 and a half stone and have been all my life, but I wouldn't see I eat particularly healthy but I just don't eat that much and I'm really careful. Cereal for breakfast, or a 100cal cereal bar with cup of tea (not sugary cereal) salad for lunch (sometimes jacket potato and beans but no cheese) dinner is where my calories lie as I often eat rice with veg and a peanutty or creamy sauce, or mashed potato with veg sausages or Mexican tacos with veg, kidney beans, guacamole etc. Basically for dinner I eat whatever I want but I suffer during the day to allow for it and only have one snack a day, seems to work for me!
I am vegetarian which helps too.

I eat approx 1400 call a day, 1200 if my weights creeping up, I don't deny myself anything but if I treat myself, I eat less the next day etc.
Also always check what you're eating, nuts are healthy but calorific and some cereals are full of sugar, low fat doesn't always mean low calorie.

Hope that helps and good luck x

[EarlyIntheMorning]

I don't have anything clever to add but I would say be very careful with juicing. You're basically drinking sugar and throwing away all the fiber, so you feel satiated for a very short time, get a sugar spike and end up feeling ravenous within 30 minutes of drinking the juice.

[secretscwirrels]

I think a juicer is a bad idea. Drink water and eat whole fruit.
I, 55and weigh roughly the same as when I was 20. I eat 3 meals a day, pretty much what I want but I don,t eat puddings and I never eat between meals.

[SquinkiesRule]

Oh yeah processed food are the biggest fail, they are so salty, sugary and rubbishy, if you can get a handle of cutting those out or down it's a huge help.

[Basketofchocolate]

Me and my family have always been slim, so I am a believer in genetics playing a big part, but I think how you/your family approach food is too.

In my mind, I think fat people eat crap when they don't need to. Cooking from scratch nearly every night is good, not going to 'all you can eat' places and piling your plate high is good, eat good quality food that tastes good fills you up/satisfies you is good. So, don't ever eat Cadbury crap chocolate ever again. It is crap and is full of crap. Buy nice, dark chocolate that is not full of dairy (the bit that makes you fat). If you don't like it first, you will after a while and never understand why you ate anything else before.

Use small plates. Put the dinner in a big bowl in the middle of the table and have a small bowl yourself. Put some in your bowl. Then only refill your bowl when you are finished and thought whether you need/want some more.

Am always shocked when people take like 4 or 5 biscuits out a packet and set them aside to eat with a cup of tea. I can't understand why they don't take one and then see if they might feel like another one.

Most snack foods are made so you eat more of them to make the companies money. Don't fall for that. You are not likely to feel like that about a bunch of carrots, for eg, cos carrots are not packed with msg, etc.

Who is it who said if you can't pick it off a tree, dig it up out the ground or eat it with a knife and fork, then you shouldn't be eating it?

Oh yeah, take the stairs instead too.

[Mumsyblouse]

What I'm noticing about all these people on this thread who are successful in keeping their weight reasonable and steady is a) they mainly exercise and b) they don't binge-eat on sweet/sugary/fattening things when stressed. It doesn't seem to matter so much exactly what you eat, as long as it's not huge portions and reasonably sensible, but more that no-one on here reports eating three Magnums when they are stressed, for example. It's really helpful to see the patterns between sensible eaters.

[SuckAtRelationships]

I eat whatever the hell I want but less than 2000 calories worth. Probably more like 1900.

I love a good bit of chocolate. I am a terrible snacker, but when I snack lots my dinner portions are smaller.

You MUST include all sauces/dips/odd teeny weeny snack/drinks etc when you calculate that. Too many people miss these things out.

TBVVH you could eat nothing but chocolate, as long as you ate less than 2000 calories you would be slim. Seriously unhealthy and probably a heart attack waiting to happen, but slim.

[FetaCheeny]

No puddings is a good point! Lots of overweight people think puddings don't count as they are part of a balance dinner. But this can add like 300 calories plus to the meal if its sugary or fatty etc.

[WorraLiberty]

I think that's it Mumsyblouse...moderation in portion size, little or no snacking and moving about quite a lot.

I'd be physically sick if I ate 3 Magnums, in fact I'm not sure I could finish a whole one.

[SuckAtRelationships]

Agree that juicer is a bad bad idea.

[FredFredGeorge]

Mumsyblouse That's pretty much the case - exercise while not necessarily burning calories (since you eat more to make up for it) what it does do is change your insulin sensitivity and other things that make you crave foods less. So exercise makes you healthier, and when you're healthier you don't need the crutch of food to keep you going.

I don't watch what I eat, I've been 25kg's over weight, and right now I've been a steady healthy weight for 5 years eating what I want, including plenty of "bad" food. What I don't do is eat when I'm not hungry, (unless I have to be particularly polite in which case I will choose something small) and I avoid liquid calories as much as possible as I've noticed I over-consume those readily - so I drink shorts rather than beer (there's calories in the shorts too of course, but you have to get the alcohol in somehow!)

To break the habits you have, there's plenty of good advice - identify and avoid the situations where you over consume.

[crip]

Good luck OP - I'm sure you can do it.

I am slim, but with some self-discpline rather than naturally so. Here is what I do, in case it can help you. I don't eat snacks between meals. I don't eat desserts unless I really really like them - and the same goes for obviously fattening foods. So I don't eat chips unless they're made exactly how I like them. I do totally overindulge every so often, but then I'll go very light for the next few meals.

[waddlecakes]

I eat (example):

• Breakfast: Marmite on toast or one fried egg on toast
  
• Lunch: tomato and feta salad or tomato and mozzarella salad or goats cheese, red onion and avocado salad (try it with a bit of honey drizzled over it)
  
• Tea: big plate of pasta/stir fry/chili
  

I don't have sugar in my tea/coffee. I don't have bread alongside my meal. I don't usually snack, I rarely bother with dessert (maybe even less than once a week). Also, my bike is my only means of transport so I do about 1 hours cycling a day. I only have fizzy drinks if I'm eating at McDonalds or somewhere.

[SuckAtRelationships]

I totally disagree with the no snacking advice

Some of us can't help it. It's much like an addiction and is not easy to cut out. I get very fidgety and cranky if I don't snack at all (plus hungry - my body is used to eating this way)

I snack everyday. I just don't snack on huge amounts and I have smaller dinner portions because of it. I love sugar but I would say it's usually balanced out by the rest of the food I eat (mostly, I do have the odd week :o)

I'm a size 6-8.

If you are only gonna get irritated by trying not to snack at all you are more likely to revert back to old habits surely?

[WorraLiberty]

What I don't do is eat when I'm not hungry, (unless I have to be particularly polite in which case I will choose something small)

I'm exactly the same.

I don't eat just because I'm out shopping with friends, or because I'm at the cinema, or because Coronation St is on TV etc. I don't even eat more at Christmas (just differently I suppose).

I literally eat when I need to/want to and as a result, I don't need to deny myself anything.

[waddlecakes]

I have to be fair here and say that even as a kid I never had much of an overwhelming appetite, but still I can imagine you must be more likely to eat more if you have a partner and/or kids.

I'm single so another thing is if I've had quite a bit to eat during the day (eggs for breakfast, big lunch out) when it gets to tea time I might not be particularly hungry so I'll just have a cheese on toast or a leftover slice of pizza or something. But if you have kids/partner, I assume you have to stick to mealtimes and preparing big meals so you're more likely to just eat for the sake of it.

[waddlecakes]

I'd say the difficult thing about snacking is a snack that isnt greasy can't be very satisfying.

[Nancy66]

Keep well hydrated

stop eating as soon as you feel satisfied. Let your stomach dictate when you stop eating not the food on your plate.

Move your arse and work up a sweat at least once a day - doesn't have to be gym. Can be walking to shops, housework, digging garden. Just do something active.

As much as possible - and it's hard if you have kids - try not to have crap in the house

[WorraLiberty]

Not really waddles

If I've had a late lunch for example, I'll cook dinner for the family and then have egg on toast or something.

[VelvetStrider]

Well so far today I've eaten...

Chocolate muffin
Banana
Mint ice cream
Custard
Chocolate swiss roll
Avocado and honey sandwich
Bowl of pasta and veg with cheese
Packet of prawn cocktail crisps

Please don't assume slim people all have ultra-healthy diets and deny ourselves treats. I have no idea what makes people put on too much weight, or how to lose weight. I know if I eat a very big meal I'll feel sick and bloated, and bizarrely much hungrier the next day, and I also know on the rare occasions I eat a healthy salad, I feel hungry again soon afterwards and end up eating far more than if I'd eaten a normal dinner in the first place. I hate cooking and do as little as possible - to me it is the same sort of job as cleaning the toilet or hoovering! And sometimes if I fancy pudding I'll have just that - a big bowl of lemon meringue pie will be my entire dinner, not a small bowl following a savoury dish.

I don't know if you can gain any insights from that, but the best of luck to you.

[WorraLiberty]

Walking to the shops won't shift weight because walking is a normal activity that our bodies basically expect of us.

I do agree with the working up a sweat exercise wise though.