Spent the weekend with slim people and I now see why I'm overweight

[ChristmasTreeLight]

After having spent the weekend with slim people, it appears that they:

a) don't need as much food to feel full,
I couldn't believe that after X amount of food, they were full - I could have happily carried on eating.

b) can go much longer between meals without eating,
At one point in the afternoon, I was ready to gnaw my arm off, I asked if anyone wanted to stop for a snack (thinking they'd be starving) but no, they were happy to keep going

c) don't crave sweet stuff in the way I do.
I I need sweet things as pudding, I was almost desperate for some chocolate, whereas again they just did not seem to feel that urge.

I am a size 14 and they are 8-10 and now I can see why. It's led me to wonder is it something innate, something physical? Are you just born like that, not to have the appetite or the sweet tooth? Am I simply fighting a losing battle in the vain dream of being a size 10 one day?

Basically 16:8 means you can only eat two meals a day instead of three.

I mean, yeah it supposedly drips the level of insulin to fat burning levels during the 16 hr fast (some of which you're asleep for don't forget) , but the fact that you can only eat during 8 hrs really does reduce your consumption.

It's not gonna work if you're inhaling Dominos every night but if you fast until noon, then you're skipping both breakfast and your inevitable 11 o'clock Hob Nob (or three).

It didn't work for me when I did it cos I did it from 9-5. I found I was eating three meals and the only difference was no snacking in the evenings. But it wasn't enough deficit to make any difference really. So I suspect moving the 8 hr window where you are only eating two meals is the key.

"Naturally slim" seems to mean people who are slim without having had bariatric surgery.

stroke
Ah, you are stronger than me !
I love bread, pasta, rice and booze - but I've got a lot better at having them in moderation.

According to the BodiTrax machine my metabolic age is 37 (I'm 52)
My BP has always been low and my resting heart rate erratic
but for both DH and I its the long term health benefits of being lean that outweigh everything else.

Ta1kinPeace I love bread and rice too (I can leave pasta generally) but I really don't like the bloating and discomfort I get if I eat it on a day to day basis.

Come the Christmas period, I'll eat anything and not deny myself, especially because when I think about warm baked Camembert and hot crusty bread with lashings of butter, I want to cry with joy. But probably come new year I'll get back to cutting out the shit stuff and getting back on track.

People ask me if I miss cakes/crisps/chocolate etc, but I explain that I can't miss what I don't crave. It's not a feeling of virtue at all, and I'm definitely not "denying" myself. I've found it the easiest way to eat.

2000 does sound like a lot. On the very rare occasion I’ve added up calories my day is around 1500-1700 (UK size 10).

Smaller plates really do help. My son kept taking bags of crisps to snack on & I told him to decant some into a bowl and he’s eating a third as much now. If it’s in front of us we’ll eat it.

Wires crossed a bit, frog

What I meant was the difference between calories needed to keep you alive if you sat completely still and did nothing at all (your BMR, which is approx. 1,300 cals per day), and the 2,200ish actually consumed, comes to 6,300 calories per week.

6,300 cals is roughly 28hrs of walking at your/my weight.

Slim people haven't been given some pass whereby they don't need to eat.

But that's patently not true for some people. This thread shows it quite clearly.

Is the "need" physical or emotional, though? Ahhhhhhhh...

@rock, I think the number of calories depends on your height and weight. At least, I hope so, no way could I function on anything less than 1200.

I only ever have one 'proper' meal a day, usually dinner. Breakfast is cereal or toast, lunch soup and/or single sandwich, maybe a yoghurt or fruit.

How are those not proper meals?

Just got home and need to catch up on the thread.

I had a late lunch (2pm) and so instead of automatically putting dinner on now, I’m going to wait and see when I become hungry and what I am hungry for!

I have always been slim (5'2" and size 4-6 currently) without really thinking about it. I basically just follow my appetite. No fasting, lo carving, paling or any other form of diet - just eating as my appetite dictates.

I have always eaten a carb heavy moderate fat diet - it is the way my culture eats and my biology is adapted to this sort of eating ( a couple millennia of rice and veg centered eating with a bit of fish and little meat). I do love food, good food. I would rather not eat junk and have something delicious so stuffing my face with cheap biscuits, junk crisps, or E number and preservative laden snacks has never appealed to me, not do I get the concept of comfort eating. Eating beyond a certain satiety level just makes me feel ill.

In terms of activity, it has been a real eye-opener to get a smart watch. As it is constantly monitoring my heart rate, has a accelerometer, and GPS as well as all of my biological data, it pumps out my daily level of activity and calories expended. Who knew? Apparently my active energy+non-active energy expended is about 2000 calories - much higher than I would have guessed. This is based on not really being able to sit still, running a minimum of 30 miles a week and walking the dog for over an hour each day.

Take home story - I am slim because I don't overeat for my activity level which is pretty high.

love how predictive test changed lo carbing to lo carving and paleoing to paling.

Well done OP on breaking habits. I wonder what you will decide to have for dinner in the end. Let us know.

Same as
"PurpleDaisies Sun 03-Dec-17 17:25:57
I’m not sure I totally agree. I eat loads but it’s mainly vegetables. I don’t crave sweet things but have to limit crisps/crackers because I have no will power. I just don’t buy them except on special occasions."

I'm readin a few posts at a time and will reread the whole thread and make notes. My question is how do you change your mindset? I wasn't brought up by my parents and lived with people who didn't care about me. They'd go out for dinner and leave me at home without any food made. I'd count the slices of bread to see if there was enough for them not to notice I'd had a couple. I feel calmer if the fridge is full. I spend a lot of time and energy on planning and cooking for the family and show my love for them with lovely dinners and nice cakes and biscuits at times. (All made with at least half the sugar in the method). I argue with myself if I feel hungry that I'm 45 and can eat if I want and then get panicky when I realise I'm not hungry but want to eat. It's taken a very very long time to realise it's an emotional hunger and that I'm hurting myself, not the non carers as they don't know or care if I eat or not now whereas I'm hurting as I need to lose a couple of stone.

How do I translate that insight into eating better? I don't care about myself, I don't value myself, and it manifests itself in all sorts of bad ways. Also, dh wants me to lose weight. He says for my health. I don't want to do fit for him, not great with us at the moment at times, and so it stops me doing it for me too.

A) the bigger the body more energy is needed to power it , this is why you felt hungry. Losing weight often leaves people hungry.
B) the more you eat the more your stomach stretches. This is why big eaters require more to feel full. Over eating also reduces the enzyme which triggers the 'full' feeling.
C) sugar is addictive, literally. It is the only food proven to make you crave more when you eat a lot of it. Eat mac and cheese every meal for a week and you wont want it for months. Sugar everyday and youll still want more.

Cut the sugar and feel hungry for a few weeks and youll reset yourself.

Its also ordered eating vd disordered eating. I am a disordered eater because i associate food with love and reward.

Eat mac and cheese every meal for a week and you wont want it for months.

I would-I absolutely love macaroni cheese.

Although I don’t have a sweet tooth there are things I simply can’t have in the house as they drive me crazy. To the point that if I knew they were there I’d get up in the night to eat them. Hobnobs, fruit shorties, hazelnut Maryland cookies. All dipped in tea.

My mum comes every Monday and used to bring hobnobs (because I never had any biscuits for a cuppa). She’d have 2 and I would eat the rest. I told her to stop. She now brings chocolate digestives and they happily stay in the cupboard (hidden from dh ) till the next week.

@Mominatrix which smart watch do you use? Sounds fantastic!

I'm a 10, I'm 5ft 5 and age 46 and my weight varies from 9st 4 to 9st 10. When I get to 9st 10 it's cut back on carbs time. I happily sit at 9st 7 and get back to 9st 4 pre summer hols. I do no regular exercise apart from a brisk dog walk of 45 mins to an hour, rain or shine, 365 days per year. I eat brown pasta, brown rice and seedy granary bread, lots of fruit and veg , don't take sugar, use skimmed milk, don't have a sweet tooth and don't snack. I think all those things contribute. I do love crisps so don't buy them! I probably eat around 1500 cals most days and only drink at the weekend.

Elephants
If cost was no issue and somebody else was doing the washing up, what would be your favourite meal?
Which group of foods would give you happy thoughts?
Build from one food which even in small quantities makes you smile and it will come.

My old favourites used to be jacket potato. Whenever we have it we always say it's so simple but so nice. I like macaroni cheese, cauliflower cheese, actually I'm not fussy at all. I just can't get organised.

I love fish, seafood, cheese, olives. Antipasti. Focaccia.

When the kids were small I'd have toast and cereal for breakfast, jacket potato and cheese for lunch and a cooked dinner. Every day. I probably ate chocolate most days and crisps. Weight was stable.

These days I feel I don't eat enough now I'm walking 5-6 miles a day with my dog. I have 2 stone to lose. Started with peri-menopause. Very tired and have bad pain most days.

Just reread that. All confused and disjointed.

@upsidedown2017, I have the new apple watch. you need to program in your data (age, weight, etc) and you can calibrate it to your gait, then it starts tracking you. I have it linked with Nike+ running and Mywellness to capture my running and gym work. It gives an incredible amount of data, and can actually track more data than it is currently giving (the watch has a built in pulse oximeter), but future updates will probably be able to list that data.

I can totally see a device like this being very useful for GPs far into the future.