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?

a) don't need as much food to feel full

Sounds like leptin resistance

b) can go much longer between meals without eating,
c) don't crave sweet stuff in the way I do.

Sounds like insulin resistance, but could also be a lack of aerobic fitness, either way exercise will massively help, and it will help with the leptin resistance too.

MrsHarry that's not unlike my usual day. I rarely eat 3 big meals - usually 2 with a snack. Partly because I eat breakfast late every day, usually mid morning, so I'm not particularly hungry for lunch, and I eat my evening meal around 5 or 6pm most nights. I was 7 stone heavier about 3 years ago (size 18/20) but am now a 6/8. I maintain without trying just because the way I eat now has become my normal. When I was 7 stone bigger, I was eating 3 large meals plus frequent snacking, and drinking alcohol every day. I also work out most days.

I'm happy to be strongly corrected but.....I'm overweight (would love to be a size 14), I'm sure that as I've eaten more over the last decade my stomach has stretched, hence I 'need' to eat more to feel full.
I could be seriously mistaken though.

The important point of this - and almost all - food threads
is that eating habits come from the head
not the tummy

I agree with this totally. I used to feel shaky if I went without breakfast but had to a couple of times for medical tests and realise it wasn't too bad at all. I've tried a couple of fast days recently and they seem to reset my appetite plus I've found I can can get through to lunchtime without food. Another useful tool in my arsenal I'm building up to deal with maintenance when I get there eventually.

Also found that exercise helps my eating resolve now. Pushing myself mentally to get through the exercise translates into having the resolve re eating if I need it, if that makes sense. This is all a huge revelation to me and unthinkable this time last year when I was about 6 stone heavier.

I have been up and down a bit, and this is what i have learned:

On my late twenties / ear;y thirties: started to creep up from a 10 (ate everything, was v active in lifestyle, no deliberate exercise) to a 12. Started to eat more 'sensibly'.

Then got into gym and fitness. Ate sensibly and healthily, was slim, muscular, very fit, but actually weighed a lot: muscle. Was a size 10.

Had DC. Was slim during breastfeeding: got into the habit of eating donuts etc. Stopped breastfeedng - went to size 14.

Started eating more healthily and less: back down.

Trouble at work, comfort eating, went back up....

Eating less is a habit: your stomach expects less.

Eating less frequently is a habit: ditto,

Sugar and comfort food is an addiction. You can break it, within a week.

On the whole, thinner people eat less, exercise more, or both in varying degrees.

You can train yourself. But it takes willpower.

At my fittest / thinnest, I actually found the thought of a whole Mars Bar, or toast dripping with butter a horrible thought. I didn't crave sugar and fat. (but always ate a good amount of other foods).

I did low carb bootcamp for a while, and it was an absolute revelation. Not just the weightloss, which was impressive, but the effect on my appetite. I just didn't get hungry between meals any more, and when I did get hungry, it felt much less urgent. I was happy to wait for my meal.

The trouble is, lchf seems to be very unforgiving. As soon as I allowed a bit of carb back in, my weight shot up. It's also so inconvenient and unsociable long-term. Plus I don't really want to be giving my dc the message that cutting out whole food groups is a good thing.

Cutting sugar and processed foods has to be the way ahead though. And portion size.

Cavemum do you have a recommended place to get information on the Whole 30 plan please?

I know Random - it was a thing in a magazine which said it was 1200 as average for a woman. That's why i was getting pissedoff. Only if you are tiny, elderly, inactive etc, an average woman is about 1800. But then again there is no real average. It entirely depends on your particular lifestyle.

Honestly, when i'm thinnest is when i'm drunkest. I find the more i drink the less i eat and the thinner i am. I wouldn't recommend it as a healthy way to lose weight tho! I also find not ever stopping moving whilst awake makes a difference as well. Only eating the left overs from the kids plates. Never having time for any breakfast. Nothing good really.

I lost 4.5 stone over a year last June & have maintained a size 10 since.

However i love food, all food & i know how to eat everything but in order to maintain i have to forgo the shit stuff & eat the good stuff.

I now have weekends off but Mon-Fri im very very strict & have set meals i never defer from

Catch me on a Saturday though & anything can happen

Do you really give a toss? \\size 10 or 14 /// in which clothes shop??.if it is the difference between starving yourself or not !!!!

Strangely I had the same revelation a couple of weeks ago at a ladies night dinner with a fixed menu. Nobody finished their food. The main was a lovely steak (small) and I was the only one to finish. Most people ate a quarter of the steak. Half the starter and no dessert.

Was this competitive self-denial going on? Assuming I'm hungry, I could easily eat a start, a small steak and a pudding. (And I'm a size 6.)

I don't like leaving food in a restaurant, but at home I will stop eating as soon as I feel full. I am also a slow eater (not sure whether that's relevant).

maddie
Yes, your stomach stretches, but you can shrink it.
No snacking, small protein rich meals and lots of water for about three weeks will do the trick.

your right but im like u i hav to eat somthing several times thn i get a sugar craving

i did diet once i wa miserabl and constantly hungry

oh and 14 is normal

It's so much harder once you've had children to stay slim...not necessarily because of physical changes to your body, but because of lifestyle changes.

1. Babies/kids are exhausting so you end up reaching for sugary foods for a boost.

1. You have less time to look after your own well being. Honestly at the end of the day, I really can't be bothered to cook myself something. I've spent my whole day cooking and cleaning...I can't take anymore!

1. Pre DC, I'd go out most weekend and a big part of that was dressing up and looking nice. That kept me motivated to stay slim.

I went away for the weekend with a good friend who doesn’t have an inch of fat on her and a totally flat tummy. I ve always wondered how she managed it, especially after dc. I noticed

1. she skips meals, no b fast/lunch
2. salad for lunch
3. one slice of pizza
4. no pudding, no cheese & biscuits etc
5. eats much less than me
6. no snacks at all
7. meal out was a salad

Afterwards I thought I would try and be super healthy and be like that but I couldn’t do it. I don’t want to be thin so much that I have to watch everything I eat. Life’s too short. I am 10 stone and size 10-12. Would love to loose another stone.

To be slim I need to be either constantly active in a physical job, eat diet food or eat once a day.

Also I can't eat bread and lose weight. Not even a small portion of wholemeal.

I very very rarely eat breakfast. Except maybe when on holiday. If I am consciously dieting I have either salad or homemade soup for lunch. Then veg or salad, small amount of carbs and protein for tea. When I track my calories on mfp I have about 1000 dieting and about 1400 not dieting. If I go to 1500 cals regularly I gain weight.

Everyone is different and needs different calories. And exercise might only be 10% of weight loss but I think there is a massive difference between a generally sedentary lifestyle and an active one.

My friend eats twice what I do. We are similar height and build and age. The difference is she is much more active day to day.

"they were full"

"they were happy to keep going"

"they just did not seem to feel that urge."

As others have said, you don't actually know if any of that is true. For all you know they could be just as hungry as you, but they're not eating because they're basically always dieting.

Very interesting.

What rings true for me is the adage "You get fit in the gym, thin in the kitchen".

Carbs are my downfall. The more carb-heavy my diet is, the hungrier I am because my blood sugars will be darting about all over the place. When I limit my carbs, within a couple of days I lose around two inches round my middle in bloat. I'm tall and a steady 12, though I can veer between "almost a 10" and "needing a 14 really" when I don't watch what I'm doing.

My typical daily food intake is-
Breakfast - coffee/tea, satsuma and 100g full-fat Greek yoghurt.
Lunch - 2 egg omelette/frittata with lots of spinach, grated cheddar. OR a chicken breast with avocado salad.
Dinner - Roasted chicken breast or fish with a shitload of green vegetables.
Snacks - couple of cocktail sausages or couple of dozen dry roasted peanuts or more fruit. In the evenings, an options hot chocolate and a mince pie.

I'm currently losing weight on this. But if I fancy having cake or something when we have it, I'll have a piece. Or if we're out at PILs and it's pasta for dinner, I'll eat that. If my mum offers me a biscuit with a cup of tea, cool. But the rest of the time, the above is my usual.

I'm not especially active at this time of year due to the changeable weather and a flighty 2 year old.

I don’t eat sugary things. Sometimes I put honey on my porridge. If I am alone at weekends I tend to go out, walking, horse riding, cycling until I am exhausted then sleep. I don’t think about food. Maybe food is a social thing for me?

How long is too long to go between meals for you?

I often read threads on here about what time people eat their evening meal. I'm always surprised that the people who have lunch and then are ready to eat at 5. I usually have lunch at 12 and eat in the evening at about 6.30 - 7. I am just not hungry before then, and I don't snack.

I prefer to eat for the first time at about 10, then I will have a lunch at 12:30. Perhaps the two should be combined? Upon reflecting, I think there is a lot of ‘eating out of habit’ - this thread has made me realise I need to start thinking about only eating if I’m really hungry and what I am actually hungry for.

Today I had a slice of toast and butter at about 9 am. A chorizo salad at 12, and crispy tofu with sweet and sour sauce, rice and broccoli at about 7pm. I haven't felt the need to snack.

How late into the evening do you eat, XmasTL? I suspect you eat rather late which is why you're not peckish until 10am next day.