Naturally thin habits

[cheesysitwots]

Naturally thin people… if you had to contribute your naturally healthy weight to 3 things.. what would they be? Eg eating same things, walking everywhere etc

Small portions/stopping when full (or noticing they're full sooner?)
Little to no snacking.
Fairly active as part of day-to-day life.

That's my sister, who's always been thin, anyway. We were comparing watches recently and her smart watch showed she'd done 20k steps that day - mine was about 5k. I have a desk job, WFH a lot of the time - I do exercise, though. She has a job that involves moving around, and a dog that needs big walks each day, so even though she doesn't specifically go to the gym or anything, she's definitely just doing more than me daily.

I've been thin my whole life and never counted a calorie. It's been easy.
My formula is:
-Being vegetarian
-Cooking from scratch, no UPF
-No puddings or sugary drinks
-Three square meals a day, no snacks

100% this. I really don’t like having big meals at all. I just prefer to nibble all day when I’m hungry. I can actually go pretty a whole day and not notice I’ve not eaten anything. I am naturally very active, not particularly fit but I walk a lot a just very fidgety generally. I also drink copious amounts of tea! No idea if that helps!

That's just not true. I'm naturally very slim, size 6 blah blah. No self control involved I just feel full very quickly, would love to weigh more. In my late 50's and been the same all my life

This isn’t true. I’m naturally very thin and don’t try at all. Now I’m turning 50 I think it’s actually a curse as I really need to be fitter but I’ve never had any motivation to exercise as I didn’t have to. I eat whatever I want when I want but don’t eat a lot - I think it’s just genes.

Only eating when I'm hungry. I eat 3 meals a day, don't snack. Eating a lot of vegetables, they can really fill your plate for not much calories. And a very active lifestyle. I'm a primary school ta and I do at least 15,000 steps a day.

I think genes/hormones must play a part as I’ve always been naturally very thin with more muscle tone than average (even when I don’t work out). I wonder if this is because of my PCOS I’m perhaps more sensitive to testosterone so less body fat %. I also have severe hirsutism, androgenic alopecia, and oily skin. I’ve often felt conscious about looking masculine

I haven’t been to the gym in ages, don’t count my calories but presume I eat more than average as I usually finish my meal when eating out with friends when they don’t. I also tend to have more butter, cheese and whole milk than average person

Average around 7-9k steps a day which isn’t great when considering I don’t go to the gym.

I don’t know if it makes a difference but when I wake up I have little appetite, don’t eat much in first few hours of the day. However I still enjoy eating a big breakfast / brunch but would have it few hours later

I’ve always been naturally slim (excluding 3 pregnancies) as have my parents.

I suppose my three habits are:

Cooking everything that I eat. Rarely eat out for financial reasons, but I’m also a really good cook. At home I can control the amount of oil/butter etc. in my food, and control the portion. I’ve always done this.

Moving all the time. I never sit down. I’m a teacher which involves moving around the classroom all day, I’m very active and walk/cycle/lift weights whenever I can. My 3 young DC keep me on my toes all day. Both my parents are the same, you will never see them sitting down. They are always gardening, DF is on his boat, they cycle, go for walks etc. We never watched tv in my house growing up, only reading a book would have been an acceptable reason to sit down.

Never letting my weight creep up too high. If I notice my weight increasing, due to overeating, travel, too much snacking etc. I act really quickly. I’ll be strict for a few weeks and it will drop back down to normal again. Even after 3 babies I only had about 3-4 kilos to lose after each pregnancy which I was able to do in a few months. My DH, on the other hand, will let himself get 10+kg overweight, then have to spend the next 6 months on a weight loss program. I never let myself reach that.

Yes - we don't keep those in the house usually.

Walking fast. Unless I'm hiking and want to enjoy the scenery, I walk as fast as possible; that means wearing shoes that are comfortable - don't have to be trainers but ballet flats or flip flops are going to make it difficult.

Agreed!! I’m not yet in my 50s but remember hearing how women should be weightlifting to prevent losing bone density rapidly

I wish I got in the habit of it earlier

I only eat when I’m actually hungry and that’s hardly ever at traditional breakfast time, lunch time or dinner time.

That usually means I only have 2 meals a day and I never snack. But I’ll eat whatever I want, I don’t cut out any foods.

Also, when I’m stressed or unhappy I’m more likely to not eat at all as my stomach is in knots rather than comfort eat.

I try to exercise every day, even if that’s just getting in 10k steps by taking the dog on a long walk.

This is me. I usually walk everywhere and am currently on mat leave so covering miles and miles because I’m not very good at being indoors and so I do all naps on the move. I’ve never had a sweet tooth or been a big snacker.

I'm naturally slim and I have very little self control around food.
However, I think it really helps that I rarely drink sweetened beverages (I loathe juice and most fizzy drinks and I also never add sugar to my tea&coffee).

40 mins of brisk walking (split ÷2 on each day) 4 times a week.

Ok! I've been under 50kg all my life.

5' 9"

It’s interesting because there’s similarities here. I can go all day without eating without noticing. Also drink copious amounts of tea! 🤣

But I eat huge meals. When I break a ‘fast’ (or just eat because that’s what it is) it’s a whole thing. I really love food. I got to have the meal, the sides, the correct condiments 😂

I think that’s part of the reason food appeals less at other times of the day. It’s like sure I would like a ham and cheese toastie. But I want that with a nice salad and a home made dressing. I am not just eating a toastie by itself how miserable 🙈

Or sure yes I would love some crostini carbs, but I am having that with goats cheese, pear, Proscuittio honey, walnuts and violet fig chutney. That’s like 15 mins of prep and I have to have all the ingredients in. And it’s likely on checking that the pear has gone over 😂

My friend is naturally slim. She said recently that she's only ever felt hungry regularly when she was breastfeeding. She just doesn't get hungry, she eats at mealtimes but gets full quickly, and doesn't really get cravings. By contrast, I usually feel hungry a couple of hours after eating.

It's genetic. Of course some slim people are constantly depriving themselves or over-exercising to burn calories, but anyone who is naturally slim and seems to eat what they want just got lucky genetically. GLP1s prove this - it's easy to lose weight if you don't feel constantly hungry and you don't crave anything.

I eat whatever I want whenever I want but I credit bring naturally thin to having my evening meal very early. We have dinner at 5 and then we generally don’t eat again until breakfast. So I naturally have a long overnight fast. My appetite is low for large portions though. I eat embarrassingly small meals but lots of snacks in between. I also don’t have the ability to sit still for even a minute but I don’t do any sort of official exercise except walking.

Not eating breakfast

Not having a sweet tooth

Not driving, so walking everywhere.

I can tell you what I do now as a formerly thin person that I didn't do before (and I am about 2 stone heavier for it):

Drink my calories: hot chocolate, tea with sugar, on the rare occasion I do drink alcohol I have wine instead of vodka/diet coke)
Learned to drive. I used to walk everywhere.
Stay in instead of going out clubbing 3 times a week. I think I burned 1000 calories each time!
Go out for meals regularly: something I never did when I was thin. I socialised with alcohol only.
Working from home: I don't worry about how I look to colleagues so much or fitting into my trousers.
Eating mostly carbs: I used to mostly eat veg and protein
Snacking: I never refuse a biscuit or cake, and eat crisps in front of the TV
Became sedentary: I used to go spinning 4/5 times a week, ran half marathons for fun and only holidayed in the lake District

3 meals per day - protein, carb, veg
Trying to stay active, get antsy if have been too sedentary
Don't eat rubbish, didn't grow up with it and think most of it is gross (adults enjoying coke and Haribo, for example, just makes me cringe)
Hate feeling overly full and lethargic
Kids and a full time job have admittedly made these habits crumble a little at times but I firmly believe that one they're ingrained, they are ingrained.
One of those weirdos happy with a square of dark chocolate for pud!

For me it’s small portions (I’m short so I don’t need loads of food) and moving around almost all day long. I spend very little time sitting. I have a very physical job which is part time and then most of the rest of my time is spent walking the dog or moving about the house doing things.

Small portions
minimal snacks between meals
walk the dog twice a day

Honestly...

1. Don't eat at for 48/72hr weekly
2. Eat mainly vegetables
3. Prioritise. I prefer wine over food so often drink my calories 😋