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

I walk a lot. I used to cycle to and from nursery with the kids and now I walk alongside the youngest who cycles to school, even in the rain. I walk a journey that could be a car ride, and I have always encouraged the kids to be on foot too. Then I walk back home and get into the car before heading off to work. I know that it could be more efficient to drive them to school/ nursery and then head on from there, but the journey on foot does us all good. And for a long time one school was 30 mins away at a child’s pace, and in the opposite direction to work.

(I do have a dog, but was active before having him)

I snack quite often on seasonal fruits, apples being my favourite: Jazz, Granny Smiths, Ambrosias, Braeburn, I love the lot! I can get through one Apple by 11am, another after lunch, and then one on the way home in the car or later on even.

I grow a lot of things in my garden: Swiss chard, peas, blackberries, apples, potatoes, pumpkins, tomatoes; and I have developed a taste for recipes involving my own crops. For instance, salads using Swiss chard, and then I make a dressing using garden grown thyme, parsley and onions; you can decide how much oil/ vinegar/ salt etc that you want to add. It might seem small, but then you avoid unnecessary additives which can also be unhealthy in the long term, such as palm oil or various hydrogenated fats and oils. Same with roasted potatoes, it’s amazing how many additives are added to shop bought frozen roasties.

I’ve always been naturally slim (size 8 - eat lots of choc and cakes) and I:
walk everywhere
fidget a lot
sleep well (regulates metabolism)
eat a savoury breakfast every day (garlic mushrooms on toast or avo on rye bread or boiled egg)
nervous energy
cook dinners from scratch every night
don’t eat ultra processed foods (except sweet treats like cookies as they’re my weakness)
don’t eat many crisps
i do drink alcohol and have puddings every night

Lift heavy weights. Eat a decent breakfast with plenty of protein, fibre and some healthy fats and carbs before doing so. Have more protein and healthy carbs afterwards. Eat a large salad for lunch with plenty of protein and fibre, some healthy fat. Eat less later in the day and go to bed feeling slightly hungry. Manipulate the amount and type of food you eat according to your activity levels and the time at which you workout etc. Fidget a lot. Cut out booze. Walk a lot. Eat whole foods and limit sugar and UPF. Try to reduce stress and get plenty of sleep.

I have two sons. One has a huge appetite (like me) and prioritises food, always thinking about next meal. eats huge portions - gets away with it at the moment as he’s young. But I worry he will end up needing to diet all his life like me.

Second son forgets to eat, not much appetite. Skinny.

Raised them the same, think it’s a gene thing

I don’t drink alcohol.

But other than that, I’m just not particularly hungry. I’ve never had a big appetite, I eat as much as I want - I just don’t want that much. I know that’s not helpful if you’re after habits, but for me that’s what it is. I don’t have good willpower, I’m not disciplined, I’m just not that interested in food.

I agree. My dds are the same. One has always loved her food. She's not overweight yet due to being active/young, but may be in future. The other eats but has never been that interested and is skinny.

Eat slowly
Sensible/ healthy/ satisfying meals
Exercise as a way of life

Listening to just one chapter of Paul McKenna's "I can make you thin" which I downloaded from Audible was a complete game changer for me. Essentially it is all about understanding your hunger and eating accordingly. I now know why all my previous attempts to lose weight failed. There are many posts on this thread about the same thing, it's not a Paul McKenna thing just in case there are people who are a little suspicious about hypnotherapy. I made the change 3 years ago and my weight has kept off ever since. This has never happened to me before in 30 years of yoyo dieting. It's so obvious really.

This. I just don't get desperately hungry, and I also hate feeling full. I find it so uncomfortable. I can quite easily go until early afternoon on a few cups of tea and an apple because I've just not felt hungry. But then will eat a decent late lunch, full dinner and have evening snacks. Plus I rarely do less that 10k steps just living daily life and often closer to 20k.

Only eating if you are actually hungry. Stop eating when you are no longer feeling hungry rather than eating until you are beginning to feel full.

Going for a walk for 1 hour a day. This also builds strength in your knees if they are hurting. It's counter intuitive I know but it really works.

-Walk everywhere. I can't stand sitting in the car all day everyday.
Cycle an old fashioned bicycle with a basket in normal clothes if destination is too far to walk.

-Eat fresh foods, especially vegetables. Don't snack.
Stop eating when you've had enough

-Weigh yourself in kg, not stone. Don't use shapewear. Approach maintaining physique as preventative healthcare. Be naked often. Know how you look. Expect that you will be the same and get on with it.

I am almost 47 and would describe myself as fairly slim (BMI 20-21) rather than thin. I have had to make a few changes in my 40s but they have been fairly gentle - I’m aware I may well start gaining a lot in the not too distant future.
Anyway FWIW here is what I do and I consider myself to have a healthy approach to food. This is generally how I eat but not rigid rules and I don’t stress if I do something different:
I eat real food - genuinely no desire ever to McDonalds for example - and try to ensure I get lots of fibre. I don’t deny myself anything but try to be moderate with sugary food. Try not to eat vast quantities of carbs in a meal - so I have pasta but made sure I have salad and protein with it and try to get fibre in too. We eat dinner fairly early and I don’t eat again until breakfast, which I try to have after 9am (this was introduced in my 40s!) as a gentle form of fasting.
I never eat diet food. I never have low fat - real butter only for example. I have something sugary daily but try not to make it excessive and aim to have it after lunch. I eat 3 meals a day and almost never snack. I aim to ensure my meals are satisfying- both physically and mentally. I think these things are important. I don’t go hungry - I eat far, far more than many on here, but I am also pretty consistent - no all or nothing mentality - and listen to my body (only possible if you eat reasonably well). I don’t beat myself up if I eat a few more chocolates than I should, but equally I would never sit in front of the TV with a tub of ice cream and a spoon or a packet of biscuits - I would have a portion in a bowl or on a plate.
In the past I got into a starve/binge mentality and got out of it by eating more and eating properly satiating food and not cutting out any food groups. I also exercise regularly (running) and have started a small bit of strength/weights (honestly not much - 15 mins twice a week max) - and it is making a difference to how I look.

Genetics is the short answer but with these specific effects:

The main one is that I stop eating once I’m full. It’s not under my control. My throat goes tight and I struggle to continue. It’s actually a bit anti social (I often discreetly slide food onto poor dh’s plate). Most people I know can keep eating past that point. If it’s delicious they’ll finish it. I literally can not.

One of my friends feels faint and a bit shaky if she skips lunch whereas I can easily go 12 hours without food and not notice. 16 hours is just minor discomfort. It’s called intermittent fasting now but for years I had to keep quiet or people would be all over me for skipping breakfast. I love this fad, because I’ve found that people are much happier thinking that I’m suffering to stay thin.

I rarely drink more than a glass of wine because my tolerance is pathetic and it goes to my head. I mostly drink water or rooibos tea. A couple of lattes, a juice and half a bottle of wine add up to a lot of extra calories across the day.

Surely the secret of being " naturally thin" ....is being naturally thin ie luck, genes.
Otherwise if everyone followed the same diet/habits/rules, we'd all look thin the same .
...and that blatantly isnt the case

Movement of any kind and frequent exercise to get your heart rate up as well as weights/yoga/toning execises.
Eat healthily wide range.of different fruits and veg, protein and pulses. Home cooked food where possible.Not necessarily low fat.Just dont eat pudding like cheescake, tarts, gateaux or cake.
Don't drink a lot of alchol.

My sister and her daughters are all very slim- size 6 to 8. My sister in her 50s has always been a size 8. They just aren’t that bothered about food generally and eat small portions. I, on the other hand, am very greedy and am obsessed with food. 😭🤣

No empty calories (sweets, juice, etc)
9/day 7 veg and 2 fruits
biggest meal is breakfast. Dinner is more of a light snack and never eat past 6pm mon-Fri.

Genes. Slim mum. Naturally athletic. i also exercise a lot, weight myself regularly, am vain, and am a product of the 90s where kate moss and heroin chic reigned supreme.

5’2 and 8st5.

I'm someone who isn't naturally thin and only stopped binge eating (to disordered levels, hence the username) by taking Wegovy. My Wegovy experiences lead me to think that naturally-thin people lack the "food = reward" and "food = feel better" links in their brains as well as not having "food noise".

"I've shipped a feature on time" = "I deserve a reward" = food. Naturally-thin people don't have this automatic link.

"I've had a bad meeting" = "I need a pick-me-up" = food. Naturally-thin people don't have this automatic link either.

The WLIs make it easier to say "I'd rather maintain my weight loss than eat chocolate" in the face of that, but they don't break those automatic links that were driving the terrifying "10 inch pizza and pint of Ben and Jerry's" binges. I still have to fight those thoughts, and the minority of times when I cave and have a chocolate bar cause me to stay at the high end of "healthy weight". For someone to be thin, they probably don't have those thoughts at all.

It also doesn't help me that stress breeds both the "feel better" cravings and also migraines, and even on Wegovy my migraine prodrome food cravings are unstoppable. More migraines = more eating = more weight gain.

It occurs to me as I read that last paragraph back that I'm not alone in finding that migraine, a neurological disorder, causes such intense and unstoppable cravings. This makes me think that food cravings in general may have a neurological basis, instead of or as well as a psychological one. That WLIs work for obese people who've struggled to lose weight also speaks to that. If I'm right, then naturally-thin people are neurologically different from perennially overweight people.

I’ve never felt the need to binge food, if I’m full I stop eating. It’s hard to explain, once I’m full I can’t force any more food in and I don’t understand how people are full and can still eat if that makes sense? I never crave food like chocolate etc, I don’t snack, I have breakfast some mornings and not others, if I’m not hungry I don’t eat and I never feel “starving”, I feel hunger but not to the point I can’t wait on dinner. I can ignore when I need to eat and easily skip meals, not to be thin but I forget I’m hungry. I rarely drink tea or coffee because I don’t like the taste very much and prefer water or the odd can of zero sugar coke.

Yes I often give food to my DH in a restaurant. I rarely would ever finish the massive portions they dish out. Makes me feel full and sick.

I can never eat dessert out either. I’d need to eat it an hour later.

but I can go shaky too. I need to eat little and often.

The only people I know who are what I would describe as "naturally thin" are genetically blessed that way. They also move a lot. All the other really slim people I know work very hard at it. They think about what they eat and drink and exercise a lot. My best friend declares she's full after about half a raspberry. I suspect she is starving hungry a lot of the time. I prefer to be a stone heavier than her and enjoy what I eat and just exercise as much as possible, albeit reluctantly a lot of the time!

A lot of slim folk are very slow eaters and sometimes don't even seem to be that interested in the food they're eating.

I couldn’t even conceive of eating a desert after I’ve had a main. I’d feel very ill having that much food in one go too.

personally if I want a slice of cake, that would be a meal for me . I am a bit guilty of having desserts for breakfast or lunch if I’m peckish!

I can eat whatever I want and I have a massive sweet tooth. I don’t eat more veg than the average person and I eat stuff like McDonalds if I want to. I do about 5k steps a day. I would never weigh food and rarely weigh myself.

I don’t eat big portions though and don’t drink many calories or alcohol. I would never finish a pack of biscuits or a multi pack of crisps like I’ve read about people doing! That’s shocking to me.

I eat little and often. I snack all evening. But if I have a main meal I’ll equally leave two bites if I feel full. My DH will be like why don’t you finish it - I say why would I?

I've been about 7 stone all my life. My sister is the same. It’s only been in my 40s I’ve put half a stone on from eating too many snacks. I got into a bad chocolate habit in Covid.

I find once a week I won’t bother to eat dinner. Just don’t need it, I’ll just have a snack later

Yes! I never order starters either I wouldn’t be able to eat the main.

I had a Belgian bun for lunch yesterday. Someone had annoyed me and I couldn’t be bothered to make a sandwich