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

Im naturally thin and struggle to put weight on. I can eat whatever I want. I don’t eat healthy at all I have a McDonalds or a chippy for dinner at least 3 times a week just because its easy im not into cooking at all

But I don’t have the food noise that people talk about. Most days I eat my 3 meals but I don’t really snack in between much.
I eat when im hungry but I can also be ok sitting with the feeling of being hungry without running to the fridge, to be honest maybe I would eat more if I could be arse making it but making it is just a hassle

I also do a natural intermittent that a previous poster mentioned not on purpose but on a weekend I can easily skip breakfast cause im just not hungry for it and if I have tea in the morning thats enough to take the edge of my hunger and then time just passes and before I know it its lunch time.

I don’t go to the gym or workout at all but I do have a job where im moving around all day.
Im quite a stressy/highly strung person so I think that helps too it must give me a faster metabolism I think.
My mum also struggled to gain weight so it’s also genetics.

Food just isn’t in the front of my brain all the time its just fuel to me I don’t think about my next meal or particularly look forward to it if that makes sense.
I was just born like that I guess.

Naturally intermittently fasting some days, I have breakfast then usually go til about 2:45pm before realising I should eat something before picking the kids up from school.

stopping eating as soon as I get the “I’m full” signal from my stomach, sometimes that’s a few bites into my dinner, sometimes I eat the whole thing.

and…. Genetics? Both my parents are naturally slim.

Some interesting points.

I do sometimes think I’ll just get this awful thing done and I’ll have a cake etc to treat my self so I would use food like that sometimes. But not every day! Yesterday I did but I haven’t had that feeling for weeks.

But migraines make me feel nauseous
and I can’t eat much . Today I had a bad headache so I had a chocolate spread sandwich for dinner I couldn’t face anything savoury.

If I did want pizza and ice cream I’d have 3 slices and a couple of scoops. I don’t need to eat much to get the nice taste/feeling. I’d feel sick if I ate too much.

I'm talking about the prodrome, the day or so before the migraine. If I get a mad urge for sugar, I expect a migraine in the next 24 hours.

Having said that, sometimes I get the urge to eat during the attack, usually something carby and sweet, and obeying that urge is followed by the pain abating. Other times, I have to throw up before the pain will stop. The gut-brain axis is real.

I don’t need to eat much to get the nice taste/feeling. I’d feel sick if I ate too much.

BED is pretty much defined by compulsively eating until you feel, or even are, sick. It's like your body is a robot that you are trapped inside but someone else has grabbed the joystick and is steering your hands and mouth to eat and no amount of pleading will get them to give the joystick back. BED is treatable with WLIs, which was my principle motive for commencing Wegovy.

If you are genuinely naturally thin - like me - you don’t need to do anything. I eat anything I like, when I like. I don’t eat much first thing in the day. Just have tea and toast with butter and marmalade, then mid morning coffee and bun/cake, light lunch with coffee and cake. Mid afternoon snack, evening meal with dessert, and tea and cake mid evening. Plus anything else I fancy. I am now 78, have never exercised and still slim. Just my metabolism I suppose?

They would be...

I'm not fat.

Not easy.

I spent years being not easy

I'm tall and thin, it's easy being tall and thin. It's not easy being tall and thin.

How do you like them apples?

It's annoying,

Everyone suddenly gets skinny

I took that pain for the lot of you.

I cook from scratch with fresh ingredients every day and am always on the move.

I can't sit still for too long!

I also only eat when hungry and don't bother with snacks - I have always found them unfulfilling and would rather wait to sit down to a proper meal.

I do chores the hard way - elbow grease always gets the job done right the first time!

I take a daily walk for relaxation and where I can I walk to the shops.

Where and how you eat is almost as important as what you eat IME.

If you always aim (within reason) to sit at a table to eat, it cuts out a ton of mindless snacking. It’s easy to get into the habit of grazing throughout the day and eating on the move, especially if you’re busy, and it adds up to a whole load of unnoticed calories that don’t leave you satiated and don’t even register as ‘proper’ food.

Sitting to eat and paying attention to what you’re eating also slows you down, which is important. If I’m really hungry and eating too quickly without thinking about it, I can hoover double the amount. The old trope about your brain taking at least 20 minutes to recognise your stomach is full is true. Most meals take much less time than that to eat, so unless you slow down and eat mindfully, you’re likely to be consuming more than you actually need.

Ditto if you’re eating in front of the tv all the time or sat on the sofa scrolling your phone - not only bad for your digestion and metabolism, but means you’re just eating mechanically whilst engaged in something else, so much more likely to overeat.

The other thing that helps control my weight is that I genuinely hate the feeling of being too full at the end of a meal - I find it sickening. (It’s actually a Japanese dietary principle to only ever eat until you feel 80% full, and it’s extremely rare to see overweight people there.) So I definitely avoid that, but I know lots of people find comfort in that feeling of fullness - and maybe to some extent have lost touch with what a ‘normal’ sense of satiation should feel like - which makes it much more difficult to avoid overeating.

I agree with the stressed thing. My stomach is in a knot most of the time at the minute (family worries) so I can't think about eating.

Usually though, when I realise that I'm hungry I think about what I really want - is it carbs or protein or greens (I can happily eat a huge bag of steamed spinach with an omlette) and then I have what my body is telling me to eat. It might just be beans on toast if I don't have anything prepared, but if I'm really hungry it will be the whole tin and maybe 3 slices of toast. Then I feel sated and won't think about food until I'm hungry again, maybe 5 or 6 hours later. Most of the time though I eat real food rather than UPF.

If I want chocolate I eat it, but not too much - let's say a quarter of a 100g bar of Lindt. If I tried to deny myself a bit of chocolate, I'd probably keep thinking about it, so it would be counter-productive.

I'm pretty active and do lots of walking and Pilates.

I don't understand this post.

Do you not have a cuppa after 6pm? I'd be lost without my 10pm cuppa!

Not actually having an interest in food

Moving all the time

Learning portion control/NOT having to clear your plate as a child

Naturally thin.
Over the course of some days I'll naturally balance out what I need so some days I'll eat a lot more than others. It's not a considered decision, I just won't want to eat.
I am a fidget and highly strung. The first thing to go when I'm stressed is my appetite.
Genetics.

Do not eat after 6 pm. Clean your teeth, then that's it until breakfast.

1. I don't even get home until 6pm, then I get to eat a snack and leave again by 6.20 two nights per week. If I didn't eat after 6, and after 10pm on the nights I'm out, I wouldn't get any dinner at all.
2. Migraine sufferers should not fast for more than 5 hours during the day, or 13 hours overnight. This is not compatible with a 6pm food curfew.

NOT having to clear your plate as a child

I think this is really important.

I’ve had a BMI of 18.5-19 for most of my adult life without having to limit or control what I eat. I don’t know exactly why but these are some of the possibilities:

I’m always busy so I don’t think about food inbetween meals. Active and always on the go - I can quite easily do 20,000 steps on a busy weekend day.
Stress makes me eat less, not more. I can’t eat until I’ve calmed down. I have to be relaxed and ready to eat before I eat.
I almost always eat sitting at a table (or desk). 3 meals a day plus a sweet treat usually in the afternoon. No picking at food inbetween.
I like the taste and texture of fresh fruit, veg, and herbs. I do eat ready meals sometimes for convenience but with plenty of fresh veg added. I don’t bother with takeaways. Genuinely not keen on a lot of processed food eg chicken nuggets that other people seem to rave about.
Mainly drink water, green tea, white tea /coffee, and a small fruit juice or smoothie or small glass of wine in the evening. Followed by more unsweetened herbal tea.
I reach satiety easily. When I heard people’s accounts of ‘food noise’, I realised I don’t have this as I only feel like eating if I’m hungry. If I smell food when I’m feeling satiated, it smells unappealing and sometimes even makes me feel a bit nauseated.
I avoid any artificial sweeteners. The aftertaste is vile to me and also I think they mess up people’s ability to feel satiated. Real sugar / honey / syrup or nothing.

The only time in my life I’ve been heavier than I should be was when I regularly drank a lot. 5 pints of beer and a portion of chips on the way home does eventually take its toll.

Ha! Look I got pain for being a 'skinny bitch' for years. Skinny bitch was almost a mantra I heard.

So. Now everyone can be skinny, amazing. I got abuse for years for being 'skinny', seems desirable though? So why the abuse? I feel a bit spiky about it anld why wouldn't I?

I'm tall muscular and lazy and I love food, and am not afraid of carbs.

So.

That's my naturally thin habit,

I don't really eat sweet things though, mebbe that's the fucker.

I think that poster was just saying what she did, as OP asked. I don’t think she was saying “everyone else, regardless of lifestyle and other health conditions, can and should do this too”.

I’ve had a BMI of 18-20 my whole adult life, nearly 50 now.
yes I’ve gained a little in menopause by only a few lbs over the last 5 years.
I think to break it down to 3 things.

1. I bloody love exercise, running,biking, weights, cross fit. I got the Les Mills App the other day and I wanted to do ALL the classes in one go. It gives me such a buzz. I have to deliberately have rest days .
2. Even if I’m not exercising I’m busy. On my non work days ( desk based for 10 hours when I am at work) I can do 40000 steps walking dogs, gardening, house work , pottering etc.
3. Food. To me it’s a chore. I eat because I’m hungry but I don’t get cravings or ever think about food. I do like sweet things but menopause has meant I get awful sugar crashes afterwards so I now eat less of these. I hate processed food and sweeteners though, they taste revolting to me so I tend to cook from scratch. Drink mostly water or black coffee or green tea.

Intermittent fasting. (I am not very slim but I’m doing this at the moment to lose weight).

Nothing after dinner and nothing until lunch the next day. The less often you eat, the less hungry you feel. I’ve lost a few pounds since Easter (need to lose 20ish).

Slim people just don’t think about food.

Eat when hungry. Recognise when fill.

Disinterested in sugar / chocolate / cake sweets, and don’t snack.

Satisfied with 2 alcoholic drinks when out.

Also randomly, never have breakfast. Just not interested.

I never try with any of this, it’s just me.

I’ve lost 3st this last year op.
Here’s what I’ve done differently…

Always eat a protein full breakfast - even if not hungry just have a little. Something like Greek yoghurt (0% fat is higher protein) with a tablespoon of chia seeds stirred through (leave overnight to swell if possible but 1/2 hr is fine) banana or blueberries or raspberries on top. Or a protein shake (organic protein co vanilla is the best!) or eggs on good quality toast (soda bread/ sourdough / very seedy brown) - one slice!
Coffee with collagen (i like ancient and brave)

lunch will be something like a mixed bean salad or tuna salad or leftover dinner - always eat home made food. No sandwiches- I don’t eat meat but if I did other protein would be involved here (chicken etc)

If I need a snack in the day, this is less likely with the concentration on protein, I have fruit- a banana, frozen blueberries, a kiwi whatever- this helps me with energy, fibres and digestion.
Some cubes of cheese and a handful of olives if I’m feeling savoury.
Also try to drink 2 litres of water a day - a pint first thing, then keep refilling glass by my desk throughout the day.

Dinner will be veggie or fish related - e.g: lentil lasagna, baked cod and roasted veg with olives, Tuna steak and broccoli, Prawn or tofu stirfry- something along those lines. If I’m not that hungry I’ll have a bowl of homemade soup or just steam up some green veggies and eat with butter and salt.

Re: portion size - I put less than I would previously on my plate, eat that then seriously ask myself do I really want more, or could that be lunch tomorrow?

If I want something sweet I try to go for dark chocolate or more yogurt and fruit. I like to bake, so if i’ve made a cake for my family I’ll just have a small slice and make sure others eat the rest!

I relax things on the weekends and will have a couple of glasses of alcohol if i fancy it - but not a whole bottle of wine, as I would have done when I was younger.

Exercise wise, I have a sedentary job make sure I go to the gym at least 3 x a week and walk the dog. I started with a PT a couple of years ago and it’s made me do much more confident, I know I’m doing things safely, I started with very little strength or balance - and have really seen an improvement. I love feeling stronger. I notice it in every day tasks like bringing the shopping in from the car for example, I just pick it up myself, whereas before I’d have called my DH to come and help me.

I’m a healthy BMI now and have built habits I’m happy with and want to stick with.

I’m sorry that was long! Hope it helps.