Attention thin women

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't count carbs or anything. I try to eat a lot of fruits and vegetables, raw unsalted nuts, avocados, and some lean meats like chicken, though only 2x a week or so, and a lot of eggs from a fresh, local source. I like fat free or low fat greek yogurt, and I snack on string cheese as well. I eat a lot of carbs - mainly in the form of whole grains and more complex carbs, like (non-instant) oatmeal, whole wheat pita and hummus, whole wheat bread on sandwiches (mainly almond butter sandwiches and egg salad), sweet potatoes, and I love to snack on Kind Bars (fruit and nut bars, not overly processed).

I also have a big sweet tooth so allow myself a reasonable dessert every night. I am pretty active but not like pre-kids, I walk a lot and I try to do short full body strength workouts 2x a week. When my kids are older I hope to get back into yoga.

Really though, I'm genetically thin. I'm sure I'd be heavier if I ate worse and were totally sedentary though.

Good luck OP - losing weight is hard and I admire you for trying. Don't get too caught up in carbs and fat etc. If you can, it might be helpful to meet with a nutritionist for a few sessions. Nutrition can be hard, because we get a lot of false messages from the food industry. I have a public health related graduate degree and my concentration was in nutrition. Even though I've always considered myself a healthy eater, I learned so much from those classes, and only then realized how screwed up the messages on nutrition we get. One helpful tip: it's not about reading labels, it's actually about choosing foods that don't have labels (obviously not all the time) and reading ingredient lists, and aiming to choose foods that have few ingredients, ingredients you can pronounce and recognize, etc.

If only I could find a decent nutritionist. I saw one years ago and she was neither particularly knowledgeable nor insightful. Whereas my friend saw one who had simple, concrete solutions at the beginning and then they built from there. Of course she was being treated for anorexia, so there were different things they were doing.

[Anonymous]

Hi OP. I like "carbage". Funny. I highly recommend weight watchers online. It's how I lost my weight. I found the task of inputting what I ate and tallying the points to be really eye opening. I learned a lot about my diet (I really was eating way too much of the wrong foods) and I learned how to control my portions. I love pasta but now I know I can eat a cup or 2, and offset it with less carb heavy food during the day, instead of eating a large bowl plus cereal plus a sandwich with a lot of bread all in one day. Don't stay away from carbs completely- they're healthy in moderation. For me the nebulous, eat more vegetables, limit carbs, just didn't work. I had to follow a program. After I did WW for about 2 years I don't write down what I eat anymore because it's second nature. I know when I'm overeating now. FYI, I do eat a lot more fruit and veges now, and exercise for 30 minutes 3-4x a week.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, isn't it a vicious cycle: thinking about carbs as a forbidden food just makes you think about and crave carbs even more, to the point where you think you have to "not be friends with that food." I have been there, with all sorts of diets prohibiting various categories of food, and gotten into disordered eating. Now I am five years free of restricting this or that food and have been at my target weight of 120 for five yeras. You really can eat any food and be thin. It's just a matter of calories in and calories out. I recommend you read Geneen Roth's books about eating. Her books helped me. If I want pie and ice cream for breakfast once in a while, it's OK because no food is forbidden: I eat it, I'm satisfied, and no harm done. Please don't restrict carbs; you will lose weight at first and set yourself up for more weight gain to an new all-time high in weight. I've been there! Please save yourself the pain. -- from a 46yo woman who has been to hell and back.

I do not know about the book, but I agree with this method completely. I have lost 33 pounds over the past 6 months counting calories (1600/day), never identifying any food as forbidden and indulging on occasion (but always recording it). I do not do low fat foods, with the exception of greek yogurt because I prefer it over the whole fat version. Because I count everything I tend to eat less in the way of refined carbs, but I have whole wheat pasta regularly and bread on occasion. Protein and fats are very satisfying, so I need them in my diet to not feel ravenous. I am 5'4" and am not a regular exerciser but very active generally.

[Anonymous]

I had a weight problem even in my teens. Whole family is overweight/obese. I became a vegetarian and lost weight without trying. Now, I can eat what I want when I want. Oh, and I eat a LOT of carbs. I found that I was getting about half of my calories from meat previously.

[Anonymous]

I eat a plant-based diet so lots of legumes and veggies. Occasional meat at a friend's dinner party, or weekends, etc. I also make everything so I know exactly what went in it. That includes bread, waffles, baked goods (I have a sweet tooth). No processed foods or "snack" foods. I have 2 kids so I am eating all day but its all in small portions.

[Anonymous]

I think I'm "thin" - 5'8" and 135 lbs, size 4. I did actually used to be heavier in college, but have slimmed down without effort with the following guidelines. I eat anything I want to eat as long as it's "real" - no processed anything. This means I eat real dark chocolate instead of crap candy bars. Full-fat yogurt instead of crap fat free chemical "yogurt". Etc.

1. The number 1 most important thing I do is STOP eating as soon as I feel that twinge that says "all done". As soon as you feel that you might be all done, STOP. It may be delicious, you may have paid for it and you want to eat it all, whatever - stop eating, wrap it up for later. I always remember - and I realize I am lucky - you are not going to be scrounging for your next meal. If you don't eat it all now, you can eat it later or even eat something else later. This is not the last time you are going to be eating a sandwich. There will be more sandwiches! And with wanting to finish food that you paid for and not waste it - I think about paying $7 or whatever not for the entirety of that sandwich, but to be full. So I paid $7 and when I'm full, I got my money's worth, even if there's sandwich left over.

2. Eat frequently - I eat small meals every 2 hours. I literally eat every 2 hours. Eat when you're hungry, don't eat when you're not hungry.

3. Eat big in the morning and taper down toward the evening.

4. I'm vegetarian and I've heard lots of people say they dropped weight after making this chance. I think it might be because there's not a ton of choice and so I eat less - like at Thanksgiving last night, I skipped the sausage stuffing, turkey, and bacon-topped saurkraut.

5. Don't eat anything processed or with fake anything. I never ever ever ever eat fake sugar or anything reduced fat or anything with more than a handful of ingredients. This means no "lite" yogurt (which is actually disgusting to try when you've been eating regular yogurt for as long as I have), no diet coke (actually no sodas ever). Full-fat plain yogurt is delicious and good for you and you only have to eat a half-cup or so before you're full because it's so delicious.

6. Sip water constantly throughout the day. Also, I don't drink anything other than water, tea, coffee, and ocassionally orange juice. Oh, and beer or wine, of which I have a glass nightly.

7. In keeping with the no processed foods thing - only eat whole wheat carbs. No white bread, no white pasta or rice.

8. If you want to eat something, before you eat it, think about if you're really hungry or just bored/tired/anxious. The way I do this is I think "ok, I want to eat these pretzels - if I were really hungry, I could eat these dinner leftovers (substitute whatever healthy substantial meal you have). Nope, don't feel like dinner leftovers, just crunchy salty pretzels. Ok, obviously I'm not really hungry." Then go find something to do/sleep/call up a friend to solve the real issue.

9. Even with all these guidelines, I still love rice krispies treats and can eat an entire batch on ocassion and I do anyway because I love them. Point being, you don't have to stick to "rules" all the time.

[Anonymous]

Yikes, that was long. To summarize, in my experience it has nothing to do with reducing carbs/increasing protein. Here's my summary of how I got thin with no effort:

1. Eat only when you're hungry and stop as soon as you are full.

2. Avoid processed foods and anything with fake sugar or other chemicals

3. Eat small, frequent meals.

4. Drink tons of water and not much else.

[Anonymous]

OP, it's rather simple. You have to burn more calories than you take in each day. The calorie deficit is where the weight loss begins.

I'm 5 7", 127lbs. I was blessed with a high metabolism but with age, that gradually stopped being my friend. To maintain my weight, I exercised A LOT, not necessarily a gym rat but I took whatever opportunity I had to get some exercise, climbing stairs instead of taking the elevator, parking far away from the store/mall so I can actually get a bit of walk in. Getting off one metro stop away from my destination, once again so I could walk. This and also strength training. Use weights and gradually increase them, you have the strength in you, you just have to push yourself is all. The first time I did a push up, I thought my arms would snap off, now I can do 12, without stopping, same with unassisted pull ups. You have to keep challenging yourself.

All that and just eating less, healthy foods definitely but less of it. One PP mentioned stopping the first time you feel full, that worked for me. There is a study that says it takes your brain 20 minutes after eating to register that you are full. If you keep eating for that 20 minutes, imagine how much more you are taking in than your body actually needs. So walk away, drink some water and wait out that 20 minutes to see if you need more food.

Oh, and cut out processed foods, diet soda is NOT your friend. You have to go cold turkey on that crap.

[Anonymous]

If you feel the need to graze on snacks, carrots, celery taste pretty mighty good when you're hungry

[Anonymous]

Yikes. Some of y'all make a lot of assumptions about OP's habits!

[Anonymous]

Weight Watchers Online, that is all you need to know.

[Anonymous]

Weight Watchers makes money as a corporation only because dieting does not lead to long-term weight loss, just to weight cycling for that vast majority of dieters.

[Anonymous]

Weight watchers, counting calories, or eating clean and stopping when you are full are all variants on how to execute portion control.

IMHO, the key to success is being in the right mindset. Weight loss is a marathon, not a sprint. Expect setbacks and when they happen move on. Do not expect "Biggest Loser" type results. Healthy, sustainable weight loss happens slowly over time, with a change to your lifestyle that is long term.

It is the ability to see simultaneously (and execute on) that (1) on the one hand yes, a couple of cookies do matter because you have to get a calorie deficit going somehow and (2) on the other hand you should not derail your diet completely when you eat half a pie because a weight loss battle is not won and lost at a single meal.

More good days than bad is the goal. Be honest with yourself. I am a fan of calorie logging because it works nicely with my temperament. You need to figure out what works for you and is sustainable. You cannot feel constantly deprived, it is a recipe for failure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yikes. Some of y'all make a lot of assumptions about OP's habits!

Because it's SO common. I'm reading these and thinking, yup, that's what I do too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I always remember - and I realize I am lucky - you are not going to be scrounging for your next meal. If you don't eat it all now, you can eat it later or even eat something else later. This is not the last time you are going to be eating a sandwich. There will be more sandwiches! And with wanting to finish food that you paid for and not waste it - I think about paying $7 or whatever not for the entirety of that sandwich, but to be full. So I paid $7 and when I'm full, I got my money's worth, even if there's sandwich left over.

I like this way of thinking about food - it's something I should do more. Thanks!