Breakfast. Coffee with some creamer. Full fat yogurt and fresh fruit. Sometimes scrambled eggs and fruit.

Snaxk: Veggies and Hummus

Lunch: snack on cheese, hard boiled eggs , veggies with blue cheese dressing . Sometimes protein from the night before

Dinner: protein cooked in some non cream sauce with side of cooked veggies. Small side of rice Sometimes. I do use butter and oil in my cooking. Usually once a week we have pasta of some sort which I load up with cheese.

After dinnee: a couple handfuls of chips or candy

2 nights a week I have a couple glasses of wine . 1 night a week we either go out or do takeout and I order not healthy food.

Buckwheat breakfast bowl

Lunch: Beet or tomato mozzarella salad w/ balsamic dressing (homemade)
Rice crackers or carrots with hummus

Dinner: small salad, a sort of veggies with meat or seafood.

This is the basic meal during the week. Weekends when out I do not care what I consume.

5’9, 135

B: coffee, soy milk, 2 pieces of bread, half an avocado, 2 fried eggs, half a big orange

L: one Costco chicken tamale, frozen fruit/almond milk smoothie with banana and 2 scoops protein powder

D: pasta with tomato sauce + fried peppers and onions + grilled chicken breast

I’ll probably have some dark chocolate later. On days I work out I usually would have an additional protein bar and/or popcorn

It's not entirely genetic, but, I think, a combination of genes and habits.

For example - My mom was thin (say BMI of 21-22ish) in her 20s and 30s and somehow got overweight in her 40s and 50s. Now in her 60s she has taken up yoga and while she is not down to that BMI again, she is a lot slimmer and fitter but still a bit overweight. She loves to cook and eat and will never diet. Her diet is moderately healthy.

My sister (now mid-40s) has always been overweight. Over the years she has been at the heavier and lighter ends of overweight. She is physically active - plays tennis, walks a lot for exercise. Also loves to cook and eat, and eats a rich diet - eats out often and parties every weekend.

I (early 40s) have always been thin. Pre-kids my BMI was 19, post kids, it has edged up to 20.5. I am physically active - have always exercised regularly. However since having kids I have to be careful about what I eat or else I start gaining weight/ getting flabby. I too love to cook and eat but I am very careful. No more than two alcoholic drinks per week, dessert rarely, vegetarian diet, lots of fruits, vegetables, nuts, beans, eggs but very little bread, rice, pasta.

Here's what I ate today:

breakfast - 1 cup coffee with whole milk
2 scrambled eggs
1/2 avocado

lunch: big salad with a peanut dressing

dinner: cauliflower rice with Thai veg-tofu curry
small bowl berries

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone really agree with this image of a 24 30 as overweight? I would think this is really not healthy to call a person looking like that overweight by any standards.

Agree 100%

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I watch my portions, eat several fruits and vegetables, lean proteins and some salty and sweet stuff, if I want it. 90% of what I eat has nutritional/energy value, 10% covers my cravings. I just don't go crazy. 48f, 5'7 135, no dieting.

So what is on your plate? in Terms of daily schedule? Because the general list does not do it.

This is what I ate today, between the hours of 5:30am and 5:15pm

1st breakfast Coffee, oatmeal (1/2 c), apple.
2nd breakfast Boiled egg, toast with butter and an orange.
Lunch 3-4 oz grilled chicken, garden salad, 1 tbs Italian dressing
Snack cheese stick, mixed raw veg: orange pepper, carrots, cucumber, celery. A handful of Tostitos chips
Dinner: lean hamburger, boiled new potatoes, green beans, cherry tomatoes, a bit of ketchup
Dessert: 2 fudge stripe cookies

I don't eat after dinner, due to reflux. This is a typical day.

Anonymous wrote:It’s really not all genetics. Genetics don’t change all that fast - environment does. It used to be common to be thin after 40.

My parents are both obese, but my siblings and I miraculously developed good habits. We eat real food. We listen to our appetite. We don’t eat in response to our emotions. We exercise and are active because it feels good and is fun.

My BMI has always been around 20, sometimes it slips into the underweight range but I try not to let that happen. What I eat varies from day to day but today I ate:

Breakfast - 3 eggs, 1/2 cup oatmeal, banana, pecans, latte

Lunch - Daily harvest flatbread, chocolate square and spoonful of peanut butter

Snack - yogurt

Dinner - chicken breast and broccoli, chocolate

I’m mindful of eating healthy, fresh foods because it helps me feel good but I definitely don’t diet or restrict quantity of food

If it is genetic, then you take after the parent that is not overweight? My mom is obese, my dad had diabetes but was normal weight, occasionally would gain some. My paternal grandfather was very skinny, as was my maternal grandma.
So it is really genetic or is it also based on activity levels? My dad was always working, so were those skinny grandpa and grandma. My mom barely moves, and barely moved when she was younger too! She used to have muscles but now she is just kind of like a soft marshmallow.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thin after 40 is genetic.

Disagree. Skinny after 40 is intentional, not genetic.

Agree with Disagree.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thin after 40 is genetic.

Absolutely this. Generic or starving herself. You will get responses like “I had 17 cheeseburgers today and I am 5 foot 10 and 100 pounds!” And guess what - their mothers are those old skinny women that can barely stand up on their stick legs. Genetics or disorder after 40. 100% true. I’m not talking about normal - I’m talking about “skinny.”

Absolutely NOT.

Lots of people at 40 all of the sudden skinny up. Often that are in all kinds of life situation end up being skinny while they never been before.

I will say that it was easy being 107lbs prior to turning 45 or so.
When I was around 107-110lbs, I would eat a huge breakfast, a decent lunch, and a small dinner. All the foods, not avoiding anything. Fruit snacks too, which I did not count, but it was rare that I just had snacks, almost never.
But, I did eat fish in the evening and avoided carbs in the evening. If I am being totally honest, I remember that used to eat just a simple sandwich for lunch. Two often. Those were the two slices of bread with some mayo and a piece of lunch meat inside. That's it. One slice size of the bread. Not like Subway sandwiches, never that.
I also had a super active job. It involved a ton of walking and lifting at that time.
But, when I stopped that job, I ate similarly and maybe even more. But, I played tennis for 5-6 hours a week, in an insanely hot climate. I rode horses once, or twice a week. Hour-long rides, galloping, and trot, those that ride know why I make a difference between a horse walking and galloping. Clearly, I did not gallop the poor horse for the whole hour!
I mean some mornings I would have this insane Balkan pastry with cheese feeling, burek, and a huge portion of it.
Now, at 50, it seems I can have a strawberry and gain weight. I also cook and eat what I cook, very little ordering food.
Going out to eat, I always skip the fries. But, I love Texas Road House bread, so I don't skip that!
So, I don't think I fall into your category of not dieting anymore. I don't diet, but I sure pay attention to what I eat.

Anonymous wrote:Thin after 40 is genetic.

Disagree. Skinny after 40 is intentional, not genetic.

It’s really not all genetics. Genetics don’t change all that fast - environment does. It used to be common to be thin after 40.

My parents are both obese, but my siblings and I miraculously developed good habits. We eat real food. We listen to our appetite. We don’t eat in response to our emotions. We exercise and are active because it feels good and is fun.

My BMI has always been around 20, sometimes it slips into the underweight range but I try not to let that happen. What I eat varies from day to day but today I ate:

Breakfast - 3 eggs, 1/2 cup oatmeal, banana, pecans, latte

Lunch - Daily harvest flatbread, chocolate square and spoonful of peanut butter

Snack - yogurt

Dinner - chicken breast and broccoli, chocolate

I’m mindful of eating healthy, fresh foods because it helps me feel good but I definitely don’t diet or restrict quantity of food

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone really agree with this image of a 24 30 as overweight? I would think this is really not healthy to call a person looking like that overweight by any standards.

Well, it is a cartoon. In my observation people with a BMI 24-30 look overweight to some degree in real life.

Lol genetic not generic

Anonymous wrote:Thin after 40 is genetic.

Absolutely this. Generic or starving herself. You will get responses like “I had 17 cheeseburgers today and I am 5 foot 10 and 100 pounds!” And guess what - their mothers are those old skinny women that can barely stand up on their stick legs. Genetics or disorder after 40. 100% true. I’m not talking about normal - I’m talking about “skinny.”