Anonymous wrote:Eating normally is so subjective and loaded.

I don't starve myself - I eat as much fruit, vegetables, lean proteins and whole grains as I want - but I limit processed food, takeout, dessert, added sugars, alcohol, and refined grains to maybe 5-10% of the time. For me, this is 'eating normally' but it requires discipline. To answer your question, I do it because it is more worth it to me to feel good in my body all (or most) of the time than the short-term good feelings of indulging in that list of things that tastes good but carries marginal to no nutritional value, and would cause weight gain and leave me feeling sluggish.

This, 100%. The only diet days I was ever hungry was because I kind of chose to use my calorie allowance on non - nutritious food so I had to restrict eating further. Eating normally can mean eating with discipline. My French mom has been doing that her whole life. She doesn’t seem to be on diet at all. But her eating is made of daily conscious choices.

And as for me and why I will always fight natural weight gain creep : I have an unforgiving body shape. I am objectively thin but I am a total apple, any weight I gain goes 95% to belly and boobs. Which means I both look generally thin but I am 2 kilos away from not being able to close my pants and to have unhealthy visceral fat. So I’d rather eat and exercise to stay at the bottom end of healthy BMI.

I workout, eat clean and love being fit.

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Anonymous wrote:Nothing tastes as good as thin feels

This is so 90s, it hurts.

The country was far less OBESE then. Bring back the 90s.

There is a nice happy healthy medium between obese and the heroin chic look of the 90s.

What heroine chic? Those girls were 20, almost teenagers. There's something wrong with you if you're not thin at that age.

Heroin chick was not about being thin and healthy. Google. They literally looked like they were on drugs. It's one thing to be naturally thin. It's another to put your health in peril to achieve a certain look.
And do you have daughters who are athletic? Because many athletes are not build like waifs. I have one kid who is petite and at one point, needed to go to a specialist to gain weight. The other came out build solid. She's athletic AF, will likely outgrow me height wise by 6th grade. She will never be "thin" even if she is healthy. By the way, I am not not saying obesity is ok. It's not. But you can be healthy weight without buying into some of the disordered eating crap that permeates this forum.

I don't need to google anything because I remember that era. "Heroin chic" look best described certain models, not just any girl. It was more about their age, lifestyle and particular look they brought to the scene, not starvation. Kate Moss and Christy Turlington are still slender, but in the 90's they had stick skinny figures because of their natural built and their young age. There were still more women who were overweight - that didn't change. "Heroin chic" was just a buzz term to scandalize masses. Now we have hashtag #thiC pushed by instagram models and influencers and that is a look that's truly embraced by women and young girls, because it's so easy to achieve.

God forbid we promote an attainable body type!!

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Anonymous wrote:Nothing tastes as good as thin feels

This is so 90s, it hurts.

The country was far less OBESE then. Bring back the 90s.

There is a nice happy healthy medium between obese and the heroin chic look of the 90s.

What heroine chic? Those girls were 20, almost teenagers. There's something wrong with you if you're not thin at that age.

Heroin chick was not about being thin and healthy. Google. They literally looked like they were on drugs. It's one thing to be naturally thin. It's another to put your health in peril to achieve a certain look.
And do you have daughters who are athletic? Because many athletes are not build like waifs. I have one kid who is petite and at one point, needed to go to a specialist to gain weight. The other came out build solid. She's athletic AF, will likely outgrow me height wise by 6th grade. She will never be "thin" even if she is healthy. By the way, I am not not saying obesity is ok. It's not. But you can be healthy weight without buying into some of the disordered eating crap that permeates this forum.

I don't need to google anything because I remember that era. "Heroin chic" look best described certain models, not just any girl. It was more about their age, lifestyle and particular look they brought to the scene, not starvation. Kate Moss and Christy Turlington are still slender, but in the 90's they had stick skinny figures because of their natural built and their young age. There were still more women who were overweight - that didn't change. "Heroin chic" was just a buzz term to scandalize masses. Now we have hashtag #thiC pushed by instagram models and influencers and that is a look that's truly embraced by women and young girls, because it's so easy to achieve.

You are right. Spent months working out and being hungry daily. My stomach was barely smaller and my joints/body ached every day.

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Anonymous wrote:Nothing tastes as good as thin feels

This is so 90s, it hurts.

The country was far less OBESE then. Bring back the 90s.

There is a nice happy healthy medium between obese and the heroin chic look of the 90s.

What heroine chic? Those girls were 20, almost teenagers. There's something wrong with you if you're not thin at that age.

Heroin chick was not about being thin and healthy. Google. They literally looked like they were on drugs. It's one thing to be naturally thin. It's another to put your health in peril to achieve a certain look.
And do you have daughters who are athletic? Because many athletes are not build like waifs. I have one kid who is petite and at one point, needed to go to a specialist to gain weight. The other came out build solid. She's athletic AF, will likely outgrow me height wise by 6th grade. She will never be "thin" even if she is healthy. By the way, I am not not saying obesity is ok. It's not. But you can be healthy weight without buying into some of the disordered eating crap that permeates this forum.

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Anonymous wrote:Because being thin feels good and looks great. I like when my stomach is flat and my waist is small and tight. People treat me better: men flirt more and women say things like, "you're sooo thin!" with a mixture of envy, admiration and a touch of disgust in their voices. I feel powerful and confident when I am thin. It is worth the effort.

I love your honesty.

"If you worship money and things — if they are where you tap
real meaning in life — then you will never have enough. Never feel you have
enough. It's the truth. Worship your own body and beauty and sexual allure
and you will always feel ugly, and when time and age start showing, you will
die a million deaths before they finally plant you. " DFW.

....in the meantime, I receive a lot of attention and compliments. I've also reached the age where I have zero f@cks left, yet I still want to maintain my slim figure it simply feels good to me.

I would think being so dependent on external validation would be a miserable way to live. Don't fool yourself..you have lots of fx left to give.

+1 I don't particularly enjoy attention or compliments on my appearance. I like feeling healthy and strong--I'd gladly take just that and leave any admiration or envy aside.

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Anonymous wrote:Starving yourself will backfire. Your metabolism will crater and then when you start eating again you will gain weight. You need to make sure you fuel yourself in a healthy way - lots of protein, vegetables, few carbs. Plus strength training for long-term maintenance. Just doing cardio will do nothing for you long-term.

Going hungry and starving are not the same thing. OP isn't asking about anorexia. I am thin and eat 1500 calories a day. Is that starving? No. I feel content, when I eat too much I feel like crap, and I'm sure that most people do too.

For me 1500 calories would be starving. I am currently trying to shave off a few pounds I added during the summer and my calories are set at 2100, which makes me lose about a pound of fat a week. I can’t imagine living on 1500 all the time.

PP here. I am only 5'2 and 125 pounds so 1500 calories is fine for me. I also run a few times a week.

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Anonymous wrote:Starving yourself will backfire. Your metabolism will crater and then when you start eating again you will gain weight. You need to make sure you fuel yourself in a healthy way - lots of protein, vegetables, few carbs. Plus strength training for long-term maintenance. Just doing cardio will do nothing for you long-term.

Going hungry and starving are not the same thing. OP isn't asking about anorexia. I am thin and eat 1500 calories a day. Is that starving? No. I feel content, when I eat too much I feel like crap, and I'm sure that most people do too.

For me 1500 calories would be starving. I am currently trying to shave off a few pounds I added during the summer and my calories are set at 2100, which makes me lose about a pound of fat a week. I can’t imagine living on 1500 all the time.

If I are 2100 calories a day regularly I would gain a pound a week.

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Anonymous wrote:Starving yourself will backfire. Your metabolism will crater and then when you start eating again you will gain weight. You need to make sure you fuel yourself in a healthy way - lots of protein, vegetables, few carbs. Plus strength training for long-term maintenance. Just doing cardio will do nothing for you long-term.

Going hungry and starving are not the same thing. OP isn't asking about anorexia. I am thin and eat 1500 calories a day. Is that starving? No. I feel content, when I eat too much I feel like crap, and I'm sure that most people do too.

For me 1500 calories would be starving. I am currently trying to shave off a few pounds I added during the summer and my calories are set at 2100, which makes me lose about a pound of fat a week. I can’t imagine living on 1500 all the time.

Are you a man and how tall?

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Anonymous wrote:Starving yourself will backfire. Your metabolism will crater and then when you start eating again you will gain weight. You need to make sure you fuel yourself in a healthy way - lots of protein, vegetables, few carbs. Plus strength training for long-term maintenance. Just doing cardio will do nothing for you long-term.

Going hungry and starving are not the same thing. OP isn't asking about anorexia. I am thin and eat 1500 calories a day. Is that starving? No. I feel content, when I eat too much I feel like crap, and I'm sure that most people do too.

For me 1500 calories would be starving. I am currently trying to shave off a few pounds I added during the summer and my calories are set at 2100, which makes me lose about a pound of fat a week. I can’t imagine living on 1500 all the time.

I don't go hungry, I just have cravings occasionally. Sometimes, I indulge, sometimes I don't. Starving to me is when I need food because I need the energy and I'm about to pass out. I'm not particularly hungry after a hard workout or when I've been terribly busy all day and haven't had time to eat so there are times when I "forget" to eat but my body tells me I have to eat.

If you are not in tune with your body and can't distinguish between a craving and real hunger, I think you may have to reframe how you approach food and your diet.

I also like to workout and do so 6 days a week with a combo of running and HIIT workouts. It's essential to my mental health especially running.

So I don't think any of the above is much of a sacrifice. I would be incredibly miserable without exercise and not being able to eat the foods I like.

I'm in my 40s now with a few kids and don't look it at all. But it's a because of a lifestyle I've worked on since my early 20s. Having and raising kids is tough so I would advise anyone to develop healthy habits now so you can be healthy when you have kids and be able to run around with them and frankly, be able to keep your sanity.

Anonymous wrote:Starving yourself will backfire. Your metabolism will crater and then when you start eating again you will gain weight. You need to make sure you fuel yourself in a healthy way - lots of protein, vegetables, few carbs. Plus strength training for long-term maintenance. Just doing cardio will do nothing for you long-term.

Going hungry and starving are not the same thing. OP isn't asking about anorexia. I am thin and eat 1500 calories a day. Is that starving? No. I feel content, when I eat too much I feel like crap, and I'm sure that most people do too.