What the Skinny Girls Do!!!
 

Let's face it. The skinny girls aren't just skinny due to good genetics. There are definately some things they do (or don't do) that help them to stay thin.

Everyone knows someone thin. Ever watch them eat? :mouse:

Here's some of the things I have observed about "skinny girls":

They:

pick at food...eat a tiny bite, put it down...do something else for like 10 minutes...take another bite

similar situation...take fork push food from one side of plate to the other...repeat...possibly take one bite...take two bites...push food...maybe take the fourth bite

NEVER EVER clean off your plate

If boyfriend orders pizza they might have one slice, but they never eat the same amount as boyfriend

say things like, "I don't like sweets..."

don't eat when they are not hungry

Does anyone else know of some skinny girl tips? I've honestly tried to incorporate some of these techniques into my eating habits. For example, I am now eating much more slowly. I am also learning to not clean off my plate.

I find it amusing to think of the things skinny girls do. My mother is one of them and she agrees that her eating habits are different.

Sandi

170/156/120

"all glory comes from daring to begin"

My younger DD (who is not skinny, but normal weight) will have half a cookie and then if she is full asks to save it. And then she goes off to do something else.

Both girls will stop when they are full and say, I need to rest my stomach. And even if they only ate a little I say, fine...because they can eat a little more when and if they do get hungry again.

And my DH, who is thin (I know he is a guy but I do try to observe what he does!) will eat a snack if he is hungry and then go on to other stuff...whereas I sometimes try and try not to eat and then - I am so hungry I pick and pick at stuff. Better to just eat the snack when you need it.

DDs and DH I notice do GO ON to other stuff -they genuinely do not keep thinking about goodies. Good idea!

Lidian

You're so right, Sandi!
My "oldest" friend is model-thin. We actually had the same size waist size in college, but she's about six inches taller than me. Anyhow, anytime we go out for a meal together, she gets half-way through her food, starts pushing it aside and says, "This is too much. Why did I order all this food?"
Meantime, Ellis can't get HER food down her gullet fast enough! But as soon as my friend stops eating, I think, "Damn, now I have to stop eating, too! Otherwise everyone in the restaurant will think I'm a pig!"

Adopting some of their habits is an excellent idea!

Lidian, my daughter is the same. She actually never used to eat desserts! My parents thought there was something wrong with her. :) She's a very good eater. When she's full, she stops. And she'll make herself a salad if she "feels the need".

Ellis: I'm not a big dessert eater myself. I can't imagine having room for it after a meal. When you go out to eat the portions are huge. I easily used to be able to "shovel" it all down and want for more!!!!!
:ink:

I guess I'm just learning to improve my way of thinking.

I shared this tip somewhere else on the boards, but it really works:

When you go out to eat immediately ask for the take out box when the waitress serves your entree. Half the meal and put the take out aside for the next day. You can clean off your plate guilt free and you get a really good lunch for the next day!

I read this idea somewhere and I love it!!!

Sandi

My oldest DS has had a bite of cake halfway to his mouth and put it down because he was full (!!) Some of it IS metabolism though. My MIL eats like a pig and is still thin!!!

I agree that a great deal of it is due to metabolism. Heres my 2 cents though.


Portion size (i.e. if it is on my plate no matter what size I have to eat it.) If you eat off of a smaller plate then it looks like you are eating more, hence tricking your brain. Alot of thin people do not eat as much.....

What are they eating? Filling up on salads and veggies seems to be the rule of thumb, they tend not to eat a large amount of carbs like rice, bread and potatoes.... Meat is usually lean and not fried....

What are they doing? Alot of thin people are figgiter(sp) they never slow down, they walk everywhere, they take the stairs, they don't sit down, go go go go... no sitting in front of the TV with a bowl of ice cream or a bag of chips....

In between meal snacking consists of low fat, low calorie not that they don't eat them it is what they are eating... pretzels (no fat) instead of chips, sugar free candy if they eat it, veggies to go, fruit.....

Most thin people do not make excuses not to exercise, I am too tire isn't usually in their vocabulary and if there isn't time during the day then they get up earlier.

Hummmmm, so can I see what I am doing wrong?


Amy

My boyfriend forgets to eat all the time. He doesn't have to eat apon waking up. If he doesn't feel like finishing it, he doesn't. He only eats the part of the dinner he likes. True, he can eat a 1 pound steak but he skips the pasta and the bread. He is a major fidgeter. He never finishes his soda, I throw 1/2 cans away all the time!!!!! He has been known to eat a whole box of little debbie snacks, but you won't see him eat for another 12 hours. So he might not eat healthy all the time, but he is thin!

Some thin people are way out of shape
 

Sometimes you can be thin just because of genetics and a good metabolism. I have a thin friend who could never keep up with me physically or just daily, and I still am about 15 pounds overweight. Oddly enough she has two overweight parents!! I wonder how she was set to be so thin? (she's 32 so its not an age thing) She may be a "skinny girl" eater...but is NOT an exerciser at all!!

Sandi

I agree, Sandi. I have a friend who is a size 4 who can drink beer all the time and bagels with cheese, and when she describes what she eats it sounds like a lot more than I eat. I will say that she doesn't eat snacks between meals, but that can't be the whole reason why she is more than 25 lbs lighter than I am. She exercises sporadically too, nothing regular. When she is stressed she will stop eating.

When I am stressed, that's when I START. Bring on the buttered toast and chocolate mints!

Lidian

When I first saw this topic all I could think of is my friend Kimmy. Kimmy is a runner but LOVES sweets. She is one of the few people I know that have eaten a full container of Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream with me. She weighs about 105 lbs at 5'3 and is absolutely wonderful about it.

Kimmy packed her lunch for work everyday. She never brought bags of things. She had little packets of single serving everything in her lunch. Carrot slices and apple slices stand out the most. She ate all the time but only a little bit. She never ate emotionally, she always would tell you if she was happy or sad. And she mostly laughed and tried to look on the bright side of things. She also lived. She didn't understand how I could spend hours in front of the computer or lying around watching movies. She moved all the time. Plus when she made treats she was excited about it. It was a treat! Chris you have to try my fudge I haven't made it in forever. And it was delicious fudge and in the whole time I knew her we had it once.

I miss Kimmy, she moved to New Jersey following the romantic whim of a weekend. But I guess she left a few lessons behind. Mostly to live and follow your heart.

Miss Chris

Well, I can remember being thin (although I thought I was HUGE at the time) and I have to say that I was more active then, less time to think about food.

Also, recently I've started approaching mealtime with the mindset that I will eat UNTIL I AM NO LONGER HUNGRY rather than eating until I am full. There is definitely a difference, and it takes some discipline/practice to notice that difference.

S.
166/159!!!/135

Miss Chris: your friend Kimmy sounds like a special person who wasn't afraid to take risks...that's a lesson I try to remember, but I mostly play my life safe...I keep thinking I'll take risks soon!

Sabrina, we started at a similar weight and we are now at a similar weight. I agree with the eating when full. I also think you feel really full when you eat very slowly.

Sandi

170/156/120

Chris, I like your story about Kimmy. It's sad when friends move away, but I'm glad you have good memories. :)

Sabrina, I used to think I was fat, too. I was 128 through grade 13 and four years of college, and I was in GREAT shape! I was jogging several times a week, eating vast quantities of chips, cereal, chocolate bars... you name it. :rolleyes: That was 15 some years ago... it's got to be the metabolism.

You know what sucks I weighed about 160 lbs when my hubby and I got married. I thought I was huge!!!! Soon after I got pregnant and the Dr. encouraged my 34 lb. weight gain after I got pregnant 194 lbs when my son was born!!! That is still 6 lbs. lighter than I am now!!!!!!

Miss Chris

Recently I've been trying to get more active doing those "little things" - and here's what I've noticed. Practically 100% of the other people I see doing these things are thin people!

For example, I park six blocks away from where I work, and there is a free trolley/shuttle that comes right by my parking deck every 5 minutes or so. I started walking those six blocks every day, and pretty much every person I see walking it with me is a thin person. One day I took the shuttle because I had too much stuff to carry in... there were some thin people there, but the majority were overweight (or very elderly).

I also started walking down the stairs (five flights) of the parking deck... I have never, not one time, seen an overweight person walking down or up those stairs!

Last example - I was running into the grocery store and I noticed a car circling around & around & around - as I was hiking through the entire lot, lol. Of course, the person finally parked (in a fire lane - I hate that!!!!) and it was... you guessed it - an overweight person.

Great thread, BTW! Can you tell that anthropology was one of my favorite classes in college? lol

So true Lunula!!

My mom tells me yesterday: "You snack too much" (she's SG)

I had just measured out and eaten 3 bagel chips and some hummus. It and a half a turkey sandwich were lunch. She was picking on the hummus!!! :dizzy:

I have been bloated lately, and I am not sure why. Perhaps too much salt or not enough water?! It's not TOM, any other ideas?

Thanks!

Sandi

Skinny people...
 

Yes, I always keep my eye out for this sort of thing. Next time you are at the buffet... look around you and count the fat people versus the skinny people. And always the parking lot and stair issue. Or I see myself and family members always asking others who are already up to get something... e.g. I'm sitting on the couch and dh goes into the kitchen and I ask him to bring me a glass of water. This always happens... and I see my overweight mom and sister doing it all of the time. However, my dad and husband and other sister, who are all thin, rarely ask for these kinds of favors. Even little things like waiting to do everything in one trip upstairs versus taking multiple trips. Skinny people don't... ummm.... conserve energy quite like fat folks! ;) I would also bet that hours of tv watching is directly proportionate to weight... the more you watch, the fatter you are! And most people at the gym are skinny... funny how that works.

Speaking of the gym
 

I notice that the fat people at the gym are always doing
cardio, you almost never see them on the weights. Skinny
people, you see on the weights AND on the cardio.

S.

MmmmMMmmmmMMM... hummus!! I love it!!

And about the bloating... I have pretty darn stupid allergies, including food allergies/intolerances - nothing life-threatening, however, when I do eat something (and I never know what it might be, lol) that I have reactions to, I tend to get bloated & gain a few pounds. You might very well just be intolerant to certain foods/preservatives/food dyes. It's pretty common - pretty annoying, but pretty common, lol. Most people have intolerances (not true food allergies) to foods and aren't even aware of it & it's normally not a big deal, just kind of irksome. :)

And BTW, eating high sodium always does the same for me. Annoying also cause I'm a total salt-freak.

Another irritating thing...
 

Have you noticed that skinny people eat whatever they want? They don't diet. They don't drink diet coke. They don't feel guilty about eating dessert or Doritos. They don't obsess all day long about what they ate or didn't eat that day. They don't plan their lives around food. :(

Sojo, that is so true! My DH (136 lbs, 5'9" - darn thing, only 1 lb more than he was at age 22!!) has all kinds of treats IF they are around or he wants one - ONE! not 7 or 8 - he can eat 2 cookies then put the tin away! And he is not thinking about food all day long. And if he gains he says oh I am up a few pounds, and forgets it (and of course loses it in a few days). It is just not a big deal to him! This is amazing to me. I grew up thinking about, worrying about, figuring out the calories of food. And have had weight problems all along!

Unlike me, he does not ever think stuff like, oh goody, the kids are in bed, what can I eat now?

Lidian

Re: Another irritating thing...
 

Okay... this is one of my major goals in life - not to just go through the motions, I want to truly "forget" about food. I hear this all the time, that healthy-weight people typically don't "diet" or obsess over food - they follow that 90/10 rule of eating well 90% of the time so that other 10% doesn't really affect them. Me, however... well, I'm trying to reach that point - but I find myself obsessing over it, nonetheless.

Has anyone here gotten past this food-obsession (not just the eating, but the thinking about it all the time)? Is it truly just "fake-it-until-you-make-it"? One of my most trusted friends (who is, in fact, a practicing psychologist) told me this was the way to break the addictions/obsessions - to fake it until it becomes habit. What do you all think?

For me...
 

Over the last several months of losing weight, I am finally reaching a point where I don't obsess about food all day long. However, I attribute much of this to the fact that my blood sugar levels are under control for the first time due to medication. But I have spent many years trying to develop healthy habits:

1) only eating when I'm hungry... identifying what I really need if I want to eat when I'm NOT hungry
2) stop eating when I am comfortable (not full)
3) eating healtier foods but not eliminating any food from my diet... if I am hungry I eat what I like (sometimes junk food and sweets) in moderation thus no cravings
4) some professional counseling
5) taking an anti-depressant
6) giving over my food and weight obsessions to God (or higher power if you prefer)
7) still trying to incorporate more activity and exercise into my life

Hi!

Lunula, you said "fake it until you make it". I think that was the point of me making this thread. I think we need to think like "skinny girls" to help change our habits. Diets are all about changing our habits and our lifestyles. You have to really change your way of thinking to become successful.

I think most skinny girls aren't big eaters. Yes, there is the rare person who seems to eat everything and stay thin, but I think most skinny people don't think much about food, I don't think they eat much either. Some go through cycles: eat lots of something bad but then have days of not thinking about food. Most, just eat cause you have to: family needs food, go to in-laws for Sunday dinner, it's 5:00 PM....stuff like that.

Yes, most of the people at the gym seem thin, but lately I have noticed a lot who need to loose and so it is wonderful that they are there and making their bodies healthy.

Last SG tip for today: celery

Sandi

"all glory comes from daring to begin"

I have a really bad habit... even while I'm eating, I'm thinking, "What can I eat when I've finished THIS?!"
NOT good!

I am not sure if this is a good thing or not, but lately I will not eat anything if it isn't what I want. I just didn't eat breakfast or lunch a few days this week because there was nothing I really WANTED to eat. And I didn't eat, just because it was lunch. But if there is something I really want, I will eat it, no matter what it is.

I did a SG thing and I didn't even know it!
 

Monday at cards we had dessert. I said give me half of a small piece of cake. I was chatting and not thinking about food as I ate the cake. I looked up and out of the 7 I was the only one still eating!!!!!!!!!!! Even the SG friend had eaten her cake!!!! I wasn't even trying to go slowly. THEN, I threw away my last two bites because I was full and the cake tasted kind of greasy.

WOW!

Sandi

Maybe a little something to make you feel better....
My best friend is a skinny girl, she's finally (at age 32) gotten to a size four. She doesn't watch what she eats and still stays absurdly thin. The good news (for us) is I can out cardio her anyday of the week...Me, at 227! Just because a person is skinny doesn't mean they are healthy. Her cholestral(or however you spell it, I just woke UP!) is really high..over 200. Mine is only 137!! And she can't do 30 mins of aerobics without her immune system breaking down. I think at this point, although I am unhappy about being a size 20, I would take that anyday over being a size six and unable to do anything because being unfit.

I love hummus too....hmm..I'm sure people in the Middle East eat it for breakfast...It should be O.K. for me too then right?
blesssings,
blackbird

You're right, blackbird...
My best friend is a skinny girl, too. In college we both weighed the same, but she's 5 inches taller than me, and so had that "model look" while I just looked sturdy and muscular. She was completely inactive, and I was running almost every day and was in GREAT shape!
Anyhow, she wanted to start an aerobics class, and I went with her the first time for moral support. She threw up half-way throught the class from over-exertion (sp?). And yet she STILL insisted that she had to be in better shape than me because she was skinnier!! :rolleyes:

Now she's had her first baby at the age of 40, and can't get rid of the little stomach she gained. No pity from THIS girl! :lol:

Yummmm hummus
 

Absolutely a breakfast food. I do love hummus...

I had just e-mailed a thin friend of mine and she was amazed I could run 5 K. She said it makes her feel nauseous. I'm not surprised, she's not in good shape. She's thin and stays that way because when she's nervous she doesn't eat, and she used to be nervous a lot! :)

Sandi

HEY!!! I had hummus for breakfast today!!! (SERIOUSLY!!)

Hmmm... I have hummus for breakfast all the time - hummus on a honey whole wheat bagel, just can't beat it!