What do truly skinny people eat?

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  • stylistchik
    stylistchik Posts: 1,436 Member
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    I try to eat every few hours. Some say it keeps your metabolism going, I do it to keep from getting hungry. Roughly 250 calories (not much more than a large snack) every 3 hours, 5-6 times per day. I never get really hungry and I never get stuffed so I don't have blood sugar spikes and crashes and about the time I get hungry again it's time to eat. I recently raised my protein goals and it does help keep me full.
  • miami_mimi
    miami_mimi Posts: 358 Member
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    I'm not a skinny person but I have lost nearly 40lbs! and the last 8lbs were due to lean clean eating. I had hit a plateau. I eat lots of berries, veggies, nuts, lean protein (chicken breast, lean ground beef, tilapia), brown rice... just to list a few :)
  • thistimeismytime
    thistimeismytime Posts: 711 Member
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    The fittest and thinnest people that are on my friends list eat a LOT, and they still lose weight....2000+ calories, but it's very clean eating, and they work out a lot.
  • nsblue
    nsblue Posts: 331 Member
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    When eating healthy and a well balanced day...with protein evenly dispersed with fruits veggies n a few starches ....low sugar... drinking your water... one doesnt have that "hungry " feeling n can be quite satified on 1200 cal... I can be satified on 800 for that fact.
    sometimes it is what you eat that can be the very thing that makes you wanna eat more.
  • meerkat70
    meerkat70 Posts: 4,616 Member
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    When you say you 'shoulld' be eating 1200, what are you basing that on? how have you calculated your deficit?
  • ladybg81
    ladybg81 Posts: 1,553 Member
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    Thin healthy people eat a lot more than 1200 per day. I'm 5'10, 130 pounds and I eat 1700-2000 per day.
  • budhandy
    budhandy Posts: 305 Member
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    Thin people eat MORE than 1200-1300 calories a day!!! (Thin, healthy people that is!) At 5'7 and 123 pounds I normally take in around 1700-1900 calories a day. But they are all "good" calories - make sure you get enough healthy fats (avocados, nuts, good cooking oils). Even though these things may be "high" in calories, they are awesome for your body! If you're hungry all the time, EAT! But snack on carrots, cut-up bell peppers, apples, kiwi, any kind of fruit. These things are naturally full of fiber and will keep you full. Good luck! I know it sounds annoying to tell you to snack on fruits & veggies, once you start doing it for awhile you actually learn to love them when you realize how much more you can eat as opposed to grabbing handfuls of empty carbs (chips, pretzels, etc.)
    Best advice on this thread
  • zenchild
    zenchild Posts: 680 Member
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    All depends on activity level. Really FIT people eat 1500-2000+ but they're burning off quite a bit through exercise. If they didn't eat so much they'd have a hard time maintaining their fitness routines. There are also people who net 1200 (or slightly below but I don't want to open that can of worms) and get thin.
    Right now I'm working on cardio/strength with JM DVDs so I can burn fat. I do two sessions back to back. When I'm within 5-10 pounds of my goal (another 7-12 pounds), I'll increase strength to get the definition I want. My reward to myself will be another tattoo so I want the definition to show it off properly.
  • Meg_78
    Meg_78 Posts: 998 Member
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    I am eating to gain right now (2300), but I realize I probably was very thin both from my naturally high metabolism, but also my natural tenancy towards lower cal foods. I have seen since putting my foods into the recipe tool here on MFP that I do eat very low cal, so change it up had been a challenge for me.

    Basically I ate masses of veggies, I love veggies, and when I cook with them, I don't add much to them because I enjoy their natural flavor. When I eat meat, I eat reasonable portions of very good quality lean meat or chicken, I grind my own mince so I can be sure of the quality. I ate a lot of soups, both thick and creamy and clear based ones, but not fatty soups, if i used cream in soups it would be only very little. I didn't feel the need to add cheese or cream to my meals, I like dairy, but I keep it separate. I cooked almost everything in a little a olive oil. I love roasted pumpkin or sweet potato or carrots as a side, or you can use a riser on potatoes to give them a different texture.

    Now veggies wont keep you full for as long as other foods, so you will want some good protein with you veg, but you can eat a lot more veg for fewer calories, esp if you keep it clean.
  • ElizabethRoad
    ElizabethRoad Posts: 5,138 Member
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    Don't worry. Give it a week and you'll be fine with 1200. Eat a high protein breakfast that'll hold you til lunch. You won't have to snack. Eat a good high protein lunch that'll hold you til dinner and so forth. Stay away from the crap. Eat what counts. Of course drink water but yadda yadda on that. Water never filled me up. If your stomach growls, tell it NO! Just because it's growling doesn't mean it needs attention.

    Actually the experts say snacking is good and eating every 2-3 hours is the only way to keep your metabolism amped up.
    Who are these "experts", exactly?


    Whoops, it's actually every 4 hours according to Jillian Michael's book:
    http://www.fitsugar.com/Book-Review-Jillian-Michaelss-Master-Your-Metabolism-3023230

    I've always heard every 2-3 hours and it works for me.
    Oh well if JILLIAN said it, it must be true!

    "I've always heard" is not equal to "experts say". I'm glad it works for you, but that doesn't mean anything to the general population. It works for some and not for others.
  • AlsDonkBoxSquat
    AlsDonkBoxSquat Posts: 6,128 Member
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    at 1200 calories I ate egg whites, veggies, lean chicken, 99% lean ground turkey, fish, lentils, quinoa, more veggies, more veggies, more veggies, beans, soup, and specific lower calorie fruits. I also exercised my *kitten* off so I could eat a **** ton more. It was my goal to never burn less than 400 calories per day, because I never really was satisfied at less than 1600 consumption per day.

    I'm 5'3" and my weight doesn't matter because I'm fit and muscular. I no longer eat clean and my mantra is "skinny women don't eat salads." You can if you want, but you don't need to.
  • poodlelaise
    poodlelaise Posts: 149 Member
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    My target is 1200 also. Starting out I was starved, but it got easier every day. I do a lot of snacking. My diary is open, feel free to look at what I am eating. I try to keep it balanced, but I probably eat too much processed food.

    I eat back all of my exercise calories, yet I am losing more than mfp predicts that I will. But I have only been doing this for one month so far.
  • rrhennen
    rrhennen Posts: 60 Member
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    Besides the input already stated from previous posters to eat more calories, the single common habit I’ve noticed from observing my friends are slim (and healthy) is that they eat slowly and appear to only eat until they are satisfied. It’s not so much what they eat, but not overeating.
  • DawnM62
    DawnM62 Posts: 60 Member
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    in my case up till 40 anything I liked have always loved to cook so always ate quite a healthy diet but portion size was what did for me

    now my daughter late 20's eats huge portions and lots of junk (fast food) busy mum of three and full time student and she is about a uk size 6/8 I tell her it will catch up and bite you in the bum
  • ladyace2078
    ladyace2078 Posts: 460 Member
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    I consider myself at a healthy weight and lately people are calling my thin again. I eat 2400 calories a day over 6 healthy balanced meals, drink tons of water, and workout hard. For my friends who are close to their goals I notice the same trend--eating at least 2000 calories, lots of small meals (healthy & balanced), and hard workouts.

    Calculate your TDEE and eat 10-20% less than your TDEE. Don't eat anything less than BMR.
  • SPNLuver83
    SPNLuver83 Posts: 2,050 Member
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    Are you eating back your workout calories? Because if you are your calories would be over 1200. I eat anywhere from 1500-2000 a day.
  • littlewords
    littlewords Posts: 43
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    I checked out your diary and for the most part it looks pretty good, although for myself, I've really had to cut out all the ice cream, cookies, chips, etc. in favor of being able to eat "more", or in other words, more valuable foods that keep you satisfied longer. A lot of people say that these are "trigger foods" also - they actually make you want to eat more.

    But there are a lot of other good points here too - we don't know what your activity level is, what size you are, what your goal is.
    My net calorie goal is really low because I'm a very small person, and I'm almost at my end goal. Your daily net calorie allowance may need to be higher. Or, if you want to eat more, you'd need to exercise more, although that can be a Catch-22. I always get hungrier when I exercise more!
  • Maude_Lewbowski
    Maude_Lewbowski Posts: 395 Member
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    I am hungry all the time and need to lose weight. I set my calorie goal at 1350, although to get where I need to be I really should be only eating 1200 calories per day, but even 1350 is a struggle. So, I was wondering what do the thin people here on MFP eat, specifically those who eat 1200 calories a day or less?

    Feel free to check out my diary....
  • _hi_hat3r_
    _hi_hat3r_ Posts: 423 Member
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    Iceberg lettuce
  • BAMFMeredith
    BAMFMeredith Posts: 2,829 Member
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    Thin people eat MORE than 1200-1300 calories a day!!! (Thin, healthy people that is!) At 5'7 and 123 pounds I normally take in around 1700-1900 calories a day. But they are all "good" calories - make sure you get enough healthy fats (avocados, nuts, good cooking oils). Even though these things may be "high" in calories, they are awesome for your body! If you're hungry all the time, EAT! But snack on carrots, cut-up bell peppers, apples, kiwi, any kind of fruit. These things are naturally full of fiber and will keep you full. Good luck! I know it sounds annoying to tell you to snack on fruits & veggies, once you start doing it for awhile you actually learn to love them when you realize how much more you can eat as opposed to grabbing handfuls of empty carbs (chips, pretzels, etc.)

    All of this. I literally eat baby carrots every single day, they've become as addicting to me as potato chips!

    If you're hungry, your body is telling you that you're not fueling it properly...so eat!!! Although I am still trying to lose, so I am creating a calorie deficit, I eat 1400 cals a day, sometimes more depending on how hard I've worked out. When I'm eating 1400 calories of crap, I'm hungry all the time. 1400 calories of good nutrient dense foods, rich in protein and healthy fats, I'm SO full! I'll eat a quarter of a lean cooked chicken breast as a snack sometimes, and I don't know what the deal is, but that protein really fills me up, especially if I'm between "meals" (I eat about 5-6 times a day) and I just need a little something extra. Plus tons of water.

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