5 Ultimate Eating Habits of Slim People

Losing weight is probably the most popular New Year’s resolution that many of us make after the over-indulgence of Christmas. But before you fall into the January crash-dieting trap, I’d like to share with you some of the key lessons I learned working as a weight loss coach. For many years I’ve been observing people who are either slim by default of have successfully lost weight and kept it off and I’ve noticed some common eating patterns that all these people have in common.

1. Slim People Don’t Diet, They Trust Their Bodies

Slim people don’t follow crazy fad diet plans. Instead they start paying close attention to how certain foods make them feel, intuitively knowing what to eat and what to avoid.

They eat what’s easy to digest, what makes them energized and what makes them happy. If something gives them rashes, makes them bloated, constipated, tired, gassy, irritated, cranky – it definitely doesn’t agree with their body type, so they try to limit it or completely avoid it.

Slim people eat only when they are hungry and stop when they are almost full, without counting calories, going
low carb or low fat. They replace the ‘forbidden foods’ mindset to ‘eating what’s nourishing my body’ mindset and it seems to be their best strategy to a balanced diet and life without uncontrolled cravings or deprivation.

2. Slim People Stay Well Hydrated

Slim people always drink a lot of pure water and skip any carbonated or artificially sweetened drinks. The higher the consumption of water, the lower the amount of fat deposited. A low consumption of water allows more fat to be deposited instead of being metabolized into energy. Fat forms the cell walls and when your body is not provided with enough water, the fat will automatically be deposited in cell membrane to protect cells against dehydration.

Water also helps to flush toxins out of our system – the more toxins in our body the less capable it is to lose weight.

Drinking water suppresses the appetite and keeps you from snacking on unhealthy sugary foods. Craving for sweet foods might actually be the signal of dehydration and drinking water may reduce or eliminate the cravings.

Very often we confuse hunger with thirst, but by drinking more water we can eliminate eating when we are not really hungry. Drinking water before meals also makes us eat less, as part of our stomach is already filled with water.Water plays a key role in the metabolic breakdown of proteins and carbohydrates, which is why you simply can’t lose weight and stay slim without the proper hydration of your body.

3. Slim People Make Breakfast The Biggest Meal Of The Day

Slim people seem to always follow this mantra: Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper ~Adelle Davis

Recent scientific research shows that they are on to something. In fact, eating breakfast has been proven to be the simplest way of maintaining a healthy weight and even losing extra pounds.

When you don’t eat in the morning your body thinks that you are starving. Because your body doesn’t know when it can expect the next food supply, it sends out an automatic signal to your cells to store up most of the energy you get from food as fat, instead of allowing you to burn it. Prolonged fasting can increase your body’s insulin response, which increases fat storage and causes weight gain.

If you skip breakfast your metabolic rate slows down, your blood sugar drops and your cholesterol might go up. As a result your energy level goes down and you’ll feel extra hungry around lunch time. This increases your chances of impulsive snacking, eating extra portions or overeating later during the day.

Eating early in the day keeps us from “starvation eating” later on. It also jump-starts the metabolism, improves concentration during the day, gives you more energy and reduces hunger.

4. Slim People Read Labels & Eat Real Food

Slim people make it a point to read labels and learn what’s in their food. Big food corporations know exactly how to use clever marketing to sell unhealthy and harmful food in a healthy looking packaging and very often we don’t even realize that we eat junk. Did you know that your breakfast cereal is highly processed and packed with more than 5 types of sugar, even though it’s written on the box that it’s ‘healthy, light, whole grains, vitamins fortified’ etc.

Did you know that almost all ‘light’ or ‘zero calories’ dairy products contain less fat or calories, but way more sugar, flavorings & emulsifiers? Did you know that ketchup, most juices or bread is filled with high fructose corn syrup that’s been linked to obesity?

As a rule of thumb limit or avoid food that comes in a box and has a long list of ingredients. If you can’t pronounce an ingredient – don’t eat it. Stick to natural food that was produced by Mother Nature not by a factory. Fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains and organic fish and meat are slim people’s best friends.

5. Slim People Eat Slowly & Mindfully

In todays fast-paced world we tend to multitask in all areas of our lives – including mealtimes. Rushed mindless eating in a car or in front of the TV or computer is becoming a new norm. Not for slim people.They take time to prepare and consume their meals. They slowly chew every mouthful, enjoy the flavors and simply enjoy their meals.

It’s scientifically proven that by eating slower we consume fewer calories, in fact enough to lose 8-10kg in a year without doing or eating anything different. The reason is that it takes about 20 minutes for our stomach to send the signal to our brain saying that it’s full.

When we eat fast, by the time our brain tells us to stop, we’ve probably already overeaten.