What makes skinny people so skinny? I'm not talking weak, wan, please-eat-something teeny. I mean slender with a healthy fresh glow? How do the thin women you know do it? Well, we're glad you asked. Our spies did some recon and gathered the secrets of slim women. Here's what these ladies do to keep it off, all the time. And guess what? There's no fasting involved. Keep reading to get the teaspoon-sized scoop.
But first, a few disclaimers: We are in no way implying that slimness = health, or that the only way to be fit is to be skinny, or that fat is always unhealthy, or any of that. And this is NOT medical advice. And we're not even saying that all these rules apply to ALL lean people. Let's not go to Crazy Town here. This is just about what makes many thin women thin. Capiche? All righty, then.
1. Slim women eat when they're hungry. Period. They may snack on a treat if you offer one. But for the most part, they wait until the tank is empty. And because they're not storing their calories in fat cells, they don't crave more food than they can burn off, as a recent study shows.
2. Slim women like to eat healthy food. That's right, they actually want to eat things like spinach and broccoli. CRAVE it, in fact.
3. Slim women eat moderate portions. They pay attention to the cues their bodies send them and stop eating when they're full. And that's it. These are people who really can eat just one M&M if they want to, because the discomfort of overeating is so unpleasant to them.
4. Slim women enjoy working out. Exercise makes them feel alive. They get antsy if they go too many days away from the gym or the park. Even if they don't consider it a workout — because they're dancing, or playing soccer, or just having fun — they do some sort of physical activity on the reg. They've just gotta move.
5. Slim women know they're slim. Oh sure, they'll claim their legs are short and stubby or that they have muffin tops. They'll have days where they feel bloated or less-willowy. They still have body insecurities just like everyone else. But deep down they know where they are on the ABSI chart. They know what that number means.
6. Slim women don't diet or fast. We all know women who have dieted until they became willowy. I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about women who are always slender. Most don't do dieting, they just maintain their weight by eating healthy every day. (The obvious exception are models/movie stars who fast just before a shoot.)
7. Slim women don't see food as the enemy. Food is fuel, food is pleasure, food is a way to connect with people. But for trim women, food isn't some menace that's out to trick you, or something to avoid, or something to fear.
8. Slim women have luck on their side. Here's the unfair part: A lot of being svelte just sort of happens for a number of complex reasons. It's not that there's a "skinny" gene. It's that they were born and/or raised with certain conditions that predispose them toward behaviors that lead to a lean physique. It ain't all about discipline.
How much control do you think most women have over their physical shape?
Image ©iStock.com/zdenkam
