When it comes to losing weight, most people wonder, “what’s the best diet?” or “how much should I exercise?” Then there are those who don’t worry about dieting, exercising, counting calories, or anything else people associate with losing weight. They’re called “mindlessly slim,” and their secrets to staying trim could help those struggling to shed some pounds.

Researchers from the Cornell Food and Brand Lab created the Global Healthy Weight Registry to find out more about how adults who have maintained healthy weights throughout their lives have pulled it off. They asked the participants questions about diet, exercise, and daily routines.

"We wanted to see what health behaviors differed between those struggling to lose or maintain weight and the mindlessly slim," said study co-author Dr. Brian Wansink, director of the Cornell Food and Brand Lab, in a press release. "We wanted to find the small or simple behaviors that might have a big impact."

To do this, the researchers divided respondents into two groups: One group said they didn’t maintain a strict diet but were labeled as mindlessly slim by the researchers; the other group were highly aware of the food they ate and said they dieted regularly.

Those who were labeled mindlessly slim were found to eat better-quality food, cook their food at home, and listen to inner cues to stop eating when they were full. These mindlessly slim people also stated they didn’t feel guilty about overeating, and they had a more enjoyment-based approach rather than following the traditional recommendations of what and how much to eat to lose weight.

"These results are encouraging because they imply that instead of putting restrictions on one's diet and avoiding favorite foods, weight gain could be prevented early on by learning to listen to inner cues and putting emphasis on the quality instead of the quantity of food," lead researcher Anna-Leena Vuorinen, a former visiting scholar at the Food and Brand Lab, said.

The registry found other interesting information about how some people stay mindlessly slim. Thirty-five percent of responders said they had a salad every day for lunch, while 65 percent said they had vegetables at dinner daily, and seven percent labeled themselves as vegetarian. Though chips and cookies are a simple, tasty alternatives to fruits and veggies, 44 percent and 21 percent of mindlessly slim people said fruits and nuts were their favorite snacks, respectively.

As for how they maintain their slim figures outside of the kitchen, 42 percent said they spent between 5 and 7 days a week exercising, while 74 percent said they rarely diet and only half weighed themselves weekly.

While more than two-thirds of all Americans are overweight, less than half say they wanted to lose weight as part of their New Year’s resolutions. For those struggling to lose weight by so-called traditional methods, it might not hurt to try what mindlessly slim people do.