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Naturally thin
Replies
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Most of the times when someone's naturally thin it turned out they are just naturally active.8
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kristen8000 wrote: »There is no such thing as "naturally thin" people.
I think that whenever this topic comes up people mean different things by "naturally thin."
I do think some people have more trouble gaining weight (probably in part but not only due to the natural increase in NEAT when they eat more). There are some studies about them discussed in Alan Aragon and Lou Schuler's Lean Muscle Diet (and many other places).
I also think a number of people (declining with age) naturally (as in not thinking about it) eat and move in a way that leaves them thin, and never having to think about weight. I also think that if you are heavier than you like it's easy to assume that MORE people are in this category than actually are -- my sister, who has always been thin and seems never to diet, for example, definitely thinks about it to some extent, even if a lot of what she does just seems like things she enjoys. As I get older, I notice that a higher percentage of always thin people are in this category.
On the other hand, I have known some who just never think about it and even want to gain weight. They simply don't care about food that much or are naturally very active or have longstanding, ingrained, healthy habits that have served them well.
I thought when I was a teen/early 20s that I could eat whatever and not gain, since I did eat whatever I wanted and was one of my few friends who had never dieted, and I was physically lazy (or so I thought). But looking back, I was actually quite active and although I ate whatever I wanted the amounts I actually ate were not super high. When I was in my late 20s and much less active throughout the day (even though I would go through periods where I'd try to run regularly for a while) and had the ability to eat tons of restaurant food (nice restaurants, work related, but still), yes, I started gaining. Under different conditions I can be "naturally thin" even now, but I'm definitely not in reality (or in my actual environment) -- I have to think about it and adopt strategies.1 -
ContraryMaryMary wrote: »Another characteristic of 'naturally thin' people is they tend to be active even when sedentary - they wriggle, fidget, and make hundreds of small movements while the overweight person sitting next to them is completely still. Start watching your 'naturally thin' friends while they're watching TV - How many times do they change position? Do they wave their arms about when they talk? Are they jiggling their foot? Do they get up often to make tea or grab something? Over the course of a day, 'naturally thin' people unconsciously burn hundreds of extra calories over 'naturally heavy' people, and can therefore eat the same amounts of food as an overweight person without gaining weight themselves.
Yup...I'm a twitchy, fidgety person and can't sit still for long...I'm always moving and twitching and fiddling with something. I have difficulty spending anymore than about 30 minutes watching television or something which is one of the reasons I don't do movies that often...sitting in a theater for a couple hours can feel like torture. Even when I am sitting there, I'm fidgeting and moving around a lot...drives my wife nuts sometimes that I can't just sit still. I'm also a "hand talker."
I have a sedentary job and mostly sit for about 10 hrs daily, but I have a rather high TDEE.1 -
Weight management is an output of behavior.
Every large population study on metabolic activity shows very little variation (<5% REE) outside of established algorithms.
People successful at weight management acknowledge this - learn and adapt.
People unsuccessful at weight management continue to try and rage against the body of evidence and blame genetics, hormones, or whatever is in fashion that moment.9 -
I've had acquaintances and co-workers assume that I'm naturally thin. Nope, it's the result of my behaviors, including some that are quite artificial (like weighing food).8
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I am "naturally thin". All the men in my family are very lean, naturally cut and defined. My grandfather all the way down to my brothers and I. My 90 year old Grandfather has bicep "egg" and has never touched a weight in his life. At 10 years old I had a Bicep "egg". Its part of the reason I started weight training at that age. I believe it has alot to do with genetics, which would determine your Metabolism and everything about you. I have a high speed metabolism where I can eat and eat and eat anything and everything and not gain an ounce. I have to eat well above the recommended amount of calories/Protein/carbs to gain weight. I quite working out several years back up until a year ago. During that time, I lost muscle mass but was still the same Body fat and tone. People that dont know me, would have guessed I was still hitting the gym everyday. I have friends that pick with me that I "walk into the gym skinny and walk out swoll". I have good genetics, fortunately. My point is that I believe alot of factors can come into play. People say that sometimes being over weight is a "genetic thing" or "predisposed", so why not being "naturally thin"?
Do you know how many calories you maintain at?0 -
Back in high school, I refused to count a calorie, and my 5’5” frame consistently hovered at an average 125 all through high school (and some college) without even trying.
If you would have told me I was an active teenager, I would have scoffed at the idea. However, in hindsight, I was pretty darn active, just not in the “routine gym exercise” sense. My high school was huge and I would walk to different ends of school every day. I also played on the golf team, and do you think they gave us youngsters carts to get around in?? Heck no! We walked with the clubs on our back and played 9 holes a day when we weren’t at tournaments; 18-hole tournaments were at least once a month. Plus, we packed way more stuff in those bags than just clubs, balls, and tees. All this with no beer too! The nerve…
I also remember how emotionally removed from food I was, not to mention, how picky of an eater I was. I believe my limited preference in food really facilitated my perspective of eating as something that is simply necessary, not enjoyed, thus helped in keeping my figure back then; I would not eat anything with whole tomatoes, mayonnaise, sausage, nuts, jelly, peppers… if it even *looked* spicy I didn’t touch it. My staples tended to be soup, crackers, cereal, peanut butter sandwiches, boiled eggs, and chicken when my mom made it. I rarely ate what the school cafeteria offered because I figured I wouldn’t like anything they served. And when my parents or friends wanted to go out to eat, cool! I love me some steak and a baked potato, or some combination fajitas with flour tortillas. I could even put away an average of 5 bread sticks at Olive Garden in one sitting before my chicken fettuccine alfredo came out. But how often did I actually go out to eat in general? Once, or twice a week at most during the weekend. And then it was back to good ol’ PB sandwiches 5 days a week and 9 holes a day.
If you only saw me at a restaurant on weekends back then, you would have been dumbfounded at how I maintained such a thin figure. AND I EVEN THOUGHT I WAS FAT BACK THEN!!!!!2 -
Medical fact that people have different metabolic rates therefore will burn calories at different rates. Look at any medical site. And yes the way your body process calories can be different which is why things such as diabetes exist and why if your blood sugar runs high you will loose weight because there is not insulin to process it and you pee more because your body is trying to get rid of the excess sugar7
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I was underweight throughout my childhood and adolescence but I couldn't understand why. I thought I ate loads and just assumed that I had a fast metabolism. However, looking back I realise that I didn't eat very much at all. On a normal school day I would have a plain slice of toast for breakfast, a packet of crisps at break, a sandwich and a chocolate bar at lunch and a meat casserole with vegetables and potatoes for tea. I remember not being able to sleep at night because I was hungry and having to eat a banana or cereal in the middle of the night so I could sleep.
However, if I went to a party or buffet I would gorge and eat everything in sight. Which is probably why I thought I ate loads.
I'm still quite thin but I struggle to reach my calorie target because I just can't be bothered to eat sometimes.0 -
meganmluitjens wrote: »Medical fact that people have different metabolic rates therefore will burn calories at different rates. Look at any medical site. And yes the way your body process calories can be different which is why things such as diabetes exist and why if your blood sugar runs high you will loose weight because there is not insulin to process it and you pee more because your body is trying to get rid of the excess sugar
There may be some small differences in metabolic rates but at the end of the day the big harry gorilla in the room is then amount of food consumed and the amount (or lack) of movement.6 -
Packerjohn wrote: »meganmluitjens wrote: »Medical fact that people have different metabolic rates therefore will burn calories at different rates. Look at any medical site. And yes the way your body process calories can be different which is why things such as diabetes exist and why if your blood sugar runs high you will loose weight because there is not insulin to process it and you pee more because your body is trying to get rid of the excess sugar
There may be some small differences in metabolic rates but at the end of the day the big harry gorilla in the room is then amount of food consumed and the amount (or lack) of movement.
Plus, all else equal, size.
But of course -- no one claims that people 5'1 and 6'3 will have the same TDEE (if both are equally active), so I never know why people try to rebut this as if it were disputed.6 -
I think it's a whole host of contributions. It seems a lot is attributed to that they just don't eat that much, but that's not the case in every situation. Rates of absorption, higher metabolism, genetic disposition can all offer small contributions and for the right person & combination make them "naturally thin". My college roommate drank nothing but mtn dew, ate copious amounts of food, especially junk food and was the leanest person I've ever known. There was no mistaking how much he ate. I also think the "fidget factor" is often overlooked. Given a person is awake 16-18 hours a day, one who sits still, truly still for a significant portion of that time, versus someone who is constantly twitching, moving, fidgeting, shaking their leg, and such is going to burn a lot more calories .
Added-my roommate was into body building so he was forever in bulk mode, so it's not like he wasn't trying.1 -
"Naturally thin" people have common traits. They just don't eat more than they need to.
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"Naturally thin" people have common traits. They just don't eat more than they need to.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
Well, obviously they don't eat more than need to. I don't think anyone is questioning that. The question was, do some people eat more than should need to and not gain weight. Do they eat more than would make the majority of other people of the same size, shape, sex, everything gain weight.
The answer is yes. Absolutely yes. But not commonly yes.0 -
There was a very interesting thread on reddit about this once. I saw a story there that stuck with me, but of course I can't find it now. Here's a paraphrase.
The poster was a woman who was heavier than her boyfriend, who was a "naturally thin" person. One day she discovered a package of candy bars in his cupboard. After several subsequent visits over many weeks, she noticed that the candy bars were untouched. Perhaps one had been removed from the packaging.
Unable to understand what was going on, she finally asked him about it. "Don't you like those candy bars?", she asked. They've been sitting there for weeks. "They're my absolute favorite," said the boyfriend.
The poster had an epiphany. The boyfriend didn't feel compelled to eat all of the candy bars, as she would have been. He liked the candy, and ate it on occasion, but didn't desire to eat all of them up right away. The poster felt that, if she had a package of her favorite candy bars in her house, that they would be gone in a very short time. She realized that he was "naturally thin" in part not because he never ate candy, but because he didn't feel compelled to eat it all the time.15 -
Love that story above. That is the behavior of a naturally thin person. It is not luck, it is a lifestyle.5
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Cherimoose wrote: »
You have to put this in context. There's much we don't yet know and the body of knowledge is continually adapting, testing, and modifying accordingly.
Does this mean that someone with 30% body fat or greater processes food differently? No.1 -
Cherimoose wrote: »
I have a different thought/spin on this.
There's a lot about human psychology we don't fully understand yet. "Naturally" thin people don't have the same relationship with food compared to their counterpart. What the body does with the calories is the same across the board. Why the mind of the naturally thin person is different than the fat person about eating and exercise habits....well that is a draw.2 -
GemstoneofHeart wrote: »Cherimoose wrote: »
I have a different thought/spin on this.
There's a lot about human psychology we don't fully understand yet. "Naturally" thin people don't have the same relationship with food compared to their counterpart. What the body does with the calories is the same across the board. Why the mind of the naturally thin person is different than the fat person about eating and exercise habits....well that is a draw.
The bolded is not always true.3
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