Why can my husband eat ridiculous amounts of food and not gain a pound and I can't?
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'Cause he's taller than you, he weighs more, and men typically have lower body fat percentage (ergo more muscle, which burns more calories even at rest) than women do.
He can't eat whatever he wants. He can eat more without gaining weight, because his TDEE is higher than yours. But if he exceeded his TDEE, he'd gain, same as you.
Don't compare or compete. Just focus on you.0 -
ForecasterJason wrote: »
Interesting analysis. I know for me I couldn't just plow through dessert after being almost stuffed from dinner.ETA: Well...reading is fundamental. Just realized the OP said her husband isn't naturally thin...so if you don't want to read a post that doesn't quite fit the OP...don't read on, LOL.
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I have found that with naturally thin people, when they eat, they seem to eat junk, and a lot of it, but when they're done, they're DONE.
With a naturally thin person (at least the ones I've known), if they split an order with nachos for you, at some point they'll just look at the plate with disgust and go, "I'm about to blow up" and then they...stop.
The waiter comes out and asks whether the two of you want dessert and the thin person goes, "No way, I couldn't stick one more thing in." Or something to that effect.
With me...if I see that plate in front of me and I've already "blown my diet" (at least until recently, when I've really been cracking down), if there's nacho left...I have to eat it. If there's one glob of cheese...in it HAS to go. It HAS to. I may have felt full halfway through my munching and now my stomach may be distended but I have to finish that darned plate because "Who knows when I'll get this opportunity again?" When the waitress asks me about dessert, I may be about to blow chunks all over the table but I will hesitate almost (I hope) imperceptibly before shame-facedly mimicking my friend with "Oh no, I couldn't eat another bite." If I had no shame, by God I'd be ordering that molten lava cake piece and sticking it in somewhere. I'd find a pocket in my stomach. Somehow. And odds are after I get home, and I've had maybe half an hour or an hour to go from about-to-vomit to there's-a-pocket-in-there-somewhere, I'll be grabbing a Snickers or something at home...because it "wasn't fair" that I "had to" skip dessert.
Thin people do pig out. And when they pig out, they pig out but good. But then they're FINISHED and they may be so stuffed they skip dinner (if the stuffing was at lunch) or they may eat only a few bites.
I don't believe thin people really pig out more than fat people do, when it comes down to total calories, at least overall. Sure, there are a few people with insanely high metabolisms and a few who do seem to gain if they eat just a few calories over maintenance for long enough. But I think the vast majority of us fall somewhere in the middle.
Well, don't worry about it. I'll eat your dessert for you!
I've got room.
Somewhere.
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What about people like me? I am a tiny 5'2" and in my younger days could match anyone, man or woman, at a buffet or dinner table. Never put on weight, even tried to put on weight but didn't succeed.
I think I may have had a tapeworm who I think past away once I hit my 50's.
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mariaoutlook wrote: »But is he healthy?
I have a friend who eats large quantities of Chinese or Indian take away food every day. Rice, deep fried chips, battered chicken balls, sweet and sour marinated pork... He looks healthy but he probably has cholesterol, high blood pressure, etc.
does thinking that help you to sleep better at night? likely that he is perfectly healthy.
What are you insinuating? I'm not a hater. He's a very good friend and I do worry for him.0 -
What about people like me? I am a tiny 5'2" and in my younger days could match anyone, man or woman, at a buffet or dinner table. Never put on weight, even tried to put on weight but didn't succeed.
I think I may have had a tapeworm who I think past away once I hit my 50's.
What usually happens as we age is that we become less active. We may not even realize we're doing it, but it's things like when the kids move out there are fewer things that need doing or our friends don't invite us to participate in the same activities as before. With less activity, we can't eat as much.
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Oh, if only it were as simple as becoming less active.
The body's metabolism slows down with age. Which means you actually need to do more activity in order to maintain the same weight.
Healthy habits earlier in life can slow down this process. But aging happens to everyone. Eventually it catches up to all of us.
But hey, it beats the alternative.0 -
Adjusted for lean body mass, the effect of age is miniscule.
But that's the point -- you can't adjust for lean body mass, because the body loses lean body mass with age.
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/54599970 -
Oh, if only it were as simple as becoming less active.
The body's metabolism slows down with age. Which means you actually need to do more activity in order to maintain the same weight.
Healthy habits earlier in life can slow down this process. But aging happens to everyone. Eventually it catches up to all of us.
But hey, it beats the alternative.
yeah, i'm not convinced that this has as big of an impact as people make it out to have. i was just below the low end of normal for bmi through much of my 20's. then, i gained a bunch of weight in my 30's and blamed it on metabolism. joined myfitnesspal a few months before my 38th birthday, ate a little less and moved a little more and then suddenly got down to my high school weight before 39 and am still there almost 2 years later. it's just not a good excuse to blame it on age imo. in comparing the calories needed for a 40 year old vs a 20 year old at my height and weight, the difference is only about 8% less calories. that can be easily overcome by moving a little more.
at first when i lost all the weight, i thought i had a tapeworm or there was something wrong with my thyroid. got my thyroid checked and nope. i can only conclude that eating less and moving more is the reason.0 -
Hey, anyone at ANY age can be healthy and fit. It's just that you have to work harder at it the older you get.
It's not an excuse. It's just science.0 -
auntrhon66 wrote: »Dchristinev297 wrote: »It'll catch up with him one day
Doubtful...why would you even think that?
Because it does. My husband used to be SKINNY SKINNY SKINNY and could eat as much as he wanted. That carried on from the time he was 18 until he was in his late thirties.
Age happened. He can still eat more than I can (being a foot taller and all) but he has to pay attention now or get a pot belly.
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Men have a higher BMR - usually cos they have more lean mass than women (women have more fat than men in general). Also if they're taller, there is more of them therefore they can get away with eating more! It sucks but you gotta work with what you got I guess.
Also can I just say that you are just stunning - congrats on the weight loss.0 -
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Adjusted for lean body mass, the effect of age is miniscule.
But that's the point -- you can't adjust for lean body mass, because the body loses lean body mass with age.
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/5459997
The point is that lean body mass losses CAN be minimized as we aged.
It's only relevant if we let it be relevant - the choice isn't with "nature", it's with the individual.0
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