How to become that skinny friend who eats what they want and dont gain weight

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  • 7elizamae
    7elizamae Posts: 758 Member
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    I was that person for a long time. I don't know how much I ate because I never gave it a second thought. What I do know, is that I really hated (and still do hate) the feeling of being too full.

    My weight didn't go up until menopause. That's when I put on about ten pounds and found MFP. I can't eat nearly as much now as I could when I was younger.
  • Noreenmarie1234
    Noreenmarie1234 Posts: 7,493 Member
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    WispyBlue wrote: »
    Genetics

    LOL
  • VUA21
    VUA21 Posts: 2,072 Member
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    Because I am that size 8 person that has a brisket burger & a beer for lunch. I also did a 5k before breakfast which included 1 soft boiled egg, a banana, and a cup of coffee. For dinner I had a salad with flaked salmon and a squeeze of lemon as the "dressing". In the evening I do my strength training workout.

    That's how someone can "stuff thier face" and not gain weight.
  • jheye
    jheye Posts: 36 Member
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    There are several possible reasons that their TDEE is higher than yours. 1) They are younger 2) They are male and you are female 3) They are less sedentary 4) Your RMR is lower 5) You have some degree of insulin resistance- I'm sure there are other reasons, but those are the ones I can think of off the top of my head.
  • stanmann571
    stanmann571 Posts: 5,728 Member
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    Will_Workout_for_food wrote: »
    I used to be this person, but I was young.

    from age 21-30, I ate pretty much 3k calories a day, consisting of pizza, burgers, fries, coke, sushi, everything unhealthy imaginable. I also did NOT work out

    once I hit 31, I went from 125 to 150 in a blink of an eye. it caught up to me.

    Now, im back to 130. I burn about 1k calories day from workouts, and stuff my face twice a week, and am able to maintain my weight.

    You're probably missing some lifestyle factor that kept your NEAT high. Work, School, transportation. Something changed when you turned 31.
  • stanmann571
    stanmann571 Posts: 5,728 Member
    edited June 2018
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    Will_Workout_for_food wrote: »
    stanmann571 wrote: »
    Will_Workout_for_food wrote: »
    I used to be this person, but I was young.

    from age 21-30, I ate pretty much 3k calories a day, consisting of pizza, burgers, fries, coke, sushi, everything unhealthy imaginable. I also did NOT work out

    once I hit 31, I went from 125 to 150 in a blink of an eye. it caught up to me.

    Now, im back to 130. I burn about 1k calories day from workouts, and stuff my face twice a week, and am able to maintain my weight.

    You're probably missing some lifestyle factor that kept your NEAT high. Work, School, transportation. Something changed when you turned 31.

    my lifestyle was eating lol. im in nyc so u know how much of a foodie we r

    and I drove and took public transportation everywhere

    I been out of school since 21, and been at a desk job for 10+ years

    There you go. Something about your transportation habits changed. Something you don't think of as significant. Or are overlooking in hindsight.

    Trust me, I was the same way. 4-6k calories a day. Until I turned 23. Minor changes in job/lifestyle/transportation and the weight just started coming on. I went from 5'11" 160 to 200 in a heartbeat. Just by walking a little less every day, except it wasn't all that little less. It was 2-5 miles. It just seemed little because I was accustomed to it.
  • Dvdgzz
    Dvdgzz Posts: 437 Member
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    Gaining at 2k? Doubtful unless you're bedridden. That's maintenance for a sedentary male at 125. Also, I'm pretty sure it was Lyle Mcdonald who said that at most your genetics will give you a 15% advantage or disadvantage depending on how you look at it. Without proof, I'm sorry, no one here will believe that you subvert the law of thermodynamics.
  • stevencloser
    stevencloser Posts: 8,911 Member
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    Will_Workout_for_food wrote: »
    I used to be this person, but I was young.

    from age 21-30, I ate pretty much 3k calories a day, consisting of pizza, burgers, fries, coke, sushi, everything unhealthy imaginable. I also did NOT work out

    once I hit 31, I went from 125 to 150 in a blink of an eye. it caught up to me.

    Now, im back to 130. I burn about 1k calories day from workouts, and stuff my face twice a week, and am able to maintain my weight.

    There's no magic that happens once you hit 31. Your body doesn't go "Oh, he's not in his 20s anymore, stop everything!". The main reason older people burn fewer calories is less movement and lower muscle mass.
  • Zodikosis
    Zodikosis Posts: 149 Member
    edited June 2018
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    I used to think this was a thing until I became "the skinny friend who eats whatever they want". The truth is that yeah, I can have whatever I want, I just can't have a ridiculous amount of it. People have become so used to huge portions that they don't know what a normal amount is. Sure, I'll have some cake, but it's 1 reasonably sized slice, not 1/5 of the cake. I'll go to the all-you-can-eat buffet for lunch, but I cannot really eat more than 2 plates, and I probably will have a snack or nothing at all for dinner, or I've been really active all day. On a whim I'll buy a lemon bar larger than my hand, but I'm only eating half of it because that's a huge lemon bar. I'm down to go to McDonald's, but I buy 1 small fry and 1 sandwich, not 3 sandwiches and a large fry like I've seen some of my friends do. I also undereat on some days and overeat on others, so I break even in the long run.

    If you really observe the skinny people who seem to eat whatever they want, they're actually not consuming that many calories overall. I used to have a rail-thin friend who ate a king-sized chocolate bar a day and down Doritos and cola like no other, and I always wondered how she could eat like that and stay so thin. Really, she wasn't eating much at all for lunch, and who knows what she ate for dinner or breakfast.

    Losing weight is hard, but maintaining weight is not nearly as hard, so if you're already skinny, you have a lot more calories to work with and you can fit in the junk if you're reasonable about the size of it.
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,426 Member
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    Our perception of what we eat and our own activity level is often off and it is off for other people too. Unless you are tracking the person's actual calorie intake and activity you are likely wrong.

    My teenage dd stopped gaining weight and was underweight for her height. I would have sworn she was always eating. I homeschool her and was around her most of the time. I bought groceries that disappeared. She was not super active. Got her checked out at the doctor. Started tracking her food intake. Her calorie intake was much lower than I expected. She was eating less calorie dense foods and drinks than I expected and far below what she would have needed to maintain a healthy weight at her age. She ate more calories (not larger amounts of food) and gained 20 lbs over about 6 months. She was not unable to gain weight when she actually ate the right amount of calories to do so.
  • hesn92
    hesn92 Posts: 5,967 Member
    edited June 2018
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    Go to the maintain weight section of the forum. There is a thread titled “how thin people stay thin” or something like. There’s a documentary where they followed two people around for a week. I found it pretty interesting. These people you are referring to are probably a lot more active than you think. Small activities (not just deliberate exercise) add up to a lot of calories, you’d be surprised.
  • ForecasterJason
    ForecasterJason Posts: 2,577 Member
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    I think a lot of it is age and genetics, which you can't do much about.

    I've been around several coworkers who are overweight, and based on what I know they eat for one or possibly two meals, it does seem as though I eat just as much or more. One difference is that almost all of their food may be calorie dense, whereas I have a mix of low and high calorie foods. As far as age, there are several anecdotal accounts mentioned already in this thread. Anabolic hormones like HGH decline in at the absence of an exercise routine, and that will slow down the metabolism. I'm also 24, so I have age on my side even though I do exercise.

    Genetics can play a huge role when it comes to bone structure. For example, I'm 5'8" 125 lbs with about 10% body fat. A man with a large bone structure will simply not be able to be that skinny without major health issues.
  • iqnmfp
    iqnmfp Posts: 42 Member
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    dewd2 wrote: »
    There was a program on BBC (I think) where someone swore that their skinny friend ate way more then them. So the news show took them to task and recorded everything each ate. You can probably guess the result. I will try to find a link...

    Would love the link! This sounds interesting.
  • ashleighashleyameseames
    ashleighashleyameseames Posts: 1 Member
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    they are most likely more active and have a faster acting metabolism.
  • nvmomketo
    nvmomketo Posts: 12,019 Member
    edited June 2018
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    I need to eat less now than I did in the past. I think part of it is the fact that I have lost weight a few times so that may have affected my metabolism (as studied with the biggest losers). My metabolism might have slowed a bit.

    I am also less active so I burn fewer calories, and have less muscle to help with that too.

    Having kids affected me for quite a while too. My body seemed to want to hold onto a bit of extra weight while breastfeeding, and I was breastfeeding for many years.

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