Why are slim people slim?

LiftHeavyThings27105

I would chime in here with a few things (and not sure that people are going to like this.....not too worried about that...coming from a good, healthy place):

1. Mindset
2. Self-discipline
3. Ownership
4. Honesty


So, with me EVERYTHING is mindset. Sure, easy to say that. What in the heck does that mean? Because that can mean a lot of things to a lot of different people. We are all correct! Yup! Taking the easy way out on this.

For me, mindset means that there is a choice....whatever the context.....and I am going to make the best choice for me. And, that includes educating myself regarding <insert context here>. There are a lot of crazy ideas out in the world on just about every topic. Shoot! Pick one! People think the darndest things for the darndest reasons. Mostly, it is just plain ignorance. That is a good 'problem' to have. I can change that. Sure, there is a learning curve for everything. Sure, there is a lot of disinformation out there! Sure, there are a lot of people who have something to sell and that muddy the waters. Sure, we have decades of incorrect information (or, information that seems to change every two or three years). But, if my mindset is to educate myself on <insert context here> then you can bet the farm that I am going to be pretty dang educated on <insert context here>. It all starts here.


Self-discipline is another big thing for me. It seems that in today's world of instant gratification and "there is a pill for that" that a lot of people mistakenly believe that they can do whatever the heck they want to do and then take that magic pill and everything will be okay. BS. Do not get me started on that topic! I am going to move on or I will get banned from this place (I have VERY STRONG OPINIONS on this topic).


Ownership is another part of this. It seems today everyone is looking to point the finger at someone else. BS! Nobody is making me follow this diet, no one is putting a gun to my head and making me follow this training program. The whole "I was just doing what I was told to do by "that guy"" sentiment is the absolute incorrect mindset [see how I did that?!?! :-)]. But, I am a bit harsh and a bit 'cut and dry'....much more so that most. I just grow tired of excuses....the excuses that people make for themselves and that people make for everyone else! Now, not suggesting that we be rude to each other. Not suggesting that one bit. More to the contrary. We should all be kind to one another....we should all help and encourage each other. Just suggesting that we do not make or accept excuses. And, I do not want to hear about "she is 20....of course she looks good still". Age is not an excuse. It truly isn't. I would submit myself as the example for that. Age is just a number.....and an excuse (but not one that works with me).

And, all of the above assumes that there are no medical conditions involved at all. We all know that there are numerous medical conditions for which the medicine to combat that issue creates weight problems (thinking thyroid issues....that comes to mind immediately).

I am also suggesting, finally, that we are honest with each other and - most importantly - with ourselves. Going to use an example that might ruffle some feathers....not my intention and not the spirit of my words (or heart, for that matter)....but just because Size 16 jeans are the most sold womens' pant size does not make it okay to be in a Size 16 jean. You have to be honest with yourself.....

Anyway, this is simply my experience with lots of people and with myself. :-)

cwolfman13

serindipte wrote: »

I'd be curious to see how they were raised. I bet they weren't pushed to be members of the 'clean plate club' or warned about starving kids in Asia/Africa. If I had to hazard a guess, their parents were likely active people, as well and family gatherings likely revolved more around interacting and games in the yard than stuffing their faces..

Maybe. Who knows.

I've been "naturally" lean most of my life. I was definitely a member of the "clean your plate club" but my parents never gave me huge plates of food...mostly it was the veggies sitting there that kept me in my chair longer than need be. We pretty much had 3 squares per day and snacking was and is still minimal. Family gatherings definitely involved food...back yard cookouts at my grandpa's or uncle's house were a pretty common Sunday thing...yes, we played games, but we definitely ate.

Activity wise, we walked the dog regularly as a family, but outside of that my parents weren't particularly active and they were overweight for most of my life. I was active in that I played a lot outside and rode bikes and skateboarded and was involved in competitive athletics from 2nd grade through my senior year in high school.

I remained very active throughout my 20s...I didn't own a car for much of that time so I walked or biked most places...even when I did have a car, it was usually more convenient for me to walk or bike to university from my apartment than to try to find parking.

My friends and I were pretty avid weekend hikers...we loved getting into the mountains and smoking weed and enjoying nature. I also worked retail, waited tables, and worked a few summers doing landscape construction.

All an all, I was pretty active and never gave a thought about food...hungry, then eat. I graduated when I was 30 and took a desk job...that's when my weight crept on. It was pretty slow though...about 50 Lbs over the course of 8 years.

serindipte

cwolfman13 wrote: »

serindipte wrote: »

I'd be curious to see how they were raised. I bet they weren't pushed to be members of the 'clean plate club' or warned about starving kids in Asia/Africa. If I had to hazard a guess, their parents were likely active people, as well and family gatherings likely revolved more around interacting and games in the yard than stuffing their faces..

Maybe. Who knows.

I've been "naturally" lean most of my life. I was definitely a member of the "clean your plate club" but my parents never gave me huge plates of food...mostly it was the veggies sitting there that kept me in my chair longer than need be. We pretty much had 3 squares per day and snacking was and is still minimal. Family gatherings definitely involved food...back yard cookouts at my grandpa's or uncle's house were a pretty common Sunday thing...yes, we played games, but we definitely ate.

Activity wise, we walked the dog regularly as a family, but outside of that my parents weren't particularly active and they were overweight for most of my life. I was active in that I played a lot outside and rode bikes and skateboarded and was involved in competitive athletics from 2nd grade through my senior year in high school.

I remained very active throughout my 20s...I didn't own a car for much of that time so I walked or biked most places...even when I did have a car, it was usually more convenient for me to walk or bike to university from my apartment than to try to find parking.

My friends and I were pretty avid weekend hikers...we loved getting into the mountains and smoking weed and enjoying nature. I also worked retail, waited tables, and worked a few summers doing landscape construction.

All an all, I was pretty active and never gave a thought about food...hungry, then eat. I graduated when I was 30 and took a desk job...that's when my weight crept on. It was pretty slow though...about 50 Lbs over the course of 8 years.

Thanks for the insight

mulecanter

My cousin is naturally thin. It's because he talks so much he can't finish his meals and he burns so many calories flapping his jaw.

CarvedTones

LiftHeavyThings27105 wrote: »

I would chime in here with a few things (and not sure that people are going to like this.....not too worried about that...coming from a good, healthy place):

1. Mindset
2. Self-discipline
3. Ownership
4. Honesty

The topic is about naturally thin people who don't really put that sort of effort into it, not how people manage to maintain. Your list is conscious things people need to do to maintain. These people do it unconsciously,

ashliedelgado

mulecanter wrote: »

My cousin is naturally thin. It's because he talks so much he can't finish his meals and he burns so many calories flapping his jaw.

This will be my 10 year old as an adult.

mom23mangos

cwolfman13 wrote: »

serindipte wrote: »

I'd be curious to see how they were raised. I bet they weren't pushed to be members of the 'clean plate club' or warned about starving kids in Asia/Africa. If I had to hazard a guess, their parents were likely active people, as well and family gatherings likely revolved more around interacting and games in the yard than stuffing their faces..

Maybe. Who knows.

I've been "naturally" lean most of my life. I was definitely a member of the "clean your plate club" but my parents never gave me huge plates of food...mostly it was the veggies sitting there that kept me in my chair longer than need be. We pretty much had 3 squares per day and snacking was and is still minimal. Family gatherings definitely involved food...back yard cookouts at my grandpa's or uncle's house were a pretty common Sunday thing...yes, we played games, but we definitely ate.

Activity wise, we walked the dog regularly as a family, but outside of that my parents weren't particularly active and they were overweight for most of my life. I was active in that I played a lot outside and rode bikes and skateboarded and was involved in competitive athletics from 2nd grade through my senior year in high school.

I remained very active throughout my 20s...I didn't own a car for much of that time so I walked or biked most places...even when I did have a car, it was usually more convenient for me to walk or bike to university from my apartment than to try to find parking.

My friends and I were pretty avid weekend hikers...we loved getting into the mountains and smoking weed and enjoying nature. I also worked retail, waited tables, and worked a few summers doing landscape construction.

All an all, I was pretty active and never gave a thought about food...hungry, then eat. I graduated when I was 30 and took a desk job...that's when my weight crept on. It was pretty slow though...about 50 Lbs over the course of 8 years.

I could have written this exact same post except it was the meat that kept me at the dinner table for hours after everyone left. And my mom limited all candy to Saturday mornings. If I got a sucker from the bank, I had to put it in the candy jar. Then on Saturday mornings I could get the candy jar down and eat candy while watching cartoons. I think that's a reason I ate so much junk food when I became an adult. My activity level just allowed it to not be a problem. The desk job did me in.

LiftHeavyThings27105

CarvedTones wrote: »

LiftHeavyThings27105 wrote: »

I would chime in here with a few things (and not sure that people are going to like this.....not too worried about that...coming from a good, healthy place):

1. Mindset
2. Self-discipline
3. Ownership
4. Honesty

The topic is about naturally thin people who don't really put that sort of effort into it, not how people manage to maintain. Your list is conscious things people need to do to maintain. These people do it unconsciously,

Dang it....missed that boat! Please excuse the rant!

Fuzzipeg

No one has mentioned their digestive biome possibly being more diverse? Not something to be considered on here.

ekim2016

I was always so slim until I hit 45 ish.. then it began....

lporter229

Yeah, I agree that it's not just about food either. I don't think that inactive people truly realize how active some people are. Conversely, I don't think that active people realize how sedentary some people can be. And I am not talking about "exercise" activities like running, biking, lifting etc. I am talking about moving in general. Some people just move a lot more than others and it matters a lot.

flywarrior

I'd say, lowering carbs has worked out best. Not easy though, if you have a sweet tooth like me!

CarvedTones

I was slim to 25, then had one balloon up about 40# and lose it quickly event, then was fit but technically 8-15# overweight until mid to late 30s. Since age 40 I have been slightly overweight at best but usually more than slightly with weights that put me in the 28-33 BMI range. Now at age 59, I have now been below 25 on BMI for almost 3 months for the first time in over 30 years. A more sedentary lifestyle is a big part of it, but I also had trouble with binge eating which I never had when I was younger. That was definitely correlated to episodes of bipolar depression, a diagnosis I refused to accept for a long time. My weight loss and (so far) successful maintenance correlates with accepting the diagnosis and getting proper treatment.

tropicalchicy

lporter229 wrote: »

Yeah, I agree that it's not just about food either. I don't think that inactive people truly realize how active some people are. Conversely, I don't think that active people realize how sedentary some people can be. And I am not talking about "exercise" activities like running, biking, lifting etc. I am talking about moving in general. Some people just move a lot more than others and it matters a lot.

I agree with this 100%

I've also been naturally slim all of my life. I originally joined MFP to lose some vanity weight and reactivated my account this year after switching jobs. I went from a job where I was on my feet all day to spending 50hrs/week at a desk. Not only am I moving less, my appetite has increased because I'm bored at work. The busier and more active I am, the less I snack. So it was no surprise when my clothes no longer fit.

I'm now back to my normal range but it now takes conscious effort to maintain it - as opposed to before

AnvilHead

flywarrior wrote: »

I'd say, lowering carbs has worked out best. Not easy though, if you have a sweet tooth like me!

Lowering carbs has nothing to do with this topic. And you don't lose weight/maintain weight by lowering carbs, you do it by lowering calories.

hesn92

I agree with others that activity plays a huge role, not exercise but just moving in general. I never had a problem with my weight, until I got a desk job. And I wore a fit bit regularly for a while and I noticed that on days where I got a lot of steps, it gave me a LOT more calories. moving a lot makes a big difference.

seltzermint555

I still think there IS something more than calories in/calories out to certain cases of why some people put on weight more easily than others, at earlier ages, and so on. I know the general consensus here is that there's nothing to it except "woo"...so, whatever.

I think a lot of adult women do not eat much at all. I know a ton of slim women who literally eat one meal a day and it's half of a chicken sandwich at Chick-Fil-A and 5 grapes from their child's fruit cup. I think a lot of heavier women do the same thing, just snacking more frequently, and then don't know why they aren't slim when they are "eating the same as their friend".

I was always more of a 3-meals-a-day person but I know I used to try to eat the absolute least amount of food because that just seemed like what all the other women were doing, and then I'd have bigger portions at dinner with my husband and drink a crazy amount of calories in milk, lattes, etc. A lot of people are like I was and DO NOT have a clue about calories. If I had to guess 10 years ago I would have thought 2% milk was more similar in calorie content to Diet Coke, not a milkshake.

MadisonMolly2017

xbowhunter wrote: »

Very interesting.

Me.
Ages
0 to 15 underweight because I really didn't care about food & only ate when I needed to.
15 to 35 overweight after meeting my Italian wife & eating too much high Carb Italian foods.
35 to 49 Yoyo dieted from obese back to normal weight several times & didn't really know why.

Fast forward to today. Since January of this year did my research & studied the science behind Macro's and foods to completely remove from my diet because frankly they will kill me some-day.
Bingo it's like a light switch went on.
Now I'm back to a normal BMI level & completely understand how I did it & how to maintain it.

Knowledge is power!!

@xbowhunter
I’d love to know more about what you removed from your diet. I am taking a similar approach. Would be interesting to share our findings.

CarvedTones

seltzermint555 wrote: »

I still think there IS something more than calories in/calories out to certain cases of why some people put on weight more easily than others, at earlier ages, and so on. I know the general consensus here is that there's nothing to it except "woo"...so, whatever.

I think a lot of adult women do not eat much at all. I know a ton of slim women who literally eat one meal a day and it's half of a chicken sandwich at Chick-Fil-A and 5 grapes from their child's fruit cup. I think a lot of heavier women do the same thing, just snacking more frequently, and then don't know why they aren't slim when they are "eating the same as their friend".

I was always more of a 3-meals-a-day person but I know I used to try to eat the absolute least amount of food because that just seemed like what all the other women were doing, and then I'd have bigger portions at dinner with my husband and drink a crazy amount of calories in milk, lattes, etc. A lot of people are like I was and DO NOT have a clue about calories. If I had to guess 10 years ago I would have thought 2% milk was more similar in calorie content to Diet Coke, not a milkshake.

It's amazing what people (myself included during some years) think is a harmless snack or addition to a meal. One of my bad ones was nuts and raisins; a few of each combined to make a small handful that I finished in maybe two bites; no big deal, right? Probably 100 calories and since I though of it as practically nothing, getting another later was also no big deal. But sometimes it might have been five "nothings" a day. I have seen people complain about not losing weight on salads they get from the salad bar and they put a big scoop of blue cheese dressing on it. I was the same way about 2% milk; drinking it was like a diet drink to me. Some Ovaltine didn't make much difference in my mind either. the binges I knew were bad, but sometimes I didn't realize how bad. I would think of them as about equivalent to a meal, skipping one to make up for it, when it was more like a day and a half worth of calories, sometimes more.

psychod787

I come from a southern family. Fried foods, comfort foods ect. My father and mother were children of the 60's and 70's. They were slim in their youth. Though with the passage of time, they both put on weight. My father could have cared less, though my mother has yoyo dieted since the early 90's. I was an active youth, but always been heavy. My sister was the same. We both were extremely active in hs. Multiple sports and activities. I was extremely active in college. Played American football and walked everywhere. I was just taking in 5000+ calories a day to maintain my weight, still heavy though. When I left college, I still had a very active job, just continued to eat loads of fast food and fried foods/ comfort food. Weight began slowly creep. I just paid no attention. Then started a night job indoors for years and began hedonistic eating, and got married. Weight just flew up. I watched my brother in law, who is naturally thin last night at my brothers bday party. They were having fried shrimp and crab legs. I noticed the difference between him and my obese brother, who was actually a thin child and teenager. My brother just loaded up his plate and went to town. My brother and law got 4 shrimp, a small cluster of crab legs, no butter, some cole slaw and ate slowly. Everything was almost methodical. Then came the icecream. My brother loaded his up with syrup and extra cherries. My brother and law got a small portion with nothing added and slowly ate his. It's creepy that I watch him, but it is interesting insite.