naturally thin people

HealthyBodySickMind

I have always been one of those "naturally thin" people who seemed to eat huge portions of calorie dense foods. Even pregnant, I'm right where I'm supposed to be weight-wise for a healthy pregnancy, just eating what I feel like when I'm hungry. I got sick of people telling me that if I continued to eat this way as I got older/had kids, etc, that I was going to suddenly pack on the pounds. So I started tracking what I ate, not changing the way I eat, just to see what it was I actually did eat.

Do you know what I found out?

It turns out that I eat a reasonable amount of food for my size and activity level. Crazy, huh?

ETA: some of us are better at intuitively eating the right amount of food.

Bingo!

You are how people SHOULD be naturally.

Food and what you eat should be background to the important things in your life.

I bet that when your stomach is empty, you do not necessarily run to the refrigerator, right?

And you snack during the day on whatever you want?

Of course you do.

Everyone can adjust themselves to behave and treat food the way you do.

The body is perfect like that.

It makes no sense that the end point of hundreds of millions of years of evolution are human beings who are slaves to their appetite and consistently eat far more calories than the body needs.

Bingo on all points except the not running straight to the refrigerator part. If I'm hungry, and I can get to food, I eat. This has been especially true while preggers, but even before, fast food or something less than appealing trumps no food. It's a rare occasion that I hold out for something better than what's available food-wise, and usually coincides with a planned dinner out when I know I will be eating well (read-"lots"). It's been worse since I've got this thing in my belly making demands on my caloric needs as well. The thought of being without food sort of makes me panic.

ninerbuff

But you do agree that some people have much faster metabolisms/higher TDEEs naturally, correct?

Let's look at it on neutral prospective though. If 2 people were built exactly the same, ate exactly the same, and had the same exact physical activity, and not be related nor have any hormonal/health issues, it's unlikely one will have a higher metabolic rate than the other.
It always seems that people that look like they have higher metabolic rates are people that really move around alot and don't eat more than they need to (regardless of food choice). I was skinny because of this till I got out of high school.

A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

ninerbuff

As far as being fidgety, well, you would have to fidget a lot to make up for the difference in energy usage. With exercise, you can burn up to 50 times your basal metabolic rate in 24 hours. Burning an extra 200 calories a day fidgeting is probably not going to make a lot of difference. And there are likely other factors in play.

Studies show it's more like 350 calories/day in fidgeting, which is pretty huge. That's more than I burn in a 4-mile walk.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/28/health/28weight.html?_r=0

And I'm guessing you mean you can burn "50% more than" your BMR not 50 times your BMR in exercise, right?

I fidget all the time. The bouncing knee when sitting down. I just can't "stand" in one place, I pace. People at work describe me as being overly hyper. So yes, moving does count in calorie use.

A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Mr_Knight

The "naturally thin" people in my life have two common attributes - they snack less than average, and they are more active than average.

Both of those, over an extended period of time, would tend to decrease weight.

rawhidenadz

I work with a guy who is naturally thin. I've known him for about 7 years and his eating habits have never changed. The guy can put away 10 pieces of pizza and he never gains a pound. He is a big fan of cheetos and lots of mayo on sandwiches. He is just as active as anyone else doing normal activity like yard work. He is not sporty at all. However, even though he is stick thin, he has a family history of diabetes and high cholesterol. He even told us that his parents never made him eat his veggies as a kid. Thin doesn't equal healthy.

are you with him 24/7?
back when i did IF i could easily put away a large pizza for my ONE MEAL of the day and still be at a deficit with my activity level. if people just assumed that i ate like that all the time, they might have thought that i have some kind of magical metabolism that allows me to eat 10 slices of pizza per meal and still lose weight
in reality you have no idea how this person eats all the time
maybe you see him eat 10 slices of pizza one day
but you don't see him not eat at all the next day because his body is intuitively trying to "make up" for the "overeating"
a lot of naturally thin family members of mine do this
after they have an unusually large meal one day, they just aren't hungry the next day, and they're not consciously restricting, they just end up eating half as much as they normally would, and it all balances out to allow them to maintain their weight

Hornsby

But you do agree that some people have much faster metabolisms/higher TDEEs naturally, correct?

Let's look at it on neutral prospective though. If 2 people were built exactly the same, ate exactly the same, and had the same exact physical activity, and not be related nor have any hormonal/health issues, it's unlikely one will have a higher metabolic rate than the other.

A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Okay, I get what you are saying, and I guess we both just disagree.

cmstirp

My one friend has always been tiny but insists she eats a lot. However "a lot" to her is 1 can of soup for lunch. She feels so full after it!

I agree with everyone saying "naturally thin" people just don't eat more than they burn. They seem to listen to their hunger cues more and eat slower, which has them eat less.

WalkingAlong

So that is the story on basal metabolic rate and variances therein

Maybe you need to go educate the researchers linked above who couldn't explain the variances.

briana12077

my brother is super thin, he eats a lot, never healthy, he drinks soda all day and he sits on his butt all day. we all call him lazy thats how little he moves.

Slrajr

People often say that I am naturally thin, or that I am "lucky". This is so far from the truth. It is very easy for me to gain weight and I could easily gain 60 pounds, I know it because I've almost done it before.

Then there's my husband who everyone says has a fast metabolism and can eat anything he wants without gaining weight. He eats steak and drinks beer and has big meals every day, so it looks like he's getting away with eating lots and not gaining weight. However, when I looked at his activity level and caloric intake, and calculated his TDEE, I saw that he is eating at or below his daily requirement. He's just very tall, very active, and doesn't snack.

absentmindedhousewife

I was always a tall skinny kid. When I married at age 18 I weighed 105 pounds at 5'10". I couldn't tell you how many doctors I had as a child who wanted me to log calories or test my thyroid. Thing is, I ate like a horse. I did eat whatever I wanted. I could out-eat many men. I was fairly active and had good muscle tone, didn't look skeletal, and I could regularly eat huge plates of alfredo pasta without it making a dent in my weight.

I once got followed in a mall by a lady who would not stop harrassing me about having an eating disorder. I had to have security take care of her.

So, first baby comes, age 19, my body gains fifty pounds and then two months after I'm back down to 110 without changing my diet.

So, second baby comes, age 24, I gain seventy pounds and then five months later I'm down to around 125 without changing my diet. I looked good at that weight and stay there until...

Third baby comes, age 30, gain 80 lbs all the while craving leafy green vegetables and fish, and have a bear of a time getting it to come off. A year later I'm around 150. Also a weight I thought I looked good at.

Now I'm 39. I'm having hormone trouble. I got up to 171 at a doctor visit for my hormones and I didn't look good anymore. Except I had boobs. Those were OK....but I also had backfat and buttfat and neckfat. I used to be a person who could eat whatever and now I am not. Age and perimenopause have caught up with me.

So now I'm monitoring my diet because while carbs taste amazing, veggies help me keep my hormones in check. As of today, eating at a deficit to lose less than a pound a week, I'm at 158 pounds. Eight more pounds and we'll see how I look.

Hornsby

But you do agree that some people have much faster metabolisms/higher TDEEs naturally, correct?

Let's look at it on neutral prospective though. If 2 people were built exactly the same, ate exactly the same, and had the same exact physical activity, and not be related nor have any hormonal/health issues, it's unlikely one will have a higher metabolic rate than the other.

A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Okay, I get what you are saying, and I guess we both just disagree.

Well, no.

The kickboxer is correct.

You can disagree on who to vote for in an election, but not on basic physiology.

Metabolic rates do vary, but the reason they do is because of heat concerns. People in cold climates need to slow their metabolism down a bit to conserve heat, and people in hot climates need to speed it up a bit to get rid of heat.

This is done through the thyroid hormones.

Everyone has a basic level of thyroid hormone, but those levels can be modified over days and weeks by exposure to a different external temperature.

Thyroid hormone works in the nucleus of the cell to set the level of protein production. A lower thyroid level means that protein production will decrease, a high level means that it will increase protein production.

Now, essentially what we are taking about are protein enzymes that are catalysts to reactions. They are usually rate-limiting, meaning that the rate of reaction depends on the levels of protein enzymes.

The heat we lose in calories all comes as a byproduct of these reactions.

Now, this is key, for any particular product of these reactions, there is another reaction to break it down.

These reactions occur simultaneously.

So when thyroid hormone beefs up the rates of reactions, the heat factor is increased, but the net effect on the concentration of any biochemical compound is neutral.

At any rate, assume a baseline thyroid concentration, very cold weather can increase the heat production by maybe 100 percent. Hot weather can maybe decrease the heat production by 50%.

So that is the story on basal metabolic rate and variances therein for the most part in the otherwise healthy individual.

Drugs can effect the body's metabolic set-point, but that is through stimulating the sympathetic nervous system, and there are side effects.

That's a lot of good stuff. I just don't believe that people are created that "equal". There are variances, and there are anomalies. So yes, I disagree with you as well. Not a big deal.

in_the_stars

I don't fidget. Bed rest for a broken clavicle and shoulder sort of prevents that. Loss of muscle, yes, I've got it. Weight? no. Has my eating changed? No, I order in more than trying to cook with one hand. And i don't believe in the set point theory, the author himself
debunked it long ago.

in_the_stars

in my opinion,the case for maternal inheritance , your genotype to get a methyl markup in you grandma is very direct. When a girl is born, she has the complete set of eggs she will have for life in her baby ovaries.
The egg you developed from, half your chromosomes was created in was created in your mother's ovaries while she was in still in your grandmother's womb.
When your grandmother passed epigenetic signals to your mother, she also passed the egg that provided half of your DNA.

turtleball

^everything hornsby said

suzsy312

Yes typically they are the ones with faster metabolism and it could be that they eat less, but genetics definitely takes play.
Also keep in mind that is not always healthy or good because those that dont exercise have a lot of visceral (inner body) fat that you cannot visibly see.

gigglesinthesun

I do wonder just how much BMR variance there is between individuals. It's not nearly as much as people here seem to assume though.

FindingAmy77

only my teenage boys, lol

pcastagner

my husband is very slim, 6ft2 and 154lbs, he is eating around 3000 cals per day and trying to eat more to gain a few pounds.

he is what i would call 'naturally thin'

If I were 6'2 my TDEE would be in that range as well...

I have been fat most of my life, because I can easily eat 6k in a day

darrensurrey

There was a BBC programme about two friends, one overweight, the other very slim (possibly underweight).

They claimed to eat the same amount and had put it down to genetics that the slimmer friend was like that.

They got them to log food. The overweight person only ate marginally more.

Then they got them to wear monitors. Turns out the overweight person was eating a lot more in between meals.

I cannot find the video on YT, though - anyone know what this programme was called?

Personally, I used to be naturally thin as a child. I ate 4 dinners plus snacks. But I used to play badminton and do kung fu. Plus other sports at school. At uni, I did the same plus went clubbing twice a week. Fast forward 10 years, and I did a lot of rock climbing plus kung fu. Then through injury did less. Guess what happened?