Naturally thin people...what do you eat in a day?

harlsthebum

Back in the day when I could claim this, my diet consisted of ice ceam, pizza, chicken wings, Little Debbie snacks and 3,000-plus calorie restaurant meals.

I know people don't think it's possible to eat that much and be thin, but I did. I had no idea how many calories I was even eating back then because I didn't track and I ate smaller amounts of food (by volume) that was VERY calorie dense. And, no, I didn't exercise much at all.

But when I turned 28, my metabolism decided to take a nosedive and now I eat a fraction of the calories and can't lose for trying. :-(

I too used to eat well over 2500 calories a day of just junk food and I've been thin all my life. Once I started tracking what I eat and working out I lost the fat in my face but remained the same everywhere else except toned. My diary is always open.

IpuffyheartHeelsinthegym

It's a fallacy. They SEEM like they eat whatever. But, if you follow them around all day for a week, you'll find that 1) they never ever snack. When they eat, they eat, but they don't eat a lot in a day. They might eat one big meal, and then the other meals are small or they skip them. For instance, maybe no brekky, a huge lunch with people at work, no snacks all day, then they go home and have a small nibble for dinner and that's it. You really don't know unless you are with them all day and night for at least several days.

While there might be a few cases of this, it's not that common, and I think mostly it's BS. It is CICO and that's all it is. They only SEEM like they eat whatever they want, but they don't eat a lot of calories at the end of the day.

not true. I eat 3 meals and snack in between and am usually around 1600-1800 calories a day.

You completely missed my point.

I'm not sure you even understand what this thread is about.

seeing that I am naturally thin and I responded to the OP accordingly, I'd say I actually do know what this thread is about.

Not if you're tracking calories. She is asking about people that seeminly eat whatever they want with reckless abandon and stay skinny. To which, I call BS. There is probably no one in this world like that, and if there is, they might have a medical issue they need looked at. Just like someone that eats 500 calories a day and is huge. If you take it the opposite way, no one would argue that it's normal, and they would say, "go see a doctor". No one "eats whatever they want" and stays skinny. People that seem naturally thin have a good hungry/full meter and they usually don't eat as much as people think.

but, she asked for open diaries that she could copy..... I was tracking to make sure I was eating enough food. Now that I know how many calories my meals are, I no longer track.

missomgitsica

People who are naturally thin can eat whatever they want. My roommate has weighed 120 pounds since we graduated high school nearly 11 years ago and eats nothing but junk food. I swear she lives on Totinos Party Pizzas, Oreo cookis, and Mountain Dew and never gains a pound.

IpuffyheartHeelsinthegym

It's a fallacy. They SEEM like they eat whatever. But, if you follow them around all day for a week, you'll find that 1) they never ever snack. When they eat, they eat, but they don't eat a lot in a day. They might eat one big meal, and then the other meals are small or they skip them. For instance, maybe no brekky, a huge lunch with people at work, no snacks all day, then they go home and have a small nibble for dinner and that's it. You really don't know unless you are with them all day and night for at least several days.

While there might be a few cases of this, it's not that common, and I think mostly it's BS. It is CICO and that's all it is. They only SEEM like they eat whatever they want, but they don't eat a lot of calories at the end of the day.

not true. I eat 3 meals and snack in between and am usually around 1600-1800 calories a day.

You completely missed my point.

I'm not sure you even understand what this thread is about.

seeing that I am naturally thin and I responded to the OP accordingly, I'd say I actually do know what this thread is about.

Not if you're tracking calories. She is asking about people that seeminly eat whatever they want with reckless abandon and stay skinny. To which, I call BS. There is probably no one in this world like that, and if there is, they might have a medical issue they need looked at. Just like someone that eats 500 calories a day and is huge. If you take it the opposite way, no one would argue that it's normal, and they would say, "go see a doctor". No one "eats whatever they want" and stays skinny. People that seem naturally thin have a good hungry/full meter and they usually don't eat as much as people think.

but, she asked for open diaries that she could copy..... I was tracking to make sure I was eating enough food. Now that I know how many calories my meals are, I no longer track.

But, you don't eat whatever you want. That's my point. People that are "naturally thin" don't eat whatever they want. That way of thinking is flawed.

ok, not crazy amounts, no. I do eat what I want, just in moderation. I used to, however eat any and everything and never weighed more than 135 pounds.

Jbarbo01

I didn't mean to offend anyone. I meant to say I assume not many naturally thin are on here because their proper habits keep them from having to do all the counting of calories but it seems I was wrong. My bad! Thanks for all the responses. This has been eye opening and very helpful!

BusyRaeNOTBusty

People who are naturally thin can eat whatever they want. My roommate has weighed 120 pounds since we graduated high school nearly 11 years ago and eats nothing but junk food. I swear she lives on Totinos Party Pizzas, Oreo cookis, and Mountain Dew and never gains a pound.

You could easily eat those foods and still be at maintenance calories, especially if you were very active. I eat a fair amount of the food you just described and am losing weight. It's all about calories.

cwolfman13

I was naturally thin until I was about 30. In my early years I can credit a pretty revved up metabolism which is pretty typical for a "growing boy"...as I entered my 20s, that definitely slowed down and I grew into my man body and was heavier...but I had more muscle and was 12%-15% BF rather than the 8% that I never seemed to be able to get higher than in high school.

That said, activity played a huge role for me. Growing up I was always involved in sports...so I was always practicing and playing something, not to mention just generally running around with the guys playing a game of pickup basketball or football in the park or whatever. In my 20s I was no longer involved with organized athletics, but I was a generally active guy.

For one, all through my 20s I held jobs that were active or at minimum kept me on my feet most of the time. I was in the military...I was a waiter/bartender...I did landscape installation and construction...I did private security, etc. On top of that, I went for years without a car and road my bike or walked pretty much anywhere the bus wouldn't take me. I was also an avid hiker and was really into roller hockey there for a few years and while I did use my bike for transportation, I was an avid recreational rider as well. Mind you, I probably set foot in a gym maybe 2 weeks out of that entire decade.

I have no idea how many calories I ate back then but I can tell you I didn't bother worrying about it and often had difficulty keeping weight on (I hated being the stick skinny guy I was in high school). I'm sure there were a lot of people that thought, "damn...that guy can just eat whatever he wants to."...and that was largely true at the time...until I turned 30 and took a desk job, bought a car, and started a family...then I piled on a good 50 Lbs pretty quickly.

Inamourada

Well my boyfriend is super skinny, eats fast food almost every day and has a desk job. He eats plenty of peanut butter sandwiches and he's always hungry, thus, eating often. When he's home, he doesn't get much activity. The way he eats makes me raise my eyebrows and wonder how he stays so thin. So I am a firm believer that there are naturally thin people out there. I may only have one person to base this on, but jeez he eats so bad (and so much).

Genetics have a big part of determining the way you are. You can overcome it, but some of us have to work much harder than others.

Edit: I'm not saying that once he's older it won't catch up with him! But his mom is super thin as well, so I wonder...

ROBOTFOOD

I eat whatever I want. And yes, I was still a stick before I started distance running. 2011, I was 118lbs at 5' 11''. Back then, I ate pizza and drank 2 liters of coke daily. Feel free to browse my diary. It's not the healthiest. Add me too.

BusyRaeNOTBusty

I didn't mean to offend anyone. I meant to say I assume not many naturally thin are on here because their proper habits keep them from having to do all the counting of calories but it seems I was wrong. My bad! Thanks for all the responses. This has been eye opening and very helpful!

I think you are looking for someone to say "Ive never been fat, I eat 2 bananas a day to keep thin" and that's just not going to happen. I've never been significantly overweight. Maybe 10-20lbs (maybe 30 just post babies). I don't know exactly what proper habits are. I've always tried to be aware of how things add up even when not actively counting calories, I don't stuff myself, I try to stay active, eat fruits and veggies, etc. But I also eat cheetos, pizza and oreos.

MinnieInMaine

I agree, they don't exist. They seem to, and I thought they did for quite a long time. Then I started really paying attention to the whole lifestyle package for these "naturall" thin or "lucky" folks and noticed that their eating habits are just different than mine and/or they're way more active than I am/was.

My mother, for instance, is like one of the previous poster's Mom. She eats a lot of ice cream (we joke she's addicted) but manages to stay thin. This is because she also stays fairly active and eats very lightly most of the rest of the time. She's also careful to monitor her weight and will reign in any extra snacking if she sees she's up more than a few pounds.

My two best friends have always been slim. One likes to eat a lot like me but she also exercises quite a bit so it balances out. The other is a grazer - she seems to eat all the time but doesn't tend to eat a lot at one sitting and she's also fairly active.

I could give several other examples. Like that cousin you only see on holidays who is thin but seems to always be stuffing his/her face. They can do that because they workout like crazy and/or most of the time they eat much less. They're just taking advantage of the holiday food like the rest of us.

So we make assumptions and excuses for why they're different than we are. The truth is, no one can deny the calories in/calories out thing. If you eat less than you burn, you lose. If you eat about the same as you burn, you maintain. And if you eat more than you burn, you gain. Because science.

jofjltncb6

I'm naturally fit and have an open diary, however, I'm currently in a cut. Just add 400-600 calories of the same food/bowl of ice cream to my current diary (or scroll back a couple of weeks to a maintenance break) for a "normal" day.

ETA: And there will be no one who "eats whatever they want" but also has a food diary. The act of keeping the diary itself affects food choices.

That said, nowhere did OP say "eats whatever they want". Someone else interjected that requirement.

cwolfman13

Well my boyfriend is super skinny, eats fast food almost every day and has a desk job. He eats plenty of peanut butter sandwiches and he's always hungry, thus, eating often. When he's home, he doesn't get much activity. The way he eats makes me raise my eyebrows and wonder how he stays so thin. So I am a firm believer that there are naturally thin people out there. I may only have one person to base this on, but jeez he eats so bad (and so much).

Genetics have a big part of determining the way you are. You can overcome it, but some of us have to work much harder than others.

Edit: I'm not saying that once he's older it won't catch up with him! But his mom is super thin as well, so I wonder...

Part of this is the fact that he's male...as a 5'10" male, even sedentary with my desk job and no deliberate exercise I can maintain on 2400 calories or so pretty easily...which leaves a lot of room for fast food, PB&Js, and plenty of snacking. People still think I eat a lot of food now...I don't particularly think so...I take in around 2800 calories to maintain and I do exercise but not to an excess and I have a desk job.

deksgrl

"Naturally thin people" eat a certain number of calories that keeps them within their TDEE range, so they do not gain weight. It's not WHAT they are eating, it is HOW MUCH they are eating, in relation to how much their body needs to maintain that weight.

LiftAllThePizzas

Well, there are people whose tastes and appetites and hunger mechanisms are naturally tuned such that they literally can and do, "eat what they want, as much of it as they want, whenever they want" and don't become overweight.

But you aren't going to achieve that by copying their eating habits.

ndrec

It's a fallacy. They SEEM like they eat whatever. But, if you follow them around all day for a week, you'll find that 1) they never ever snack. When they eat, they eat, but they don't eat a lot in a day. They might eat one big meal, and then the other meals are small or they skip them. For instance, maybe no brekky, a huge lunch with people at work, no snacks all day, then they go home and have a small nibble for dinner and that's it. You really don't know unless you are with them all day and night for at least several days.

While there might be a few cases of this, it's not that common, and I think mostly it's BS. It is CICO and that's all it is. They only SEEM like they eat whatever they want, but they don't eat a lot of calories at the end of the day.

not true. I eat 3 meals and snack in between and am usually around 1600-1800 calories a day.

You completely missed my point.

I'm not sure you even understand what this thread is about.

seeing that I am naturally thin and I responded to the OP accordingly, I'd say I actually do know what this thread is about.

Not if you're tracking calories. She is asking about people that seeminly eat whatever they want with reckless abandon and stay skinny. To which, I call BS. There is probably no one in this world like that, and if there is, they might have a medical issue they need looked at. Just like someone that eats 500 calories a day and is huge. If you take it the opposite way, no one would argue that it's normal, and they would say, "go see a doctor". No one "eats whatever they want" and stays skinny. People that seem naturally thin have a good hungry/full meter and they usually don't eat as much as people think.

but, she asked for open diaries that she could copy..... I was tracking to make sure I was eating enough food. Now that I know how many calories my meals are, I no longer track.

But, you don't eat whatever you want. That's my point. People that are "naturally thin" don't eat whatever they want. That way of thinking is flawed.

ok, not crazy amounts, no. I do eat what I want, just in moderation. I used to, however eat any and everything and never weighed more than 135 pounds.

thank you. I know. That's exactly my point. Fat people think that skinny people "eat whatever they want". It's a very skewed view of the issue. They don't "eat whatever they want". It's very modified and they stop when full. Fat people don't stop. But, it's confusing to someone that doesn't have moderation as an option.

I'm one of those too. But, I learned something. When I hung out with my fat friends, I couldn't believe how much they would eat. Maybe in HS or so, I stayed with a friend for about 3 or 4 days. I couldn't wait to get out of that house. The amount of food they ate just blew my mind. I was so happy to get home and just get back to my normal eating. But, in my own world view, "I ate whatever I wanted", but when you compare that with someone who is overweight, you will see that the two points of view are very different.

i completely agree as i was that skinny "eat whatever" guy before i turned 22 and got friends with same patterns. Yes, i ate whatever i wanted but those were really modest amounts of food. i never snacked and there were times when i would work on something and completely forget to eat.
my parents and some of my friends are like that also. if you were to ask "naturally thin" people wheather they would like to eat something and they are not that hungry whey would rather choose not to eat because they are not bothered with food. i was that way. i couldn't care less about food, i didn't have favourite foods which i couldn't turn down even if i was full.

Later on i started enjoying junk food and did a "see food" diet basicaly and by the time i turned 28 i was a skinny fat slob going to the plain fat department quickly. Think pizza, sandwiches, burgers and lasagne and alcohol. i am 6.0 and was 150 lbs when 22 and february last year i measured 198 lbs, so i reckoned i needed to do something about it.
now i'm 156 and slowly gaining and lifting.

SLLRunner

Though there may not be many of you on here, I am just really curious to see the everyday diet of a naturally thin person. Does anyone have an open diary they'd be okay with me looking out or just copying and pasting a sample day?

People who SEEM naturally thin just eat at their maintenance, and they know when they've had enough food.. If they ate over their TDEE they would gain weight just like anyone else.

It's not about what you eat but how much.

My diary is open, and I am maintaining my goal weight.