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

RunsOnEspresso

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 had a friend who was obese, maybe morbidly obese even. We would sometimes go out to eat. She would always comment on how much I ate and never gained an ounce. What she didn't realize is I ate lighter breakfast and lunches on days we were going out. I also drank mostly water with meals.

She would order an appetizer, meal, dessert and a couple of caloric alcholic drinks plus she would finish it all. I would order a meal, maybe a drink or dessert and never finish all my food. I also parked my car as far away as I could. She would drive in circles for 15 minutes to get the closest spot. Theres a lot of little things that add up. I also don't think she realized how much I went to the gym.

Holly_Roman_Empire

Go to the gain weight forum and you will get different response.
Everyone here seems in denial that there are people who can eat a lot and not gain weight.
Did I meantion I was one of them? I think my metabolism changed after age 25 or so because my activity level did not.
And I was not intune with when i was full. I ate A LOT, not really active person, I hate sports.
So there are people out there who eat alot and dont gain. However you will NOT find them here. All your answers here will be biased, because everyone here does NOT have that problem, and lots people here can not see beyond there own experience or point of view.

I don't think anyone is denying that metabolism slows down as you age. Regardless, when you say you were "naturally thin," it's obvious that you were eating within your TDEE and not more. When you gained weight, you could have eaten the same and your TDEE gone down (whether from changing hormones, metabolism, activity level, etc.). There's nothing magic about people that don't have to try to stay thin/fit.

ROBOTFOOD

the naturally "thin" people I've witnessed eat what they want..but they don't finish everything and often are not hungry all the time like the rest of us. haha. I've also noticed the few I know don't like mayonnaise, butter, and fats or fast food. the things that put weight on the rest of us.

Ha! I Iive off fast food!

Bernadette60614

Our son is naturally thin, and I think it is less what food he eats, than that he doesn't eat emotionally.

I was raised in a "clean your plate" family and food was used as a reward or a bribe.

We never did that with our son. He can honestly eat 1/3 of a piece of cake and just say: Mom, I've had enough. When he's upset, he comes and talks to us, his teacher or his friends..he doesn't eat a bag of chips.

Every Friday night is pizza and family game night in our house..kind of our family end of the week celebration, and he can eat 1.5 slices of pizza, put it in the fridge and save it for the next Friday.

I know my parents meant well, but telling me: I know you're not full...eat more...wasn't a great strategy in the long run.

Holly_Roman_Empire

People that are "naturally thin" don't eat whatever they want. That way of thinking is flawed.

I ate whatever I wanted, however much I wanted and up until my 30's was not overweight.

People here seem to be using a different definition of "want" than the one I've been familiar with all my life.

True, eating "everything I want" is not the same as eating "everything in sight." A person you think is naturally thin is probably eating everything they want, but it is probably not everything an obese person would want.

djslickrix

I was naturally thin (still am) but I just have some belly fat which I'm trying to lose so that my abs start showing. Even though I'm cutting, everyone says I need to start bulking, but if I start doing that now with the belly fat, I will just look fat, so my goal is to drop to 10% BF with no belly fat, and then start a clean bulk from there while working out most days.

Anyways what I used to eat was anything, like mcdonalds, pizza, KFC etc.. everyday

I think people call my condition "Skinny Fat"

Holly_Roman_Empire

Our son is naturally thin, and I think it is less what food he eats, than that he doesn't eat emotionally.

I was raised in a "clean your plate" family and food was used as a reward or a bribe.

We never did that with our son. He can honestly eat 1/3 of a piece of cake and just say: Mom, I've had enough. When he's upset, he comes and talks to us, his teacher or his friends..he doesn't eat a bag of chips.

Every Friday night is pizza and family game night in our house..kind of our family end of the week celebration, and he can eat 1.5 slices of pizza, put it in the fridge and save it for the next Friday.

I know my parents meant well, but telling me: I know you're not full...eat more...wasn't a great strategy in the long run.

You sound like you're doing a great job. I hope I raise my kids to do the same. :flowerforyou::drinker:

jofjltncb6

I was naturally thin (still am) but I just have some belly fat which I'm trying to lose so that my abs start showing. Even though I'm cutting, everyone says I need to start bulking, but if I start doing that now with the belly fat, I will just look fat, so my goal is to drop to 10% BF with no belly fat, and then start a clean bulk from there while working out most days.

Anyways what I used to eat was anything, like mcdonalds, pizza, KFC etc.. everyday

I think people call my condition "Skinny Fat"

Protein from McDonald's and protein from "clean" foods will both support muscle growth. The source of your calories is not what has led to your current body composition.

SandraJN

I was thin until I turned 35. Up until that point I ate anything I wanted because there were no consequences. I'd eat an entire jar of cashews, because who can eat just a couple? ???? I ate like a man, man being my dad and then my husband, and looked like a bean pole.

I'm now 61 and those days are well behind me, but it has been a struggle to rein in portion size after more than half my life not needing to think about it. Activity is important, but I have a farm with 19 horses to care for, a largish house and an enormous yard, so believe me when I say I am active.

weather_nerd

Anyone who looks at me would probably say I'm at a healthy weight, but I never got to this point until I truly listened to my body. I learned to recognize when I was full, what types of foods my body was craving, etc. I have had people tell me that I don't need to exercise or eat healthy foods because I'm "skinny enough". That's not what it's all about.

When I gave myself free range to eat whatever I chose, I found I preferred savory foods over sweet foods. I enjoyed spice and flavour a lot more. Wheat makes me feel funny. Full fat cream in my coffee is divine. I like butter. Avocados are delicious. Long story short, I discovered that I wasn't eating a certain way to become a certain shape. I was eating things that appealed to me. The reason I joined MFP was not because I was already "thin" or needed help planning my food, I wanted to become healthier through exercise, and also learn some new things.

So to answer your question, I eat whatever I feel like eating. However, I swear by listening to what my body wants and requires. Some days it's poutine for lunch. Other days it's a salad. It all depends.

DawnieB1977

I have a friend who's really thin. She's about 5'10 and a UK size 8 (US 4). She's French. I've never known anyone eat so much! I worked with her so Wed sit together for lunch quite often. Shed eat twice the amount I did! Then she'd have an after work snack. She kept a jar of Nutella in her bedroom that she'd eat with a spoon. She'd go out for dinner with dessert, then come back for a snack. A few times she came to ours and we got Dominoes. She could even out-eat my husband! She told me as a teenager she'd eat McDonald's all the time, chocolate, huge bottles of full fat coke etc. Oh, and she did no exercise. I got her to come to the gym with me a few times when I was pregnant with my first. Even at 30+ weeks pregnant I was so much fitter than she was. And after the gym she'd eat a chocolate bar! She was a smoker too.

I get really fed up with people saying people like this don't exist, because they do! There are some people who've been thin all their lives and are just naturally that way, no matter what they eat.

_lyndseybrooke_

My husband is 5'9" and couldn't get over 140 lbs until he started lifting. He could eat all day long, really high calorie foods, and never gained a single pound. He defies science, seriously.

Just as an example, he's big on fast food. At Burger King, he'll get the quadruple stacker (yes, that's 4 pieces of meat on one sandwich) with fries and a regular Coke and eat all of it. At Hardee's, the monster thickburger with fries and a coke. At Wendy's, the triple baconator with fries and a coke. Now, I can eat as much as he can, but I put on weight just thinking about foods like this. And he didn't work out at all before he started lifting - not even a physically strenuous job. He would get up, go to work, come home, and sit on the couch until bedtime. Still does...just with lifting three days per week.

He struggles to gain and has to eat about 3500 calories while lifting in order to put on weight VERY slowly, and his TDEE is 2500. Must be nice...

salladeve

any "naturally thin" people I have known eat anything they want to. It must be said however that those that I know are also "naturally active". what I mean is they seem to always be on the move, doing something, never sitting still.

IpuffyheartHeelsinthegym

People that are "naturally thin" don't eat whatever they want. That way of thinking is flawed.

I ate whatever I wanted, however much I wanted and up until my 30's was not overweight.

People here seem to be using a different definition of "want" than the one I've been familiar with all my life.

True, eating "everything I want" is not the same as eating "everything in sight." A person you think is naturally thin is probably eating everything they want, but it is probably not everything an obese person would want.

that's what I got out of this. I too eat what I want, which to me is not the same as everything in sight. I don't keep eating until everything is gone. I stop when I am full or when I've had enough.

lizzyclatworthy

I also know some people who claim to not be able to absorb certain fats.

No idea how true this is.

BinaryPulsar

I am 5'2". I have a small, but still curvy bone structure. I weigh 101 pounds. I eat around 1900 to 2100 on most days. Lower on some scattered days and up to 2400 or 2800 on some scattered days. But, I am, and always have been very active. I don't drive, so I walk at least an hour a day. Anytime I go anywhere I will walk a minimum of 40 minutes. I am a dancer and dance and teach with multiple dance groups for up to 5 hours a day at times. And I lift weights for at least 60 minutes 3 to 4 times a week. All day I am moving and practicing dance from the moment I wake up at 6 am, until I go to sleep. I have kids and play with them on the monkey bars. For recreation I will hike for 2 hours. I have weights at home and go to the gym and go to the outdoor exercise park. I do flow yoga to relax.

SuperstarDJ

For me it's fidgeting! In my last job, I was mostly sitting all day; drove to and from work but struggled to maintain my weight (my BMI never went higher than 17). However, I'm a highly stressed personality and I'm always fidgeting and find it hard to stay still. If I'm forced to sit (e.g. at work), I'm constantly moving something, whether it's tapping my feet, my fingers...

When I was at my healthiest a few years ago (BMI of 18), I had to eat at least 3,000 kcals to maintain it (I'm female).

Trechechus

What is a "naturally thin" person?

husseycd

The BBC had some specials about this topic. You can watch them on youtube. This one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAQr77QMJiw talks specifically about this.

There's another one where they compared a "naturally" skinny friend with her heavier friend. Both women swore the skinny friend ate far more than the heavier friend. It simply wasn't true. Science.

Certainly there are metabolic disorders that make people the exception to the rule. But most likely, they don't apply to your friends who are "naturally" skinny. It's said a lot on these boards, very few of us are special snowflakes.