Why aren't I fat?

misspenny762

This is a serious question and something I've wondered my entire life.
First of all, before I ever started MFP my diet was atrocious. Tons of junk food and carbs all day long without really stopping or thinking about what I ate at all. Plus my family dines out a LOT, and when we do I usually get something extremely high in calorie, like pasta or fried food, and very, very seldom do I exercise.
Second of all, as some of you know for several months now I've been struggling with binge-eating disorder. I consume MASS quantities of terrible food almost on a daily basis, well into the multiple thousands, and continue to barely work out.

However, despite all this I have never really been overweight. (I may now be just barely be into the overweight zone on the BMI scale, but honestly I'm too terrified to check the scale to know - I might still be in the healthy range.)

This sounds great and I guess it is but it's also kind of making me insane. People don't believe me when I say I have BED because "people who binge are overweight". Plus I use my seeming inability to gain too much weight as an excuse to keep binging, and I'm perpetuating this vicious cycle.

Anyone have any idea what's going on? I can't imagine that my metabolism is really that fast... Something here is odd to me.

hroush

You are still young and I'm guessing you still have a good metabolism. I would also guess if you continued this life style, it would have caught up with you. Good luck and I hope you can find the answers you're looking for.

TabiHerbalifeCoach

How old are you? you look fairly young your metabolism is a lot faster the younger you are.

BflSaberfan

My first thought is that it is because you are only 20. Do you have kids?

Expect all this to change by your mid to late 20's. I was the same way as you and quickly ended up being 80lbs overweight after always being slightly underweight, I had HORRIBLE eating habits and they caught up to me once my body starting slowing down.

wiggleroom

I think your focus needs to shift to whether or not you're healthy. Even if your body isn't large, you're not giving it the nutrition that it needs by eating junk and then purging.

Very thin people can be very unhealthy, and can have clogged arteries -- the comedian Dana Carvey had to have a quadruple bypass several years ago -- not an ounce of fat on him!

I am so sorry for your struggle. Please remember that the harmful effects don't have to be outwardly visible to be very real and very dangerous. I'll be praying for you.

samantharae121205

you sound exactly like my bf!!. he is 27 nd cant gain or lose and he eats well over 5000 cals a day with barely any exercise at all. lol. im soo jelous of you two. i would lovee to know whats going on tho.

AmandaArnwine

BECAUSE your 20 !!.. probably No kids... I was the same way til I was 30.. 30 is when your metabolism starts to slow.. 40, it's crawling.. and 50 it's at a stand still....Start building muscle now, so you don't get that problem when you are older

Jessica_Lo

Yeah it's your age. Enjoy it...embrace it. I was always super skinny...super. Could not gain weight for the life of me and then I had my son. I know people say this and your not grasping it (cause I did at your age) but believe me when I tell you, you will. So that and my age and not understanding nutrition and exercise because I never had to caught up with me. The good thing is you are learning about this now so you can stay ahead of the curve.

misspenny762

Don't be jealous of me, honestly. I wouldn't wish what I have on ANYONE.

Yikes, all these posts are scary and a little foreboding... But I'm not complaining, I need a little reality check to hopefully shock me into stopping this behavior. Please God, let it work this time...

DoReMiFaSoLaTiDo

Oh Grasshopper....

there are MANY UNDERWEIGHT diabetics.... SKINNY folks have heart attacks..... thin people have renal failure.....

louiseei

It's your age, when I was in my late teens I was often known to eat 4 jam donuts for lunch (they were 4 for £1 that was my excuse) I was a UK size 6 and was skinny as a rake, never got hangovers and could stay up until 3 in the morning and be fine at school/uni the next day.
It catches up with you though, and the weight gradually creeps on, though I must say I feel much healthier now, I can certainly run further without getting out of breath and my skin's better.
Fuel your body properly and it will thank you for it!

gameovergt

your age/metabolism

dailyorange

Like the other posters commented, it's most likely due to your age and metabolism. I'm 23 now, but when I was 18-21 (basically my college years), I hardly worked out too and ate out a lot, plus drank on the weekends. I never really gained any weight, maybe the most 5 lbs. However, the pounds creep up and as you get older! It's good to start taking care of yourself early on

paigemang♥

Your 20 years old, when I was 20 I ate EVERYTHING and ANYTHING and was never fat. You may have high cholesterol from all the junk etc. Its not really about being fat its about being HEALTHY. Instead of binge eating maybe go for a walk or a run etc. Food is just like anything else, its an escape...I used to smoke and drink heavily but I never had liver failure or lung cancer...same thing. Take care of your body :happy:

kj891

I knew so many girls who were itty bitty in high school and they never had smart eating habits. However, just a little over ten years later, it has already caught up to some of them, especially after having children.

You need to talk with someone, professional or not. There might be things that you don't even realize are bothering you. This type of behavior is not healthy for your mind or body.

Besides the long term effects on your health, another main concern here is that if you continue this lifestyle and you do actually start gaining weight, you might resort to purging after the binging. Eating disorders are a deadly and serious condition. Just because you may not "appear" to have one, does not mean that it is not dangerous.

Good luck and I hope you can get a grip on what is going on.

katnotfat

Hey there,
I think it would be a good idea to go to the doctor to talk to them about your concerns and eating habits. I think it could possibly do you some good. I understand that it can be scary facing any of these problems but you need to take care of yourself. Who knows why everyone's bodys are the way they are, but BED is more than just physical, it's mental as well.
I wish you luck! I hope that you find out how to be healthy and happy.

MalTru

Well, first off, I of course recommend going to see a doctor. Maybe you really do have a fast metabolism, maybe there's some other reason. I'm not at all a medical person, I won't even begin to hypothesize on that.

I think, though, regarding your BED that you should remind yourself of this the next time you're getting ready to binge: skinny people die of heart attacks too! Now, that sounds harsh and I certainly don't mean you're going to, but what that statement means to me is that even if you look healthy on the outside, you could still have high cholesterol, etc. Eating junky food does have a toll, even if it's not on a scale. Back when I was a healthy weight, I still wasn't healthy, b/c I would skip meals, eat chips and a lollipop for lunch, eat fast food all the time, and never paid attention to sodium levels, fat content, calories, etc.

I didn't make sure I was getting enough protein, iron, potassium, etc. I didn't even attempt to make sure I was giving my body the right fuel to work efficiently, build muscle, etc. And I was even an athlete back then! Then, once I stopped playing sports but didn't change my eating habits, all the crap caught up to me and I ballooned up, something I'm finally addressing (10 years later!).

So, I think being on MFP is a great thing for you, since the boards and full of people giving advice about eating healthy and living healthy, versus just getting skinny. And I do think if you're concerned about your weight in relation to your eating habits, you really should go see a doctor.

misspenny762

Yeah I'm currently looking at ED treatment centers but I'm worried... They're going to tell me to stop counting calories etc. And basically aren't going to care about how thin I am as long as I'm healthy, but I want to be BOTH... And I'm worried that it's going to perpetuate the cycle. Ugh.

fuzzymel

Oh Grasshopper....

there are MANY UNDERWEIGHT diabetics.... SKINNY folks have heart attacks..... thin people have renal failure.....

So true.

I think society sees thin as healthy but its just not that simple.

You can be overweight and healthy (though obviously not too overweight).

In my opinion health is far more important than weight.

Newmammaluv

I think saying that she is thin because she is young is misleading... I know PLENTY of young people who eat the way she described and are obese. I think there might be something more to it than her age... have your thyroid checked. I know not many people would consider your issue a "problem" but with time it may become one. I'm sorry for your struggles and I hope you find some peace with your own body with time.

cardswimmom

I think your focus needs to shift to whether or not you're healthy. Even if your body isn't large, you're not giving it the nutrition that it needs by eating junk and then purging.

Very thin people can be very unhealthy, and can have clogged arteries -- the comedian Dana Carvey had to have a quadruple bypass several years ago -- not an ounce of fat on him!

I am so sorry for your struggle. Please remember that the harmful effects don't have to be outwardly visible to be very real and very dangerous. I'll be praying for you.

Exactly what I was going to say.

misspenny762

I think saying that she is think because she is young is misleading... I know PLENTY of young people who eat the way she described and are obese. I think there might be something more to it than her age... have your thyroid checked. I know not many people would consider your issue a "problem" but with time it may become one. I'm sorry for your struggles and I hope you find some peace with your own body with time.

Yeah this is kind of one of my thoughts too... You can keep saying it's because I'm young, because I'm young but every day I go to school surrounded by thousands of peers my age which are overweight or obese that often eat FAR less than I do.

ladyhawk00

I think your focus needs to shift to whether or not you're healthy. Even if your body isn't large, you're not giving it the nutrition that it needs by eating junk and then purging.

Very thin people can be very unhealthy, and can have clogged arteries -- the comedian Dana Carvey had to have a quadruple bypass several years ago -- not an ounce of fat on him!

I am so sorry for your struggle. Please remember that the harmful effects don't have to be outwardly visible to be very real and very dangerous. I'll be praying for you.

^This.

The ability to maintain thinness is likely age and genetics; you probably just have a fairly good metabolism for now. Also, many with BED or bulimia make an effort to counteract their binges either through purging and/or with restricting intake the rest of the time (even if not consciously aware of it.) That is how I stayed slender throughout my teens and twenties.

But as mentioned, thin doesn't mean healthy at all. Malnutrition and stress on various body systems are doing damage that you can't see and don't have obvious symptoms. The body has an amazing ability to compensate, but as hard as it works to cover up symptoms, there are limits and the damage is still there - it's just masked temporarily.

If you haven't already, I would really recommend meeting with an ED counselor to work through this. It can be very difficult to identify and work on the mental aspects on your own. And the longer it goes on, the harder it is. Good luck to you. :flowerforyou:

AllyS7

My husband has hyperthyroidism. Google it for more info.

He literally lives off of fried foods, 12 sodas a day, zebra cakes, 2 tablespoons of salt on everything and fast food. I'm not exaggerating one bit. He'd die if he ate a carrot or drank skim milk (so he says...:noway: )

But he is 6'0" 156 and cut like you wouldn't believe. (Nice catch I know... ) It pisses me off to no end that he can eat like that, do no exercise and still have a six pack.

Now, he does have high-blood pressure and is only 25 years old, so it's not all sunshine and rainbows.

As for your Binging. You really need to see someone to help you out. Maybe start with a family member or a professional to help figure out the root of your eating problems. You can't really move forward with out solving out current issues.

misspenny762

Hmmm I Googled hyperthyroidism but I don't think I have that... I only have a couple of the symptoms described and in fact have extremely low blood pressure. Hmm.

kimmerroze

You are eating TONS of calories now, if you eat healthy calories, you wont all of a sudden gain weight, I wouldn't be worried about a ED clinic making you fat. they are concerned about your health, and being fat isn't healthy.

My guess is that you are what people call "skinny fat" sure your thin, but your fat percentage on your body is probably REALLY REALLY high, because you eat so much junk and your body NEEDS protein, your body will feast on your muscles for that protein, breaking them down and using them as fuel. This is making your fat percentage go up and up and up... the more fat you have the more your heart has to work... HEART ATTACK HEART ATTACK HEART ATTACK... you could also be facing Diabetes.

also another thing to keep in mind is that because you suffer from BED, that as soon as your metabolism slows down and you start gaining weight, because you don't have your BED under control BED will have the potential to get perpetuated into full blown bulemia.

Get it under control girl.. ED clinics can help you sooo much. My mother faced bulemia and anexorea a lot of her younger life and about killed herself.

hroush

Yeah I'm currently looking at ED treatment centers but I'm worried... They're going to tell me to stop counting calories etc. And basically aren't going to care about how thin I am as long as I'm healthy, but I want to be BOTH... And I'm worried that it's going to perpetuate the cycle. Ugh.

I would think that counting calories would help control the binging. I just looked up BED treatment and one suggestion is keeping a food diary, which is exactly what you're doing here. The treatment center can also help you with other aspects of treatment.

12by311

I think saying that she is think because she is young is misleading... I know PLENTY of young people who eat the way she described and are obese. I think there might be something more to it than her age... have your thyroid checked. I know not many people would consider your issue a "problem" but with time it may become one. I'm sorry for your struggles and I hope you find some peace with your own body with time.

Yeah this is kind of one of my thoughts too... You can keep saying it's because I'm young, because I'm young but every day I go to school surrounded by thousands of peers my age which are overweight or obese that often eat FAR less than I do.

My cousin is 32. She is rail thin. I mean SKINNY. She has always been this way. Actually she is probally smaller now than when she was in high school. She eats whatever. She smokes. She never exercises.

Age does have something to do with metabolism in most cases.

So does genetics.

I have never been skinny. I do not want to be. I am the same size now as when I was in high school though. I can run forever, play 2 hours of basketball, and then lift weights. I eat healthy most of the time. I would much rather be my size, strong, and able to kick butt physically; than to be too skinny for my height/bone structure and unable to walk up stairs without being out of breath. That's just MY personal goals though.

There IS such a thing as "skinny fat" and like someone else mentioned before, skinny people have health issues just the same sometimes. That's just the way it is.

I hope you are able to get some help for your binge eating. It may never catch up to you...then again, like other posters said, it very well may. I know LOTS of small girls from high school that are not so small anymore and are struggling trying to learn how to eat properly. One is even doing the HCG thing now.

Good luck.

misspenny762

Yeah I'm currently looking at ED treatment centers but I'm worried... They're going to tell me to stop counting calories etc. And basically aren't going to care about how thin I am as long as I'm healthy, but I want to be BOTH... And I'm worried that it's going to perpetuate the cycle. Ugh.

I would think that counting calories would help control the binging. I just looked up BED treatment and one suggestion is keeping a food diary, which is exactly what you're doing here. The treatment center can also help you with other aspects of treatment.

Every therapist I have seen and book I have read has told me to stop counting calories. I have been told to track the food I eat, but rather than tracking the calories I was supposed to record why I ate it, how it made me feel, whether it was excessive, whether I purged, etc.

It didn't work.

But the reason counting calories is probably not healthy for me (although stopping triggers me to binge more so catch-22) is that the worst part of BED is my obsession with food and being skinny... Actually obsession is an understatement, I don't know how I can make you understand how consuming and serious it is short of showing you my diary.

For me, I think counting calories does help me restrict my binging, although it doesn't sstop it. But the treatment center will tell me to stop doing it.

Not that it matters, at this point I know the calories in everything I eat and the exercise I do by heart, so even if I don't record it on paper, I've got it in my brain.

lpm3925

Interestingly my mom is very small. She has always ate what she wants and stayed thin. She is in her late 50’s now and her diet for a long while was sweet tea, cookies, and good old southern cooking. She went to her Dr. and her cholesterol and blood pressure were through the roof! My dad who is very overweight had blood work too, blood pressure fine, cholesterol a bit elevated but within range. The point is thin does not equal healthy, thin may be a result of healthy but the inverse does not apply. I suggest you get a full medical work-up done and see what is really going on. If you feel you have a problem you most likely do. Visit a counselor if you feel you have an eating disorder.

ladyhawk00

Not that it matters, at this point I know the calories in everything I eat and the exercise I do by heart, so even if I don't record it on paper, I've got it in my brain.

Precisely why treatment and therapy are VITAL. Counting calories (and other habits) is just a symptom of the illness. But the overall issues are still there whether you are counting cals specifically or not.

I know treatment is scary, but you're worth the fight.