Naturally slim

missym357

I think that naturally slim people are just better at listening to their bodies - eating when they're hungry, stopping when they're full. I've noticed that most of my naturally skinny friends will eat junk food when they want it, but they won't go on binges. If offered food but they are full, they turn it down. A lot will skip meals just because they don't feel hungry, not because they are intentionally trying to cut back on calories or have an eating disorder. They make up the difference by eating more another time when they are hungry.

This describes me very well and I have been thin my whole life. BUT I do believe there is a genetic component to being able to do that. I would imagine that there also are differences in metabolism, but I suspect that they are not huge differences, but rather differences that add up over time. There's bound to be a genetic component to general size and body composition too- some people are just bigger than others, all things being equal. I find the whole thing fascinating.

SergeantSunshine_reused

Can anyone answer this question?
Why is it that some people can eat whatever they want and never put on weight, whilst others even look at a chocolate bar and put on weight?
Is it all down to genetics? Metabolism?

Pretty much every study ever done with naturally thin people found they simply didn't eat as many calories as other people who had issues with their weight. There are exceptions - but that's the truth. Skinny people eat less food.

I have seen that their NEAT is higher too

SergeantSunshine_reused

Can anyone answer this question?
Why is it that some people can eat whatever they want and never put on weight, whilst others even look at a chocolate bar and put on weight?
Is it all down to genetics? Metabolism?

Pretty much every study ever done with naturally thin people found they simply didn't eat as many calories as other people who had issues with their weight. There are exceptions - but that's the truth. Skinny people eat less food.

^This. And I do think that the junk food eventually catch up to them.

People say the weight gain will catch up with them when there older but why is this?

Because people's metabolism slow down as we age, unless we are actively working our muscles. Of course, people who continue to exercise and strength train will continue to be slim, but I assume that you were talking about naturally slim people who don't exercise.

Think about how active people usually are around college (parties, sports, walking around campus and such) then go to a desk job, then are just not active

lisakyle_11

Just cause they are thin does not mean they are healthy.

word.^

LaMujerMasBonitaDelMundo

Can anyone answer this question?
Why is it that some people can eat whatever they want and never put on weight, whilst others even look at a chocolate bar and put on weight?
Is it all down to genetics? Metabolism?

Its all genetics.... having ultra fast or slow metabolism has something to do with genes BUT it doesn't mean that those who were born with "bad genes" will never lose weight & get the body that they want. On the other hand, those who are naturally slim can gain weight or build muscle. However these two groups need lots of hardwork, patience & consistency to get the results that they want. Luckily I'm one of the few who is in the "happy medium" (aka mesomorph) so if I gain fat weight, I have no one else to blame except myself

Silverkittycat

I think that naturally slim people are just better at listening to their bodies - eating when they're hungry, stopping when they're full. I've noticed that most of my naturally skinny friends will eat junk food when they want it, but they won't go on binges. If offered food but they are full, they turn it down. A lot will skip meals just because they don't feel hungry, not because they are intentionally trying to cut back on calories or have an eating disorder. They make up the difference by eating more another time when they are hungry.

This describes me very well and I have been thin my whole life. BUT I do believe there is a genetic component to being able to do that. I would imagine that there also are differences in metabolism, but I suspect that they are not huge differences, but rather differences that add up over time. There's bound to be a genetic component to general size and body composition too- some people are just bigger than others, all things being equal. I find the whole thing fascinating.

This, and probably the fact that we've never really "dieted". I just don't think about food that much, until I'm hungry.

Contrarian

My ex can eat tons of crap and not get fat. That being said, because he doesn't exercise, his torso reminds me of ET's.

MissyLibra

I don't think there is a reason.

I always ate a lot, and by a lot I mean just last year I could eat 3000k + calories a day without doing ANY exercise. And I weighted 125. (I'm 5'2) while it's not awesome skinny/fit, my bmi was in healthy range (nowhere near overweight). Except... well my friend who weight a 100 pounds more than me could outrun the crap out of me. I was left behind panting and like ready to die after one minute.

And I had no muscles, and I was not tone, at all. No strength. Nothing. It's not worth being skinny if you're not fit in my opinion. So yeah, some people get to be naturally skinny but it also leads them to be very unfit and not healthy.

honestlysweet

My sister is tiny, about 115 pounds and is forty two and has three kids. She has always been this way. She has always been a bartender, so she is on her feet a lot but i wouldn't say she is especially active. Her kids are grown, except for the youngest. She can put away food like it's going out of style.

The thing about her though, is that she is hyper. She always has been. So I don't know if being hyper has anything to do with it, but the energy she spends being hyper I think may have somehow affected her metabolism.

mamitosami

http://www.burnthefat.com/slow-metabolism-problems.html

I found this very interesting...

tgzerozone

Can anyone answer this question?
Why is it that some people can eat whatever they want and never put on weight, whilst others even look at a chocolate bar and put on weight?
Is it all down to genetics? Metabolism?

Pretty much every study ever done with naturally thin people found they simply didn't eat as many calories as other people who had issues with their weight. There are exceptions - but that's the truth. Skinny people eat less food.

What he said.

smantha32

And just because you're overweight, doesn't make you UNhealthy. I used to be an example of this.

I was well over 100 pounds overweight, had perfect blood sugar, blood pressure, cholesterol, etc.

Yes, even when I was pushing 200 pounds I had great cholesterol, great blood pressure, and I've been told my body seems to make extra of the good cholesterol that helps fight the bad type.

Go figure.

lilojoke

http://www.burnthefat.com/slow-metabolism-problems.html

I found this very interesting...

A classic!!!

anitasongs

or burn more calories. bottom line over eating calories without exercise means weight gain....Right?
YOu lost alot of weight.. is that true?

coconutbuNZ

This is basically it. Naturally slim people naturally don't overeat. They also don't mind being active. And when they're hungry, they eat, but they know when to stop. It is true that they may eat junk food but they don't do it all day, every day.

Genetics and low metab doesn't help but it is not the main cause for being overweight. It is the food that we consume, how much we consume and lack of exercise.

yesthistime

Bump for tomorrow

elcieloesazul

Can anyone answer this question?
Why is it that some people can eat whatever they want and never put on weight, whilst others even look at a chocolate bar and put on weight?
Is it all down to genetics? Metabolism?

my anecdotal evidence :

after having observed several people who i thought could "eat anything they want" and still not gain, i have observed that they seem to fall into two categories.

1. the thin people who i observed eating McDonalds / high fat food all of the time generally ate the burger and fries and then stopped when they were full. also, they often had jobs that involved physical labor. they were lifting something a good deal of the day.

This. My sister and I grew up doing the same sports, eating the same foods. The difference? How MUCH we ate. She could eat chips and stop after a handful, physically full. I could never stop until I was mentally full.
EDIT: And, I think the proof lies in which one of use ended up on MFP.

iuew

Yes, they exist ... I am married to one. My husband is 63-years-old and he still wears the same size pants as he wore in 7th grade (30X32). He eats a minimum of 4,000 plus calories per day. His diet is probably 85% protein (meat), but he can eat anything and not gain an ounce. He has been the same weight and height since 7th grade. He is super active and always has been. None of our friends or our children can keep up with him when he hikes. He is super healthy. He has perfect blood pressure, very low total cholesterol, low blood sugars, etc. He takes no medication and never has. He has been ill once in the 23 years we have been married. What caused his illness? Lifting a 400-pound beam on top of his head and walking it up a ladder when building our 2-story garage. His disc in his lumbar spine did not like that.

Yes, he exists.

P.S. I obviously don't know how to do the "quote" thing.

i would have to add that a "super active" person might be able to eat 4,000 calories per day and not gain weight.

i don't dispute that some metabolisms are more active than others. from an evolutionary standpoint, however, a metabolism that would allow a moderately active to sedentary person to eat everything in sight without any weight gain makes about as much sense as a car that gets 4 gallons per mile would make if gasoline were $20 per gallon. ubiquitously available food for most socioeconomic classes in first world nations is a condition that has existed for about a millisecond on the clock of mammalian evolution.