What do truly skinny people eat?

mfpcopine

I can only judge by my naturally thin husband and children- they do not count calories I can tell you that.. they eat and eat and eat like horses..as much and as often as the mood strikes.. lol I wish I could do the same.

I think I didn't have to think about it in h.s. or college because I was naturally very active, in addition to having a fast metabolism. I sometimes pigged out. I remember eating entire boxes of Familia (a very sweet Swiss Muesli product) and Fiddle Faddle, a kind of candied popcorn. I ate an entire jar of cashew butter over a weekend.

Matiara

It depends on the person, age, and a variety of other factors.

When I was a 125 pound teenager, I ate whatever I wanted. A few times a week, I would eat four or five bowls of sugary cereal with whole milk at one sitting. I ate cookies and baked goods all the time and fast food almost daily. My family is from the South, so even homemade meals were fat fests. Basically, my diet was 80% "junk" and 20% "real" food eaten in copius amounts. I didn't count calories back then, but I know I was taking in a lot and never gained a pound. I think it's because I had a lot of lean muscle due to genetics combined with a teenager's metabolism. I was truly naturally thin at that point.

In my late teens to late 20s, I was in the 150-160 range and had my ideal body. I still ate what I wanted, though the ratios of the foods that I ate were flipped from when I was a teenager. I also worked out regularly, which I did not as a teenager. I was still naturally thin, but I had to work out in order to not be skinny fat.

I'm currently in the category of "relatively light people who want to become leaner" because I stopped working out and the fat crept on in the course of a few years. I'm not overweight for my height, but I'm unhappy with my body composition and think that I look better about 10-15 pounds lighter. I continue to eat what I want, net around 1900 per day, exercise regulary, and am noticeabley losing fat.

I don't binge, but I don't micromanage my diet either. Though I keep the less healthful foods to reasonable amounts, nothing is off limits. I don't think of foods as "good" or "bad" and I don't refer to eating unhealthful foods as cheating because I don't want food to become an emotional thing.

I know that's more infor than you asked for, but I didn't want to post, "I eat whatever I want, baby!" without context.

acs4162

Thin people eat MORE than 1200-1300 calories a day!!! (Thin, healthy people that is!) At 5'7 and 123 pounds I normally take in around 1700-1900 calories a day. But they are all "good" calories - make sure you get enough healthy fats (avocados, nuts, good cooking oils). Even though these things may be "high" in calories, they are awesome for your body! If you're hungry all the time, EAT! But snack on carrots, cut-up bell peppers, apples, kiwi, any kind of fruit. These things are naturally full of fiber and will keep you full. Good luck! I know it sounds annoying to tell you to snack on fruits & veggies, once you start doing it for awhile you actually learn to love them when you realize how much more you can eat as opposed to grabbing handfuls of empty carbs (chips, pretzels, etc.)

She is right! I always feel full for a long time after a salad with lots of my favorite things (bell peppers, carrots, celery, cucumber, sunflower seeds, etc.) I think there's something to be said about kicking your metabolism into gear, too. I try to just keep it going between hard workouts/runs by staying active. I am constantly eating (because I'm always hungry.) I snack on protein, nuts, some fruit, and my favorite veggies WHENEVER I feel hungry. I'm a teacher and my students have just become accustomed to seeing me snack in front of them.

bcampbell54

They feed on the tears of the overweight.
That is all.

enyo123

When I was truly skinny? (I was 5'4" and 96 pounds... never broke 100 pounds until I was pregnant.) I ate whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted. I'd have things like a box of cookies for lunch, etc.

Which is why trying to lose weight now is so much harder... Now I have to actually develop good eating habits.

NeonNikki

Eat more than 1,200 calories and never binge? Orrrrr....eat too much one day, then very little the next. Some times due to stress and school I eat too much then too little...but always average over. Probably 1,400-1,500 average???
Really though a lot of really thin girls don't eat much. But really thin is like so 90's lol this is 2012- fit is the new sexy!

thistimeismytime

They feed on the tears of the overweight.
That is all.

:laugh: :laugh:

wordpainter09

Most people who are fit/thin eat a lot. I'd rather use the word fit than thin. I personally eat 1800-2200 cals a day. That is healthy, clean food -oatmeal, soy milk, whole grain bread, proteins, no sugar.

Tried the diet thing for a while. It sucked. I'd rather exercise and cut at 1800 that try to eat 1200. Yow.

StirFriedGiblets

Don't worry. Give it a week and you'll be fine with 1200. Eat a high protein breakfast that'll hold you til lunch. You won't have to snack. Eat a good high protein lunch that'll hold you til dinner and so forth. Stay away from the crap. Eat what counts. Of course drink water but yadda yadda on that. Water never filled me up. If your stomach growls, tell it NO! Just because it's growling doesn't mean it needs attention.

Actually the experts say snacking is good and eating every 2-3 hours is the only way to keep your metabolism amped up.

Who are these "experts", exactly?

Whoops, it's actually every 4 hours according to Jillian Michael's book:
http://www.fitsugar.com/Book-Review-Jillian-Michaelss-Master-Your-Metabolism-3023230

I've always heard every 2-3 hours and it works for me.

Oh well if JILLIAN said it, it must be true!

"I've always heard" is not equal to "experts say". I'm glad it works for you, but that doesn't mean anything to the general population. It works for some and not for others.

She actually uses science. If you listened to her podcast you would know there's some real research behind what she does.

Don't diss her.

I mean, she's not the be all end all of personal trainers. I look more to my family members for advice. My Dad (at 65) is going to become a personal trainer when he retires from the state job he's had his whole career. Very inspirational! He already got a job offer.

So, no matter where you look for inspiration don't diss someone trying to help people and the HORRIBLE state this country is in health-wise.

We actually covered this at college last week. You are NOT SUPPOSED TO EAT FREQUENTLY if you are wanting to lose fat because this maintains high insulin levels.

Insulin is used to help convert glucose (sugar) in the blood into glycogen molecules which are stored in other body cells. A continuous high level of insulin, repeatedly, is BAD because it means that FAT CAN'T BE BROKEN DOWN.

The other hormone from this antagonistic pair is glucagon, also secreted by the pancreas, when blood sugar (blood glucose) levels are low. This hormone initiates the break down the glycogen into glucose which is then released by the body cells into the blood, BUT it can't function while insulin is present.

If you constantly eat often then you are not giving your body time to break down the glycogen stored as you have a constant supply glucose and insulin trying to convert glucose in storage molecules. When your body is in short supply of glucose then glucagon causes glycogen (sugar storage molecule) to break down, if these glycogen levels are in short supply then FAT is BURNT as an ALTERNATIVE.

I hope I've explained this in an understandable way. If anyone has any questions about it just ask and I'll try to help answer them :laugh: this is not opinion, it is science. You should leave around about 4 hours between each meal

waldo56

There are a few types of skinny people:

Athletic - The vast majority of skinny people. They exercise a lot, burn a lot of calories, and eat a lot.

Disordered - The eat nothing skinny type that skirts the edge of eating disorders or have them full blown. They undereat and take in a tiny amount of calories. An interesting sidenote is that the opposite sex is generally repulsed by this, strongly.

Growing - Not seen among adults 25+, but younger than that there are some that are still growing whose hormones and whatnot make it near impossible to gain fat. They typically eat like horses.

Adjustable hunger/metabolism - As adults these people are rare, but there are a few out there (it is more prevalent in younger kids) who don't eat when not hungry and can fidget away (and/or otherwise increase unconcious activity) a moderate calorie surplus. A lot of time they appear to eat a lot, but in general balance periods of overeating with natural intermitted fasting.

Most fat people have a skewed view of things, there are very, very few adults who are thin without regular exercise that don't have eating disorders. I've come to learn over the years that practically every skinny person I know exercises regularly, even if they don't talk about it or overtly show it off, something that a lot of fat people totally miss.

JessicaYgetsfit

Try vegan and vegetarian recipes. Nuts, berries, toast, fruits, veggies, and for drinks green tea and water!

corellalandrigan

I have struggled with how many calories to eat as well, I tried the setting that I originally was given, 1400, and lost like 2 pounds? so I dropped it to 1200 and was STARVING!!! So I did some research and found that if you are exercising at least 3 days a week, you need to determine your BMR

Sabine_Stroehm

I have struggled with how many calories to eat as well, I tried the setting that I originally was given, 1400, and lost like 2 pounds? so I dropped it to 1200 and was STARVING!!! So I did some research and found that if you are exercising at least 3 days a week, you need to determine your BMR

This is a 2 year old thread. I'm hoping folks have figured things out. For you, who appears to be new, have a look at this:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

Read that. Tweak as necessary.

corellalandrigan

I have struggled with how many calories to eat as well, I tried the setting that I originally was given, 1400, and lost like 2 pounds? so I dropped it to 1200 and was STARVING!!! So... I did some research and found that if you are exercising at least 3 days a week, you need to determine your BMR ( you can google it) and it turns out that with my strength training and my weight my body would burn 1520 cal. if I was in a coma!!! So, after you determine that number (which has become my "goal" and I also eat the calories I burn) you then calculate your TDEE which is your total daily energy expenditure. Mine was 2500 roughly. This is how much my body burns on an active day.
Also, I learned that when you do begin to eat the proper amount for your body, along with training ( I do crossfit style workouts) you will not see a change on the scale right away because muscle weighs more than fat. If you dont eat enough calories your body truly goes into starvation mode and the fat will stay and the muscle you are trying to add will be burned instead.
This is just my opinion, trying to find what works!!!