20 Habits skinny people live by

peuglow

No, it definitely doesn't, it just makes it hard for us to read along with the comments.

Anyway, I think there was some good information in there, Just take everything with a grain of salt.

And the OP wasn't written by the poster, it was an article she copied. Good luck on your weight loss journey, I hope you find some great infomation!

http://body-improvements.com/resources/eat/

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/you-are-not-different.html

i probably shouldn't say this, as i am posting on the polemic world of MFP forums (shiver!) but, so far as the mantra "you are not different" i do disagree somewhat. Which always always causes an entire hailstorm of outrage if someone doesn't buy that idea 100%.

When i was younger, for decades and decades, if i wanted to, (and sometimes i did) i COULD pretty much eat whatever i wanted.
I was always slim/muscular. Some years i ate healthy, just to be healthy, some years, i ate junk. (long story). Either way, i was buff. Some years i was into exercise, some years, i didn't. Either way, i was buff and strong. Kind of naturally.

Some of my pals had to severely restrict their calorie intake much much lower than mine to stay anywhere near their ideal body weights, even though some of them participated in far more exercise than i did.
our metabolims WERE different. They used to watch me eat sometimes huge quantities of food in awe, as i sat there in a size 4/6 outfit, not a care in the world.

we were NOT the same.


another example, you say you can play with the dog, not focus much on your meal, and not overeat. Not everyone is capable of that yet. Maybe some can, but some might overeat, by not paying att'n to how much they ARE eating.

People's att'n spans vary from one person to another. Some ppl have a twitter level of att'n span, and can't read a long post, or find it 'difficult' to read threads with too many posts,
while some people enjoy reading entire books.:drinker:


certainly we humans have much in common, but, like any other mammal, there can be differences in what one needs to eat. At a zoo where some pals of mine work, there are two tigers, both get about the same amount of exercise, but one of the tigers has to be fed much less to avoid obesity, the other one eats a lot more.
My pal has two dogs, one eats TWICE what the other one eats, yet both dogs are fit and get about same amt of exercise.

but yeah, sure, no one is 'unique'...sure. (ducks, as i know, on MFP, that idea, 'we are all just the same' is wildly popular accepted meme, but, i've SEEN the differences that two very similar mammals CAN have one, in what they need to stay fit).

The only thing I'll respond to is the thread thing I mentioned. If you're just responding to people's posts that you agree with them, it just makes it tedious to read without actually adding anything to the conversation. That's all I was saying. I don't agree with your analysis as being different, but that's ok too. Anyway, good luck out there.

BlueJean4114

If you're just responding to people's posts that you agree with them, it just makes it tedious to read without actually adding anything to the conversation

oh, i dunno, sometimes, it's fun to be validated by another person for some ppl. I don't see where one member would get to tell another member how many replies is too many.

And, of course you don't agree with the notion one person could indeed be, naturally slim for decades and decades and decades, without even caring what they eat, even overeating or eating junk foods laden with fats, etc. Or, that two dogs, or two tigers, need to eat different amounts of food, to stay at a healthy weight, although they get same amts of exercise. It is considered close to heresy on MFP to think such a thing.
It IS a mind boggling concept to many MFP members, cuz the idea "you are not unique" is almost beaten into the minds at MFP. ( I DO love MFP, i am not criticizing it's effectiveness to help ppl focus on health and fitness, i just don't entirely agree all mammals have exact same nutritional needs as their very similar counterparts)


PEACE OUT!:flowerforyou:

wareagle8706

I'm fairly skinny and I don't do half the things on this list.

A lot of it is bull****. Especially the first one.

Thank for sharing but take everything you read with a grain of salt.

Well I'm skinny and do pretty much all the things on this list.... different strokes....

1ConcreteGirl

BAHAHAHAHAHA! Oh gawd. I needed that laugh. Will that make me skinnier?

RedHeadDevotchka

I agree with some of these, and some just in theory, but the one I disagree with is weighing yourself everyday. I don't care who is saying it, when you step on that scale and magically gain over night....it's a day killer for me. I barely weigh myself anymore.

Honeybear79

Terrific tips-thanks for your post!

Kaiukas

That is a great post, thank you.

Some of the responses just baffle me. Nobody has suggested that eating breakfast or refraining from late night dinner make you skinny by itself. That would be crazy. This is just a list of the habits that slender people tend to have. I think it is worth paying close attention instead of poo-pooing it. After all, losing weight for a year or two and maintaining healthy weight throughout your lifespan are two different things. The latter being a much healthier option.

I actually do all of those (with an exception of eating boring foods, but I get what they are saying) and I have always been slender (never skinny) with a BMI between 19.8 and 22.1.

Some people on this forum sound unnecessarily agitated. Too hungry perhaps?

uclown2002

I'm very skinny and I have only 1 rule; burn at least as many calories as I consume, averaged each week.

mfpcopine

Some of the responses just baffle me. Nobody has suggested that eating breakfast or refraining from late night dinner make you skinny by itself. That would be crazy. This is just a list of the habits that slender people tend to have. I think it is worth paying close attention instead of poo-pooing it. After all, losing weight for a year or two and maintaining healthy weight throughout your lifespan are two different things. The latter being a much healthier option.

I actually do all of those (with an exception of eating boring foods, but I get what they are saying) and I have always been slender (never skinny) with a BMI between 19.8 and 22.1.

Some people on this forum sound unnecessarily agitated. Too hungry perhaps?

Some of these suggestions (eating breakfast) are made time and time again in the face of evidence refuting them. I've never been overweight (lowest weight: 88; highest weight 112) I've maintained my weight for years and I do better when I don't eat breakfast.

When someone posts an article like this they're inviting other people's opinions.

mfpcopine

I agree, that's why I don't agree with the scale one. Muscles weights more than fat!

No, muscle is more DENSE than fat. A pound of muscle = a pound of fat.

DaphneAtx

This probably came from Cosmo or Glamour. Unfounded 'tips' we don't need and don't have any real substance to them.

OdeToEmma

Thank you for posting these simple tips! It's great to get reminders about potential positive choices!

squirmmonster

I disagree STRONGLY with point number 4. Those of us who are emotional eaters need to BREAK cycles of deprivation/ reward. This creates yoyo dieting. "Well, I've been reeeeally good, so I will have this cheesecake." You find too many reward justifications. I would, however, modify it to say that you need to fit food you love into your daily calories, and not try to be a total health junkie who NEVER eats food just because it tastes good. I think that's far better way to put it.

misfitswayoflife

When I eat boring foods thats when I throw out my food plan and binge.. It may be great for people with self control.. but not an idea that works for me

starrlette

Bump

bcattoes

I'm fairly skinny and I don't do half the things on this list.

A lot of it is bull****. Especially the first one.

Thank for sharing but take everything you read with a grain of salt.

Do you honestly think every person of your size does has exactly the same lifestyle habits as you? The post was siting study results. Just because you don't fit the mold doesn't make the results BS.

mary659497

thanks for the information

scooterhaz

Great info .Thanks

Iceman1800

Habit #19, eat more protein is correct. Everything else is bs

Iceman1800

This probably came from Cosmo or Glamour. Unfounded 'tips' we don't need and don't have any real substance to them.

great post

Casey45

I just realized that keeping a food journal is nowhere on that list. It should be number 1! It is a fact that people who keep accurate food journals lose weight and keep it off.

TOTALLY!

ZugTheMegasaurus

I know I'm late to the thread, but just wanted to throw out a response to the many people saying that there's no reason to refute this list (and others like it), that the list is merely helpful and criticizing or questioning it is unnecessary and mean-spirited.

The problem with lists like these is twofold. First, they border on flat-out inaccuracy by conflating correlation and causation. Second, the repetition of such ideas ad nauseam takes them from being "tips" to being "rules."

As to the correlation/causation issue, lists like these give an air of authority by citing multiple studies. While looking to science for these answers is clearly important, blatantly misusing studies to say something they do not actually say is more harmful than helpful. Take the ever-popular "eat breakfast" advice as an example. The studies cited in the list show only that normal-weight individuals tend to eat breakfast at a higher rate than overweight individuals. Lists and tips like these take a leap forward from that and claim that eating breakfast is what causes the difference between those groups. Those are very different ideas. The habit of eating breakfast could just as likely be a result of something else.

That leads to problem two, that such a tip becomes a rule. "Eat breakfast," it says, "you want to be skinny like those people, don't you?" In this view, eating breakfast is not simply helpful for some, it's a requirement for anyone to have successful weight loss. When you throw the appearance of scientific support behind it, it becomes even stronger. It becomes a directive rather than a suggestion; eating breakfast becomes good and necessary while skipping it becomes bad and unhealthy. This is problematic because it is far from a hard rule and is not going to be helpful for everyone (or even most people).

It would take willful blindness to deny that this is the origin of a lot of conventional weight loss and diet wisdom. Take a quick look around the forums and see how many people take these same ideas not as mere suggestions but as hard-line musts. I admit I've fallen for it in the past, in former weight loss attempts which failed miserably. I know I'm not alone in that experience. A list giving exact opposite advice of this one would probably work for a lot of people, but you won't find it. Something simple like skipping breakfast or eating large meals infrequently rather than snacking is key for many people (myself included) but is seen as radical or crazy or faddish or stupid or unhealthy precisely because the sort of advice in this list is so ubiquitous.

So when someone points out inaccuracies with a list like this, it is not being mean or priggish. It's simply giving an often-silenced counterpoint, and one which is valid and should not be ignored.