Naturally thin people

Ender126

Death to Naturally thin people!!!!!!!!

Lize11e

I am that person. Or, at least I used to be.
I have always been naturally thin, without ever worrying about what I ate.
But there are two things that need to be said and understood about this good fortune. I have always been extremely active, hyperactive almost. I played sports when I was younger. I started running regularly when I was 18 years old. etc.
I remember one time reading a study that found that skinnier people tend to fidget a lot more -- enough to result in appreciable calorie expenditure.
The other aspect to this that I think is misunderstood is that naturally thin people just do not eat when they are not hungry.
When I was about 27 years old I went on a trip to the old Soviet Union. It was an official exchange. There were not tourists who went to the Soviet Union in those days. As such, it was a big deal when we rolled into these little towns and farms and other places. So they rolled out the banquets. We were served meat for every meal.
Now, we were quite aware that our hosts were making huge sacrifices to serve us like that, and that the average Soviet family in those days ate serious meat only about once or twice a week. So, we felt obliged to leave nothing on our plates.
We also spent most of our days in meetings and on a bus or train.
When I got back after a month, I barely ate for about two weeks. I have always been so thin I never weighed myself, but I am sure I had gained weight, because I felt bad, and my body just dictated that I not eat until I was back at my determined weight.
That's were I am lucky, and where most thin people are lucky. Our bodies are just very insistent as to what weight they need to be and they stay there. I think if you closely observed most skinny people, you would find that they really do not eat much. I may eat a big meal and look like a glutton. But then watch, I will eat very little for the next 24 hours or so. I do not snack very much, I almost never nibble, and I drink probably less than one soda a week.
I have heard that anthropologists now have a theory about this. The prehistoric ancestors of naturally skinny people were primarily farmers and gatherers, while the ancestors of people who gain weight were primarily hunters. The reason for this is that your hunters were less likely to be assured of a steady food supply and meat spoils quickly. So, your hunter cavemen would gorge when they made a kill, and pack on the fat until the next successful hunt.
A farmer would have no reason to do that.

Very good post. Thank you for that

Jbarbo01

Dr. Oz did a small experiment on this. There were two friends where one seem to eat whatever she wanted and be very slim, and the other ate way less supposedly than the other friend and was heavy. They did a full test on this and found that the thinner lady thought she ate a ton when she ate 20-30% less than her bigger friend. I think it comes to habits most of the time. Naturally thin people may sometimes eat hamburgers, pizza,etc. but they may never snack, or they eat slowly, or they dont drink any soda. I think our habits make us heavier over genetics. If you actually measured what naturally thin people eat and what heavy people eat without them knowing most of the time it will make sense that the heavier people just unknowingly eat more than they think they do and naturally thin people also tend to listen to their hunger signals better. It is possible that certain people can have higher amounts of muscle mass naturally than others which will help them burn more calories and use sugar more efficiently at rest than other people, but the average person it wont be significant enough. Notice the habits of these naturally thin people who get to eat as much as they want and see if you notice they have good eating habits even if they are not counting and measuring.

beezbee

Tara Parker Pope wrote an interesting column in the New York Times on the topic ("The Fat Trap"): http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/01/magazine/tara-parker-pope-fat-trap.html?pagewanted=all

Apparently, a weight-reduced body behaves very differently from a similar-size body that has never dieted. So, once you've allowed your body to gain a substantial weight, regulating the weight is more difficult than before.

harrietlg

my family are all thin but they have to work hard to stay like that, my mum is tiny and literally eats like nothing, my dad is thin because he cycles 6 miles to work and my brother is just pure muscle ! my mum was really big at my age though but i'm losing weight a bit more sensibly than she did.... I've never been able to just eat what I want, i was a pudgy kid then stretched out and got thin in my later teens but gained 4 stone after unfortunately but i've lost almost half of that now... getting there slowly. The people who eat what they want don't eat much generally, i've lived with skinny people at uni and they barely eat, I had to make sure my housemate was eating 3 meals a day because she was underweight because of her a hole ex boyfriend and her disability meant that she had a really high metabolism, although she's gained more weight now so it is possible.

Superbritt2drescu

I think its just skinny fat. Its not something I want to be. I have always been super skinny. I graduated H.S. at less than 100 and 5'6." I gained less than 20lbs with both of my kids. I actually came out of the hospital weighing less than when I went I got pregnant with my first. The second I walked out 4lbs heavier. My family were all stick figures, like count your ribs stick figures. Everyone thought it was genetics, but I can't eat very much at one time. My husband teases me that I have a tiny stomach. I feel stuff on 1200 healthy calories. Oh and I eat like 6/8 times a day. But for me I don't want to be skinny and still know I jiggle. I want to be fit. I think its probably a combo of things really.

magj0y

Death to Naturally thin people!!!!!!!!

My daughters have been teased ruthlessly for the last 10 or so years for being like this.

haylz247

I thought i was one of those when i was younger and i ate like a horse! Caught up with me when i was 19 or so. I weighed about 112lbs when i was in upper school (high school) my weight crept up to about 170lbs in 8 years.

AdrianasMombieED

my fiance and his sister are really thin. i think its genes when it comes to them.
my fiance eats mcdonalds almost every day for his lunch break (going on 6 months now) and he only gained 2 pounds. he never works out at home. but, i think he burns a little bit of it working as a full time mechanic.

and im pretty sure his sister worksout, considering she has a personal trainer as a boyfriend. she needs to stay in shape since she's a model.

spetermann190

I think genetics plays a MAJOR part, but can be overcome (either way) with hard work. I THINK I am a hard gainer, when young I could eat anything and still have 6 pack abs (as my son rubs in MY face now). I am not "overweight" now (although BMI says I Obese lol) but I am having to work MUCH harder to try find 6 pack again. On the gain side, some guys can walk to the fridge to get a beer and their calves grow an inch! I Have to work SOOO Hard to grow ANY size on legs! Sooo, I am somewhere caught in the middle ... I want to lose belly fat, gain lean muscle (particularly legs, some arms)! Got my work cut out for me BUT I WILL SUCCEED regardless of genetic "Hurdles."

26Nirak

Now I have to comment on my sister - my OLDER sister, who has gained maybe 5 oz since she was 14....yes, she is a naturally thin person, but it is not like she sits on the couch all day stuffing her face with cheeseburgers either...I remember as children, we always got the same amount of chocolate at Christmas - mine was gobbled up by New Years, while hers was eventually thrown out at Easter (that was, if I did not get to it first). She walks a lot, A LOT, because she enjoys moving her body, she has a full social life, she is an all-round happy person - and always has been one of those people who are just well-rounded (not physically) - while I eat as soon as I feel thrown off balance - which seems to happen to me a lot more often than to her! My mother put me on a diet when I was 12, and that was my life for the next 38 years....my sister was constantly prompted to eat more. Which, as a teenager who did not like to do as she is told, she did not do. She eats with consciousness, sitting down at the table, with no distractions, even if it is just her. She eats tons of veggies and salads. Because she likes them. She enjoys wings and beers and all the other good stuff when she is out with friends, so food is a side-product to a social setting, but not the main attraction. Her one addiction are Haribo gummi bears, but even she can make a bag last longer than I can. Her weight has not changed, but her size went from a 7 to a Zero or 2 over the last 30 years - this goes to show how much clothes sizes have changed!!!
She is naturally thin (a friend of mine compared her to a rock star - that kind of physique), but because of many contributing factors (I believe) and not because of some magical formula I missed out on in our mother's milk. My mother is very small too, as is my dad. They both can't get over he koloss they created, thus I am being dismissed as being one of the "Steinberger broads" of the family - which, when my dad says it, sounds like all women from the Steinberg were mystical, massive giants from a different planet. Ahhh...do you get the sense of my emotional hang-up there?
Most people look at my sister and can't get over how much she eats. I however know she eats very sensible in the hum-drum rhythm of her daily life....my sister is awesome, my biggest supporter and at one point in our adult lives, I have stopped comparing myself to her. Genes, lifestyle, attitude...whatever it may be, in the end, we all make our own choices....and we are who we are.

Phew....do you charge for that therapeutic session?

Here's to being happy...just the way we are - just that -

Karin

obsidianwings

I'm naturally petite (the most I have ever weighed as about 121lb full term pregnant), but if it helps make you feel better about it at all although I can stay small doing what i want, if I don't watch what I eat and work out right I still look awful naked. Skinny fat.

mulderpf

I used to think this as well . People will say " I'm naturally thin . I can eat whatever I want " but if you spend some time with them you will see they eat very small portions and eat very infrequently .

^^^ This!!

I have a really skinny friend who constantly complains that he struggles to gain weight. He will say that he would eat a lot, but over the years, I've come to realise some things: he can easily skip a meal or two, I can't remember the last meal I skipped (I must have been either REALLY sick or REALLY busy, but its not in recent memory!!). He will often gorge himself on a single meal a day - to eat 2700 calories in one sitting is quite difficult!! So that's why he isn't gaining weight when he has junk food!

Then, when he tries to pick up weight, he'll start weight training and eat some more. But he'll spend hours in the gym, but this basically just burns more calories!! And he spends a lot of time clubbing and dancing.

I also recently found out a colleague of mine joined MFP because she was too skinny and wanted to make sure that she's eating enough. She tracked her food for a few weeks and ALWAYS came in below maintenance calories. Even when she was trying to gain a bit of weight. She loves cheese, drinks a fair amount and eats all the time. But her drawer is always well-balanced with fruit and chocolate biscuits. When she goes out drinking, she'll have a drink or two and then switch to something lighter or go slower (in the meantime, I'm probably on my 5th or 6th beer!!). She'll even have a packet of crisps while she's drinking (but it always gets shared out). She also walks a lot and recently also took up cycling.

The difference between myself trying to lose weight and these people simply maintaining weight is about 500 calories a day. For them to gain, it's probably 1000 calories more which is astonishing, because as a guy, I'm on 1800 calories which is a LOT of food already.

They're not "naturally skinny" - they just happen to be quite a bit more active and don't constantly gorge themselves on things like I do. (I was once in that category, because I grew up with no fast foods, I had to walk/cycle everywhere, but then I grew up, I got an office job, a car and lazy to cook for myself and I gained a LOAD of weight because I thought I was living the good life).