Thoughts on people who eat so much yet stay skinny

dakotababy

You know, I think when you work at losing the weight - you learn a lot of lessons a long with it.

1 - Appreciation for your body and health
2 - Pride
3 - Understanding of those who are still struggling with their weight
4 - Maintaining for life
5 - conquering barriers, developing mental strength


So even though there are many who can eat and eat without getting fat, I believe I was fat for a reason - to learn the lessons above.

fun_b

I think a lot of people that seemingly eat whatever they want and never gain weight actually only eat when they are hungry or are very active/athletic people. Very few people can eat like that and not gain anything if they're not one of those two things.

Good point there. I remember a conversation once with a friend like that at university. I discussed binge eating and she admitted that she had never binged once. She said she only eats when she is hungry and stops when she is full even if there is a lot of food left over. Paul Mckenna mentions something similar in his book 'I can make you thin'.

BrunetteRunner87

That's my brother. Aside from Cross Country season he isn't active AT ALL and I watch him put away so much junk every day! And he's super skinny.

It will catch up with him though when he gets to college I'm sure.

etoiles_argentees

Back to the original post..

I'm the kind of person who gains and loses weight quite easily, but of course, losing is relatively harder cos you need to work you *kitten* up.

I mean, some of them might not be necessarily healthy, but do you feel jealous of them? Do you wish you can just eat and eat and eat without gaining a single pound (which, of course, does not translate to being healthy)?

Just though of this a while ago, and I'd like to know what ya'll think.

answering with a quotation by Eminem.. lol

“I don't care if you're black, white, straight, bisexual, gay, lesbian, short, tall, fat, skinny, rich or poor. If you're nice to me, I'll be nice to you. Simple as that.”
― Eminem

alvalaurie

Honestly not even joking my brother eats however much he wants whenever he wants and his diet consists of jack in the box, subway, chilli mac, thick peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, pizza pockets, rock stars and beer and he literally has 8 percent body fat. He does have a physical job but that's it, he doesn't work out.... Plus he looked like that before he got that job.

my dad is the same way he's 53 and has a six pack, doesn't work out and eats whatever.... He's a bartender and eats chicken wings all the time lol.

wth..... Why didn't I get those jeans!

Ditto!! My brother & my Dad are the same exact way. Only recently (like the past couple years) has my Dad acquired a tiny pot belly (I say its a beer belly). Meanwhile, I am KILLING myself everyday at the gym & have to record EVERY morsel that I eat just to maintain. Sickening, isn't it? Somehow though, I suspect in the end, you & I will be the healthier ones. I can't imagine what their cholesterol, blood pressure & blood sugar must be! Plus we get the satisfaction of bragging about how much we can deadlift & how fast we ran that 5k! Win, win for us, I'd say!

(Forgot to add - my Dad just turned 70)

donteatmycookie

I've always been told it's metabolism and genetics. I've also been told it will catch up will catch up once you hit thirty or so.

mfpcopine

The one middle-aged person I knew who could eat anything he wanted and was skinny as a rail turned out to be ill. He was very athletic, but it turned out that there was something wrong with him.

After a certain point in life, it's so rare to find someone like that it would be like envying an alien from another planet.

I am excluding thin, middle-aged folks who are thin because of drugs or chronic extreme dieting.

albayin

oh yeah I am always jealous of those and hate to hear when they keep saying "serioulsy I swear I eat like a pig". LOL
Get over with it.

albayin

I've always been told it's metabolism and genetics. I've also been told it will catch up will catch up once you hit thirty or so.

It could be true. But many of them are so thin to begin with so gaining a pound a year really doesn't show any effect untill ...who knows.

albayin

I think a lot of people that seemingly eat whatever they want and never gain weight actually only eat when they are hungry or are very active/athletic people. Very few people can eat like that and not gain anything if they're not one of those two things.

Good point there. I remember a conversation once with a friend like that at university. I discussed binge eating and she admitted that she had never binged once. She said she only eats when she is hungry and stops when she is full even if there is a lot of food left over. Paul Mckenna mentions something similar in his book 'I can make you thin'.

I do this too: eating when I am hungry and stop when I am full. but I am not thin. I have to eat when I am hungry and stop before I am full to be thinner, but this seems taking for ever.

:brokenheart: :sad:

albayin

I know somebody who indeed eats a lot, well at least that is what she tells us. She said she can finish one pound of pistacho at one sitting. She eats 4 avocados everyday. She eats every 2 hours or so as she constantly feels hungry. She eats pastry like nobody's business. She's like 90 pounds all her life...

Of course she has other issues.

TheCaren

I was just such a person, until I hit thirty. And because I hadn't established any kind of healthy eating/exercise pattern, the weight just started piling on when the metabolism started dropping off. Ah metabolism. Thou art a heartless b*tch...

natalovesmusic

My [older] sister is just over 100 lbs and has always been petite. She eats (1) a lot, (2) all the time. However, she is the slowest eater I know ..maybe that has something to do with it?
We're both the same height and I've never felt any jealousy towards her because she's thinner

takumaku

I believe I fall into this category now. I tend to eat multiple plate fulls when I go out to eat. Even though I work a cubicle job, what keeps me 'skinny' is a) I am very active (6 mile daily run/walk, sometimes more on the weekends), b) my protein is very lean (greek yogurt, egg whites, etc.), c) my oils come from eating nuts, and d) my main plate is usually filled with non-starchy vegetables (cabbage, kraut, carrots, salads, squash, etc.). I love this my new lifestyle and eating this way, so it works for me.

WeatherGirl88

Yeah, people think I do this. I'm stick skinny and all. But I burn so much exercising, and eat very little when I'm not around people.

Melionfire

I gain weight when I look at food and my brother can't gain weight even when he tries. He is 6ft 3' and 150 pounds. He actually fits in a size 1 ladies pant. He tried, it was funny. He has tried gaining weight through upping his caloric intake and taking whey. He eats all the time as he is a waiter. I know he is active but when I see how thin he is compared to me it makes me cry a little. However, I am much more aware of my health and nutrition. I use to say why couldn't we have shared his metabolisme. I know it will probably catch up to him eventually and I know that being thin doesn't always mean being healthy. Part of me thinks it wouldn't be him if he wasn't thin and I wouldn't be me if I didn't struggle or work hard to maintain a healthy weight. We r who we r and we have to work with what we have. Eveyone is different!!!!

ash190489

I can only wonder what their visceral fat might look like inside... genetics might be in their favour in relation to shape/size but if they are eating what ever they like and choosing horrible choices, I don't want to imagine what their insides look like in terms of fat sitting around and between their vital internal organs. :ohwell:

NatalieWinning

People who seem to eat what they want without gaining are either:
1. Very, very active
2. Not eating as much as you think

Example for #1 - my dad eats tons. But he never sits down. He has a physical job, is constantly moving, working on projects until it's bedtime, etc. He can eat a lot because his TDEE is high.

Example for #2 - A friend that packs away the food when we are out to dinner. But what I don't see is that she eats salad for lunch and yogurt for breakfast and very rarely snacks. She can eat what she wants in certain situations because she eats in moderation the rest of the time.

Yes to these, and the "paid off the debt" post. Another factor is muscle mass. When I carry more muscle I can eat hundreds over my maintenance calorie estimate and stay the same weight. I did that last year for a while. When i was in High School i did an incredible amount of physical work. I ate over 4000 calories a day, and I'm a tiny female. My "metabolism" is higher for a reason at these times. When I'm not lifting weights or doing much for strength for a while I can't go over my maintenance calories, or I gain.

When I'm very active I am that person that can eat bunches of food. What you don't see is me ever sitting down hardly at all in the day. When I was younger I had people say I must be that person that could eat anything, but it was really me burning a crazy amount up every day, or "eating like a skinny person" most of the time.

AnvilHead

I was that person in high school - couldn't gain weight no matter what I did, even thought I was trying to (for football). I easily ate enough for 2-3 people on a daily basis, plus drinking 2-3 weight-gainer protein shakes a day. People were amazed at the quantities of food I could put away (especially considering that I was so skinny), and I almost treated it like a sideshow. Several local restaurants had those "challenge" meals, and I'd mow through them and be looking for more - a 6-egg omelet smothered in chili with a pound of potatoes and 4 slices of toast? Easy. A 2 lb. cut of prime rib with a huge baked potato and a basket of garlic bread on the side? Wiped it out, ate my mom's leftovers, then had chocolate cake for dessert. Pizza buffet? My record was 23 slices of pizza, 6 chicken legs and a bunch of breaded/fried potato slices to top it off for good measure. However, I was also very active - played interscholastic sports year-round (football, basketball, track & field), raced BMX or rode dirt bikes on the weekends and played guitar in a rock band. I was basically on the go from 6:00 am until I fell in bed at 10 or 11 o'clock every night.

32 years later, if I were to eat like that now I'd undoubtedly weigh 400+ lbs in pretty short order. I'm not near that active anymore and my metabolism is no longer fueled by raging teenage hormones. I'd still go back and give that 2 lb. prime rib dinner a go, though! :bigsmile:

uwdawg07

Before I got ill and put on weight, I was one of those people. I ate ALL the time, and a lot. I ate at least every 3 hours. I never counted calories. I ate out all the time. I never put on a single ounce.

But I was VERY active. I exercised like 2-3 hours a day (I was a figure skater), plus I was attending college so I was walking around all the time.