Are they just lucky?

Sarauk2sf

Small study but:

http://www.endo-society.org/media/ENDO-08/research/Why-dont-thin-people-gain-weight.cfm



"This finding does not support the idea that the increased metabolic rate after overeating protects thin individuals from weight gain.

“This suggests that differences in hunger, fullness, food intake and physical activity may be more important factors in why some people are thin..."

bizorra

I think you'll find those skinny people don't eat as much as you think they do and that they are very active. I get accused of eating all day long but my daily intake is actually about 1300 calories. There are very few people in the world who have a super metabolism. Most people are within 5% of each other whether fat or thin.

^ This.

My husband is one of those people, and I remember thinking when we were dating that, wow, he can eat whatever he wants and never gain weight! Now that we're married I see he actually eats much less than he should be eating.

Yeah I used to think my sister-in-law was blessed with some crazy never-gain-weight gene, because she uses so much butter in EVERYTHING she makes. When I started watching what I eat I noticed how she eats compared to me... nowhere NEAR the quanities I used to. It was an eye opener for me.

My sister's best friend can knock back bag of chips in a night and it can make you think "how's she stay so skinny?" Until you spend a whole day with her and realise that's pretty much the only thing she'll eat in a day.

firstsip

Years of this.... and we found out he had a SUPER hyperactive thyroid (Graves Disease) which caused serious medical problems (weakness, mental issues, heart problems, body shaking).

I should dig up a source on this as I recall reading about it -- apparently hypothyroid is not nearly as pronounced as hyperthyroid. I still believe that these conditions are more often excuses vs when it's actually diagnosed (people often assume thyroid problem without being diagnosed) -- but those who legitimately have an overactive thyroid indeed need to eat crap-tons of calories.

I hate the "I think people use it as an excuse..." Yes, I agree with you; if someone is "self-diagnosing" or "assuming" they have a thyroid condition and blame it for their metabolic issues, that's one thing. Many people don't quite know the struggle that is dealing with a thyroid condition, in a field of medicine where we're all still the guinea pigs! So yes, hypothyroidism CAN result in a very sluggish metabolism (and this isn't just factoring weight loss/weight gain, but energy in general).

For instance (and anecdotal), I was "hyperthyroid"... by symptom. I haven't had a thyroid since I was 13, was put on a high dosage for an extended period to kill potential cancerous tissue... than boom, apparently hit my threshold, wound up in the hospital with thyroidtoxcosis... and even though I was active, ate very little (as I had my whole life)... it caused a big enough increase in cortisol from my adrenal glands working too hard for too long, that I gained weight.

So really, hormonal things can REALLY throw the "eat whatever I want" or "I can't eat anything without gaining weight!" conundrums.

gailmelanie

I wanted to add that I know skinny doesn't equate healthy. To me, healthy is more important and whether or not someone is skinny or not, they may not be in the best health if they are eating nothing but processed/junk food. But again, this was just a silly little rant for the day. :embarassed:

Yeah, I agree. I see skinny people who look and act sick, are sick, cold and miserable and who refuse to eat what they need to to be healthy. When I see folks like that I feel okay that I am overweight, but still healthy and fit. I recently read an article that said that if you can improve your fitness and maintain that, even if you don't lose weight (provided that you are not grossly obese, but if it were possible to be fit and grossly obese, it would still improve one's health) that you will live longer, up to 4-5 years longer just from maintaining fitness. So, stop obsessing about how skinny people stay skinny and go work out!

firelle

Yep... I have friends that can eat buckets and they won't gain anything. They're also about just as active as I am (which is not much at an engineering school). But the other day I was talking to them about it and they said, "Even though I can eat a buffet and say I'm STILL hungry, have you ever actually SEEN me eat more?" And it's true; they don't. They're fatties, just like the rest of us, but they control themselves. I wanna be like them!

Amandamaslin

A friend of mine is extremely skinny and does eat like a horse, I've seen the meals she puts away lol. However, she is not necessarily fit or healthy and she has very high cholesterol. Alternatively, another friend is rather large and yet is very fit and shows me up every time in the gym. Some people do have higher metabolisms than others, we are all made differently.

likemeinvisible

Yeah they are SO lucky that they never have to learn self discipline, what their true colors are in a struggle, how to push themselves to overcome real obstacles, how to make wise decisions and understand health and nutrition and how their body works. So freaking lucky.

what the hell - people will think of ANYTHING to complain about when procrastinating.

Well some days I didn't eat because I didn't have food. That can be real obstacle at times.

waldo56

I used to be one of those people. People used to say I was lucky. That I had a crazy metabolism. I could outeat everyone. I was active but not unusually so.

People saw the meals. What they didn't see was that was it. I didn't snack. I never ate breakfast. There were plenty of days where I simply forgot to eat.

I realized this at the time. I tried gaining weight, and was moderately successful, but it took me purposely eating on a schedule to make it happen. I could go on a massive binge, but afterwards it took real effort to eat something for a while.

dakotababy

Just watched a documentary about this on youtube "Why thin people are not fat" it is about an hour long.

modsuperstar

My husband has always been thin, and he could eat a 2L container of ice cream. I saw someone say that a thin person doesn't eat as much as they seem - but trust me... my husband sure does! At least 2500 calories a day and probably more. My sister in law is the same way. But, I suppose that will catch up to them eventually as they get older. He's only 25.

Anyway. It's possible to be thin and be unhealthy. It's called "skinny fat". Your body can be terribly unhealthy even though you appear to be very thin. What's most important is health and treating and feeding your body right!

I think the idea that you can eat anything you want is also skewed by body size as well. I'm 6'2" and my caloric goal for a day is 2100ish. If I wanted to just maintain my weight it would be in the 2400 range and that's on an inactive diet. If you have moderate activity I'd need close to 2800. If you're shorter, the less calories you need to get through a day. Sure it'll catch up to you, but comparing caloric intake needs to be apples to apples comparison.

yoovie

Yeah they are SO lucky that they never have to learn self discipline, what their true colors are in a struggle, how to push themselves to overcome real obstacles, how to make wise decisions and understand health and nutrition and how their body works. So freaking lucky.

what the hell - people will think of ANYTHING to complain about when procrastinating.

Well some days I didn't eat because I didn't have food. That can be real obstacle at times.

haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaave you met the interwebs?

fun_b

I know where you are coming from. I wish I could have had the experience of eating whatever I wanted even for a short period of time. As a child I always knew I was fat and needed to lose weight. I can't remember a time when I enjoyed food without worrying about the scales. I also remember a moment in school when the teacher talked about nutrition (I might have been 10) and how fatty butter was. After the session everyone kept telling me how I needed to stop eating butter. Nobody would even believe me when I said I didn't eat butter! I think a lot of the kids ate worse than me but unfortunaty due to my weight, I was an easy target.
However I believe everything happens for a reason so maybe this is now my moment to shine.

obsidianwings

I always wondered about tiny/skinny people who can eat whatever they want and not gain an ounce. I understand in this world(mfp) that cals in being less than cals out makes you lose weight, doesn't matter how that happens really...it's just the science of it. But what about someone who eats whatever they want....say pizza, ice cream, bacon, etc etc. and never gains weight. Does it mean they just have a high metabolism? They are just lucky?? lol What is it?!

I see friends and family that don't have to try, they eat what they want and don't have to worry about counting cals and here I am stuck counting everything I eat for the rest of my life just to maintain a decent weight. They eat whatever and stay skinny as rails. Grrrr.

Ok, I am done with the pity party now.

I have always been thin and ate what I wanted to. I think the thing is though although I was eating rubbish food, I was eating little enough that I was still burning more than I put in. I was skinny fat anyway, so still looked awful naked.
As far as losing weight goes (forgetting about flabbiness or health issues) it really is calories in versus calories out, so to be staying thin they are obviously doing something right in that respect.

rebeccap13

Nope, you see such a tiny fraction of the "skinny" person's day most likely. And if you see skinny people at a restaurant then of course they're enjoying their food! You just don't see either a) the workouts they put in the other 75% of the day b) how active their job is c) how much they eat at other meals. Seeing just a snippet of someone's life makes it hard to determine their actual lifestyle.

PS I'm losing and still eat ice cream and bacon, nearly everyday. Crazy right?! I eat whatever I want, just in reasonable amounts. You can do it too!

Oishii

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPsKpnu0-X4&feature=youtube_gdata_player

^ Link for the BBC programme. Basically, they took a bunch of 'naturally skinny' college students and had them over eat. You may want to just go to the end to find the results, which were basically:

1) Some gained more than others.
2) Some found it really physically/emotionally hard to over eat, so gained less.
3) Only one participant failed to gain much at all.

None of the my skinny colleagues eat very much, and they all fuss about their weight. Two of them often mention they were chubby kids. One of them has behaviour verging on disordered. I do not want to be them.

On the other hand, I, despite being bigger, am lucky. I can maintain my current weight on 2500ish kcal a day AND a don't feel the need to be skinny to be happy with my body. Now THAT IS LUCKY.

On the other hand, if the zombies do come, I'm scared I'll waste away. Then again, my NEAT drops in direct relation to my incoming calories, so I'd probably just lie very still in an attic somewhere :laugh:

ILiftHeavyAcrylics

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPsKpnu0-X4&feature=youtube_gdata_player

^ Link for the BBC programme. Basically, they took a bunch of 'naturally skinny' college students and had them over eat. You may want to just go to the end to find the results, which were basically:

1) Some gained more than others.
2) Some found it really physically/emotionally hard to over eat, so gained less.
3) Only one participant failed to gain much at all.

None of the my skinny colleagues eat very much, and they all fuss about their weight. Two of them often mention they were chubby kids. One of them has behaviour verging on disordered. I do not want to be them.

On the other hand, I, despite being bigger, am lucky. I can maintain my current weight on 2500ish kcal a day AND a don't feel the need to be skinny to be happy with my body. Now THAT IS LUCKY.

On the other hand, if the zombies do come, I'm scared I'll waste away. Then again, my NEAT drops in direct relation to my incoming calories, so I'd probably just lie very still in an attic somewhere :laugh:

Positive side to zombies-- more cardio means you can have more chocolate.

BinaryPulsar

Just watched a documentary about this on youtube "Why thin people are not fat" it is about an hour long.

Interesting, thanks for sharing that!

BinaryPulsar

Small study but:

http://www.endo-society.org/media/ENDO-08/research/Why-dont-thin-people-gain-weight.cfm



"This finding does not support the idea that the increased metabolic rate after overeating protects thin individuals from weight gain.

“This suggests that differences in hunger, fullness, food intake and physical activity may be more important factors in why some people are thin..."

Yeah, this all makes a lot of sense with my own experience as well.

Graelwyn75

My bf is 6 foot and rarely goes over 154Ibs, and is often less.
He can get through 2 loaves of fig and hazelnut bread, a packet of biscuits(cookies) and a dinner and still remain the same.
He drops weight very easily, only takes a flu virus for the pounds to fall off.
Whereas myself, although never overweight, I would probably max out at about 140 (I am 5'10) if I ate as he does, and was on my feet as much. And I have hit 150Ibs before, when not exercising and eating whatever I wanted.
I don't know if everyone has a set weight their body is comfortable at, but I seriously am starting to believe this is the case, as when I go too much below that 140, my body seemingly takes offence and tries every tactic to impel me to eat more and get the weight back on.

I don't know if it is his metabolism that enables him to eat so much sometimes, or just that he tends to be up and about a lot.

darleyschroeder

I think most thin people who eat like that have an active life and don't over do it all the time.
However, there are some people who have freakish metabolism. My ex used to drink a 2 liter of mtn dew and down sweets and junk food all the time. He ate like crap and often. He was always underweight though and never gained weight.