skinny friends who eat tons of junk food

I used to be that skinny person, but I also used to run 40 - 60 miles a week and up to 110 miles when I was racing. The thing is if you do not learn to eat right it can catch up with you. When I had to stop running I kept eating the same, over the years the weight slowly crept up on me. It will catch them too eventually as age and lifestyle changes make how you eat more important. Some are lucky and it doesn't but they are actually rare, most people either have to adapt their diet or work hard to not gain or they end up like me.

I am slowly learning how to eat better after many years of bad eating. It can be hard in social situations but through smart choices and will power you can still enjoy those things and keep on track. I make small changes, so if we go out I drink water, and if they order wings I eat 2 or 3 instead of a dozen. That is working for me some people have trouble stopping though so just order something different. It also helps to eat beforehand so you are not super hungry to start with. That makes it easier to resist.

Ugh, I hear you. Social situations are my downfall too. Here is my game plan:
1. during the week, I am exceptionally good, and weigh myself on Saturday morning, so if I go over a bit on Saturday or Sunday, I have time to work it off before the next weigh in.
2. If I know I will be meeting and dining with friends later in the day, I will eat just lettuce, raw celery, etc during the day.
3. If we spontaneously decide to go out together and I have not "banked" calories for the occasion, I tell my friends I'm still quite full from brunch or whatever so I'll just "pick" here and there.
(BTW, your skinny friends probably eat one very heavy meal and eat very lightly other meals, so they will completely understand if you tell them you're full. Unlike you, they CAN leave food on the table and they DON'T feel the need to eat 3 square meals.)
4. Drink lots of water/tea. sip water when you feel you would like to eat a garlic fry. Pick at the appetizer plate or whatever everyone is sharing but don't order a whole meal for yourself.
5. I CANNOT leave food on the table, so I let my friends eat their fill (while I chat and drink water) before I dive into the shared dishes. That way I am not over eating when I finished up the plates, but eating just enough.
6. I pay attention to how much I am eating so I can log it later correctly.
7. If I went over that day, I make sure to eat very lightly the next day but I don't stress over it.


good luck!

Thought about this not too long ago, my hubby is 5'6 128 lbs and muscular build. He eats non stop once he's home. He eats no breakfast or lunch do to high activity work. Gets home and eats same dinner as me , no portion control though ( still seems about the same qty as me) then proceeds to eat anything in sight till bed! What I found out ( made him wear my fitbit to work) was on an average day he walks over 25000 steps! Also lifts parts and restocks automotive parts all day...no wonder he eats so much! He must burn 1500-2000 calories on average a day. No longer jealous of his eating and actually been adding healthy high protein snacks into his pockets for weeks now. It's not healthy for him to not refuel at least some during the day!

Yeah agree that some skinny people naturally don't eat much even though they indulge in calorie ridden meals at times, but I do know of a couple of people that really eat quite a lot and hardly exercises (and these are usually males!) but are still skinny like nobody's business!! I GET SO JEALOUS... But I only have myself to blame since I screwed up my metabolism and now struggle with my obsession with food...
What I do notice though is that most people actually watch how much they eat, especially those that do not know much about or count calories, and eat anything they want, but they eat a reasonable amount and that's it. That is how a lot of people I know eat like. So to be honest I'm just pissed at myself with my binging and wanting to eat everything and losing my sense of satiety and control.... Now every food item is just calories in my eyes.....

I just remind myself that eating healthy is better for my body! Think health, skin, hair, energy! And I actually like my healthy foods though I feel really self conscious being so healthy... I'm learning to work with it.

Define "tons".

You'll find a lot of these people don't eat that much outside of these "big" meals you see them eat. I have a friend - skinny as a rail, just a couple centimeters shorter than me - and who weighs 50kg (110lbs); and I'm light for my height/weight of 5'5'/121lbs.

Yet he eats junk food daily.

Why is he thin, then? Well, since he too is trying to bulk up, I asked him what else he'd eaten (we were at McDonalds, I was eating a bar of Green&Blacks, he was eating a bigMac) - his response was "nothing". To put it straight, he just didn't really think or care about food all that much, except for when he was hungry.
Completely foreign concept for most people.

Sounds like my younger brother, he can go all day and not think about food, not have to worry about his calorie intake because hes 5'7" 15 years old and 110 lbs yet all he eats is junk, and I know because he lives with me! He sometimes doesn't eat during the day at lunch so he can save the lunch money for the weekend. He doesn't have an eating disorder, he just eats to survive. He has basically one huge meal a day and like a couple sodas. He said he was sick of being too skinny to shop at stores he wants to and I told him to start bulking up, he has the same problem with trying to eat more for more muscle.

This is a really interesting topic-- and one that I ponder about from time to time. I have a lot of naturally svelte friends who will eat a hamburger and shake in one meal, but if I hang out with them all day, I'll notice that they eat fairly light the rest of the day because they're simply not hungry after a big meal. A small snack here or there, lots of water, etc. I realized that *I* was the one with a warped sense of eating. *I* thought that you had to have 3 full meals a day with snacks in between (without considering that one of those meals was 3/4ths of my calorie allotment for the day . My thin friends are also counting calories, but they tend to do it unconsciously-- which is why they can maintain. There's also the fact-- as escapeartist alluded to, that because they don't yo-yo so much with their weight, they have an efficient metabolism.

I think there are a lot more factors than the ones I mentioned. At least for me, when I look at my skinny friends, I notice a huge difference in our attitudes toward food and eating (that I am working to change for myself).

I clicked this topic to post this. Totally agree.

Some of them may be naturally thin, but others are going to be in for a bit of a shock later in life when sedentary work and busy schedules catch up with them. It never hurts to start paying attention to what you eat early in life, like you are doing.

Order your own food.

I agree, it will be interesting to see how everyone is doing 10 or 20 years down the line. And it's probably true that a lot of my friends eat very lightly throughout the rest of the day, but at the same time, we are college students and I feel like younger people can usually just eat more, like my roommate who eats high calorie food non stop (I know, I live with her) and she is absolutely tiny. I used to be like that too up until around age 15, so sometimes it feels like my metabolism just caught up to me a lot sooner than theirs did. But at the same time, it's true, I really don't want to be stuffing myself with junk food all day anyway. It's gross and makes me feel sick after a while.

You are 18 years old...your metabolism has not 'caught up with you' yet.

I too know a girl who is a skinny as a rail, doesn't do a minute of physical activity--and I've had to spend a decent amount of time around her and seen that she eats a lot of crap (her breakfast was pizza rolls) and she always talks about her family being a fast food family. However, just like others have said, sometimes she'll say she's forgotten to eat, or won't eat lunch during the day or have anything. She's just not thinking about it, and therefore, when she has that milkshake, it's not that big of deal for her. I envy the not thinking about food every second aspect of her life, but I don't envy the eating junk, because even if they're not fat, that doesn't mean they're healthy. This girl never works out and eats crap. Now, I know another girl who is much bigger than her, yet just ran a half marathon with an 8:30 minute mile.