Serious question, not trying to be mean...

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kabel4892
kabel4892 Posts: 167 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I work with quite a lot of larger people. I see them order lunch or dinner, sure, but never really see them snack. I dont get how they can stay the size they are but not eat much. I sit in my office and snack all day. I figured I should be the size of them by now, but im not. Yet they hardly eat and are overweight. Why is that?
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Replies

  • AlexLeeAS
    AlexLeeAS Posts: 33 Member
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    I know someone who snacks at night. Even late at night, and on bad carby stuff. She eats healthy all day, I was wondering the samething
  • kiangel
    kiangel Posts: 246 Member
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    I got to 200lbs because I ate rubbish when I was alone , a secret eater :(
  • Revonue
    Revonue Posts: 135 Member
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    Well, everyone is different. Just as some people can eat a lot and not gain weight, some people gain weight relatively easily.

    Perhaps they eat a lot of high-calorie food at meals instead of getting their calories from snacks. Also, you probably don't get to see everything they eat. They may do a lot of late-night snacking or eat a ton for breakfast. You never know.
  • tammycolbert
    tammycolbert Posts: 236 Member
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    I was a closet eater, nothing but crap, no one ever saw me, I ballooned and now have to pay for it, but it was my fault no one else's. They might be closet eaters or maybe have a medical issue like Thyroid no one knows about also.
  • schelly81
    schelly81 Posts: 161 Member
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    One of my friends is very overweight. She doesn't like to eat in front of people, not even her husband. She binge eats when alone. I couldn't figure out how she could be 350 pounds when she ate like a bird but then she confessed to me one day.
    I can't speak for your co-workers but there are a lot of factors. Maybe they have a 500 calorie coffee twice a day but eat healthy otherwise, maybe they live on their couch at home and snack all night or drink a lot.
  • majope
    majope Posts: 1,325 Member
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    For me, sedentism played a large part. For large parts of my life, I've been very active. Not owned a car, walked everywhere, had jobs where I was on my feet all the time. Went back to school in my later 20s and boom! Pounds piled on. I just continued to eat as I was used to, but without the constant activity, I couldn't maintain my former weight.
  • iggyboo93
    iggyboo93 Posts: 524 Member
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    I would go through Carl's Jr, Jack in the Box or Sonic drive throughs after work, snarf down a combo meal and throw the incriminating evidence away before coming into the house. Then I would prepare and eat a meal with my family. Getting fat entailed a lot of fast food eaten in the car or in private.
  • kabel4892
    kabel4892 Posts: 167 Member
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    Thanks for the answers guys. Like I said, I dont want to be mean. I have nothing against them or how they choose to live. And I work with a lot of great people. I just always wondered that.
  • fun_b
    fun_b Posts: 199 Member
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    This was me. People would always be surprised that I was so overweight when a lot of times I didn't eat as much as them. It used to amaze me when I went to lunch with Skinny friends and they would eat 2/3 times the amount I did and not even stress over their weight.
  • lynda3y9
    lynda3y9 Posts: 62 Member
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    i eat fairly well during the day - healthy choices, reasonable portions, little snacking - and am at least 80 pounds overweight....contributing factors in my opinion .......

    1) i tend to eat late evening snacks sometimes - not tons but enough,
    2) I have a weakness for sweets (with no 'stop' button) (chocolate, cookies, squares)
    3) and lack of movement... sit all day and then would go home and sit.

    people who know me and see how i eat ask me the same thing (nicely of course :-)) when i discuss weight...they think i should not have a weight issue when they see my meals. My caloris and eating are always good during the day ---- it's the evening's eating that is the issue

    trying to change those 3 bad habits but it is tough. I also think i have messed my metabolism going from too low calories some days and then way too high on others. ...but really think the lack of movement is my biggest issue.
  • lilacinfinity
    lilacinfinity Posts: 283 Member
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    I've never been a snacker, my meals were just high-calorie. I did, and still can, easily, top 1000 calories in a meal without even trying. And I wasn't stuffing myself, it was just calorie-dense

    As an example: lunch of a chicken & salad sandwich, a banana, a yoghurt and a nut bar along with a cup of tea - 958 calories.
  • anasantos61
    anasantos61 Posts: 86 Member
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    By eating a fast food meal before getting home from work and then cook and eat another meal with the family.

    I havent been thru a drive thru in over 7 years.
  • MandyMH80
    MandyMH80 Posts: 20
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    Well, I'm overweight. At my heaviest I was 250lb. My BIG problem was soda. I'd drink 4-6 cans on most days. The worst part is that I'd drink it late at night right before bed so I was never burning any of it off. Binge eating when I was alone was also a problem. Instead of having a handful of chips I had half a bag, sometimes more. Snack cakes I'd grab 2 instead of 1. A whole pint of Ben & Jerry's ice cream. I could go on and on... but even with all that eating soda was my main issue. That along with the not getting any exercise at all. Now, I'm eating much better and healthier foods and I gave up soda months ago. It wasn't easy, but it had to be done. I'm now 39lb lighter because of it. :)
  • a_mandolin_
    a_mandolin_ Posts: 336 Member
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    Exactly what the others have said, it is usually what you don't see them eat.

    Could be like me. I'm a secret snacker. I'll buy things when nobody is around and throw away the evidence. I'll get home from work, pretend I'm going upstairs to go to the bathroom, and quickly woof down half a dozen oreos that I have hidden somewhere. Sometimes I even hide the garbage in drawers so the trash isn't filled with the evidence, thus, giving away my secret.

    Or, could be like my boyfriend, who doesn't eat breakfast and doesn't snack. However, he eats out at nearly every meal and drinks a ton of pop. Easily 1000 calories in pop, a lunch at chilis will set him back another 2000 and dinner the same, so while he may not physically eat a lot, he can pack away a good 4k in a day.
  • Cr01502
    Cr01502 Posts: 3,614 Member
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    ETA: Sorry completely misread your post.

    They probably eat more than you think they do.

    :flowerforyou:
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    When I was grossly overweight, I didn't really snack and rarely ate breakfast. But...

    my meals were extremely calorie dense...I could easily consume 1,000-1,500 calories for lunch and dinner; I always had the equivalent of 2-3 servings of whatever I was eating at lunch and dinner. I also drank at least 3 sodas per day...so that's like 480 calories there. My only daily snack was 1/4 Lb of cheese and washed down with about 16 Oz of whole milk when I got home from work...oh, and I also drank roughly a 6 pack + beer per night at home.

    All in all, even though I wasn't snacking at work, I was consuming roughly 3,500 calories per day...often upward of 4,000.
  • musycnlyrics
    musycnlyrics Posts: 323 Member
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    Here are a few reasons:

    being sedentary
    slowed metabolism
    really high calorie/high fat content in the foods they DO eat
    what they eat when no one is around

    At my highest weight (and lowest point emotionally) I ate alone and a LOT! When I don't overeat and make good choices, I maintain my weight, cut a few calories and I lose.
    When you are large and sedentary and eat like crap, the fat just packs on...Your body can't keep up with you.

    Not offended by that question at all (I used to weigh over 300lbs and ppl asked me that all the time because I almost never ate in front of people)
  • MeganKSchultz
    MeganKSchultz Posts: 73
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    I use to hate going out to eat with big groups, because it drove me crazy that i felt all the skinny girls had to order giant cheeseburgers and milk shakes and all the fat girls ordered small salads. We all know that isn't their eating habits at home. I've had large friends who always seemed to watch what I was eating so they could eat a little less. Like say, we order a pizza and they won't take another piece until I do. Now that I'm the large one I have caught myself playing that game.
  • _SABOTEUR_
    _SABOTEUR_ Posts: 6,833 Member
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    I work with quite a lot of larger people. I see them order lunch or dinner, sure, but never really see them snack. I dont get how they can stay the size they are but not eat much. I sit in my office and snack all day. I figured I should be the size of them by now, but im not. Yet they hardly eat and are overweight. Why is that?

    When I was really big I was ashamed of eating and didn't want people to look at me when I was eating, so I wouldn't eat much in front of others, but when I was at home I'd easily get through 4000 cals during the evening.

    Maybe that is what's going on with your colleagues.
  • musycnlyrics
    musycnlyrics Posts: 323 Member
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    Here are a few reasons:

    being sedentary
    slowed metabolism
    really high calorie/high fat content in the foods they DO eat
    what they eat when no one is around

    At my highest weight (and lowest point emotionally) I ate alone and a LOT! When I don't overeat and make good choices, I maintain my weight, cut a few calories and I lose.
    When you are large and sedentary and eat like crap, the fat just packs on...Your body can't keep up with you.

    Not offended by that question at all (I used to weigh over 300lbs and ppl asked me that all the time because I almost never ate in front of people)

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