Why Are Thin People Not Fat? (Video)

Thanks for sharing the video, I sat down and watched it this morning. It shed some light on my own personal struggle to force my body to be something it naturally does not want to be, and explained the processes that have made my own journey so hard.

Wow! I was overweight for most of my childhood and this really explained a lot. Thank goodness for spring break (had the time to watch this).

Kind of in limbo whether this is an encouraging or discoraging documentary though!

It really depends on how you look at it. It may be discouraging at first but it's good to arm yourself with facts and knowledge about what may be at play in your body and therefore, you can take actions to counteract this.

Interesting video.

I don't think it is discouraging but it does prepare you for reality. Changing your weight is not easy, whether you are trying to gain or lose. I could totally relate to the guy who talked about the shame cycle (which for me is: "oh, I totally ate more than I was supposed to, I'll eat less next meal, I feel terrible for messing up, I'm just going to eat whatever and tomorrow I'll start over tomorrow", for him it was: "oh man, I didn't eat enough calories, I'll have to eat more at the next meal, this is hard, I feel like a failure").

The video pretty much reinforces my game plan - lose at a slow rate, maintain BMR and lean body mass by lifting weights, eat enough healthy fats to maintain hormone functions, and build a healthy relationship with food, so that I can be like the girl in the video who'll only eat a bite of wedding cake if I'm already full from dinner (not the entire slice because it is there and it is tasty.)

Parents: Don't MAKE your kids eat.

Kids will often take a bite or two of something and then attempt to toss the rest - I've caught my daughter eating a few bites of apple and then tossing it! Can't afford that!

The difference is, I insist they put food back in the fridge, or at least offer it to someone else, not that they eat it. Avoiding waste doesn't mean eating it right there.

Wow it was very interesting. I've always thought my normal weight was 135. If I consistently watch my weight I could be around 125, but when I slack off and don't care, I'd go up to 135, but I had to really really overeat to go above that. Now though I think I may have a new "normal" weight after pregnancies and staying overweight so long.

And I definitely don't have the close feature that those two have. I can snack all day long. I've never in my life eaten to the point where I can't eat anything else. I've eaten myself sick (though not puking) of a very rich desert or something, but I could of switched to a new food and kept going. I really think I do sweet to salty back and forth 24/7 and never stop eating if I wanted. My sister on the other hand won't take her last bit of something if she feels full. It's annoying.

I think my boyfriend is like Martin though, it'd probably just turn to muscle.

bump for later! I am so intriqued.

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It's my theory that the body can get used to various "set" points. I've had a couple of different weights that I've maintained over a long period of time in my adult life. My question is: is there a way to "reset" or over ride you body's set weight?

I would love to know if that's possible! If it's ever found, it would be the perfect answer. It would be amazing if we could somehow reprogramme ourselves to be naturally slim. I've had two different weights that seemed like "set" points. One was around 120lb, and the other was, well, over 200 lb. It's strange that there was such a huge difference between them. Why does your body pick what seem to be arbitrary numbers on the scale out of the blue? It's strange, but interesting!

Bump for later

As I understand the set point theory is that it does change slowly over time to match your current state.

Chonically skinny people into their mid-20s can become fat and have that as a new set point (I did).

I read somewhere, I forget where, when I was first losing that it takes about 3 years for your body to settle on a new setpoint.

What that means, for people losing right now, once you've reached your goal weight you've got to stay on a maintenence diet (instead of being "done") for 3 years following reaching your goal weight in order for the new weight to stick, else you'll just rebound right back to your old setpoint.

I'm now 1 year past being fat, and have 2 more to go before I even consider leaving my body to its own devices to maintain weight.