Reality Check: Skinny People Must Have Fast Metabolisms

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  • QuietBloom
    QuietBloom Posts: 5,413 Member
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    At the risk of getting slammed again, I fail to see how weight loss surgery would correct a genetic mutation.
    This whole exchange made me laugh ... Thanks for brightening my day .. :)
    P.S. I am also curious as to how weight loss surgery would change ones genetics ... because it won't. It will change that particular person's physiology, but not future generations.

    I wonder if the poster mistook gene expression with the presence (or absence) of the gene. :happy:
  • Ed98043
    Ed98043 Posts: 1,333 Member
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    "...forgot to record 43% of what she'd eaten."

    Yeah, I can see that.

    The "doubly-labeled water" or whatever that isotope shake was - wow - that's awesome!

    Isn't that what they call 'heavy water'? Yeah, totally busted them on their overeating. Whenever I hear an obese person going on and on about how they don't eat 'much' I have to bite my tongue severely.

    And you've probably never given a second thought to the fact that they honestly might believe that? Fat people are fat because they never truly learned portion control. So yes when they say they aren't eating "much" that is a fact to them.

    Um yes. That is why I have to bite my tongue. Because they honestly believe something false. Why it that a difficult concept for you to grasp...?

    Yes, I used to be one of them. Until I started recording my calories, I would never have thought I was averaging 2500 calories a day because it seemed like I was denying myself WAY more often than indulging.

    However, the point is that once I started recording, it was revealed. Logging food isn't brain surgery. Maybe without the TV cameras and University researchers looking over her shoulder she would have been more honest, I don't know. But I think she purposely hid her true intake, which is why self-reported dietary studies can never be trusted.
  • QuietBloom
    QuietBloom Posts: 5,413 Member
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    fact that those who have weight loss surgery and lose weight very quickly can reverse this mutation

    Please, for the love of cheesecake, provide a link to this study.

    I can GUARANTEE without a reason of a doubt that you are interpreting it incorrectly. This is the kind of stuff that contributes to the overwhelming amount of misinformation out there.

    This is the perfect example of why I would support a bill to ban the 'lay public' access to certain scientific studies without a foothold in academia - or have at least taken a basic biology class post high school.

    As much as I share your dismay at this interpretation of the indeed very interesting epigenetics study, I think it would be a grave mistake to control access to public information such as peer reviewed published studies. Because in reality, we all read these studies through our own lens of interpretation based on our experience. So we would be subjecting people to OTHERS interpretations of results. It really drives me nuts when the news draws inane conclusions from a scientific study and broadcasts them to the public as truth. Imagine if we didn't have access to the original study!
  • evileen99
    evileen99 Posts: 1,564 Member
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    I'm late to this party, but had to add a couple of things.

    I used to do metabolic testing in a hospital, and what the videos showed is the absolute truth. We got all kinds of obese people who blamed their weight on slow metabolism, when in fact, only about 3% of the people I tested could be categorized as "slow." Their response was to usually NOT believe the test results.

    My obese best friend eats a ton of food, but truly believes that she doesn't eat much. Her "just a couple of pieces of chicken" is actually two leg-thigh combos, so really four pieces of chicken, but she sees only two on the plate. "some corn" is actually half a bag of frozen corn, and "a potato" is a baked potato with a ton of butter and sour cream.
  • JDBLY11
    JDBLY11 Posts: 577 Member
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    Skinny people must have fast metabolisms right?

    Think again: http://youtu.be/eTr1JUvEiUU

    Still convinced your problem is a slow metabolism?

    You don't: http://youtu.be/KA9AdlhB18o



    Struggling? It's time for a reality check.

    I don't think all skinny people have fast metabolisms. My sisters and cousins are very thin but they do not eat much compared to what I eat. I know I am eating more than them. I think my metabolism is fine. I just eat too much so I get fat..
  • JDBLY11
    JDBLY11 Posts: 577 Member
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    Two things...

    I've got a friend who's one of those "I eat and eat and never weigh more than 105" people...and I admit that when we go out to lunch or whatever she eats just as much as anyone else. But I have no idea what she eats or doesn't eat when I'm not around. I've always assumed that she just enjoys being the special skinny snowflake that everyone else wants to be, so she exaggerates her food consumption. The fact that she brings it up all the time is a good clue that it's something she enjoys talking about and makes her feel good to be an object of envy.

    Second, I remember reading a study many years ago that determined that the vast majority of people of a slim to healthy weight practice what they called "chronic restrained eating". In other words, they were mindful of what they ate and in what portions. Myself, I weighed between 120 and 150 for most of my adult life (up until I was about 40 years old) and maintained that weight only through restricting food and exercising. It certainly wasn't effortless.

    So maybe the question should be why it's easier for some people to control what they eat and why it's so much harder for others.

    I don't know your friend, so I can't comment on what her motivation may be, and certainly some people do have that type of motivation (and I have known people like that, but they also believed it to be true that they ate so much because they never felt restricted).

    But, just to understand a possible other side of it. I've always been small and slim. And I have experienced a lot of people making claims that I must never eat, I must have a very restrictive diet, I must have an ED, I was even accused of throwing my food up in a restaurant bathroom (I've never been bulimic and never forced myself to throw up in my life and definitely did not throw up that day and I hate throwing up), or I must never have any fun. Blah blah blah. Which, btw, all of that is insulting because I am healthy (mentally and physically), and I look healthy and fit (not sickly or underweight).

    So, in those circumstances I know I have learned to preemptively defend myself, to make it clear, so no one gets any weird ideas (mostly on this website, and not usually much in real life, unless it appears to be an issue). And sometimes people will say I must be naturally slim and I go along with that because it's true that I always have been, so I have no comment on other people's weight struggles because it's none of my business, how could I know, it's not my experience. The reality is that I regulate my food intake well. I've always monitored my weight and using the mirror to do so, and I've never let it get above anything I felt uncomfortable with. But, I've also never gone on a low calorie diet as an adult (and I share that partly, so people know that level of restriction is not needed and also so people know I've never starved myself). I think there is a combination of factors. One is that I've always been very active with my fitness, and I am a dancer, and in addition to that I am generally a very active person in my day to day life. Sometimes I would eat a lot, but then I also would have times in which I was so busy and active I would miss meals. And I've always made sure to have portion control. Even though I want to eat more, I don't. I'm on here now, counting calories, and that is working great for me. So, obviously an awareness of calories is helpful to fitness goals. But, none of this means that I don't have fun or enjoy life. I enjoy life in many many ways. I also enjoy life in active ways and try to make choices that keep me active. I also eat treats and enjoy that. I just don't do that all the time. And also, I have heard people say that they like feeling full. I don't like feeling full. I don't like feeling hungry either. I like to feel fed.

    And one other aspect is that while some people underestimate how much they eat, I also think sometimes people over-estimate how much they eat.

    But, with that said, I only know what my own experience is. I know what I have done to manage my weight and fitness. But, it's no judgement on other people. I don't know what they need to do and how that differs and I don't know what their struggles are. And everyone has had various types of struggles, it's life.

    Sometimes people make other people's weight and fitness habits a personal issue to them. But, really it's a personal issue to the individual's life and it's not really anyone else's business unless they are curious in a reasonably polite way. But, most people aren't walking around talking about how they stay slim, unless other people are commenting on it enough to cause them to feel they need to say something, and once it has been brought up enough the person may feel some defensiveness towards the people that bring it up. That's all.

    P.S. I did not actually read the whole thread and don't really know what people are discussing (but I did watch the videos). These were just some thoughts I had and I had just kind of stumbled across that one thing.

    My one sister is naturally thin too, but she eats very, very little compared to everyone else. She can eat a few bites and say she is full. It is not an eating disorder. She has just always, since she was a baby, been very sensitive to the amount of food she has in her stomach and eaten a small amount.
  • JDBLY11
    JDBLY11 Posts: 577 Member
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    Two things...

    I've got a friend who's one of those "I eat and eat and never weigh more than 105" people...and I admit that when we go out to lunch or whatever she eats just as much as anyone else. But I have no idea what she eats or doesn't eat when I'm not around. I've always assumed that she just enjoys being the special skinny snowflake that everyone else wants to be, so she exaggerates her food consumption. The fact that she brings it up all the time is a good clue that it's something she enjoys talking about and makes her feel good to be an object of envy.

    Second, I remember reading a study many years ago that determined that the vast majority of people of a slim to healthy weight practice what they called "chronic restrained eating". In other words, they were mindful of what they ate and in what portions. Myself, I weighed between 120 and 150 for most of my adult life (up until I was about 40 years old) and maintained that weight only through restricting food and exercising. It certainly wasn't effortless.

    So maybe the question should be why it's easier for some people to control what they eat and why it's so much harder for others.

    All of the people I know are very thin restrict their eating even if it is not intentional. They eat much less than me and if they eat the same amount as me ( this was even when I was around 180 lbs) they eat much less later in the day. For example, we may go out to eat for lunch and eat the same amount, but then I will come home and eat something else for dinner and maybe a snack and they won't eat anything the rest of the day. So I know I am eating greater volumes than all of the skinnier people I know.
  • JDBLY11
    JDBLY11 Posts: 577 Member
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    I remember that there was an Oprah show where she got her metabolism tested and it was actually higher then average ... I wonder whether it is actually portion size that catches people out, I mean I ate healthily, but 2-3 times the amount that I was supposed to :-)

    Yes, my problem has always been portion size. I would eat two pretty good portion sizes most of my life. Now I probably eat more. Food is a problem area in my life. Skinny people have problem areas too. No one is perfect.
  • bethannien
    bethannien Posts: 556 Member
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    This really isn't all that shocking to me. I'm fat because I eat too much. My sister is 5'2" and she has always looked healthy. As far as I know, she has never counted a calorie. But she has excellent awareness of how much she needs to eat to feel satisfied. In my whole life, I have never once seen her eat more than half of a meal at a restaurant. She never went back for seconds as a kid. Does she eat what she likes? Yep, absolutely. But she understands her body. Her health is important to her and she takes excellent care of herself. To discount her efforts as "oh she just has a faster metabolism" would diminish her unfairly.
  • powerpuffgirl66
    powerpuffgirl66 Posts: 143 Member
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    Bumpity bump.
  • Ibleedlipstick
    Ibleedlipstick Posts: 33 Member
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    All of the people I know are very thin restrict their eating even if it is not intentional. They eat much less than me and if they eat the same amount as me ( this was even when I was around 180 lbs) they eat much less later in the day. For example, we may go out to eat for lunch and eat the same amount, but then I will come home and eat something else for dinner and maybe a snack and they won't eat anything the rest of the day. So I know I am eating greater volumes than all of the skinnier people I know.

    My fiance is 6'4 and roughly 155lbs. He has always been thin, and when we first started dating I assumed that he had a much faster metabolism, due to the fact that he would eat an entire burger/fries/shake/dessert combo when we went out for lunch. I just thought that he had won the genetic lottery!

    I was in for a rather rude awakening when I used mfp to track his calories for a day. See, he forgets to eat, or eats less during the day than I do. So while it looks like he ate a 1,000 calories for lunch when I only ate 800, the difference appears when I eat another 800-1,000 calories for dinner and he has a cheese stick and a peach before bed.

    I think that the people we believe have "fast metabolisms" are typically just people with healthier relationships with food.
  • tigerblue
    tigerblue Posts: 1,525 Member
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    This really isn't all that shocking to me. I'm fat because I eat too much. My sister is 5'2" and she has always looked healthy. As far as I know, she has never counted a calorie. But she has excellent awareness of how much she needs to eat to feel satisfied. In my whole life, I have never once seen her eat more than half of a meal at a restaurant. She never went back for seconds as a kid. Does she eat what she likes? Yep, absolutely. But she understands her body. Her health is important to her and she takes excellent care of herself. To discount her efforts as "oh she just has a faster metabolism" would diminish her unfairly.

    Thank you this is good!
  • BinaryPulsar
    BinaryPulsar Posts: 8,927 Member
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    This really isn't all that shocking to me. I'm fat because I eat too much. My sister is 5'2" and she has always looked healthy. As far as I know, she has never counted a calorie. But she has excellent awareness of how much she needs to eat to feel satisfied. In my whole life, I have never once seen her eat more than half of a meal at a restaurant. She never went back for seconds as a kid. Does she eat what she likes? Yep, absolutely. But she understands her body. Her health is important to her and she takes excellent care of herself. To discount her efforts as "oh she just has a faster metabolism" would diminish her unfairly.

    This is a very nice way of looking at it and explaining it! :flowerforyou:
  • EvgeniZyntx
    EvgeniZyntx Posts: 24,208 Member
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    Counter point:

    It does require more of a calorie deficit for certain indivduals to lose a sepcific weight. See graph.
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1094717-3500-cals-per-pound-is-wrong-but-it-s-good-enough
  • biosciencegal
    biosciencegal Posts: 16 Member
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    need to watch these videos later
  • QuietBloom
    QuietBloom Posts: 5,413 Member
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    Counter point:

    It does require more of a calorie deficit for certain indivduals to lose a sepcific weight. See graph.
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1094717-3500-cals-per-pound-is-wrong-but-it-s-good-enough

    Thank you for that write up, it was very interesting! :drinker:
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
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    At the risk of getting slammed again, I fail to see how weight loss surgery would correct a genetic mutation.
    This whole exchange made me laugh ... Thanks for brightening my day .. :)
    P.S. I am also curious as to how weight loss surgery would change ones genetics ... because it won't. It will change that particular person's physiology, but not future generations.

    I wonder if the poster mistook gene expression with the presence (or absence) of the gene. :happy:

    No, I didn't. It was a gene mutation according to the study.

    ETA: A quick internet search found this article (not the actual study) about the genetic differences in children born before and after the mother had weight loss surgery.

    Oops, I forgot the link. :blushing:
    http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-204_162-57586480/moms-who-had-weight-loss-surgery-may-pass-on-healthier-genes/

    This looks like it might be about the study showing altered genes, though 'Cell Reports' doesn't sound like a publication I've seen around here, so it could be a separate study. Still pretty interesting.
    http://www.louisianavalenzuelamd.com/weight-loss-surgery-offering-hope-for-genetic-obesity/
  • dietstokes
    dietstokes Posts: 216 Member
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    bump to watch later
  • Calliope610
    Calliope610 Posts: 3,771 Member
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    bump for later
  • etoiles_argentees
    etoiles_argentees Posts: 2,827 Member
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    Counter point:

    It does require more of a calorie deficit for certain indivduals to lose a sepcific weight. See graph.
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1094717-3500-cals-per-pound-is-wrong-but-it-s-good-enough

    True. :)

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