Reality Check: Skinny People Must Have Fast Metabolisms
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Regarding epigenetics and gastric bypass...pretty amazing stuff!
http://arstechnica.com/science/2013/05/parents-have-gastric-bypass-childrens-dna-may-receive-the-benefits/0 -
Regarding epigenetics and gastric bypass...pretty amazing stuff!
http://arstechnica.com/science/2013/05/parents-have-gastric-bypass-childrens-dna-may-receive-the-benefits/
"epigenetics describes traits that are maintained without any changes in the underlying DNA sequence"0 -
Just saw the video for the first time. Amazing, that if this study is true, and if it proves something, then its a good thing because I'm very overweight. That is encouraging that my metabolism is helping me lose weight faster (than if it were slow).
I have heard the phrase "eat like a skinny person" and you will lose weight. Skinny people are often skinny because they continually on a usual basis eat food in a way that we all need to eat.. like they dont feel they have to eat everything on their plate for example, or they dont worry about wasting food, or they just order smaller portions, and food is just food, not anything thereapeutic. I think they just eat till they are full, and dont care to overeat. If they get a plate of average size portions, they are so used to eating less that they look at that and just cant overeat it (same thing when you get the stomach flu and someone puts out a plate of greasy fried food and you just cant eat it even if when you are well, you'd eat it in a heartbeat).0 -
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.
And this could be where genetics comes into play. I read a study recently that people who are very overweight or obese have a much greater instance of a genetic mutation that actually makes them feel hungry after eating, often leading them to overeat.
The study was a prompted by the fact that those who have weight loss surgery and lose weight very quickly can reverse this mutation. Children born to overweight women with the mutation often have the same mutation, but children born to the same woman after weight loss surgery do not. It's pretty interesting stuff.
DEAR GOD.
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Having a genetic 'tendency' towards something is like walking around with a stick of dynamite in one hand - you have the CHOICE to light it or not by how you CHOOSE to live your life.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.
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Yes, it is an advantage. I used to burn a lot more calories doing the same cardio exercises that I do now. And, as was discussed earlier, an overweight person has a higher BMR, if not in as high of a ratio as I thought. Big props to people who have always been slim and fit! The people I know have worked hard to stay that way. :flowerforyou:Just saw the video for the first time. Amazing, that if this study is true, and if it proves something, then its a good thing because I'm very overweight. That is encouraging that my metabolism is helping me lose weight faster (than if it were slow).
I have heard the phrase "eat like a skinny person" and you will lose weight. Skinny people are often skinny because they continually on a usual basis eat food in a way that we all need to eat.. like they dont feel they have to eat everything on their plate for example, or they dont worry about wasting food, or they just order smaller portions, and food is just food, not anything thereapeutic. I think they just eat till they are full, and dont care to overeat. If they get a plate of average size portions, they are so used to eating less that they look at that and just cant overeat it (same thing when you get the stomach flu and someone puts out a plate of greasy fried food and you just cant eat it even if when you are well, you'd eat it in a heartbeat).0 -
Yes, it is an advantage. I used to burn a lot more calories doing the same cardio exercises that I do now. And, as was discussed earlier, an overweight person has a higher BMR, if not in as high of a ratio as I thought. Big props to people who have always been slim and fit! The people I know have worked hard to stay that way. :flowerforyou:Just saw the video for the first time. Amazing, that if this study is true, and if it proves something, then its a good thing because I'm very overweight. That is encouraging that my metabolism is helping me lose weight faster (than if it were slow).
I have heard the phrase "eat like a skinny person" and you will lose weight. Skinny people are often skinny because they continually on a usual basis eat food in a way that we all need to eat.. like they dont feel they have to eat everything on their plate for example, or they dont worry about wasting food, or they just order smaller portions, and food is just food, not anything thereapeutic. I think they just eat till they are full, and dont care to overeat. If they get a plate of average size portions, they are so used to eating less that they look at that and just cant overeat it (same thing when you get the stomach flu and someone puts out a plate of greasy fried food and you just cant eat it even if when you are well, you'd eat it in a heartbeat).
I heard that a very overweight person is losing calories faster because every day they have to lug their body around. I dont know if that is scientifically true, but seems to make sense.. If i am 100 pounds overweight, then every day its like having to lift 100 pounds all thru the day 24/7 (except when sleeping). the skinny person is only lugging less weight around each day.0 -
The first video is part of a BBC documentary called "How to be Slim" (
http://youtu.be/ClU49zn4GG0). A summary of the documentary and the lessons are here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/humanbody/truthaboutfood/slim/
Thanks for the links!!!! I bookmarked this to watch again later..... such insightful docs! :-)0 -
Yes, it is an advantage. I used to burn a lot more calories doing the same cardio exercises that I do now. And, as was discussed earlier, an overweight person has a higher BMR, if not in as high of a ratio as I thought. Big props to people who have always been slim and fit! The people I know have worked hard to stay that way. :flowerforyou:Just saw the video for the first time. Amazing, that if this study is true, and if it proves something, then its a good thing because I'm very overweight. That is encouraging that my metabolism is helping me lose weight faster (than if it were slow).
I have heard the phrase "eat like a skinny person" and you will lose weight. Skinny people are often skinny because they continually on a usual basis eat food in a way that we all need to eat.. like they dont feel they have to eat everything on their plate for example, or they dont worry about wasting food, or they just order smaller portions, and food is just food, not anything thereapeutic. I think they just eat till they are full, and dont care to overeat. If they get a plate of average size portions, they are so used to eating less that they look at that and just cant overeat it (same thing when you get the stomach flu and someone puts out a plate of greasy fried food and you just cant eat it even if when you are well, you'd eat it in a heartbeat).
I heard that a very overweight person is losing calories faster because every day they have to lug their body around. I dont know if that is scientifically true, but seems to make sense.. If i am 100 pounds overweight, then every day its like having to lift 100 pounds all thru the day 24/7 (except when sleeping). the skinny person is only lugging less weight around each day.
It's true, and it takes more muscle strength just to move around a heavier body as well, so all the more reason to take advantage of strength training right away to preserve as much of that lean body mass as possible while losing the pounds.0 -
My take- everybody has different energy requirements per day depending on age, activity level and what not. Someone might lose weight on your maintenance calories. If you're more active you can get away with eating more check you need to eat more because your TDEE is higher. Look at Michael Phelps. If your sedentary your TDEE is lower and you don't have the leeway to eat as much.0
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Indeed slow metabolism isn't an excuse for being fat... but everybody knows and hates that skinny friend who eats like there's no tomorrow... LOL0
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I know it's not always a valid excuse but it is true for some.
Very true.
Same with being born with a tail. Rare, but it happens. Luckily 99.99999999999% of us are born without a tail and just a tail-bone.
Funny how 99.99999999999% of us are convinced that we fit in the 0.00000000001 percentile.
It's time to be honest with ourselves folks.
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Wow! Hold on a moment!
I thought this thread was great until you said that...
I religiously dieted for 2 yrs and yo-yoed over 15lbs.
People close to me thought that I maybe was a closet eater,
and I was starting to think they were right.
Surprise, surprise! I was finally diagnosed with hypothyroidism, AND PCOS!
Hypothyroidism alone lowers metabolism. Just sayin'.
So while, yes, the majority of people are in denial,
being overweight due to real health problems is not a mystical problem.0 -
No doubt it is unfortunate when people don't even try because of misconceptions, but this thread reeks of "fat people haters" who are disgusted by those less fit/thin than themselves. I think that some people feel they are better than others simply because they are able to be a certain body shape.0
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Interesting videos, thanks.
My guess is that the second video, she was recording what she thought serving sizes were, not what they actually were. That's easy to do, especially for someone who is naive of how food labels really work. She seemed genuinely shocked (and hurt) when they told her she "hadn't recorded 43% of her intake", which makes me believe she actually wrote down everything she ate and just didn't know what had which size of serving.
I was wondering how PCOS played into metabolism, as I know people with PCOS struggle to lose weight. However, doing a quick look at pubmed left me wondering if it's really that important of a player. A few articles I skimmed for metabolic and PCOS looked at obese and healthy body weighted individuals with PCOS, leaving me to reconsider the originally believed strong connection between the two.
There is an undeniable link because there are hormonal issues at work which increase fat storage because of the excess of insulin.
When I was diagnosed, my weight gain was out of control, when I was treated with yasmin birth control, after six months, I began losing weight. I lost 77 pounds. Last year, my insurance stopped covering Yasmin birth control. I got put on Ocella. It had horrible side effects for me. I had to stop BCP.
I slowly regained 35 pounds. I take metforim morning/night and spiro in the morning. They help control my symptoms, but nothing helps the way yasmin did. It's much harder for me to lose weight now without that birth control medicine basically turning off my overies and helping to control my hormones. I have to work much harder to lose.
I know there are people at a healthy weight with PCOS. I know it's possible to lose weight with PCOS--I'm doing it. But, it's no joke that my body fights the process.
Also - I would comment on the written diary from that video, the poor girl wasn't measuring, she was just writing down what she thought she ate.
Diary after meal = recipe for diaster as the damage is already done
Diary before meal = planning for success0 -
No doubt it is unfortunate when people don't even try because of misconceptions, but this thread reeks of "fat people haters" who are disgusted by those less fit/thin than themselves. I think that some people feel they are better than others simply because they are able to be a certain body shape.
I didn't read the comments. So, probably there have been people behaving that way. But, not everyone in this thread thinks that way. I would never be disgusted by a person based on how they look (they would have to do something very heinous for me to feel disgusted by them, and that has nothing to do with how they look). And I've personally never thought I was better than other people based on attaining a shape (there are genetic aspects to our actual body shapes). I would think that most people are pre-occupied with their own feelings, worries, body issues to even think to judge others. Most people have their own issues to deal with (whatever size or shape they are). So, I'm just saying that you shouldn't think that others are judging you just because they look smaller, or fitter (and you'll be happier if you know that).0 -
bump to view later0
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Regarding epigenetics and gastric bypass...pretty amazing stuff!
http://arstechnica.com/science/2013/05/parents-have-gastric-bypass-childrens-dna-may-receive-the-benefits/
"epigenetics describes traits that are maintained without any changes in the underlying DNA sequence
You're on the right track, keep studying epigenetics
Like the Duke study said " these findings suggest "That dietary supplementation, presumed to be beneficial may have unintended deleterious influences on the establishment of epigenetic gene regulation in humans."0 -
No doubt it is unfortunate when people don't even try because of misconceptions, but this thread reeks of "fat people haters" who are disgusted by those less fit/thin than themselves. I think that some people feel they are better than others simply because they are able to be a certain body shape.
I really am not sure where you are getting that from. Could you point us to where you have seen someone express that, either explicitly or implicitly?0 -
No doubt it is unfortunate when people don't even try because of misconceptions, but this thread reeks of "fat people haters" who are disgusted by those less fit/thin than themselves. I think that some people feel they are better than others simply because they are able to be a certain body shape.
No that is not it. I dont hate people who are heavy, skinny, round, whatever. But it is very annoying to have all of my hard work "dissed" by someone claiming that it is easy for me because my metabolism is faster. No it is not easier. I just make mostly good choices most of the time. I fight the battle every day too. I want donuts every day. I want a Big Mac, But I deny myself MOST of the time because I know it is in my best interest.
I dont hate you because you are fat. Please dont hate me because I am skinny. Instead lets learn from one another!0 -
Bump!0
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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...?0 -
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:0 -
"...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.0 -
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!0 -
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.0 -
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..0 -
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.0 -
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.0 -
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.0 -
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.0
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Bumpity bump.0
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