Reality Check: Skinny People Must Have Fast Metabolisms

I enjoy seeing videos and reading about this type of stuff as it can be informative or at the very least get me thinking about the topic. However, I'm skeptical that using 3 subjects (are there more?) and some expensive water (what exactly is that again!?) gives the entire picture on metabolism for all of human kind. Just my two cents...

While I agree that slow metabolism probably is regularly used as a bad excuse, an experiment done with only people can hardly be called "proof".

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.

I'm interested in the psychology in all this. It's too easy to "blame" "fat" people, accuse them of "lying" or "hiding" what they're eating.

But why would anyone lie about about what harms them? Lie to themselves as well as others?

People do - people with alcoholism and other addictions; people in abusive relationships; people who get into astronomical debt with credit and store cards. They deal with the pain, keep it in check by rehearsing a script that convinces them that it's not so bad. They edit out the worst.

I'm wondering about why it is that food lures people into that same state of denial? We live in a world of abundance. There's more food than we need (not everyone has access to it, I know - that's another discussion though). Food is no longer about nutrition - it's about lifestyle, status, politics, socialising. We don't eat for sustenance alone any more. And yet we deplore gluttony and over indulgence. Eating too much - eating more than you need is not quite taboo, but it's certainly looked down on, it's a sign of weakness. We laugh at it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aczPDGC3f8U But at the same time indulging is a sign of success and the marketing industry does all it can to persuade us to eat more.

I certainly remember getting contradictory messages from my mother about food - on the one had I had to eat everything, waste not, want not, there are starving children in Africa who would love that food (always Africa! there are starving children all over the world!) I was taught that I was fortunate, and should appreciate it by eating up all the food I was given. But on the other hand, I was punished for being greedy if I took too much, told off for eating between meals, made to understand that greed is ugly and eating when you don't need to, or eating certain food (cakes, chocolate) is greed.

So is it any wonder that people deal with this kind of conflict by distorting reality? It's not that people lie or hide what they eat - but their perception is warped and impaired.

And I think over indulgence can creep up on you - like many things. It always takes a little more and a little more and then a little more to achieve the same effect.

I certainly used to wail that I don't eat that much, I don't understand why I'm putting weight on. Logging my food has been a real wake up call! I suspect one reason why people avoid logging their food is that they don't dare face up to the hard truth - that they eat maybe twice as much as they like to believe they eat.

ETA so the magic slow metabolism is your ticket out of it!

I'm interested in the psychology in all this. It's too easy to "blame" "fat" people, accuse them of "lying" or "hiding" what they're eating.

But why would anyone lie about about what harms them? Lie to themselves as well as others?

People do - people with alcoholism and other addictions; people in abusive relationships; people who get into astronomical debt with credit and store cards. They deal with the pain, keep it in check by rehearsing a script that convinces them that it's not so bad. They edit out the worst.

I'm wondering about why it is that food lures people into that same state of denial? We live in a world of abundance. There's more food than we need (not everyone has access to it, I know - that's another discussion though). Food is no longer about nutrition - it's about lifestyle, status, politics, socialising. We don't eat for sustenance alone any more. And yet we deplore gluttony and over indulgence. Eating too much - eating more than you need is not quite taboo, but it's certainly looked down on, it's a sign of weakness. We laugh at it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aczPDGC3f8U But at the same time indulging is a sign of success and the marketing industry does all it can to persuade us to eat more.

I certainly remember getting contradictory messages from my mother about food - on the one had I had to eat everything, waste not, want not, there are starving children in Africa who would love that food (always Africa! there are starving children all over the world!) I was taught that I was fortunate, and should appreciate it by eating up all the food I was given. But on the other hand, I was punished for being greedy if I took too much, told off for eating between meals, made to understand that greed is ugly and eating when you don't need to, or eating certain food (cakes, chocolate) is greed.

So is it any wonder that people deal with this kind of conflict by distorting reality? It's not that people lie or hide what they eat - but their perception is warped and impaired.

And I think over indulgence can creep up on you - like many things. It always takes a little more and a little more and then a little more to achieve the same effect.

I certainly used to wail that I don't eat that much, I don't understand why I'm putting weight on. Logging my food has been a real wake up call! I suspect one reason why people avoid logging their food is that they don't dare face up to the hard truth - that they eat maybe twice as much as they like to believe they eat.

ETA so the magic slow metabolism is your ticket out of it!

Are you seriously asking why people lie? Do you not know that many people? In my experience, lying is the default, not the exception. If I find someone who doesn't lie, THEN I want to know why. Liars get grouped into the "normal human behavior" category.

I'm interested in the psychology in all this. It's too easy to "blame" "fat" people, accuse them of "lying" or "hiding" what they're eating.

But why would anyone lie about about what harms them? Lie to themselves as well as others?

People do - people with alcoholism and other addictions; people in abusive relationships; people who get into astronomical debt with credit and store cards. They deal with the pain, keep it in check by rehearsing a script that convinces them that it's not so bad. They edit out the worst.

I'm wondering about why it is that food lures people into that same state of denial? We live in a world of abundance. There's more food than we need (not everyone has access to it, I know - that's another discussion though). Food is no longer about nutrition - it's about lifestyle, status, politics, socialising. We don't eat for sustenance alone any more. And yet we deplore gluttony and over indulgence. Eating too much - eating more than you need is not quite taboo, but it's certainly looked down on, it's a sign of weakness. We laugh at it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aczPDGC3f8U But at the same time indulging is a sign of success and the marketing industry does all it can to persuade us to eat more.

I certainly remember getting contradictory messages from my mother about food - on the one had I had to eat everything, waste not, want not, there are starving children in Africa who would love that food (always Africa! there are starving children all over the world!) I was taught that I was fortunate, and should appreciate it by eating up all the food I was given. But on the other hand, I was punished for being greedy if I took too much, told off for eating between meals, made to understand that greed is ugly and eating when you don't need to, or eating certain food (cakes, chocolate) is greed.

So is it any wonder that people deal with this kind of conflict by distorting reality? It's not that people lie or hide what they eat - but their perception is warped and impaired.

And I think over indulgence can creep up on you - like many things. It always takes a little more and a little more and then a little more to achieve the same effect.

I certainly used to wail that I don't eat that much, I don't understand why I'm putting weight on. Logging my food has been a real wake up call! I suspect one reason why people avoid logging their food is that they don't dare face up to the hard truth - that they eat maybe twice as much as they like to believe they eat.

ETA so the magic slow metabolism is your ticket out of it!

Are you seriously asking why people lie? Do you not know that many people? In my experience, lying is the default, not the exception. If I find someone who doesn't lie, THEN I want to know why. Liars get grouped into the "normal human behavior" category.

that's so sad :sad:

For years I had an over-active thyroid which meant I could eat whatever, I wanted in whatever quantity I wanted and my weight struggled to move above 84lbs. Then this wonderful little organ suffered a complete malfunction and broke down completely in a year I gained 80lbs. I now get my thyroxine artificially and struggle still to keep my weight under control. Do I use this as an excuse? No. They basic formula is the same calories in and calories out. Some people here are very judgemental. Yes people make excuses as to why they are overweight, don't exercise, cheat, lie, take the easy option. None of us is in a position to judge other people so please don't.