"You have a fast metabolism!"- NO! I work HARD.
choosing_fitness
Posts: 102
Hi,
In my lifetime I have gone from 140 lbs. to 110 lbs. and fluctuated all in between. I know rest at 124 and am wanting to get back to 115 lbs. However, I do have more muscle and I think I do look better physically, so I am not sure if I would want to lose some of that muscle just to have that number on the scale... Does this make sense?
Here comes my frustration... I work HARD to maintain and lose weight. I workout 5-6 days a week. I do cardio, I do weights. I eat well. I count calories, etc. And ALL my friends are like, "you have a fast metabolism." Let me tell you something, I don't, it is just average, and maybe 3% faster after I do weights. LOL But I work hard and I feel like my friends don't understand that.
Have you heard this before? Is this dumb to even talk about?
In my lifetime I have gone from 140 lbs. to 110 lbs. and fluctuated all in between. I know rest at 124 and am wanting to get back to 115 lbs. However, I do have more muscle and I think I do look better physically, so I am not sure if I would want to lose some of that muscle just to have that number on the scale... Does this make sense?
Here comes my frustration... I work HARD to maintain and lose weight. I workout 5-6 days a week. I do cardio, I do weights. I eat well. I count calories, etc. And ALL my friends are like, "you have a fast metabolism." Let me tell you something, I don't, it is just average, and maybe 3% faster after I do weights. LOL But I work hard and I feel like my friends don't understand that.
Have you heard this before? Is this dumb to even talk about?
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Replies
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I wouldn't be mad about it. In my experience, this sentiment is usually more about the other person...and her weight. Do you really need to be 115 though? Sometimes the # on the scale is meaningless...especially if you lift.0
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It's not dumb and yes, it can be irritating. Respond as you just did, "I work my butt off for this".0
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Let people think what they want, You know what it takes to be where you are. Keep up the great work!0
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redfisher1974 wrote: »Let people think what they want, You know what it takes to be where you are. Keep up the great work!
agreed
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I wouldn't be mad about it. In my experience, this sentiment is usually more about the other person...and her weight. Do you really need to be 115 though? Sometimes the # on the scale is meaningless...especially if you lift.
GREAT POINT. I am so much of a numbers person that I have to careful, especially with the scale.
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Just send them this: "No excuses...In short, while there is some variance among the population in terms of metabolic rate, the range is not wide enough to be a real factor in your ability to alter your weight. If you’re having trouble with either fat loss or muscle gain, simply start keeping track of calories and slowly add or subtract from your daily target depending on your goal."
Fast metabolism is a myth and a lie people tell themselves to skirt responsibility.
Keep up the good work!
---
http://www.menshealth.co.uk/building-muscle/get-big/the-myth-of-the-fast-metabolism0 -
When people would say this to me (usually people who had a few pounds to lose) I would say to them "Spend a week with me and eat what I eat and do what I do and then tell me it's my metabolism." Funny how no one ever took me up on it.0
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I don't think it would be worth it to lose muscle just to get to some arbitrary number on the scale...in fact, I think that's rather silly.
None of my friends think I have a fast metabolism...they see me work and they see me eat and they know what I'm all about.0 -
cwolfman13 wrote: »I don't think it would be worth it to lose muscle just to get to some arbitrary number on the scale...in fact, I think that's rather silly.
None of my friends think I have a fast metabolism...they see me work and they see me eat and they know what I'm all about.
All this.
It also doesn't matter what people think or say.
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cwolfman13 wrote: »None of my friends think I have a fast metabolism...they see me work and they see me eat and they know what I'm all about.
Exactly this. I've never heard this from my friends because they know how I eat and workout. However, if someone did say that to me, I'd definitely point out that I work my butt off for every gain I make...
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After I started on Synthroid, I was able to lose. Couldn't lose before. I work hard! I stick to an average of 1200 calories a day, I do my C25K every other day. I do body weight stuff every day and when my shoulder is done recovering, I'll swim again. It's a lot of work.
What do I hear? "Sure wish I had a magic pill," and "Must be nice to just take a pill," etc.
They are jealous. They're trying to make themselves feel better. If you have a fast metabolism and I have special pills, then we aren't doing a better job (and they aren't "worse" than anyone.) Deep down, they know better. They have to hang on to that, for their own reasons. It's a game they play in their head to keep themselves "okay" with themselves.0 -
Liftng4Lis wrote: »"I work my butt off for this".
I would love to be able to say that, but I look down and there it is ...
Seriously, many people would like to believe its some magical metabolism thing, because that gives them the excuse to not change. Coming to grips with the fact that it takes time and effort to be fit would mean they have to accept the truth that its them holding themselves back and not the excuse of "metabolism."
And this comes from someone with a faulty endocrine system (hypothyroid). I'm in the bast shape of my life and make the choices to support it.0 -
I get the 'you're so lucky to be so small' comments from people who don't know me.
The people who do know me (and know how hard I work) look at those people like they're idiots and then gleefully explain, I don't have to say a thing LOL0 -
How about - "I work hard to keep a fast metabolism, and I work hard".
Because really, you could work hard, but have a terrible diet and being killing your metabolism, which usually comes back around and makes you not actually be working that hard in comparison.
But it takes doing it right to have both.0 -
I have never gotten the fast metabolism comments before, but I do get asked about what I am doing quite often, and get blank stares of disbelief when I explain that it is a lot of hard work, eating better, working out, and counting calories. They always follow up with, "that's really it?" I know they are convinced I am lying to them and don't want to share my "magic pill."0
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I'd just tell them that you've been working hard for what you've got.0
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I'm curious, though. How would you know if you have a "fast metabolism"?0
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I lost 57 pounds and maintained for a while before I started my first bulk. I'm moving around all day at work, and lift 4x a week. Even people that remember 'fat me' comment on how I can eat whatever I want and not gain an ounce. Even though I've gained 10. And I was fat before, so obviously it's not true. But people don't like to listen to reason
If not for the crazies, we wouldn't have anything fun to talk about on MFP!0 -
After I started on Synthroid, I was able to lose. Couldn't lose before. I work hard! I stick to an average of 1200 calories a day, I do my C25K every other day. I do body weight stuff every day and when my shoulder is done recovering, I'll swim again. It's a lot of work.
What do I hear? "Sure wish I had a magic pill," and "Must be nice to just take a pill," etc.
They are jealous. They're trying to make themselves feel better. If you have a fast metabolism and I have special pills, then we aren't doing a better job (and they aren't "worse" than anyone.) Deep down, they know better. They have to hang on to that, for their own reasons. It's a game they play in their head to keep themselves "okay" with themselves.
Wish I could rep this post as post of the decade0 -
Some here may not like me saying this, but I would say I'm living it right now. Although I've started doing some weight training, my overall lifestyle is quite sedentary, and yet I'm consuming more calories per pound of body weight than most other people with my activity level. Despite my calorie intake, I am quite skinny, as my body is holding me at a very low weight for my height (and essentially has since I was a young kid).JazzFischer1989 wrote: »I'm curious, though. How would you know if you have a "fast metabolism"?
Essentially, IMO someone with a fast metabolism can get away without doing much exercise while being able to remain quite thin. By thin, I don't necessarily just mean a healthy weight, but actually below the normal weight for height.
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Accidental double post--Meant to add in my original post that even my family members are amazed at my metabolism.
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After I started on Synthroid, I was able to lose. Couldn't lose before. I work hard! I stick to an average of 1200 calories a day, I do my C25K every other day. I do body weight stuff every day and when my shoulder is done recovering, I'll swim again. It's a lot of work.
What do I hear? "Sure wish I had a magic pill," and "Must be nice to just take a pill," etc.
They are jealous. They're trying to make themselves feel better. If you have a fast metabolism and I have special pills, then we aren't doing a better job (and they aren't "worse" than anyone.) Deep down, they know better. They have to hang on to that, for their own reasons. It's a game they play in their head to keep themselves "okay" with themselves.
weird. I'm sure it's due to jealousy, but I'd feel far less jealous by knowing someone worked their butt off for their body than I would thinking they were blessed with genetics.0 -
Yes!! I hear this all the time. I weigh 130 pounds now, around that amount and my highest was 210. I picked up running six, seven times a week with added strength training. My family constantly tells me I have a fast metabolism, no I have an average one. Its not fast whatsoever, I have to work my *kitten* off to maintain this weight.0
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JazzFischer1989 wrote: »I'm curious, though. How would you know if you have a "fast metabolism"?
Especially if you're into estimating cardio burns, you count your calories accurately and somehow can't account for an extra, say, 500 calories per day. For example, by all accounts you should be gaining 1 lb per week or not losing that additional 1 lb per week
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Funniest thing was an overweight guy telling a skinny guy, "must be nice to have that high metabolism. Just wait till you hit 30." All the thin people within earshot were over 30
And the skinny one he was talking to? Would live outdoors on his boat/in the trees if he could. The other guy could have been joking, though. Maybe. Super slim chance really but I feel like I have to allow for that possibility lol 0 -
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Oh look someone is bothered by a post someone else made, again, and took it personal.After I started on Synthroid, I was able to lose. Couldn't lose before. I work hard! I stick to an average of 1200 calories a day, I do my C25K every other day. I do body weight stuff every day and when my shoulder is done recovering, I'll swim again. It's a lot of work.
What do I hear? "Sure wish I had a magic pill," and "Must be nice to just take a pill," etc.
They are jealous. They're trying to make themselves feel better. If you have a fast metabolism and I have special pills, then we aren't doing a better job (and they aren't "worse" than anyone.) Deep down, they know better. They have to hang on to that, for their own reasons. It's a game they play in their head to keep themselves "okay" with themselves.
weird. I'm sure it's due to jealousy, but I'd feel far less jealous by knowing someone worked their butt off for their body than I would thinking they were blessed with genetics.
You may be right, but that's not how I took it at all.
Here's another example: I see this stinking rich person, and since I'm not yet 100% super super perfect I maybe feel this tiny twinge of envy. Next, I hear one of two things: a) he inherited it all from Mommy. Never had to lift a finger a day in his life, just stinking rich. b) he works a minimum of 20 hour days, hardly ever gets to see his family or enjoy all the stuff his money buys.
Hearing b) rather than a) makes me feel that much less envious and even a little happier to see my ****ty apartment and thankful for all the people in my life
At least, that's how I understood her post, not personal at all
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I agree that the sentiment isn't about you. People sometimes need to believe certain things, even if they aren't strictly true. It's much easier (and nicer) to believe that a skinny person is blessed with a natural advantage, because that means that if a person isn't skinny it's not their fault. They just got the short end of the genetic stick.
I also get being annoyed by it, but I've found that I spend much less time being annoyed since accepting that most things people say and do are not personal.0 -
choosing_fitness wrote: »Hi,
In my lifetime I have gone from 140 lbs. to 110 lbs. and fluctuated all in between. I know rest at 124 and am wanting to get back to 115 lbs. However, I do have more muscle and I think I do look better physically, so I am not sure if I would want to lose some of that muscle just to have that number on the scale... Does this make sense?
Here comes my frustration... I work HARD to maintain and lose weight. I workout 5-6 days a week. I do cardio, I do weights. I eat well. I count calories, etc. And ALL my friends are like, "you have a fast metabolism." Let me tell you something, I don't, it is just average, and maybe 3% faster after I do weights. LOL But I work hard and I feel like my friends don't understand that.
Have you heard this before? Is this dumb to even talk about?
On the other hand, I work equally as hard as you do - 6 days a week in the gym, lots of walking, looking after 3 young kids, and I eat pretty well with the occasional treat. I definitely have a big calorie deficit. I'm 5'6 and pre pregnancy, last Summer, I was 154lbs, and I'd had to work damn hard to get to that low a weight. I was a UK size 10/12 (US6/8) then.
I've been working my *kitten* off since my baby was 6.5 weeks old and now she's nearly 7 months, and I'm still a UK size 14. And I exercised until 38 weeks pregnant.
So keep in mind that some people work equally as hard as you do to still weigh a lot more! I'm not belittling your hard work, but I can understand why people might think your metabolism is faster than theirs.
At my thinnest/fittest I've never been told I have a fast metabolism, because people know how hard I work. I'm surprised your friends don't know how hard you work.
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NotMyBegonias wrote: »Just send them this: "No excuses...In short, while there is some variance among the population in terms of metabolic rate, the range is not wide enough to be a real factor in your ability to alter your weight. If you’re having trouble with either fat loss or muscle gain, simply start keeping track of calories and slowly add or subtract from your daily target depending on your goal."
Fast metabolism is a myth and a lie people tell themselves to skirt responsibility.
Keep up the good work!
---
http://www.menshealth.co.uk/building-muscle/get-big/the-myth-of-the-fast-metabolism
How do you know this for other people's bodies? Slow metabolism might be an excuse that many people use to avoid do the changes needed for weight loss. It does not explain why some people are "naturally thin".
I used to be one of those. My friends would ask me how I can eat up to 3000 kcal a day and not gain at all with no exercise. I was tiny, think waif like. I have a friend from school. She is 6"0 and 132 lbs. She keeps getting nasty comments (for some reason people think bullying thin people is more ok than bully fat people). She has tried to overeat on all the junk food she could possibly eat, still no gaining. (she's a model using that advantage now). I know a lot of naturally thin people, some of them simply eat less, but some are inexplicably thin when you see how much they eat. This is not normal. But saying such a phenomenon doesn't exist is broscience.
Yes, OP. Maintaining is hard work for most.
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