How can some people eat so much junk and gain no weight?
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skinnyforhi wrote: »I know someone who used to brag about only eating fast food. Once I started watching this person, I realized they always got a small cheeseburger, fed half to the dog, and often did not order fries or only had a few of them. He may not be eating everything he says he is.
Incidentally, on the rare occasion I get a fast food burger, now I'll often skip the fries too. I like to watch skinny people for tips and tricks
I wouldn't do what this guy does though LOL.He isn't eating as much as you think. So there is this guy in my office, and everyone talks about how much he can eat, and how he stays in such good shape, because everytime there is free food here (which is a lot) he will take 3 or 4 plates full. Well I sit next to him, and he eats like a bird sits here all day with open big plate of food that he picks at all day, never finishes it, and brings the leftovers, plus the other 3 plates home to have as his meals through out the week. Things are never what they seem.
THIS. Before I actively started losing weight, I began to observe my friends' eating habits. Even though they'd stack their plates with a lot of food or buy tons of treats, they rarely/never finished it all in one go.
This one acquaintance I particularly remember put a ton of pancakes on her plate, and at that time, I did the same. An hour later, I'd finished my plate clean while she ate maybe one or two of what she had on her plate and ended up saving what was left for future breakfasts.
On vacation with two friends once, I'd buy one meal or a box of pizza for myself while the other two would share a meal or box of food.
When you *really* pay attention to those who stay lean without counting calories or giving food much thought, you realize that their natural tendencies to stop eating at their maintenance levels and/or move around a lot keeps them thin.
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I used to be able to eat as much as I wanted and not gain a pound if I tried. I inherited my mother's naturally fast metabolism. a lot of people are born with that blessing, I've known quite a few over the years.4
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I used to wonder about people on the MFP boards who would say that they ate 2500 calories a day. But when I look at their diaries they are actually exercising and burning off 900 a day!0
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ObsidianMist wrote: »I used to be able to eat as much as I wanted and not gain a pound if I tried. I inherited my mother's naturally fast metabolism. a lot of people are born with that blessing, I've known quite a few over the years.
My brother truly has a speedy metabolism. But he has ADHD which is not a great tradeoff.2 -
This last weekend I have been fascinated with this 10,000 calorie day challenges. So of these vloggers post nearly weekly and it put me into this same mind set. How can they do it and still be skinny (all subjective but they show defined abs and weight in the beginning)? It led me to watch closer. One girl was constantly fidgeting. One guy did like 30,000 calorie day challenge after a few posts of 10k and 20k stuff. He was an avid cyclist and didn't eat until afternoon which makes me guess skipping breakfast was a norm for him. Its crazy what people do with food.0
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WinoGelato wrote: »Just curious OP, why are you only eating 1500 cals/day? As a male, this would be the lowest recommended calorie intake, and that would not include any exercise cals, you said you average 15K steps/day and go to the gym 5-6 days/week?
Perhaps instead of worrying about what your colleague eats, you should make sure you are indeed getting enough fuel for your activity level and that your weight loss is not sacrificing lean body mass?
I eat the same amount of calories as OP. It's easy to get good nutrition if you stick to nutritiously dense foods. I'm not sure how much our maintenance calories differ though.
Edit: for better wording.
I'm a 5'2 female who lost 30 lbs eating more than 1500 cals/day.
A 1500 cal target for men is very low, especially if that is your total consumption and then also exercising (which OP says he is).
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MissusMoon wrote: »
What is fitmole.org?0 -
ObsidianMist wrote: »I used to be able to eat as much as I wanted and not gain a pound if I tried. I inherited my mother's naturally fast metabolism. a lot of people are born with that blessing, I've known quite a few over the years.
My brother truly has a speedy metabolism. But he has ADHD which is not a great tradeoff.
yeah I have mental health issues that are pretty debilitating. but at least I could always indulge in food to make myself feel better and not have to worry about it lol. it was like the one good thing the universe gave me. I'm hoping my metabolism goes back to what it used to be once I'm off the meds that *kitten* it up.0 -
WinoGelato wrote: »WinoGelato wrote: »Just curious OP, why are you only eating 1500 cals/day? As a male, this would be the lowest recommended calorie intake, and that would not include any exercise cals, you said you average 15K steps/day and go to the gym 5-6 days/week?
Perhaps instead of worrying about what your colleague eats, you should make sure you are indeed getting enough fuel for your activity level and that your weight loss is not sacrificing lean body mass?
I eat the same amount of calories as OP. It's easy to get good nutrition if you stick to nutritiously dense foods. I'm not sure how much our maintenance calories differ though.
Edit: for better wording.
I'm a 5'2 female who lost 30 lbs eating more than 1500 cals/day.
A 1500 cal target for men is very low, especially if that is your total consumption and then also exercising (which OP says he is).
Nice! I would love that number for losing! 0 -
I think about how much and some of what I've been eating to lose. I know if my past self could see me now, I'd wonder what wondrous pill was invented to let me lose.1
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ObsidianMist wrote: »I used to be able to eat as much as I wanted and not gain a pound if I tried. I inherited my mother's naturally fast metabolism. a lot of people are born with that blessing, I've known quite a few over the years.
Same with me. Not sure why there are some in this thread that think this is not a thing. My son is just like me when I was his age (20). Not very active, and eats a ridiculous amount, including tons of fast food and junk food. Not an ounce of fat on him. He's 5'9 and weighs 145 lbs.
He lives with me and I know what he eats on a daily basis. And I assure you he's not getting exercise and activity on the down low somehow that I'm not aware of. Some people can burn off more food than others, that's just how it is. I exercise A LOT, and if I ate what he did I would be gaining like crazy.
But I agree it's not good to compare ourselves to others, or use "slow metabolism" as an excuse. Anyone can lose weight with CICO, barring certain medical conditions. But the CO can vary from person to person given the same activity levels.2 -
You're all talking about "fast metabolism" and "fidgeting" or "being active" as if they were different things. A fast metabolism manifests itself through fidgeting and spontaneous activity (also generating excess heat). It's not some magic thing that makes the calories disappear. They get burned the same way you burn yours.
The one way the calories CAN disappear, and it's worth mentioning, is through digestive problems. If your gut is not functioning properly, you might not be able to absorb all the energy from your food, and calories are then literally going down the toilet.
I personally wouldn't wish for that. Nor would I wish to be unable to put on fat, or to lose my passion for food. We all have our own challenges. I'll stick with mine.7 -
WinoGelato wrote: »WinoGelato wrote: »Just curious OP, why are you only eating 1500 cals/day? As a male, this would be the lowest recommended calorie intake, and that would not include any exercise cals, you said you average 15K steps/day and go to the gym 5-6 days/week?
Perhaps instead of worrying about what your colleague eats, you should make sure you are indeed getting enough fuel for your activity level and that your weight loss is not sacrificing lean body mass?
I eat the same amount of calories as OP. It's easy to get good nutrition if you stick to nutritiously dense foods. I'm not sure how much our maintenance calories differ though.
Edit: for better wording.
I'm a 5'2 female who lost 30 lbs eating more than 1500 cals/day.
A 1500 cal target for men is very low, especially if that is your total consumption and then also exercising (which OP says he is).
I agree that it's low and it can be dangerous if one doesn't watch their macros and micros closely.0 -
CattOfTheGarage wrote: »You're all talking about "fast metabolism" and "fidgeting" or "being active" as if they were different things. A fast metabolism manifests itself through fidgeting and spontaneous activity (also generating excess heat). It's not some magic thing that makes the calories disappear. They get burned the same way you burn yours.
This needs to be more widely understood.3 -
CattOfTheGarage wrote: »You're all talking about "fast metabolism" and "fidgeting" or "being active" as if they were different things. A fast metabolism manifests itself through fidgeting and spontaneous activity (also generating excess heat). It's not some magic thing that makes the calories disappear. They get burned the same way you burn yours.
The one way the calories CAN disappear, and it's worth mentioning, is through digestive problems. If your gut is not functioning properly, you might not be able to absorb all the energy from your food, and calories are then literally going down the toilet.
I personally wouldn't wish for that. Nor would I wish to be unable to put on fat, or to lose my passion for food. We all have our own challenges. I'll stick with mine.
Yes all calories are burned by some kind of heat generation, but you don't believe people can burn variable amounts of calories given identical activity levels? People can't just have bodies that burn more calories than average? There are lots of processes that burn calories in the body that don't involve movement. Some people will burn more calories than you while sitting perfectly still or sleeping, some less.4 -
Some people are just built that way. I have a nephew that tried so hard to get into the Marines but they kept rejecting him bc he didn't weigh enough. He would eat and eat to gain weight. Eventually he made the weight requirement... Barely1
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Life is not fair.3
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huntersmom2016 wrote: »Some people are just built that way. I have a nephew that tried so hard to get into the Marines but they kept rejecting him bc he didn't weigh enough. He would eat and eat to gain weight. Eventually he made the weight requirement... Barely
I wish I could do a swap with one of those people. I guess everybody has a different body. Or you just see them eating occasionally and assume they eat like that all the time. I know a few smokers who eat like crap but, still are small. Maybe it's a correlation.0 -
besee_2000 wrote: »This last weekend I have been fascinated with this 10,000 calorie day challenges. So of these vloggers post nearly weekly and it put me into this same mind set. How can they do it and still be skinny (all subjective but they show defined abs and weight in the beginning)? It led me to watch closer. One girl was constantly fidgeting. One guy did like 30,000 calorie day challenge after a few posts of 10k and 20k stuff. He was an avid cyclist and didn't eat until afternoon which makes me guess skipping breakfast was a norm for him. Its crazy what people do with food.
The thing is that they DO gain weight, both water and real weight, after these challenges. Some of them can be upwards of 20lbs in one day. The thing is that the next day, they go straight back to the diet and exercise routine they had before and the weight comes back off. Many of the people that do these calorie challenges are very physically active and have a very good mental grasp on the magic of CICO. So they have already calculated the amount of real weight they could gain (indeed, many actually pre-log their calorie nuclear disaster meals on MFP) and know how to compensate for it afterwards to lose the challenge weight. On the other end of the spectrum, some people start calorie banking before the event. I've seen a few where the person claims to not have eaten for 24-48 hours before the challenge.
Regardless, point is they know how to correctly deal with the consequences of eating like starved blue whale for YT clicks and giggles.
I have not done one of these challenges, but I have ate a lot while not ultimately gaining any weight. In fact, I do it every Friday night, where I eat whatever I want, as much as I want. But the rest of the week, particularly the work week itself, is strictly controlled and I run about 25m/40km a week. It is probably confusing for people that don't know my eating habits or exercise routine well to watch me destroy a pizza and 4 gins and tonics and half a quart of ice cream how I stay so thin. It must be she has a fast metabolism or lucky or whatever. Um no. It is because I work my butt off during the week so I can have this evening of decadence without weight gain consequence. No magic, no fast metabolism, just hard work and dedication.7 -
Health aside it doesn't matter what you eat. If you eat below your caloric needs you will lose weight. If you eat above your caloric needs you will gain weight. Period. Health aside it doesn't matter what you eat. I could lose weight eating nothing but cheeseburgers if I counted my calories. And seeing somebody eat junk - in massive amounts - you need to keep in mind their net calories. Sure they eat a lot THAT day but are they eating that much consistently? The numbers do not lie. Net calores are powerful and can skew what you perceive what some bodies diet is.2
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I did that till age 27 then it stopped. Used to eat an entire box of cereal for breakfast and lost weight.0
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I'm kinda amazed that some people are in complete denial that it might actually be the case for some people.2
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I'm kinda amazed that some people are in complete denial that it might actually be the case for some people.
https://examine.com/faq/does-metabolism-vary-between-two-people/
One or two standard deviations between people who are the same size, gender, etc. are not really that big -- not anywhere near the narratives we hear of "my friend eats 10 Big Macs and fries a day, and I breathe and gain weight."
Yes, it's *possible* such people exist, but I would wonder if they had a tapeworm in their gut or some other medical thing going on.3 -
Probably sold their souls to the Devil, like Stephen Curry did.2
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I might be reading this wrong, but I didn't think they were disputing this. I thought some were thinking certain individuals had high TDEEs.4 -
I might be reading this wrong, but I didn't think they were disputing this. I thought some were thinking certain individuals had high TDEEs.
It's quite rare though. A lot more rare than most people think. The reason why point this out is that it gets aggravating as a lean person who works out hard and eats within my tdee to have people (usually overweight) always saying how lucky I am to have a good metabolism. Um no, I have a normal metabolism but work my butt off2 -
singingflutelady wrote: »
I might be reading this wrong, but I didn't think they were disputing this. I thought some were thinking certain individuals had high TDEEs.
It's quite rare though. A lot more rare than most people think. The reason why point this out is that it gets aggravating as a lean person who works out hard and eats within my tdee to have people (usually overweight) always saying how lucky I am to have a good metabolism. Um no, I have a normal metabolism but work my butt off
I totally get that. I see that happen often. I just didn't think Francl was disputing CICO.0
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