naturally skinny !
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I don't know about naturally skinny but I'm "naturally thin." And that's in quotes because I eat a lot, whenever I want...until I tally it up and see that I instinctively eat within my TDEE. I try to stay active and work out, but I also eat more when I go out and therefore, my friends always see me mow down food and think I'm always eating that much every day and staying thin.2
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I was "naturally skinny" on 3-5000 calories a day.. right up until I stopped having to walk 8-12 miles a day.
right up until I stopped working 8-10 hour days on my feet.1 -
cwolfman13 wrote: »StarBrightStarBright wrote: »My husband is "naturally skinny" and so is most of his family. And I'm with him a lot so I know how much he eats. I think the biggest thing is that he is tall and that he had a good metabolism in his 20s so he never gained in the first place. His whole family is the same way. They all start watching their food intake around their 40s to maintain their slim figures.
He spent his 20s weightlifting and trying to put on weight. Now that he is in his late 30s he still eats a fair amount (but less than his 20s) and he is at nice, slim, dad-bod weight.
His menu for today is thus:
Breakfast:Huge bowl of oatmeal (about 3 servings) with a quarter cup of walnuts, cup of chopped strawberries and heavy cream
Snack: half a bag of tortilla chips and half container of salsa (he usually goes through two of each a week)
Lunch: zoodles with pesto and chicken breast (I will make this for the both of us and he will eat 3/4 and I will have 1/4) - I will add about half cup of mozzarella cheese to his
Snack: a bag of gummy bears or a couple of cookies
Dinner: Large salad w/ caesar dressing, bowl of sweet potato soup, and a bbq sandwich and slaw.
I have just come to accept that I will always have to eat MUCH less than him. The overlap in our meals will occur at lunch and dinner and my lunch will not have cheese added. At dinner my salad will be lightly dressed with mostly vinegar, I'll eat a bowl of soup and have a tiny portion of breadless bbq.
We are both at healthy weights but need to maintain them VERY differently (also sorry this is long - but I felt like I had legit life experience to share here )
Much of that is simply the difference between men and women, not necessarily being "naturally skinny". I can eat a whole lot more than my wife simply for the fact that I'm male and taller and heavier and have more muscle mass.
Sure - but I also suspect that I'm at the low end of the "normal" metabolic burn for my height/weight and he is at the high end of his. For instance I know, through tracking, that I need to eat 250-300 fewer calories than others to maintain (I'm 5'6" and I maintain 141 pounds at around 1500 calories a day). When I add DH's calories he has about 3,000 a day and he is 6'1" and about 155-160 pounds - maybe that is the standard base caloric rate but that seems like a lot for someone of his height and weight. Both of us have sedentary jobs but are active in our day to day lives.
To someone on the low end (like me) it seems like someone like my husband is naturally skinny - but we are likely just at opposite ends of the normal scale.1 -
StarBrightStarBright wrote: »cwolfman13 wrote: »StarBrightStarBright wrote: »My husband is "naturally skinny" and so is most of his family. And I'm with him a lot so I know how much he eats. I think the biggest thing is that he is tall and that he had a good metabolism in his 20s so he never gained in the first place. His whole family is the same way. They all start watching their food intake around their 40s to maintain their slim figures.
He spent his 20s weightlifting and trying to put on weight. Now that he is in his late 30s he still eats a fair amount (but less than his 20s) and he is at nice, slim, dad-bod weight.
His menu for today is thus:
Breakfast:Huge bowl of oatmeal (about 3 servings) with a quarter cup of walnuts, cup of chopped strawberries and heavy cream
Snack: half a bag of tortilla chips and half container of salsa (he usually goes through two of each a week)
Lunch: zoodles with pesto and chicken breast (I will make this for the both of us and he will eat 3/4 and I will have 1/4) - I will add about half cup of mozzarella cheese to his
Snack: a bag of gummy bears or a couple of cookies
Dinner: Large salad w/ caesar dressing, bowl of sweet potato soup, and a bbq sandwich and slaw.
I have just come to accept that I will always have to eat MUCH less than him. The overlap in our meals will occur at lunch and dinner and my lunch will not have cheese added. At dinner my salad will be lightly dressed with mostly vinegar, I'll eat a bowl of soup and have a tiny portion of breadless bbq.
We are both at healthy weights but need to maintain them VERY differently (also sorry this is long - but I felt like I had legit life experience to share here )
Much of that is simply the difference between men and women, not necessarily being "naturally skinny". I can eat a whole lot more than my wife simply for the fact that I'm male and taller and heavier and have more muscle mass.
Sure - but I also suspect that I'm at the low end of the "normal" metabolic burn for my height/weight and he is at the high end of his. For instance I know, through tracking, that I need to eat 250-300 fewer calories than others to maintain (I'm 5'6" and I maintain 141 pounds at around 1500 calories a day). When I add DH's calories he has about 3,000 a day and he is 6'1" and about 155-160 pounds - maybe that is the standard base caloric rate but that seems like a lot for someone of his height and weight. Both of us have sedentary jobs but are active in our day to day lives.
To someone on the low end (like me) it seems like someone like my husband is naturally skinny - but we are likely just at opposite ends of the normal scale.
I have a desk job and I'm 5'10" and exercise regularly, but nothing crazy and maintain on around 3,000 calories per day...2800ish if I'm being lazy...I'd say that's fairly normal for a moderately active male. But yeah...it irks my wife too.2 -
I thought that about my boyfriend until I saw what he actually did. He eats once per day usually and also runs alot. He's just never really hungry but when he eats, he eats what appears to be a lot, but in reality, he's a chronic under eater and that is why he is underweight1
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StarBrightStarBright wrote: »cwolfman13 wrote: »StarBrightStarBright wrote: »My husband is "naturally skinny" and so is most of his family. And I'm with him a lot so I know how much he eats. I think the biggest thing is that he is tall and that he had a good metabolism in his 20s so he never gained in the first place. His whole family is the same way. They all start watching their food intake around their 40s to maintain their slim figures.
He spent his 20s weightlifting and trying to put on weight. Now that he is in his late 30s he still eats a fair amount (but less than his 20s) and he is at nice, slim, dad-bod weight.
His menu for today is thus:
Breakfast:Huge bowl of oatmeal (about 3 servings) with a quarter cup of walnuts, cup of chopped strawberries and heavy cream
Snack: half a bag of tortilla chips and half container of salsa (he usually goes through two of each a week)
Lunch: zoodles with pesto and chicken breast (I will make this for the both of us and he will eat 3/4 and I will have 1/4) - I will add about half cup of mozzarella cheese to his
Snack: a bag of gummy bears or a couple of cookies
Dinner: Large salad w/ caesar dressing, bowl of sweet potato soup, and a bbq sandwich and slaw.
I have just come to accept that I will always have to eat MUCH less than him. The overlap in our meals will occur at lunch and dinner and my lunch will not have cheese added. At dinner my salad will be lightly dressed with mostly vinegar, I'll eat a bowl of soup and have a tiny portion of breadless bbq.
We are both at healthy weights but need to maintain them VERY differently (also sorry this is long - but I felt like I had legit life experience to share here )
Much of that is simply the difference between men and women, not necessarily being "naturally skinny". I can eat a whole lot more than my wife simply for the fact that I'm male and taller and heavier and have more muscle mass.
Sure - but I also suspect that I'm at the low end of the "normal" metabolic burn for my height/weight and he is at the high end of his. For instance I know, through tracking, that I need to eat 250-300 fewer calories than others to maintain (I'm 5'6" and I maintain 141 pounds at around 1500 calories a day). When I add DH's calories he has about 3,000 a day and he is 6'1" and about 155-160 pounds - maybe that is the standard base caloric rate but that seems like a lot for someone of his height and weight. Both of us have sedentary jobs but are active in our day to day lives.
To someone on the low end (like me) it seems like someone like my husband is naturally skinny - but we are likely just at opposite ends of the normal scale.
I'm definitely on the high end for calorie burn - around 30% above the calorie calculator estimates. I got fat, and obese, anyway. It's only a few hundred calories, maybe a Snickers bar and a few chips. It's as easy to out eat that as it is to out-eat exercises calories (I did that for at least a decade, too).
Difference between me and friends who've 'naturally' maintained a healthy weight their whole lives? Even in the presence of ample delicious food, they get full and stop eating. I just keep plowing on . . . pretty much the same thing several others have reported.2 -
StarBrightStarBright wrote: »cwolfman13 wrote: »StarBrightStarBright wrote: »My husband is "naturally skinny" and so is most of his family. And I'm with him a lot so I know how much he eats. I think the biggest thing is that he is tall and that he had a good metabolism in his 20s so he never gained in the first place. His whole family is the same way. They all start watching their food intake around their 40s to maintain their slim figures.
He spent his 20s weightlifting and trying to put on weight. Now that he is in his late 30s he still eats a fair amount (but less than his 20s) and he is at nice, slim, dad-bod weight.
His menu for today is thus:
Breakfast:Huge bowl of oatmeal (about 3 servings) with a quarter cup of walnuts, cup of chopped strawberries and heavy cream
Snack: half a bag of tortilla chips and half container of salsa (he usually goes through two of each a week)
Lunch: zoodles with pesto and chicken breast (I will make this for the both of us and he will eat 3/4 and I will have 1/4) - I will add about half cup of mozzarella cheese to his
Snack: a bag of gummy bears or a couple of cookies
Dinner: Large salad w/ caesar dressing, bowl of sweet potato soup, and a bbq sandwich and slaw.
I have just come to accept that I will always have to eat MUCH less than him. The overlap in our meals will occur at lunch and dinner and my lunch will not have cheese added. At dinner my salad will be lightly dressed with mostly vinegar, I'll eat a bowl of soup and have a tiny portion of breadless bbq.
We are both at healthy weights but need to maintain them VERY differently (also sorry this is long - but I felt like I had legit life experience to share here )
Much of that is simply the difference between men and women, not necessarily being "naturally skinny". I can eat a whole lot more than my wife simply for the fact that I'm male and taller and heavier and have more muscle mass.
Sure - but I also suspect that I'm at the low end of the "normal" metabolic burn for my height/weight and he is at the high end of his. For instance I know, through tracking, that I need to eat 250-300 fewer calories than others to maintain (I'm 5'6" and I maintain 141 pounds at around 1500 calories a day). When I add DH's calories he has about 3,000 a day and he is 6'1" and about 155-160 pounds - maybe that is the standard base caloric rate but that seems like a lot for someone of his height and weight. Both of us have sedentary jobs but are active in our day to day lives.
To someone on the low end (like me) it seems like someone like my husband is naturally skinny - but we are likely just at opposite ends of the normal scale.
I'm definitely on the high end for calorie burn - around 30% above the calorie calculator estimates. I got fat, and obese, anyway. It's only a few hundred calories, maybe a Snickers bar and a few chips. It's as easy to out eat that as it is to out-eat exercises calories (I did that for at least a decade, too).
Difference between me and friends who've 'naturally' maintained a healthy weight their whole lives? Even in the presence of ample delicious food, they get full and stop eating. I just keep plowing on . . . pretty much the same thing several others have reported.
I get full and stop eating. It's not a cure-all. It depends on what you're eating. If you're eating calorie dense food you can still end up in surplus.0 -
All my life I've thought I was "naturally skinny " until a year ago when I got sick of being thin and decided to try and do something about it. Joined mfp and started logging my calories and bingo , I gained weight. I discovered 2 things: I'd overestimated how much I was eating and underestimated how active I am. I don't- can't- eat big portions (have had to work on this to gain weight). I only eat when I'm hungry. I stop eating- so leave things on my plate- when I feel full. And I rarely sit still.4
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I use to believe this myth once upon a time. It turns out no one can escape CICO. These individuals are A. eating much less than you imagine. That junk food meal was probably their main meal that day B. They're active other than going to the gym C. The day after they do seemingly gorge themselves, you'll notice their appetite offsets the previous day there by balancing their cals out. There's no cheat code out of CICO.10
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Those that see me at work would think I'm naturally thin... except they knew me when I was 65 lbs heavier. At work events, I usually eat the most and I'm one of the thinnest individuals in my group (5"10", 150 lbs). Of course, what most don't see is that I have almost nothing for dinner on those days and that I eat more reasonably 99% of the time. And they aren't with me when I'm doing any of this.
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There are a lot of people who see me enjoying yummy meals all the time. They don’t understand how I’ve lost 50 pounds.
It’s because I plan for those meals. They don’t know that I practice IF before and after those meals and that I eat very carefully on other days plus run about 15 miles a week.
I bet your skinny friends are similar.3 -
I wouldnt say i'm naturally "skinny" but i've always been on the thin side. Whenever I'm with my friends I eat WAY more than them. Weird thing is, some of my friends are overweight and eat super healthy whenever I see them...I guess that's the opposite side of this conversation! I dunno what they eat when I'm not around them and they don't know what I eat/exercise when they're not around me.1
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I used to think I had skinny genes until I got a desk job and gained 40lbs in 2 years.1
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I think it’s a lot to do with genetics and a little bit with your food habits. I’ve been naturally skinny my whole life, but so is the rest of my family. Honestly, I don’t need that much food to feel full. I have three meals a day but have to plan when to have snacks or I won’t be hungry for them. So yeah, even if I eat “whatever I want” it’s still only to the point where I feel full, and I think that’s different for everyone.5
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Kimblesnbits13 wrote: »I wouldnt say i'm naturally "skinny" but i've always been on the thin side. Whenever I'm with my friends I eat WAY more than them. Weird thing is, some of my friends are overweight and eat super healthy whenever I see them...I guess that's the opposite side of this conversation! I dunno what they eat when I'm not around them and they don't know what I eat/exercise when they're not around me.
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I was very sickly till I was 10 & would hardly eat, then it started. I had a massive appetite. In high school they called my "paper weight" I was so thin. I ate a lot!! I would visit my friend who moved & her mom would buy extra food when I came. One time she counted i ate 12 chicken legs. On my 21st B day, we ate at "fat Ed's" in San Fransisco, where if you could eat a whole steak, it was free. It was free for me. I couldn't get enough food. My mom cooked from scratch every day & I loved to eat. I never gained any weight till I got pregnant at 22yrs old. I gained 70lbs & never lost it all. I gained about 60 with the next 3 & never lost all of it & have had weight problems ever since, however I lost 48lbs with mfp. I always wondered why some ppl who eat larger amounts don't gain weight (like my oldest son) & some gain weight from not eating much at all. There has to be other factors involved besides calories. I never thought I could lose wt because for years I mostly ate chicken, veggies, rice, ate twice a day, don't drink soda, don't snack, hardly ever have fast food but never counted calories before mfp, so I must have been eating higher calories in the rice, or pasta I sometime had with my meals. oh, & went to the gym, played racquetball 4-5 days/wk & had a job being on my feet & moving all day. Everyone said I should be thin with all the activity & healthy eating. I never understood4
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ForecasterJason wrote: »Kimblesnbits13 wrote: »I wouldnt say i'm naturally "skinny" but i've always been on the thin side. Whenever I'm with my friends I eat WAY more than them. Weird thing is, some of my friends are overweight and eat super healthy whenever I see them...I guess that's the opposite side of this conversation! I dunno what they eat when I'm not around them and they don't know what I eat/exercise when they're not around me.
I think sometimes overweight people don't eat the same portions around others at they do in private. Much like the 'naturally skinny' person that eats more than normal when eating in groups. I see this in our office a lot. It's the /overweight/obese people that eat 'diet meals' for lunch more often than those that are not overweight.2 -
Years ago, I had a friend who struggled with his weight, as I did. He commented about another naturally skinny friend of ours that he would take a cookie from a plate and nibble at it, putting it down between bites, whereas my fat friend and I would have half a box apiece during the same time period.
Skinny people don't eat emotionally or compulsively; they eat when they're hungry or to be sociable, and they don't eat if they are satisfied. They also seem to have a better sense of their hunger and satiety cues.
Naturally skinny people also "fidget" and move a lot more than fat people, which can mean hundreds of calories more burnt off in a day:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12468415
These things come naturally to skinny people, those of us who struggle with our weight need to make a conscious effort to do them: know our hunger cues, don't eat emotionally, move more.2 -
Years ago, I had a friend who struggled with his weight, as I did. He commented about another naturally skinny friend of ours that he would take a cookie from a plate and nibble at it, putting it down between bites, whereas my fat friend and I would have half a box apiece during the same time period.
Skinny people don't eat emotionally or compulsively; they eat when they're hungry or to be sociable, and they don't eat if they are satisfied. They also seem to have a better sense of their hunger and satiety cues.
This isn't always true. There really are no universal truths when it comes to eating. When I was thin for decades I would have (and did) eaten several cookies from the plate.2 -
Need2Exerc1se wrote: »This isn't always true. There really are no universal truths when it comes to eating. When I was thin for decades I would have (and did) eaten several cookies from the plate.
Then I'll wager you were active, and/or didn't eat emotionally.1 -
Need2Exerc1se wrote: »This isn't always true. There really are no universal truths when it comes to eating. When I was thin for decades I would have (and did) eaten several cookies from the plate.
Then I'll wager you were active, and/or didn't eat emotionally.
I was active. I was active when I was overweight too. We live on a farm. Active is a way of life. I simply didn't eat from a plate of cookies on a regular basis. I got called "naturally skinny" a lot back then. I wasn't. I thought about what I was eating and made a mindful choice to not get fat. I was never once of those that just "naturally" stopped eating when full. I often ate until I was stuffed. I still do. I really like to overeat. But I also often purposely went hungry or stopped before I was full to counteract it. That's also how I ate to lose weight and now maintain the loss. I would never be successful if I had to only eat until full every time I ate something.3 -
Deviations exist. In both directions. Being a low end outier (maintain 155 at 1450 net calories, 15k steps a day & 5'9") can really look harsh in sharp relief to someone who is as far above the mean in calorie needs as I am below.3
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Deviations exist. In both directions. Being a low end outier (maintain 155 at 1450 net calories, 15k steps a day & 5'9") can really look harsh in sharp relief to someone who is as far above the mean in calorie needs as I am below.
Indeed.
There are a bunch of different ways to get fat, and a bunch of different ways to stay thin. Some people do have outlier TDEEs in either direction, but the low TDEE folks (like you) may stay thin, and the high TDEE folks (like me) may get fat.
We tend to want things to be simple. Mostly, they aren't.3 -
ForecasterJason wrote: »Kimblesnbits13 wrote: »I wouldnt say i'm naturally "skinny" but i've always been on the thin side. Whenever I'm with my friends I eat WAY more than them. Weird thing is, some of my friends are overweight and eat super healthy whenever I see them...I guess that's the opposite side of this conversation! I dunno what they eat when I'm not around them and they don't know what I eat/exercise when they're not around me.
But do you eat the same way all the time in private? OOOOR if you do, maybe they eat even MORE when you're not around them...?1 -
Kimblesnbits13 wrote: »ForecasterJason wrote: »Kimblesnbits13 wrote: »I wouldnt say i'm naturally "skinny" but i've always been on the thin side. Whenever I'm with my friends I eat WAY more than them. Weird thing is, some of my friends are overweight and eat super healthy whenever I see them...I guess that's the opposite side of this conversation! I dunno what they eat when I'm not around them and they don't know what I eat/exercise when they're not around me.
But do you eat the same way all the time in private? OOOOR if you do, maybe they eat even MORE when you're not around them...?
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Family friends/relatives who eat with my mother think she is "naturally skinny" or has a "high metabolism." They don't realize she often skips meals. They are aware that she is very active, but I guess it doesn't register that that means she gets more calories.1
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Deviations exist. In both directions. Being a low end outier (maintain 155 at 1450 net calories, 15k steps a day & 5'9") can really look harsh in sharp relief to someone who is as far above the mean in calorie needs as I am below.
exactly! I said upthread that I think my DH and I are outliers in opposite directions (me low, him high) so in additional to the usual man/woman differences, I think we have about 5-600 calories on top of that. That is like he gets to eat an extra pint of Ben and Jerry's every night, on top of the regular "more for men". And I've never seen him even start to gain. Whereas I fight not to gain ALL OF THE TIME.
It feels like he's naturally skinny when he eats what he wants and is never hungry. Whereas I often feel physical hunger even after I've hit my calories for the day.
Also - that would suck to be 5'9" and able to eat so little. I'm right around the same calories and activity level and I'm 5'6" and I thought THAT was bad. Good for you for being on maintenance - you kick *kitten*!3 -
Years ago, I had a friend who struggled with his weight, as I did. He commented about another naturally skinny friend of ours that he would take a cookie from a plate and nibble at it, putting it down between bites, whereas my fat friend and I would have half a box apiece during the same time period.
Skinny people don't eat emotionally or compulsively; they eat when they're hungry or to be sociable, and they don't eat if they are satisfied. They also seem to have a better sense of their hunger and satiety cues.
Naturally skinny people also "fidget" and move a lot more than fat people, which can mean hundreds of calories more burnt off in a day:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12468415
These things come naturally to skinny people, those of us who struggle with our weight need to make a conscious effort to do them: know our hunger cues, don't eat emotionally, move more.
Skinny people are just that, people. They're not all the same. I was skinny without effort. If I liked the biscuits, I'd have eaten the plateful. I often ate emotionally, I sometimes ate compulsively. I had terrible hunger cues (which actually is one thing that kept me thin because it meant that I didn't realise I should be hungry and skipped meals a lot). I did have very good satiety cues. I did fidget a bit. (Not sure about a lot. It's a bit hard to measure that one. And I still do now and I'm overweight.) So for me, two of your assumptions would be correct.0 -
I went to two over eaters anonymous meetings a few years back and I *kitten* you not everyone there was more or less a normal weight. I was the biggest one there. I was really self conscious and taken aback by the lack of other fat folks.1
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StarBrightStarBright wrote: »Deviations exist. In both directions. Being a low end outier (maintain 155 at 1450 net calories, 15k steps a day & 5'9") can really look harsh in sharp relief to someone who is as far above the mean in calorie needs as I am below.
exactly! I said upthread that I think my DH and I are outliers in opposite directions (me low, him high) so in additional to the usual man/woman differences, I think we have about 5-600 calories on top of that. That is like he gets to eat an extra pint of Ben and Jerry's every night, on top of the regular "more for men". And I've never seen him even start to gain. Whereas I fight not to gain ALL OF THE TIME.
It feels like he's naturally skinny when he eats what he wants and is never hungry. Whereas I often feel physical hunger even after I've hit my calories for the day.
Also - that would suck to be 5'9" and able to eat so little. I'm right around the same calories and activity level and I'm 5'6" and I thought THAT was bad. Good for you for being on maintenance - you kick *kitten*!
Yup, I know that feeling of eating maintenance calories and still having hunger pains. I have sympathy for you. (I’ve found many MFP’ers don’t believe in this tho.) CICO seems to be the start of the answer, and for some it can be seen like clockwork in their diaries. But when you are at the low (but still within statistical norms) end of the calorie estimates it can be a huge struggle.
That poster who said it’s just 200 or so calories doesn’t take into account that is a 400-600 or so difference between low end and high end. And 400 calories a day is huge to those of us with maintenance calorie allotments if <1400. Probably the difference between feeling hungry most days most of the time and feeling satisfied.
I wish you luck! It is really difficult and not many are sympathetic to the struggle.3
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