Do naturally thin people actually think different?

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  • DX2JX2
    DX2JX2 Posts: 1,921 Member
    janejellyroll wrote: »
    DX2JX2 wrote: »
    Yes - naturally thin people don't tend to care about food as anything but nourishment. There's zero emotional attachment to it.

    I'm not sure how you define "naturally thin," but I know plenty of people in the normal weight range who don't seem to employ any specific strategies to manage their weight and they still have favorite foods, things they prefer to eat, and foods that bring up emotional reactions or memories for them, etc.

    Obviously we can never get inside someone else's head, but I don't think it's accurate to say that these people don't care about food as anything but nourishment.

    I don't disagree. My statement would probably be more accurate if I specified that naturally thin people do not tend to use food as an emotional crutch. They obviously can enjoy food or relate specific memories to it, but it's not something they tend to turn to as a primary method of gratification.
  • Lesscookies1
    Lesscookies1 Posts: 250 Member
    I don't think peopl are often naturally thin they work hard in staying that way. I have a coworker that whenever we have a potluck at work she always gets tiny little servings of what she likes, and she doesn't feel the need to stuff her plate with food.
  • mazdauk
    mazdauk Posts: 1,380 Member
    Also they are often the sort that if they are stressed, they don't eat, if they are excited don't eat, whereas I have to be really ill not to eat!
  • Lift_Run_Eat
    Lift_Run_Eat Posts: 986 Member
    I have an aunt, her daughters, and now their kids that struggle to keep 90 lbs on.
    Eating for them is just as much of a struggle as it is for me, although mine is eating less and theirs is eating more.

    I use to be jealous that they were in a size zero and super skinny, until I got older and realized how much they had to work to keep the weight on.

    But yes, I think all people, whether skinny or overweight, think about food differently. I think 2 people the same size and weight think about food differently. One may may enjoy food while one may see it as energy/nourishment only. One may struggle with eating enough while the other struggles with eating too much. Each person thinks about, metabolizes, and tastes food differently.
  • pcw65
    pcw65 Posts: 31 Member
    Glad to hear I am not alone in the 'forgets to eat' area.

    I honestly believe there is something that certain people lack which results in a borderline inability to feel hungry. Or at least only when VERY hungry. I rarely feel hungry and my wife is always having to remind me to eat. I used to go 3-4 days a week forgetting to eat a lunch.

    I have the same issue with drinking. I will be working outside, covered in sweat and the wife asks...'when did you last drink some water', invariably it is several hours and I am dehydrated.

    So, you say, I must be stick-thin. Not at all. I am 6' 2" and was, until 3+ weeks ago, 230 pounds. I have lost 16 pounds since then and am sticking to a 2200 calorie intake each day with a focus on reducing protein to 60-80mg (I have CKD which is not protein friendly).

    When I ate, I ate a big meal. I have come to realize that having two large meals a day is not a great way to maintain a decent metabolism and so now I have 4 small meals throughout the day. I do feel better for it.

    I totally agree with the comment from DX2JX2 about certain people seeing food as little more than nourishment. I am in that camp. I give very little thought to what I eat beyond its nutritional constituents.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
    Francl27 wrote: »
    wex65 wrote: »
    Glad to hear I am not alone in the 'forgets to eat' area.

    I honestly believe there is something that certain people lack which results in a borderline inability to feel hungry. Or at least only when VERY hungry. I rarely feel hungry and my wife is always having to remind me to eat. I used to go 3-4 days a week forgetting to eat a lunch.

    I have the same issue with drinking. I will be working outside, covered in sweat and the wife asks...'when did you last drink some water', invariably it is several hours and I am dehydrated.

    So, you say, I must be stick-thin. Not at all. I am 6' 2" and was, until 3+ weeks ago, 230 pounds. I have lost 16 pounds since then and am sticking to a 2200 calorie intake each day with a focus on reducing protein to 60-80mg (I have CKD which is not protein friendly).

    When I ate, I ate a big meal. I have come to realize that having two large meals a day is not a great way to maintain a decent metabolism and so now I have 4 small meals throughout the day. I do feel better for it.

    I totally agree with the comment from DX2JX2 about certain people seeing food as little more than nourishment. I am in that camp. I give very little thought to what I eat beyond its nutritional constituents.

    Eating more meals will not change your metabolism. 2 meals is fine.. just eat less.

    Agreed. What or when you eat has little effect on metabolic rate. What you do is more important in that respect.
  • pcw65
    pcw65 Posts: 31 Member
    edited February 2018
    Francl27 wrote: »
    wex65 wrote: »
    Glad to hear I am not alone in the 'forgets to eat' area.

    I honestly believe there is something that certain people lack which results in a borderline inability to feel hungry. Or at least only when VERY hungry. I rarely feel hungry and my wife is always having to remind me to eat. I used to go 3-4 days a week forgetting to eat a lunch.

    I have the same issue with drinking. I will be working outside, covered in sweat and the wife asks...'when did you last drink some water', invariably it is several hours and I am dehydrated.

    So, you say, I must be stick-thin. Not at all. I am 6' 2" and was, until 3+ weeks ago, 230 pounds. I have lost 16 pounds since then and am sticking to a 2200 calorie intake each day with a focus on reducing protein to 60-80mg (I have CKD which is not protein friendly).

    When I ate, I ate a big meal. I have come to realize that having two large meals a day is not a great way to maintain a decent metabolism and so now I have 4 small meals throughout the day. I do feel better for it.

    I totally agree with the comment from DX2JX2 about certain people seeing food as little more than nourishment. I am in that camp. I give very little thought to what I eat beyond its nutritional constituents.

    Eating more meals will not change your metabolism. 2 meals is fine.. just eat less.

    I guess I just learned something. One of those things I 'heard' over the years that just believed. Thanks.
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    5738_Cassiel wrote: »
    Is it true that a naturally thin person and an overweight person thinks differently about food? If so, what's the difference?

    Well I think it is certainly true that there is a wide range of different attitudes and psychologies people exhibit towards food. Some view it as a chore, some view it as a pleasure and anything and everything in between. I don't think you could distill it down to a simple "thin people do X, fat people do Y" sort of statement though. Even if you could not sure it would be helpful, really you have to learn how to be healthy in your own skin not yearn to be someone you are not.
  • Morgaath
    Morgaath Posts: 679 Member
    In my younger years a girlfriend asked how I was so skinny, as I ate a ton, drink a gallon of soda a day, and was still thin. Her estimate was I was eating 3k-5k cals each day. I was between 130-140 lbs at 5'9".

    I was working as a grass cutter, rode my bicycle all the time, did lots of very physical hobbies, thought nothing of walking/jogging 2 miles home from my friend's house if I was drinking, and then walk back the next day to get my car.
    She sat at work, sat at home, found the closest parking spots at the store, called me or others to come get her from work so she didn't have to walk the 1.5 miles home, etc.

    Then I got a job as a truck driver. Gained 30lbs in under 3 months. Nothing to do except eat so I gained more.
    Then I got a job working in an office.
    Every time I get physically active for extended times, I lose weight, and yet eat more.
    If I don't watch what I eat when not being active, I gain weight.

    All the folks I know who are thin, and have been that way all their life, have always been very active.
  • bribucks
    bribucks Posts: 431 Member
    I don’t think they necessarily think about food differently. Eating disorders can happen at any size; “big” or “small” people can both have unhealthy relationships with food. Likewise they can both have healthy relationships with food.

    I am naturally thin. I have always had a narrow build and been on the low end of the BMI range. But, the problem for me occurred when I stopped thinking about the food I was putting in my body and stopped being so active ... and I gained weight. I imagine the same is true even of people who are not naturally thin.
  • combsshan
    combsshan Posts: 47 Member
    mom23mangos wrote: »
    I would call myself "naturally lean" as I've never been outside of the low to mid BMI range and for most of my life with no effort or thought. I don't really get hunger signals. I could go all day without eating if I was busy enough. I started adding some pounds with a desk job and boredom eating. I'm also a stress non-eater. As much as people will say it's not genetic, I think to a certain extent it is. My mom was the exact same way. Of course age and inactivity caught up with her too.

    My mother-in-law is the same way. She told me once, "If I only ate when I was hungry, I'd never eat." She basically eats one meal a day with my FIL because HE needs dinner. Strangely enough though, she is not what I would call healthy. Even though she is technically underweight she has anemia, high blood pressure, high cholesteral and heart issues.

    It's not that naturally thin people think about food differently, it's that they DON'T think about it at all unless spurred to by some other person or circumstance.
  • combsshan
    combsshan Posts: 47 Member
    etherealanwar wrote: »
    I was 'naturally thin' until I started on my anti-psychotic medications. I generally had less of an appetite and would get full very fast making over eating a rare occasion. Oh how I miss my pre-bipolar days haha. Sucks that everything is reversed for me now, meds causing insatiable appetite and don't get the full feeling as easily.

    Medications really do mess with your satiety signals. I never really had trouble with my weight until I started taking an anti-depressant 20 years ago. I gained about 15lbs. Then I developed fibromyalgia and started taking a couple of other meds to manage that condition and gained another 30lbs. I too find that I just don't get full like I used to. I can three times what I could eat pre-meds and I crave sweets and carbs a lot more too. Just wanted you to know that you're not on the "fighting the meds to stay at a healthy weight" battle alone.
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