[freelancemomma]

Originally Posted by ncuneo

So I know there is this term "naturally thin" but really, I don't think those people exist.... but if you really think about the women you know that are "naturally thin" why are they thin? I'll bet you that 99% of them do things that somehow create a deficit.

The she eat's nothing but junk and doesn't gain weight - Yes, but did you know that she doesn't eat breakfast and only eats 1-2 meals a day that only add up to 1800-2000 cals, which for the average never been obese person is maintenance cals.

The she eat's all.the.time but doesn't gain weight - Sure, but she's eating small healthy meals all day, oh yeah and she exercises regularly.

My point is, that with the exception of a very small number there is no such thing as "naturally thin", everyone has to work at, just some people don't know they're doing work Us formally obese people, well I think we all know it's work and that's what makes it hard.

Agree with every word. There was a similar thread in the Weight Loss Support forum. I don't know a single adult woman who can eat what she wants without gaining -- unless she has a very small appetite, which most of us don't.

For the most part, I don't believe that variations in metabolic rate explain variations in weight. I believe humans vary much more in their psychology than their physiology, and that these psychological variations (perceived hunger, enjoyment of food, perceived fullness, compulsive tendencies, etc.) account for the lion's share of weight differences.


Freelance

[freelancemomma]

Originally Posted by JayEll

I have seen her open a single-serving bag of corn chips, eat part of the bag, and then put the rest aside for later. It's not that she "doesn't think she should eat them all," or that she "can't afford the calories," it's that she's just done with them. That partly eaten bag of chips may sit for days. I know it's there, of course. She has forgotten about it.

THIS is the key difference between so-called naturally thin people and the rest of us, IMO.

F.

[freelancemomma]

Originally Posted by bonnnie

Some people eat and experience much more pleasure than others. Others may experience more pleasure copulating or shopping or something.

I happen to be of the group that derives too much pleasure from eating, unfortunately! My boyfriend would rather starve and have sex instead (he has never had a weight problem).

I've noticed that, of the 'naturally thin' people I've known, this has been the case.

You've taken the words from my mouth. I completely agree. While I concede that a small number of people with freakishly high metabolisms do exist, I think that MOST of the variation in weights doesn't stem from variations in metabolism, but rather from variations in the pleasure derived from eating, the intensity of hunger cues, and the ability to tolerate (even enjoy) fullness.

F.

[freelancemomma]

Originally Posted by asparagus4sale

But as she aged her metabolism slowed down and she did start to gain.

I think this happens to just about all of us. At age 16 I went on a 1,500-calorie-per-day diet and lost 40 pounds at an average rate of 2.5 pounds per week. Using the 3,500 cals = 1 pound formula, this means my maintenance calories would have been 2,750 at the time -- or more, if my metabolism slowed down during weight loss -- and I wasn't particularly active.

Every diet I've been on since that time has been a 1,500-calorie diet. Each time I lose the weight without any problem, but at a slightly slower rate than the last time. Most recently, at age 54, I lost 50+ pounds at an average rate of 1.25 pounds per week.

Freelance

[Maggie12345]

Only ignorance in a person can result in a comment like such. I am 18 years old, done growing, 5'2, and barely 90 lbs. I eat a full breakfast every day, small lunch, and a king sized dinner every night. No it is not a special gluten free diet. It is actually the diet of a sumo wrestler. I eat sweets freely, and shockingly enough I don't work out regularly. Once in a blue moon ill go to the gym. In my past 18 years of living I have not once put effort into staying this small. In fact I have put all my efforts into getting bigger. Unfortunately, failing every time. I have no eating disorder or disease that prevents me from growing. Just as there are naturally fat or if you prefer, "thick" women, there are such things as naturally skinny women, too.

[sacha]

Originally Posted by Maggie12345

Only ignorance in a person can result in a comment like such. I am 18 years old, done growing, 5'2, and barely 90 lbs. I eat a full breakfast every day, small lunch, and a king sized dinner every night. No it is not a special gluten free diet. It is actually the diet of a sumo wrestler. I eat sweets freely, and shockingly enough I don't work out regularly. Once in a blue moon ill go to the gym. In my past 18 years of living I have not once put effort into staying this small. In fact I have put all my efforts into getting bigger. Unfortunately, failing every time. I have no eating disorder or disease that prevents me from growing. Just as there are naturally fat or if you prefer, "thick" women, there are such things as naturally skinny women, too.

I was like that at 18 too A lot of us were.

[neurodoc]

Originally Posted by sacha

I was like that at 18 too A lot of us were.

Yes. This is true, but it doesn't alter the poster's point, that her metabolism is naturally, spontaneously, more efficient (less efficient?) than yours/mine. She eats more calories, doesn't expend as many, and doesn't gain weight. It may be because she's only 18, but that still means that she's burning ?2000 ?3000 calories per day, compared to my 1500 (and doing it without exercise).

[freelancemomma]

I agree with the OP. I don't know any adult woman who eats the way WE at 3FC would like to eat and stays skinny. All the thin adult women I know eat less than meets the eye. They either skip meals or don't finish the food on their plates. Whether instinctively or deliberately, they compensate for their (generally small) excesses.

F.

p.s. Talk about an Alzheimer moment. I didn't realize that I already wrote several previous posts in this thread!

[Mudpie]

Originally Posted by freelancemomma

I agree with the OP. I don't know any adult woman who eats the way WE at 3FC would like to eat and stays skinny. All the thin adult women I know eat less than meets the eye. They either skip meals or don't finish the food on their plates. Whether instinctively or deliberately, they compensate for their (generally small) excesses.

F.

p.s. Talk about an Alzheimer moment. I didn't realize that I already wrote several previous posts in this thread!

I think we are all different. There are trends and similarities but ultimately we are all different. IMHO age really is a factor in metabolism. So is what we do every day re movement/exercise etc.

And all the "naturally thin" women I know - my own experience only so please don't jump all over me - stay that way with some sort of restriction and/or stimulants to suppress appetite (caffeine, cigarettes, etc.).

As for the Alzheimer moment freelance don't you be dissin' the elderly ( I am 56.).

Dagmar

[Harriette]

I actually know someone who is TOO thin naturally. She actually has a health problem (I am not exactly sure what, she is not a close friend and I am not nosey/rude enough to ask!) but I presume it has something to do with her body absorbing nutrients. She is late 30's and has had a child but she looks anorexic. I know she eats. I know she does not purge. I think it is equally as difficult for her because she is always trying to stay "fat" enough to be healthy. Now, most of us say we would kill for this problem (me included!) but really, I would not trade my health to look like that.. she IS too thin. Granted, I do not think she has the same binge issues I/ lots of us have and I like to think I could put weight on that frame with a few days/weeks/months of my binge level of calories!

[freelancemomma]

Originally Posted by Mudpie

As for the Alzheimer moment freelance don't you be dissin' the elderly ( I am 56.).

I'm also 56, so I'd be dissing myself!

[neurodoc]

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/19/he...ef=health&_r=0

In case you can't get to the article, the key paragraph is:
"This rare gene-disabling mutation, though, is intriguing because it seems to explain something different, a propensity to pile on pounds even while eating what should be a normal amount of food. Investigators are now searching for other mutations of the same gene in fat people that may have a similar, but less extreme effect. The hope is that in the long term, understanding how this gene affects weight gain might lead to treatments for obesity that alter the rate at which calories are burned."

And from elsewhere in the article:
"The work fascinates Claude Bouchard, a genetics researcher at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, La., because it might offer insight into an intriguing finding: there are genetic controls not just of how much people want to eat but also how much of what they eat turns into fat or is burned off and not used by the body. Although the common mantra is that a calorie is a calorie and 3,500 extra calories eaten equals a pound of fat on the body, that is not what happens in real life, he found."

This goes a long way toward explaining why certain cultures "tend toward fat" (.e.g, native americans; sub-continent Indians) while in others (notably Japanese and east-Asians), obesity is quite rare, and takes extreme eating habits to create and maintain. And why Bright Angel survives just fine on only 1000 cal/day while my grandfather stayed very lean through age 85 despite an (my estimate) 2500 cal/day diet.