To the OP: I have never been overweight and I have been called one of this naturally skinny people by different people a lot of times. When I work in a project that involves a lot of time I drink a lot of water, so I have to go pee very often. I also get up a lot of times to walk a bit, strecht and whenever I return I feel with much more energy to continue. I snack on fruits and nuts only and yes I feel hungry at times, I just do not allow myself to eat something not being fruit or nuts and I also keep in mind what I have eating during the day when choosing one as opposed to the other. I try to think what is more convenient to me and what my body wants.
I have been going to study to the library with different people around three times a week during the last 4 years. I have to say that I am one of the few people that follows the pattern I have described. I have observed people that never gets up, people that gets up a lot to talk by phone, people that is there just to check other people. Some people say they have studied a lot, being in the library all day and they fail their exams. And yes I know they have been to the library all the day but they have been checking every person in the room, texting other people, not really studying.
My point is when you compare yourself with other people you have to see the big picture. You are just looking what you want to see: the other person forgets to eat and I don't. The other person probably does not get hungry in the afternoon or has eaten a lot before or prefer to finish a good part of the project before getting up. My friend is trying to lose a lot of weight and she never gets up, forgets that she has to eat but whenever she is home she is so hungry she eats everything in sight. She has recognised this pattern recently and she is working in the solution.
We are different people, we have different patterns. I have to work on my weak points. Probably for me it is easy not eating snacks not being fruit or nuts but I have a hard time making my portions at meals smaller. So this is my problem and I know what I have to work on to improve myself.
I don't think your friend isn't hungry, they might just eat a few meals a day as opposed to mini meals and snacks, which would make it seem like they never eat. But it does seem like food never phases naturally thin people! I have to eat at least 2 or 3 times a day and never forget to eat (I can't even recall one time I've skipped dinner). My thin friends eat, but they really seemed bored by food. I don't know how to explain it, but I wish I had that kind of attitude towards food, then I wouldn't be in this situation.
On the subject of snacking, I don't have links to articles right now, but more and more research is coming out that the effect snacking has on your metabolism is minimal to the point where it doesn't matter, if there's a positive affect at all, and that it's mostly a myth encouraged by companies with snack food to promote. Snacking is a rather new concept- America was the first country to have snacking and it has only caught on in the past 50 years. 3 meals a day has been the norm for thousands of years. But I think snacking works well for some people, and to to each their own, because it's about what works best individually. Breakfast is a little more important though, because it can stop you from getting too hungry later in the day.
Last edited by Samantha18; 04-05-2012 at 05:37 AM.
Gotothegym you seem to make a lot of posts that lament the fact that you're not like your thinner friends. I understand your frustration—my fiance is just like your thin friends—but I think you need to realize that you may never quite be like them.
I've come to accept the fact that I'll have to watch my food intake for the rest of my life. I never grew up learning how to portion my food correctly, listen to my hunger cues, etc., which is why I was overweight for just about all of my life. It's very hard to just undo all of that!
Has it become easier over time to watch what I eat and how much of it? Yeah sure! I don't really even blink an eye now. It'll be a year next month that I started all of this and it's much easier now than it was back then
Back when I would have been considered a "naturally skinny" person, I ate maybe two meals per day, or one snack and one meal. I am sure people thought I "rarely ate," but that's not really true. I was just practicing IF without realizing it.
Now, I DID get hungry sometimes, but didn't eat. Why not? Because it wasn't convenient, or I was too busy, or whatever. Especially back when I was in school. Unfortunately, having food readily available 24/7 can make it a lot easier to mindlessly snack.
Although I am a big fan of IFing (it's the only way I manage to lose any weight), I suggest trying a 16-24 hour fast just as an experiment. My first 24 hour fast was a real learning experience in distinguishing "emotional" hunger from true "physical" hunger. A real eye opener, and I really think it can be a good tool for anyone who deals with emotional eating. Learning the feel of REAL hunger makes it easier to know when you're just bored, lonely, etc.
I have been "naturally skinny" most of my life until college.
"Naturally skinny' people are not- "not hungry", they tend to differentiate between boredom/"I'd like to eat"/and "hunger".
Leaving for food 9x in 4 hours is not hunger. It's a pre-occupation with food and seeking food without true hunger - once is hunger, the rest is either not satisfying actual hunger the first time (ie. eating A carrot stick) or getting full and then 8x being pre-occupied with food. This is the difference.
To the OP - you might want to look into intermittent fasting. Sounds like it might set you free from what you're dealing with.
He's not wrong. I have always been a secret eater and nearly every waking thought was about food for most of my life. I've been overweight since I was a kid, and even when I successfully lost nearly 100 pounds a few years ago, all I thought about was food (which is how I gained a bunch of it back.)
Since I've been doing intermittent fasting, I've learned the difference between the feeling of actual hunger and just being bored. I don't think about food constantly, even on eating days, because I have planned what I'm going to eat and when, so there's no reason to think about it.
You really can change your mindset so that food doesn't rule your thoughts anymore. It's not easy by any means, and it takes some work, but it's possible.
I know "naturally skinny" people who eat crap all day, but just not much of it. I also know some who eat healthy all day, again in appropriate quantities. Some eat frequently, some eat a couple times a day.
I think part of it might be cravings. For those of us who have used food for pleasure, we tend to require more [sugar, carbs, etc.] to get the same good feeling that "naturally thin" people can get with much less.
It's similar to abusing drugs - after a while, you need more of it to get the same effect. And when you cut back, your brain actually produces a below-normal level of dopamine and such, making you crave the food that gave you the high.
In essence, it takes MORE willpower/strategy/etc. for people like that to say no to food.
This is one theory, anyway.
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As far as many small meals vs a few big meals, I'm not of one mind or another. I've done both. I switch it up to meet my needs and hunger levels.
And as for hunger cues - I get mine confused a lot, to the point where I'll be starving before I realize it's real hunger and not a craving/boredom/thirst. I'm still trying to sort this one out...
Last edited by LiannaKole; 04-05-2012 at 10:13 AM.
John, don't confuse a nutritionist with a registered dietician. The dietician has to go to school and get licensed. Anyone can be a nutritionist with no special training. Just open up your office.
John, don't confuse a nutritionist with a registered dietician. The dietician has to go to school and get licensed. Anyone can be a nutritionist with no special training. Just open up your office.
True, there are no regulations for nutritionists. A dietician has an in-depth degree on nutrition and physiology related to it. Anyone can call themselves a nutritionist
For my part, I've accepted that I'll never be like those "not hungry" people and that I just have to manage my appetite. There are pros and cons to everything. The "not hungry" people probably don't enjoy food as much as we do.
As a medical writer I wanted to tell you that I love your posts. You think like a real scientist! Have you ever read Dr. Ben Goldacre's book Bad Science? If not, you really must read it. It's not only well researched and written, but absolutely hilarious. The chapters on homeopathy and nutritionists have me laughing to tears every time I read them.
Skinny people do get hungry. They just know how to recognize REAL hunger, vs:
I'm bored, I'm need a snack to keep my enegry up while I study, the clock says it's time to eat
If you got up to eat nine times in four hours, you were eating just to be eating. There is no magic skinny gene. Human beings are meant to eat just like animals in the wild. Hungry: EAT, and only until the stomach is satisfied (not bloated) and toss the rest. Not hungry: don't eat.
I disagree with this because some people are naturally skinny because they have a fast metabolism, not because they don't eat.
Quote:
Originally Posted by QuarterLife88
Skinny people do get hungry. They just know how to recognize REAL hunger, vs:
I'm bored, I'm need a snack to keep my enegry up while I study, the clock says it's time to eat
If you got up to eat nine times in four hours, you were eating just to be eating. There is no magic skinny gene. Human beings are meant to eat just like animals in the wild. Hungry: EAT, and only until the stomach is satisfied (not bloated) and toss the rest. Not hungry: don't eat.
LOL a naturally smaller person will have LOWER BMR than a person who is 300lbs.
The only reason I can think of for having a fast metabolism is if someone has hyperthyrodism. In reality, metabolic variations between people are not so vast. I am thin person, and I know for a fact I do not have a fast metabolism. Heck, I'm sublinical hypothyroid.
Truthfully I think blaming your metabolism is an excuse and takes responsibility off of the person and their eating habits. The reason someone is fat 99% of the time is because they overeat. The reason someone is of normal weight 99% is because they do not.
Metabolism shouldn't matter at all. If you only ate when you were physically HUNGRY, you could have the slowest metabolism in the world and not gain anything. People are always looking for an excuse to eat more when they are not hungry, and that is the problem.
Last edited by QuarterLife88; 04-05-2012 at 08:06 PM.
